Situation

As a popular beach destination in the United States, the City of South Padre Island Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB) sought to incorporate various services into its website to create a better online experience, while simultaneously increasing site revenue. Some of the CVB's goals included revitalization of an established website, responsive design for users across devices, increase visitor traffic, and both partner and ad revenue.

Solution

South Padre Island's solution consisted of a four-tiered approach, utilizing Simpleview CMS, Creative, DTN, and SEM. Through the addition of a Social Media Hub, iFrame for their Calendar of Events, and TripAdvisor integration, South Padre Island was able to draw various social media, event listings, and reviews - creating heightened user engagement, while also utilizing modern digital media.

Combining both Destination Travel Network and Search Engine Marketing services, South Padre Island took a unique initiative and incorporated both products into their existing website. In addition to increasing their traffic and audience for the launch of the new website, South Padre Island was also able to generate revenue from the advertising platform.

Results

Over a year since launch, South Padre Island has seen tremendous increases in traffic, resulting from successful PPC campaigning. Site visitors increased 453% year-over-year in August 2014, while Unique Visitors increased 395% compared to the previous year. Pages Per Visit also increased 545%. Bounce Rate, on the other hand, has dropped significantly, decreasing by a very notable 16%.

In the six months before launch of South Padre Island's new website, the combined DTN and SEM approach significantly helped fund the costs for multiple paid services on their new site, such as hosting and support. South Padre continues to utilize these services, and the initiative demonstrates how DMOs can use DTN in a "reap and reinvest" model to continually advance their organizations.

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