CheapCaribbean.com is the leading online travel agency specializing in beach vacations to the Caribbean, Mexico, South and Central America with a true passion for travel. Often top-of-mind for budget conscious travelers, CheapCaribbean wanted to reach millennial travelers with a unique experiential vacation and garner top-tier media placements. In an effort to connect with millennials and attract the attention of the media, the team partnered with two social media influencers, The Dame Traveler and The Wondering Dreamer, to create an Instagram-focused vacation package to Bermuda.
-Increase awareness of the Vacation Envy campaign with consistent messaging across various marketing channels to reach millennial customers
-Secure feature stories for the campaign in female-targeted, lifestyle driven media outlets
-Drive website traffic to the Vacation Envy landing page through marketing channels, site placements and media placements
We began by understanding what the millennial traveler wants, when they vacation, and the best way to reach them. Through compiled research, we know that millennials are focused on personal experiences and travel more than any other generation. In order to spark their attention and capitalize on current trends, we partnered with Nastasia Yakoub (@DameTraveler and @NastasiasPassport) & Jess Meyrick (@TheWonderingDreamer) to create a vacation package all about getting the perfect Instagram shot. The package included a three-night trip to Bermuda where guests would spend quality one-on-one time with social media influencers for private workshops and on-location photo shoots. To create consistent messaging across multiple channels, we promoted the campaign through a dedicated landing page, posting on CheapCaribbean and the influencers social media accounts, and a dedicated email highlighting package details. We also collaborated with the influencers to create a book highlighting their best tips and tricks for taking the best photos and posting to Instagram. To promote the package prior to launch, we sent Vacation Envy media mailer that included the tips and tricks book, portable photo printer, Lumee phone case, and teaser information about the package.
As a result of combined efforts across the marketing channels, Vacation Envy achieved all goals by reaching female-targeted outlets and the attention of the media.
Channel achievements:
Public Relations: We garnered a total of 19 media placements including 10 being feature articles in key national target outlets including People, Lonely Planet, Washington Post, CBS NY, Elite Daily, Guest of a Guest, Brit + Co, New York Daily News and more. The campaign generated more than 514 million impressions and an ad value of $127,000. We received broadcast coverage on CBS NY and ABC Dallas highlighting the Vacation Envy package with the ABC Dallas coverage being syndicated multiple times.
Social Media: We generated 195,401 total impressions and reached over 2 million people across 73 posts and stories from partnerships with Dame Traveler and Wandering Dreamer.
Website: There were 14,312 visits to the Vacation Envy landing page and website traffic spiked during the campaign period.
Email: We had a 15.4% unique open rate (up 12% compared to avg.) with over 1% unique click-through rate and drove over 4,000 clicks.
