Join us in the short story of how we helped our client get more quality leads from around the world, including tourists who are currently in Croatia for their summer holidays.
Company Background
Blue Cave Tour company (Ilirio’s Hvar Tours) has been organizing trips to the Blue Cave and central-Dalmatian islands from Hvar Island since 2008, later expanding to tours from Split. As pioneers in small group speedboat tours with daily departures, Ilirio’s Hvar Tours prioritize positive experience over strict schedules. Years of expertise and dedication lead to improvement of satisfaction over numerous guests.
Expectations
Initially, the goal was to gather a large number of leads for our client’s daily tours, recognizing the need of filling the daily capacity. However, over time, we concluded with client that leads from foreign countries demonstrated higher quality. These individuals, planning ahead and booking in advance with a payment commitment, proved to be more reliable, reducing the likelihood of cancellations. In contrast, leads from last-minute inquiries were not only more prone to being captured by competitors but also had a higher likelihood of last-minute cancellations. This realization prompted a strategic shift towards prioritizing high-quality leads and minimizing the less reliable inquiries
Goals
Increase ROI (return on investment)
Decrease number of low quality leads
Solution
Our strategy was designed to align with different phases of the tourism season. During the pre-season, we exclusively targeted foreign countries, focusing on the fact that people tend to plan their summer holidays during this period. As the season approached, we expanded our reach to include campaigns targeting Croatia. Post-season, we shifted gears by pausing campaigns targeting foreign countries, concentrating solely on those that target Croatia.
Also, during the season, campaigns focusing on Croatia were assigned a higher CPA (Cost Per Acquisition) due to increased competition, trying to accomplish more high-quality leads. On the other hand, campaigns targeting foreign countries were working well with a smaller CPA as we didn’t have problems at attracting more high-quality leads.
Further refining our approach, we excluded areas within Croatia where tours occurred (Split and Hvar). This step aimed to minimize last-minute, non-quality leads by directing efforts toward individuals still travelling in Croatia and likely to book in advance.
And last, recognizing the impact of external factors, particularly weather on daily tours, we proactively adjusted our campaigns. After experiencing multiple rainy days in a row in Croatia and gathering consistent feedback from our client, we came to the conclusion that last-minute inquiries from tourists that are already in Croatia might not be the most valuable leads. During these days, we shifted our focus towards prioritizing inquiries from foreign countries, recognizing them as more promising leads.
So the goal was to redirect our financial resources towards campaigns that were likely to achieve better results and higher-quality leads, optimizing the return on investment and ensuring a more cost-effective approach to our advertising efforts.
Results
With each passing season, our advertising efforts have increased results, but the most important thing is that we’re not just getting more leads; we’re getting better-quality ones.
We want to emphasize the importance of client’s constant feedback. It stands out as the true driving force behind the success of these campaigns. The key to achieving better results and securing high-quality leads lies in active communication with the client, pointing out their crucial involvement in the process.
Although our current outcomes are impressive, our dedication to improvement stays strong. We are actively exploring ways to enhance efficiency and reduce costs even further.