Tarangi Resort & Spa was a new luxury resort in the heart of Jim Corbett, close to the famous Jim Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand, India. Having been completely destroyed during the devastating floods of 2012, the resort was completely renovated with a plan to make a comeback in April 2018. Tarangi has plush accommodation comprising 44 rooms, and two villas, offering comfort with a touch of rustic charm, coupled with panoramic views of the hillside as well as the magnificent Kosi River. The USP of Tarangi Resort is that it occupies the largest stretch of land of the banks of the Kosi River – 800 feet – more than any other resort in Jim Corbett.

Tarangi Resort & Spa contacted Digitally Scrambled only 30 days before their scheduled launch, to devise and executed a digital marketing plan that would increase website visitors and followers on social media channels, engage meaningfully with visitors and potential customers to gain positive reviews and recommendations, and most importantly, increase sales and bookings for the resort while building its reputation as a premium destination wedding venue.

• The website had negligible traffic and no social media channels had been set up.
• Third-party booking and review websites like TripAdvisor/MakeMyTrip etc. needed to be set up and managed professionally.
• All the content (including pictures) that was available online was of the old property (from 2012), which made the resort appear outdated when compared to the new resorts in the vicinity. These footprints needed to be replaced with new content all over digital channels and the web, in general.
• The resort needed to make up for lost time and for cash flow invested in renovation.
• Jim Corbett is a seasonal destination and tourists visit from April-July, and thereafter, from November onwards. We took up the project in March, and as the season was about to begin, we needed roll out a quick action plan that would result in swift bookings for the property, increase revenue to make the most of the high-traffic period, as well as begin ongoing campaigns to sustain a good brand name for Tarangi Resort.

We decided to divide the digital marketing strategy into two parts – to generate bookings for the property by using paid ad campaigns and second, to put in place some organic content/campaigns to create a positive brand image directed to the targeted audience. The primary channels that helped us achieve the goals were

• SEO
• Social Media
• Google Adwords
• Facebook/Instagram Ads
• Emailers
• Blogger/Influencer Outreach
• Third Party Channel Management

1. Search Engine Optimization

SEO is the backbone of any digital campaign because of its high sales intent, but in hospitality, SEO is more than just ranking for a few keywords. We needed to maintain Google Local Listings and generate positive reviews. We had to focus our immediate attention to Local SEO so that the property can be found easily on search pages. Keep in mind that SEO takes months to generate steady results, and that the age of the website is a crucial factor. The Tarangi Resort website was brand new, the time in hand was limited and we faced direct competition with decades-old properties.

Still, our strategy worked out well during the peak season in Corbett as we were able to drive considerable traffic from search engines. We had 3,600 actions on the local listing including 841 website visits and 187 phone calls during the first 3-months.

2. Social Media

The strategy for social media was to focus on real content and to promote warm hospitality with a human touch. Apart from that, we needed to keep the USPs of the properties in mind when talking to potential guests looking for a summer vacation destination. A few of our content pegs included images of guests involved in World Environment Day, elephants drinking from the Kosi River, sharing real pictures of beautiful weddings at the resort (riding on the trending #RoyalWedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton in the UK) and contests for Mother’s Day

We were able to increase Facebook page Likes to 11.5k in just three months

3. Google Adwords

We took up Google Adwords as the quickest way to increase bookings and create awareness among people who were searching for similar keywords. We also re-marketed to the targeted audience. Our ad strategy included Search Ads, Display Ads and Remarketing Ads.

We were able to maintain low spend with higher ad-score and relevant ads, also taking advantage of remarketing ads to further increase the bookings for the property.

For example, in the month of June, we spent $155 and were able to generate 80 leads.

4. Facebook/ Instagram Ads

Once we setup the targeted audience on the Facebook Ads platform, we were able to multiply that by generating lookalike audiences and adding new people to the existing database. Creating highly targeted ads for that audience and cross-platform re-marketing resulted in a highly successful Facebook/Instagram campaigns for Tarangi Resort.

Statistics included Traffic amounting to 3000+ with a conversion rate of 14% and a total of 485 leads in 3 months.

5. Emailers & Newsletter

Being a new property, we had a very limited database but we managed to connect personally with new guests. We used newsletters as a medium to generate reviews and engagement for the property, connect with the guests directly, promote special offers and ask for referrals in their circle.

Some of mailers we started with:

• Sales and Booking Newsletters to customers
• Personalized promotional mailers to ask for reviews
• Specialized offers and promotions to the database

6. Blogger/ Influencer Marketing

Essentially the digital age’s version of a celebrity endorsement, influencer marketing is a powerful way to connect with larger audiences. Producing a successful campaign is easier said than done, however, as hotels need to take influencer selection, compensation, and ROI into account.

We started rolling our influencers campaign keeping the following numbers in mind –

• Instagram/YouTube Followers and Engagement to drive spurts in page visibility
• Blog PA/DA to benefit the SEO of Tarangi in the long term.

7. Channel Management

Managing the reputation well on digital platforms of any hospitality brand can be the key factor for a successful digital marketing campaign. We did a thorough research of the platforms and worked on a calendar based strategy to plan and execute special offers, discounts etc. while managing positive reviews and increasing visibility.

By mid-May, Tarangi Resort was completely sold out, every day of the week for the rest of the season (until July) and for most of the next season (November to Jan), so much so that we had to postpone influencer visits to off-season, when rooms were available. Our end-to-end digital marketing strategy for Tarangi Resort was entirely data-and-ROI-driven – making use of SEO to outrank competition and appear in organic searches, Facebook/Instagram and Google Ads to target both, interest-based and search-based queries and email marketing to translate bookings into positive reviews in order to push up rankings on third party channels and the local listing. Influencer Marketing was the cherry on the cake – as the beautiful images shared by high-profile social media users placed the resort on the social media feeds of their target audience in nearby cities.