While it is still far from over, 2020 was a year that rocked the world. Among the industries hit hardest by the pandemic was travel & hospitality. In Vancouver, we had a boutique hotel with 49 suites to fill and staff that they were determined to maintain and support.

Our philosophy was simple. Weather the storm enough to keep the doors open and build for the future. With that, we decided to focus heavily on building out our various CRM (Email, Messenger, and SMS) lists and creating and/or optimizing content for organic search.

Below are the results. As 2020 was a horrible year for pretty much every business, we’ll focus on comparisons to 2019 when the client had their best year ever on direct website bookings.

CRM Results: Build Those Lists

With respect to our CRM, we focused on building both the email list and the SMS list as primary functions. We also focused on segmenting and optimizing those lists with tags so that we knew how to give them exactly what they wanted to open, read, and click on.

  • Average Email Open Rate: 37%
  • Average Email Click Rate 5.2%
  • Average SMS Click Rate: 38%

The overall CRM revenue increase: +308% Revenue Generated

By segmenting our lists and creating a more personal experience, as well as driving new sign-ups, we more than tripled the revenue of the previous best year the client had ever had.

Creating a stronger, more personal line of communication while continuing to build a larger audience is a formula that will never serve you poorly when done correctly.

SEO Focus Results: Convert Qualified Visitors

When it came to SEO, we knew that we needed to build out new content while being respectful of the tone around the world. This was not the best time to be writing BuzzFeed-style articles to try and steal clicks. We needed to produce new content but also optimize what we had based on the changing landscape of organic search. As a client with a high conversion rate for their industry, it was also important to not lose that when chasing new users.

  • New Users: 112% increase
  • Bounce Rate: 49% decrease
  • Transactions: 87% increase

The overall Organic Search revenue increase: +167% Revenue Generated

Our focus was to build for the future and, when the guests started searching again, they found Sunset Inn & Suites. Many of these new organic search users also signed up for our CRM lists as well. We call that a win-win.

Never stop building for the future.

The most important thing about these stats is that the growth we saw was over 2019, the client’s previous best year ever. Our team thought ahead and was lucky enough to have a client that believed in our approach and stay the course. Now, they’re seeing the benefits and we’re thrilled to see them flourishing again.

Every business faces hard times, whether that be due to COVID-19 or something else. It’s important to have strong relationships between agencies and clients to ensure success. We’re lucky to have the client partnerships that we have here at Phrasing. They trust us and we trust them.

If you’re ever in Vancouver, be sure to check out Sunset Inn & Suites. Tell them Tim and Tom sent you.