Introducing New Audiences to ICE! in National Harbor via Destination Signals™
Discover the strategic solutions applied by Destination Signals™ to broaden the exposure of this beloved holiday event in National Harbor, MD.
Featuring dozens of complex ice sculptures carved from millions of pounds of ice, snowy slides, festive events, and other Christmas-inspired attractions, ICE! at Gaylord National Resort in National Harbor, Maryland, is a signature holiday attraction that delights hundreds of families — locals and visitors alike — each winter.
Challenge
The 2022 installment of this beloved attraction was the first to occur post-pandemic and without any COVID-19 related restrictions. The event organizers at ICE! were looking for new methods to educate potential visitors about the return of the event and what the revitalized, Christmas-themed experience would entail, all to help support ticket sales and increase attendance. Most importantly, the team at Gaylord National Resort wanted to target a wider audience instead of their standard hotel guests and clients in a cost-effective manner.
Solution
A Destination Signals™ Community Engagement Specialist met with the Gaylord National team in the fall of 2022 during an in-person Community Visit, where they discussed opportunities for ICE! to be more prominently featured on the official National Harbor destination website, thereby increasing the exposure of the event to a qualified audience of locals and leisure visitors.
The Gaylord National team opted to pursue a sponsored blog — written by Tempest’s Growth Marketing team to be optimized for organic search — in addition to Sponsored Content placements. The blog listed each of the core experiences of ICE! and the Gaylord’s other Christmas events in an easy to read format that answered top questions from visitors, while encouraging ticket sales. In addition to discovery via organic search, the blog was promoted through Sponsored Content strategically placed on pages on NationalHarbor.com including Things to Do, Family Fun and the Homepage — all of which receive significant shares of traffic and are relevant to the target audience for ICE!
Results
5,800
Organic Sessions
417K
Impressions
22,268
Clicks