Client: Boutique Caribbean resort (luxury hospitality) · Role: Senior Growth Manager — owned strategy, build, and execution end to end · Channels: Meta only (organic + paid) → sold a cross-channel FY26 plan
The problem
The resort restarted marketing after a pause, over-dependent on OTAs/Vrbo, with static-image ads producing high CPAs and weak engagement. They needed direct-booking demand rebuilt — with social as the only paid channel.
What I diagnosed
Booking attribution was limited, so I couldn’t optimize to the sale directly. The fix was a measurement spine built on funnel progression (landing page → villa page → booking page) plus high-intent proxies (CallRail, form fills), and a creative pivot from static to video to earn attention in feeder markets with direct flights to the island.
The system I built
A ThruPlays > Key Events funnel: cold luxury video prospects direct-flight DMAs and feeds retargeting sets optimized to landing-page views and villa-page progression. I set custom per-stage benchmarks (Link CTR, ThruPlay rate, landing-page rate, villa rate) and tracked them monthly, with organic reels and boosted lives keeping the brand ambient while closed-loop tracking came online.
The measurable result
+81% direct (resort-channel) revenue YoY — 181% of goal — and that came from 46.1% of total gross rent on just 35.5% of the stays, i.e. higher-value bookings from targeting high-net-worth travelers (repeat-guest revenue +49%). CTR up 400%+ after the static-to-video pivot. Over 30 days the funnel beat every benchmark: Link CTR 8.65% vs. 5.5% target, ThruPlay 6.34% vs. 3.8%, landing-page rate 131.6% of target, villa-page rate 2.84% vs. 2.1%. Landing-page views at $0.17 and retargeting CPCs at $0.15, with CallRail and form-fills as the high-intent proxy while payment-processor tracking came online.
Why it’s repeatable
The benchmark data became the pitch: it sold a cross-channel FY26 plan — scaling the video budget, adding a branded-search line to defend the SERP against OTAs, and continuing SEO/GBP (organic traffic doubled, 750+ ranking positions gained, #1 for the flagship destination search term). Proof that a social-only proof-of-concept can underwrite a full-funnel expansion.