Nestled in the heart of Glencoe is a refurbished building on the National Register of Historic Places. Known for generations as a school, efforts to save the building and breathe new life into it started about a decade ago. Along the way the project gathered momentum and enthusiasm from community members and donors, resulting in over 1.5 million dollars raised.
Today the building is known as the Glencoe City Center, and its majestic presence in Glencoe, MN is drawing the attention of people across the state. Its architectural interests and “unsurpassed elegance with historic charm” has catapulted to the top of many brides’ preference for wedding receptions.
Keeping an Exquisite Venue Filled with Guests through Inspired Marketing
“I was hired roughly 6 years after the building opened. The facility had been growing since day one, but one of my goals was to further increase event bookings. Online marketing and increasing our overall exposure on social media were opportunities that I identified to help accomplish this goal. Right after the event center renovation was completed,” Dan Ehrke, Assistant City Administrator, says “we recognized we needed a website to highlight the venue.”
“We met with the team at Vivid Image, and right from the intake meeting it was clear that ideas were going to flow and they’d help us better market our venue online”. Karlie, Graphic Designer, “helped to paint the experience and help us visualize what the website could do.” Together, a website tagline was developed, everything was kept simple, and the need for professional photos was identified in order to do justice to its beauty and appeal online.
The Result
A glance through the website quickly captivates you with its fascinating spaces, beautiful amenities, and breathtaking photography. Dan states, “Brides do their homework and research well before they call.” With the website functioning exactly as intended, “lead calls are off the charts. From the time the website launched, we noticed an immediate impact. It started generating leads, which turn into sales. It’s like a night and day difference!”
With their website leads more concrete, the City of Glencoe is experiencing better closing rates. The joint efforts to market the website and utilize Facebook to reach out to potential brides is more effective. “All of this is much more efficient for staff time,” adds Dan. “Weddings are our largest revenue source, and bookings are up 40% from just two years ago.”
If you want to talk about how our Vivid Image team can help your business too, give us a call 320-587-8974
Facebook Ads
In addition to assistance with a new website, much needed clarity and focus around their Facebook marketing efforts have helped immensely. Vivid Image is providing tailored Facebook ads to reach newly engaged brides, driving them to the website to look around. Vivid Image created Facebook ads and ad testing with great success. Beth explains, “the Glencoe City Center Facebook Ads use audiences of newly engaged couples in a wide radius around the Glencoe area, as well as Look-Alike audiences to those who have visited the wedding page on their website. We have used single image ads, carousel ads and slideshows ads. We have gotten the best results from the slideshow ads, which put together 10 rotating images in a mini-video. Slideshow ads using the professional photography from weddings has helped to make the ads pop. The goal with the GCC Facebook ads is to get them to click thru to the weddings page on the GCC website, where they can see more photos, testimonials, date availability, and ultimately schedule a tour.”
Dan definitely concurs that the Facebook ads have worked well, “once we get them to the website, they either book their reservation online, or request that we provide an onsite tour. Either result is a win for us. Not only are people from the Glencoe area reserving our venue, but we are getting bookings from Dassel, Cokato, Olivia, and as far away as Shakopee. We know our marketing is working because these couples have no ties to Glencoe. They’re simply blown away by the unique venue. It helps that price-wise, we’re more competitively priced when compared to the metro area.” The Glencoe City Center Facebook ads are costing them less than they were in 2017. “Over the course of a year, we have been able to optimize their Facebook campaign enough to reduce the cost per click from $1.73 to .52, which is a 69% decrease in cost per click. This is due to utilizing the Facebook pixel, lookalike audiences, and testing different media options. They are getting more leads within their same budget.”
“Our expenses are down and revenues are up; that is essentially what any business wants,” Dan, Glencoe, MN – Assistant City Administrator
The Glencoe City Center website and marketing project is a great example of what happens when attention is given to the right areas, and resources allocated in a thoughtful, measured approach. The Vivid Image team listened to their needs, provided fresh eyes, and offered a new method of reaching their target market online and via the mobile market. The visual aspect to this project was key, and it continues to be critical to tell stories and paint pictures of possibilities through high quality photography. The Glencoe City Center is now booking weddings and other events over two years out!
Sometimes creating great success doesn’t mean starting over; try something new, ask for help, or change one aspect. You may be surprised. Want to chat about how Vivid Image can help generate more website traffic, leads, and sales for your business or non-profit? Contact us to get started! (320) 587-8974 [email protected]
