Our Approach
As a trusted partner with the IRL for years, we had a wealth of knowledge and experience through previous work. After talking with the IRL team to identify what was important to feature and developing a strategy to meet their goal of increased awareness, we proposed a video series—harnessing the power of visual storytelling to show people enjoying all there is to do in the IRL.
Through market research and the power of our Collective Creative, we identified themes for the videos to focus on specific activities and areas of interest.
We also created a targeted media plan, leveraging the videos for digital advertising, social media, and OTT for streaming services to spread awareness and reach desired audiences.
The Work
Our copywriting and video team—with concepts in mind—went to work developing scripts, scouting locations, and eventually capturing footage at various places throughout the IRL. We also used this as an opportunity to gather professional photos of the various businesses to build a library for use on the IRL’s website, newsletters, and social media channels.
Each video threads the needle between crafting a slightly different approach and tone to align with the theme and featured businesses while maintaining the IRL’s overarching brand.
Romance on the River focused on planning the perfect date night.
Shop ‘til You Drop spotlighted all the places to shop and find new styles.
Indulge showed how to treat yourself over a long weekend.
Ready, Set, Go highlighted activities to do with friends.
Based on the success of the videos (more on that below) and the growth and evolution of businesses within the IRL, we advised creating another set of videos with new themes highlighting different businesses.
A Good Time in Every Direction displays the IRL’s growth and establishes it as the epicenter for great times.
Variety is the Spice of Life focuses on the variety of shops and restaurants in the landing.
IRL POV gives viewers a unique perspective on a day-in-the-life spent shopping, eating, and enjoying.
The Results
The first video ads were launched in the summer of 2022. The videos spurred awareness and contributed to the following success.
- Total page views rose 151% YOY.
- The average bounce rate fell from 63.48% to 61.64% (indicating that users engaged with the IRL’s site more often in 2022).
- Total organic user traffic (2021 vs 2022) from the top 3 search engines (Google, Bing, and Yahoo) rose from 16,888 to 25,786 (+52.69% YOY). This indicates a rise in awareness and interest in the Iowa River Landing YOY.
- Facebook ads brought in over 11,000 users in 2022, accounting for over 20% of the site’s total visitors.
This increase in awareness, engagement, and action led to the development of the second video series. The combination of videos created a comprehensive video library to use at a moment’s notice and across a variety of platforms.
Sound strategy, cool concepts, and the power of video storytelling all came together to showcase what makes the Iowa River Landing the destination for shopping, food, and fun.
