Big Bear Destination Signals

Client: Visit Big Bear 
Location: Big Bear, CA
Industry: Destination Marketing

Visit Website

Big Bear, CA is a charming mountain community and outdoor oasis located within driving distance from the Los Angeles and Las Vegas metropolitan areas. As COVID-19 restrictions impacted communities across the U.S., many urbanites began looking at Big Bear as the perfect road trip destination for a socially-distanced outdoor getaway.

Turning Web Traffic Into Qualified Leads
As travel demand for the California destination soared, Visit Big Bear partnered with Tempest's Destination Signals team to launch a native advertising program. Through native display advertising and sponsored blog content on BigBear.com, Visit Big Bear was able to convert website traffic into qualified sales leads and ROI for local business partners. 

 “The response from partners participating in our personalized advertising program has been tremendous. For our partners it’s been the perfect opportunity to effectively reach an audience that is highly interested in visiting their business,” says Eddie Kirsch, Director of Marketing for Visit Big Bear. “For us, it’s another great way to support the Big Bear community.”

Stellar Native Ad Performance
While the average click-through-rate for native advertising in the travel industry is 0.90* percent, Big Bear's Destinations Signals program drives an average 2.06 percent click-through-rate. Many of BigBear.com's targeted ad placements consistently drive click-through-rates of 5 percent and as high as 14 percent, which is significantly higher than the 0.90 percent industry average.

Engaging Travelers with Sponsored Blog Content
As part of the advertising mix, Visit Big Bear is offering partners the ability to sponsor blog content. Sponsored posts are crafted as useful guides to help visitors plan their stay.  So far, Big Bear's sponsored blog content has resulted in an average 5.66 percent click-through-rate to advertiser's websites and blog viewers spending about 30 percent more time engaging with the sponsored blog compared with other website content. Here's a look at one of the sponsored posts:

Since its early 2020 launch, the Destination Signals advertising program has added nine new community partners and generated thousands of qualified leads for local businesses. 

If you'd like to learn more about Destination Signals - and how you can support your community with an advertising platform - get in touch with our team today!


*Source: eMarketer's 2018 Native Advertising report.