From curious clicks to committed bookings — with stronger ROI beneath the surface.
School holidays escalate quickly.
It starts with, “What are we doing today?” and ends with a child insisting it has to be something different. Not the usual. Not the same old playground. Something with teeth. Or fins.
So parents scroll on social media. They’re not browsing casually. They’re searching for that one experience their kids will talk about for weeks.
Which raises the real question: how do you reach the right family at the exact moment they’ve decided this is the week for something unforgettable?
Because admiring a giant grouper online is one thing. Booking the experience is another.
So in 2025, we worked with Port Stephens Animal Adventures to focus less on shouting about the animals in their social media advertising and more on capturing families already leaning toward yes.
The result? Where Port Stephens became the answer to “Can we do something different?”
The Client: Port Stephens Animal Adventures
Port Stephens Animal Adventures doesn’t do passive viewing.
They offer real, up-close experiences. Crocodiles. Leopard sharks. Giant grouper. Eagle rays gliding past you like underwater aircraft.
It’s memorable. It’s slightly adrenaline-inducing. And during school holidays, it’s exactly the kind of experience families are searching for.
But high excitement only converts if your campaigns are built to catch it at the right moment.
Which is why they partnered with us — to turn holiday energy into measurable growth through targeted social media campaigns.
The Challenge: Capture Intent, Not Just Attention
The brief wasn’t “get more eyeballs.”
It was:
- Increase website purchases
- Improve cost efficiency
- Scale high-intent activity
- Outperform the previous year
All without dramatically increasing total social media ad spend.
Because impressions are nice.
Bookings with crocodiles involved? Much nicer.
The Strategy: Let the Funnel Do Its Job
We structured the paid social campaigns so each objective had a clear role.
Conversion campaigns were dialled up strategically:
- Website purchases up 83.13% (from 166 to 304)
- Spend up 30.64%
- Cost per purchase down 28.66%
In other words, we invested more — and paid less per result.
Upstream, something even more interesting happened.
Adds to cart didn’t just rise. They surged:
- Up 2,512.63% overall
- Traffic campaign adds alone up 4,435.29%
That’s not idle scrolling. That’s families seriously considering a crocodile encounter.
Traffic impressions dipped slightly (-9.30%) and landing page views decreased (-30.62%), but cost per landing page view held steady at $0.51, maintaining efficiency.
Less surface-level traffic. More serious intent.
We didn’t chase volume. We prioritised action.
And the social media campaigns worked together instead of competing — warming, nudging, converting. Like a well-rehearsed reef ecosystem.
The Results: More Adventure, Stronger Return
Here’s the big picture:
- Total purchases up 34.75% year-on-year, reaching 380
- Total ad spend up just 4.11%
More bookings. Almost the same budget.
The kind of outcome marketers bring up in meetings. Or write case studies about 😉
Why It Worked
Because we respected the season and the psychology.
School holidays aren’t about passive interest. They’re about memorable experiences. Crocodiles. Rays. Stories kids will talk about for weeks.
So we focused on:
- High-intent audiences
- Conversion-first structure
- Budget allocation that rewarded performance
- And letting data guide the throttle
More impressions don’t guarantee more bookings. But when the right families see the right experience — at exactly the right time?
They don’t just scroll. They dive in.
And in 2025, Port Stephens Animal Adventures converted more than attention.
They converted excitement.
