We Used Local Media To Generate A Flood of Bookings

A lot of people claim that local media is dead.

Those people are wrong.

It’s true, there have been a lot of changes. Newspapers are dying. The internet is king. We’re more interconnected than ever.

But local media is still alive and kicking. Just in a different form.

We proved this at Skyridge Glamping. 

Here’s how.

The Local Evolution

The local media of old is on its way out. Think offices full of trained journalists, reporting on local stories that matter. The internet killed that.

It’s sad, but it was inevitable.

Like most things affected by the internet, local media has been forced to adapt to the new landscape. 

Now, instead of in-depth stories written for newspapers, it’s bite-sized content made for the Instagram algorithm.

Let’s take Calgary, the closest city to Skyridge Glamping (Posh Outdoors’ first location).

For decades, Calgarians would get their local news from The Calgary Herald, a proud newspaper founded in 1883. 

Now, they’ll find out about restaurant openings and cool things to do from Instagram pages like Date Night Calgary and Calgary Now. 

More shallow? Almost certainly. But that’s how the world works now.

Regardless of your opinion on this shift, these Instagram-centric forms of local media can be powerful marketing tools for your glamping business.

Which brings me to Skyridge Glamping’s recent media partnership…

Skyridge X Date Night Calgary

As soon as we installed our mirror cabins at Skyridge Glamping, I contacted Date Night Calgary to see what media packages they offered.

It was an obvious fit. They have 148k Instagram followers, a relevant audience less than an hour from the property, and they create high-quality content with strong engagement.

 We agreed to pay $1,700 CAD (around $1,250 USD) for:

1. Their team to stay in one of our SkyGlass cabins and post a Reel about it

2. A giveaway, where their followers had to follow the Skyridge account and tag a friend for the chance to win a free two-night stay

The Reel performed really well. Their team knows how to produce algorithm-friendly content. It got 113k views and over 1,500 shares.

The giveaway was great too.

From the minute it was announced, my phone exploded and didn’t stop for days. I had to mute my notifications as so many people were tagging their friends.

The results?

• 161k views

• 11.8k comments

• 960 shares

Crucially, we had a huge flood of bookings after the posts went live.

People still care about local stuff. They want to know about fun spots in town, and where to take their partner for that special getaway.

You just have to know where the attention is, and use it to your advantage.

We’ll be partnering with local Calgary Instagram pages again for Skyridge, and we’ll be rolling out the playbook for all future Posh locations.

And you should too!