SLO MidWeekend
Turning Shoulder Season Into a Booking Surge
To combat off-season shoulder periods and fill mid-week hotel occupancy, the City of San Luis Obispo launched the "MidWeekend" initiative — offering travelers a $100 local shopping incentive for booking Sunday–Thursday stays. I led the copywriting and content strategy for the campaign, writing high-converting landing page messaging, structured midweek travel itineraries, partner promotional toolkits, and targeted email nurture sequences.
The Challenge
Behavioral Shift
Overcoming deep traveler bias toward traditional Friday–Sunday leisure travel to boost mid-week room night absorption during shoulder periods.
Multi-Channel Message Consistency
Aligning messaging across paid ad creative, destination landing pages, PR media kits, and local merchant toolkits under the umbrella brand "Say Hello to the SLO Life."
Partner Enablement
Writing modular, turn-key promotional copy for local hotel and retail stakeholders to distribute through their own channels without losing brand voice.
Strategy & Core Execution
High-Intent Destination Copywriting & Itinerary Architecture
- Authored core campaign messaging and value propositions for the MidWeekend landing page, turning a $100 local merchant voucher offer into a frictionless booking conversion path.
- Developed SEO-friendly, curated midweek travel itineraries highlighting off-peak perks — shorter lines, wine tasting, outdoor recreation, dining access — to give travelers concrete reasons to shift their trip dates.
High-Converting Email Copy & Audience Segmentation
- Crafted a two-tier email campaign targeting high-intent subscriber segments: an overarching campaign launch broadcast and a hyper-targeted Amtrak deal campaign.
- The segmented Amtrak push achieved a 70% open rate by pairing tailored transport messaging with mid-week travel perks — more than double the industry average.
Stakeholder & PR Copywriting Toolkits
- Authored comprehensive promotional copywriting guidelines, social captions, and poster copy for local hoteliers and merchants to maintain voice consistency across community-led promotion.
- Drafted media pitches and press release copy for regional PR partners, securing editorial placements with travel writers, influencers, and deal-focused publications.
Business Impact & Results
Direct Economic Value
Drove 380+ incremental room nights directly attributed to campaign touchpoints during off-peak periods.
Awareness Shift
90% of surveyed travelers reported a permanent increase in awareness of SLO's mid-week vacation options following the campaign.
340% ROI
Delivered $266K in trackable booking revenue alongside significant local merchant foot-traffic at the visitor center.
Completed as Lead Copywriter & Content Strategist in collaboration with Noble Studios for the City of San Luis Obispo.