Case Study›MountainWatch Travel

MountainWatch Travel

More Revenue. Same Budget. The Funnel Strategy That Made It Happen

March 2026

The Partner

MountainWatch Travel is a specialist snow travel operator delivering curated ski and snowboard experiences across New Zealand, Japan, and North America. Operating in a highly seasonal market, the business depends on capturing high-intent travellers during short booking windows. With a strong CRM system linking enquiries directly to bookings and revenue, MountainWatch Travel is able to measure real business outcomes from marketing activity rather than relying on surface metrics such as clicks or impressions.

Data Story Services

Paid AdvertisingCRM OptimisationFunnel Strategy

27%

Year-on-year revenue growth

Increase in ad spend required

The Challenge

MountainWatch Travel entered the 2025 season facing strong demand, particularly for Japan ski trips. However, increasing paid advertising spend without structure risked inflating acquisition costs during short seasonal booking windows. The challenge was to capture rising demand while maintaining efficiency. Scaling spend without structure risked inefficient investment. Historic campaign structures prioritised traffic volume rather than booking intent, and limited visibility between lead generation and actual booking revenue made optimisation difficult.

Our Approach

We implemented a structured, signal-first paid media strategy built around a Dream → Plan → Book funnel. This guided travellers from inspiration through to booking while continuously optimising spend using real performance signals.

A Dream → Plan → Book Campaign Structure

We developed a clear Dream → Plan → Book campaign structure so ads focused on one stage of the traveller journey at a time, allowing creative and messaging to match user intent.

Refined Targeting and Keyword Structure

We refined targeting and keyword structure by removing low-converting search terms, tightening match types and continually expanding negative keywords to prioritise booking intent.

Conversion Value and CRM Booking Data

We integrated conversion value and CRM booking data to link paid media activity directly to revenue outcomes, enabling data-driven optimisation throughout the season.

The Results

A disciplined optimisation approach converted rising seasonal demand into measurable and profitable growth.

During the 2025 season, MountainWatch Travel increased revenue by 27% year-on-year while maintaining the same overall paid media budget. Average paid media ROAS increased. Because campaign decisions were guided by real booking data rather than historic assumptions, spend remained aligned with actual demand. Notably, when performance data showed strong booking activity continuing through November and December - historically quieter months - investment was maintained rather than reduced. This allowed MountainWatch Travel to capture additional bookings that previous seasonal patterns would have missed.

Key Takeaways

Better Decisions Beat Bigger Budgets

You don't always need more budget to grow - you need better decisions. Keeping spend flat while revenue increased came from knowing when to hold, scale, or pull back, rather than following last year's assumptions.

Clear Structure Makes Optimisation Easier

Using a simple Dream → Plan → Book funnel meant each activity had one job. That made it easier to see what was working and fix what wasn't.

Real Booking Data Builds Confidence

Seeing enquiries turn into bookings in near real time made it possible to go against historic patterns, stay invested when demand was there, and avoid missing revenue.

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