Case Study›Ultimate Hikes

Ultimate Hikes

Driving Efficient Bookings & Improved CPA With A Lead Generation Strategy

September 2025

The Partner

Ultimate Hikes is a premium adventure tourism company offering multi-day guided walks through New Zealand's most iconic trails. Their target market includes both domestic and international travellers seeking a high-quality, fully guided hiking experience. Known for their seasonal launches and strong existing customer database, Ultimate Hikes wanted to expand their reach, attract new audiences, and nurture potential walkers by giving them the confidence and information needed to book this higher-ticket trip of a lifetime.

Data Story Services

Paid AdvertisingConversion Rate Optimisation

4.9%

Lead-to-booking conversion rate

-24%

Cost per booking

342

Leads generated

The Challenge

Ultimate Hikes had a proven track record with seasonal sale campaigns, primarily driven by their existing customer database. While effective, this approach limited their ability to attract new customers earlier in the journey. Data analysis showed that potential walkers required a long lead time before booking, suggesting a gap in nurturing prospects who needed more information and reassurance before committing.

Early-journey education gap

Potential customers required more education and inspiration earlier in their decision journey, beyond existing seasonal sale campaigns.

Long consideration periods

Data showed that walkers needed significant time and reassurance before booking, highlighting a gap in nurturing long-lead prospects.

Cost-effective acquisition opportunity

Analysis revealed an opportunity to generate leads more cost-effectively by guiding potential customers through a structured, trust-building journey.

Our Approach

We introduced a lead generation campaign built around an informative, shareable resource, supported by performance ads and tailored follow-up communications, to nurture prospects earlier in their journey and drive bookings at a lower cost.

Lead generation resource

Developed a lead generation campaign offering an informative, shareable resource that educated prospects about the hikes and built excitement within travelling groups.

Performance advertising

Executed performance ads to drive downloads of the resource, targeting audiences who required longer consideration periods.

Nurturing communications

Introduced nurturing communications post-download to answer questions quickly, highlight different walk options, and provide tailored guidance to help people choose the right hike.

The Results

Lead generation delivered high-quality bookings at a significantly lower CPA, proving more efficient than paid ads alone.

We generated 342 leads with a conversion rate of 4.9%. From these leads, 17 bookings were made, giving us a cost per acquisition that was 24% lower than Ultimate Hikes' overall average. This campaign delivered bookings at a significantly reduced cost, proving the strategy works. Beyond direct bookings, the initiative revealed valuable insights: follow-up communication was critical; post-purchase resources could be enhanced for existing customers. The data demonstrated that lead generation not only drove immediate results but also offered long-term opportunities to nurture, educate, and expand Ultimate Hikes' customer base.