LOVE RIDGE
Mountain Lodging
Fractional Chief Marketing Officer
Position Love Ridge Mountain Lodging as a premier Blue Ridge destination for both overnight stays and weddings while creating compelling experiences that drive bookings, media attention, and year-round visitation.
As the property continued to grow, the challenge was creating a digital experience that served two distinct audiences: travelers seeking a mountain getaway and couples searching for a wedding venue.
Waypoint Marketing Collective partnered with Love Ridge to strengthen its digital presence, improve the guest journey, and develop creative experiences that generate awareness, bookings, and earned media.
Positioning a Mountain Retreat for
Growth & Discovery
The Objective:
Developed targeted lifecycle marketing campaigns for both overnight guests and wedding prospects. Automated email journeys were designed to nurture leads, provide helpful information, and encourage bookings at key points in the decision-making process.
Email & Lifecycle Marketing
Developed Revolutionary Rest: Glamping Like It's 1776, a one-of-a-kind lodging experience inspired by America's 250th anniversary. By transforming an existing glamping accommodation into an immersive, historically inspired stay, the experience connected Love Ridge to Virginia's VA250 initiative while creating new opportunities for storytelling, media coverage, and destination marketing.
Experiential Marketing
Restructured the Love Ridge website around the needs of two key audiences—overnight guests and couples planning weddings. Content, navigation, and user flow were optimized to create a more seamless path to booking and inquiry.
Website Optimization
How we helped:
Strategic improvements to the guest journey, targeted marketing efforts, and innovative destination programming contributed to strong year-over-year growth for Love Ridge. Cabin revenue increased 11.8%, reservations grew 28.3%, and occupancy rose 15.7%. In addition, the Revolutionary Rest experience secured a $20,000 tourism marketing grant and generated regional and national media attention, helping elevate Love Ridge's visibility as a premier destination in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.
The Results
Since launching in May 2026, the wedding inquiry nurture campaign has guided 77 prospective couples through an automated follow-up journey, with 88% completing the full sequence. The campaign achieved strong engagement, generating open rates between 38.5% and 58.3% across the three-email series.
Email & Lifecycle Marketing
- Secured a $20,000 tourism marketing grant
- Earned regional and national media coverage, including Garden & Gun
- Created a differentiated lodging experience tied to Virginia's VA250 initiative
- Strengthened Love Ridge's position as a destination for unique mountain experiences