The “Dark Skies” campaign was a groundbreaking tourism initiative for Nelson County, marking the first of its kind in Virginia. Designed to highlight the county’s pristine night skies and unique stargazing opportunities, the campaign aimed to attract visitors from Northern Virginia while fostering community involvement. With a cohesive brand identity, strategic social media efforts, and collaboration with local businesses, the campaign became a standout success for Virginia Tourism.
Nelson County Tourism’s “Dark Skies” Campaign Drove 800,000+ Impressions and Community Engagement
See how Nelson County Tourism’s innovative “Dark Skies” campaign captured the imagination of visitors, engaged local businesses, and delivered over 800,000 impressions in just 10 months.
Our social campaigns run across all areas of Facebook and Instagram — from Stories to Newsfeeds and more.
Overview
Our Roles
Advertising, Graphic Design
Our Approach
- Logo Redesign: Our agency guided the redesign of the campaign logo, ensuring it aligned seamlessly with the Nelson County and “Virginia is for Lovers” branding for a cohesive visual identity.
- Social Media Strategy: We executed a 10-month social media campaign across Facebook and Instagram, leveraging Stories, Newsfeeds, and more to maximize reach and engagement.
- Targeted Advertising: The campaign delivered 80,000 impressions per month to Northern Virginia, driving stay-over traffic and increasing awareness of Nelson County’s unique offerings.
- Community Collaboration: Nelson County Tourism partnered with local businesses to host “Dark Skies” events, creating a sense of community and amplifying the campaign’s reach.
- Landing Page Integration: A dedicated landing page, regularly updated by Nelson County Tourism, ensured a seamless user experience and provided measurable insights into campaign performance.
Results
The “Dark Skies” campaign exceeded expectations, generating over 800,000 impressions and becoming a highlight of the year for Virginia Tourism. By engaging local businesses and delivering a cohesive, high-impact digital presence, the campaign successfully drove tourism to Nelson County and showcased the region’s natural beauty.
This was a 10 month campaign. We ran 80,000 impressions per month to Northern Virginia to drive stay-over traffic. The results were impressive!
823,721
Impressions Served
7,246
Total Clicks
963
Event Clicks
45,139
Post Engagements
331
Event Responses
2,238
Total Conversions
Previous Logo
We were instrumental in finalizing the logo for this campaign. It originally had elements that were not indicitive of "Dark Skies" (i.e., the moon) so we encouraged client to redesign logo.
New Logo: Notice how it works perfectly with the Nelson County Logo/Virginia Is for Lovers logo. The concept for tying this together for a cohesive look came out of our agency. We do a lot of little things for clients that are not easy to measure!
Nelson County Tourism engaged with local businesses in Nelson County to participate in "Dark Sky" events, creating a sense of community and increasing the reach of the campaign.
It was important that Nelson County Tourism had a landing page that synced up with the advertising. They did a great job keeping the page up to date with the campaign and helped them measure the success.
These campaigns were the brainchild of Maureen Kelley, Dir Nelson County Tourism, and launched along with the incredible team members: Lisa McCade, Wendy Gray, Wil of Mountain Laurel Studios, & Kendra Dunn, who worked on them through out the year.