Volcano Inn

Bringing a traditional Hawaiian business online

ABOUT VOLCANO INN

Volcano Inn is a Hawaiian hotel located on the Big Island of Hawaii. It offers a fantastic, affordable stay in Hilo, Hawaii. The hotel is a lovely destination thanks to its themed rooms, hot tubs, high performance wi-fi, all-inclusive breakfast, and landscape gardens. When I arrived to revitalize their business and establish their online presence, it was clear that with the right strategy we could put an end to their shrinking customer base over the previous 5 year period.

My role

2019

Product Design

Creative Digital Strategy

Service Design

Bringing HawaIian vibes online

I spent one month working and living at the hotel as a work-exchange designer. At first, my role was to rethink and manage their social media content. Very soon, I understood that the problem was more significant. Like most hotel business of the past, the hotel had no taking care of its online presence and customer experience. It was clear that no one searching online was finding the business, and those that did would not have been excited to book their stay.

The hotel’s branding was outdated, but I was working with an owner who was reluctant to make any real changes. He was deeply attached to a neon sign on the hotel’s front door, so I tried to keep the sign’s typography while adding in a touch of modern design.

Building a strong digital presence

As instructed, I looked after their social media. I mapped out all of their online accounts, including website domains, and began selecting what was useful and analyzing where their customers lived online. Once I had the whole picture, I selected the profiles we would focus our resources on and which ones had to die. Then, I designed new visuals and created a schedule to keep the profiles alive with high frequency and exciting, branded content. I tested social media management tools like Hootsuite and Sprout Social, leaving them with a manageable plan and schedule to keep their digital brand going strong when I left.

I wanted to leverage the '“living in Hawaii” concept for branding materials and on-site opportunities. I created playlists on Spotify with Hawaiian songs, for breakfasts, for the hot tub areas, for private parties, and common areas.

Results

At the end of the first week, they 5X’ed their Instagram followers (21 to 100), as well as high engagement with branded posts on Facebook. We immediately realized that there was an audience for the content.

As soon as social media was up and running, I tried to address the more pressing issues: review and booking engines. It was time to make the hotel pages at Booking, Airbnb, Expedia, and other online locations look incredible. I developed new pictures and descriptions focused on growing their search traffic. All previous and new customer reviews were answered thoughtfully from a response template I crafted for them.

After redesigning their online brand, it was important to update all offline materials such as documents, pamphlets, business cards, room keys, the check-in, and common areas.

Creating value that lasts

Before leaving my stay, I was able to redesign their company website, but didn't have enough time to implement it. Their owner and staff were already very pleased with the impact I had on their business in just one month. I left strategies, guides, and templates for everything having to do with their digital presence and customer service. Part of this plan was to offer real incentives for customers to leave reviews and feedback, to provide welcome kits to enchant new guests, and re-engagement actions after their stay.

for MORE information

You can find Hotel Volcano on Facebook, Instagram, Airbnb, Booking.com, and most other social media and booking sites.

If you want to know more about this project, contact me.