Pinehurst is one of the most recognized golf destinations in the United States. That awareness drives strong top-of-funnel demand, but for many travelers Pinehurst is defined by golf alone.
The Visit Pinehurst, Southern Pines, Aberdeen Area team knew there was an opportunity to expand visitor consideration and drive overnight visitation beyond golf resorts by highlighting the region’s wide range of dining, retail, events, and leisure experiences. They partnered with MediaOne to reposition the destination within Meta’s ecosystem, using a strategy grounded in creative scale, audience signals, and mid-funnel engagement.
This approach reflects how Meta advertising for tourism now operates, where performance is driven by creative diversity and algorithmic learning rather than narrow audience targeting.
Meta connects awareness channels such as CTV and programmatic display with high-intent conversion channels like paid search. It functions as a mid-funnel engine that builds consideration, engagement, and audience depth.
For Pinehurst, this layer was critical. The campaign strategy needed to go beyond generating simple clicks, to redefine what potential visitors associate with the destination and create a path to deeper engagement.
Success on the platform depends on feeding the algorithm a high volume of varied creative inputs, rather than matching a single message to a tightly defined audience. This same principle underpins strategies to train the algorithm for tourism marketing and building stronger performance over time.
MediaOne developed a Meta campaign for Pinehurst designed to align with the platform’s Andromeda algorithmic model. The structure prioritized creative variation and signal generation over static audience definitions.
The campaign focused on three principles:
Creative-led targeting: Ads used varied messaging and written text, allowing Meta to match content to user interests dynamically instead of relying on predefined targeting.
Cross-channel audience development: Tracking infrastructure connected upper-funnel exposure with Meta engagement. Users reached through CTV and programmatic channels could be re-engaged on Meta, reinforcing messaging across touchpoints.
Mid-funnel engagement as a performance driver: Campaigns were built to generate interaction through clicks, reactions, and comments, giving the platform stronger signals to optimize delivery.
MediaOne and Pinehurst mapped a broader set of destination attributes to expand the narrative beyond golf:
Golf and resort experiences
Golf-adjacent attractions and dining
Local retail, restaurants, and leisure activities
Group travel, weddings, and event-driven visitation
From this framework, the team developed more than 15 creative variations that paired different visuals, headlines, and value propositions. Each variation introduced a distinct perspective on the destination experience.
Once launched, the team emphasized continuous iteration to drive improved performance. MediaOne replaced underperforming creative, while gleaning insights from top-performing variations that informed new creative development. This created a feedback loop that strengthened performance as the campaign scaled.
The creative-led Meta strategy produced measurable improvements across engagement and acquisition metrics:
436% increase in post-click engagement on the website
41% decrease in average cost per click
289% increase in total website clicks
326% increase in on-platform engagement, including a 229% increase in reactions and 76% increase in comments
These gains reflect stronger alignment between creative, audience signals, and platform optimization. As more data entered the system, the algorithm refined delivery and improved efficiency.
As the strategy evolved, Meta became a central driver of mid-funnel performance for Pinehurst. The campaign expanded how travelers evaluate the destination and increased the likelihood of overnight visitation.
Platforms like Meta reward campaigns that prioritize volume, variation, and interaction. By aligning strategy with how the platform operates, Pinehurst moved beyond a single-story identity and created a more balanced, experience-driven narrative that supports sustained growth.