Results at a Glance
The Challenge
Killgore Adventures, a Hells Canyon-based outfitter offering jet boat tours, sturgeon fishing trips, and access to one of America’s most incredible outdoor landscapes, came to Conversion Engine after a period of sales decline. Year-over-year sales were down 28%, while the business did not have a marketing strategy in place or any paid campaigns running. Every booking was coming from word of mouth, repeat customers, and organic reach alone.
The most urgent opportunity was time-sensitive: the Idaho Sportsman Show in Boise was just weeks away. Killgore runs its best promotion of the year at the show, a buy one ticket, get a second 50% off. But with no advertising engine in place, there was no way to guarantee the offer would reach enough people to move the needle with a declining sales trend.
The Strategy
Before building a single ad, Conversion Engine ran its Brand DNA Analysis & Insights process on Killgore Adventures to uncover the emotional core of the brand, i.e. what actually motivates people book a trip to Hells Canyon, and what makes them tell their friends about it afterward. Those insights fed directly into Conversion Engine's Brand DNA Performance System, which shaped every campaign that followed around emotional themes and outcomes rather than generic feature-and-price messaging.
The plan had two phases. First, a fast-turnaround campaign built specifically around the Idaho Sportsman Show and its buy-one-get-one-50%-off ticket deal, timed to drive as much awareness and ticket volume as possible before the show. Second, as peak season approached, a broader set of campaigns built around Killgore's two flagship experiences: Hells Canyon Jet Boat Tours and Hells Canyon Sturgeon Fishing trips.
The Execution
Phase 1 — Idaho Sportsman Show
With no existing ad infrastructure to build from, Conversion Engine launched Killgore's initial Meta Ads campaign targeting Boise-area sportsman show attendees, built entirely around the show's signature buy-one-get-one-50%-off ticket offer. The goal was twofold: maximize ticket sales for the show and build broader awareness of Killgore Adventures heading into the season.
Phase 2 — Peak Season Campaigns
With the Brand DNA insights in hand, Conversion Engine built campaign strategies for Hells Canyon Jet Boat Tours and Hells Canyon Sturgeon Fishing, centered on emotional themes and outcomes rather than itinerary details. Messaging leaned into the once-in-a-lifetime, life-doesn't-get-better-than-this appeal of the trips, including creative built around lines such as:
— “Make This a Summer You'll Never Forget”
— “Warning: This Might Ruin Every Other Vacation”
— “Book a ‘Once in a Lifetime’ Sturgeon Fishing Trip”
— “Catch a River Monster in Hells Canyon”
Each line was designed to sell the feeling of the trip first, and the story someone gets to tell afterward, with the booking details doing the rest of the work.
The Results
The Idaho Sportsman Show campaign was an immediate success, generating 2X the revenue from the show compared to the previous year and a 12.5X return on ad spend on that initial launch — a dramatic result for the initial paid ad campaign. That early win set the tone for the rest of the season.
Heading into peak season, the Hells Canyon Jet Boat Tours and Sturgeon Fishing campaigns, built on the core Conversion Engine Brand DNA Performance System, kept that momentum going. Killgore Adventures has turned a 28% YOY revenue decline into a 48% YOY increase, and is now seeing an 8.5X return on investment with a 6.3X return on ad spend year to date.
"A business with no paid advertising and a 28% year-over-year decline is now up 48% YOY — driven entirely by campaigns built on emotional resonance, not just offers or discounts."
