Prepared by
Digital Growth Plan
A multi-phase strategic roadmap to modernize your digital infrastructure, automate revenue, and build a competitive moat before peak season.
Pontoon Saloon
Nashville Water Taxi
A multi-phase strategic roadmap to modernize your digital infrastructure, automate revenue, and build a competitive moat before peak season.
Pontoon Saloon and Nashville Water Taxi have the brand recognition, the reviews, and the on-water experience to dominate Nashville's booming tourism market. What's missing is the digital infrastructure to match: conversion-optimized web pages, automated customer journeys in GoHighLevel, a systematic email/SMS program, and a paid media strategy that actually tests and evolves.
Nashville Riverboats is launching two historic paddlewheelers downtown this spring. They already rank #1 for "nashville river cruise." The window to strengthen your digital position is right now.
This plan is built around four phases, prioritized by impact: web development and design first, then GHL workflow automation (building on your existing platform), email/SMS marketing, and finally paid media across Google Ads and TikTok Search Ads. The setup work is absorbed into a low onboarding fee and monthly retainer so we can get started fast without a heavy upfront commitment.
| Criteria | Pontoon Saloon | Nashville Water Taxi |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Grade | B+ | C+ |
| Pricing Visible on Homepage | ❌ Not on cruise cards | ✅ Shows on cards ($40/$30) |
| Reviews / Social Proof | ✅ 5 testimonials + TA badge | ❌ Zero reviews displayed on site |
| Email Capture | ⚠️ Footer only | ❌ None anywhere |
| Chatbot / AI Assistant | ❌ | ❌ |
| Mobile UX | ✅ Sticky footer bar | ⚠️ Adequate, no sticky CTA |
| Known Bugs | Copyright needs update | "Edit Template" visible on homepage; "Depature" misspelled in multiple spots |
| Segment Landing Pages | ⚠️ Bach page exists but thin | ❌ No sunset, family, or game-day pages |
| Platform | Pontoon Saloon | Nashville Water Taxi |
|---|---|---|
| Strong (est. 200+ reviews) | ⭐ 5.0, but only 32 reviews | |
| Yelp | ⭐ 4.5 (83 reviews, 187 photos) | ❌ No independent listing |
| TripAdvisor | Travelers' Choice (280+ est.) | Thin presence |
| OTA Distribution | Viator, Expedia, Batch, GetYourGuide | Minimal |
| 8,721 followers | 1,191 followers | |
| TikTok | 7,203 followers / 122K likes | ❌ No presence |
Nashville Water Taxi's 5.0 Google rating is a rare asset, but at only 32 reviews it's fragile and under-leveraged. Not a single review or testimonial appears on the website. Fixing this is one of the highest-impact, lowest-cost things we can do.
Spring 2026: Nashville Riverboats is launching two historic paddlewheelers at a downtown dock with FareHarbor integration and significant press coverage (featured on ABC's "9-1-1: Nashville"). They already rank #1 for "nashville river cruise," directly threatening NWT's core search query. Strengthening your digital presence now builds the moat before they're fully operational.
| Metric | Pontoon Saloon | Nashville Water Taxi |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 Actual Spend | $27,756 | $7,045 |
| 2025 Online Booking Revenue | $425,059 | $47,544 |
| Blended ROAS | 15.3x | 6.7x |
| 2026 Proposed Budget (Tomis) | $29,100 | $10,000 |
| Best Campaign | Branded: 28.1x ROAS | IS Local: 7.1x ROAS |
| Weakest Campaign | Corporate: 0.4x ROAS | PMax: 4.8x (improving) |
| Bachelorette Campaign | Shut down at 4.2x ROAS | N/A |
The data tells a clear story: Branded campaigns are very efficient (54% of revenue from 23% of spend) but the account is almost entirely demand capture. The bachelorette and corporate campaigns underperformed and were shut down or left to coast. Non-branded acquisition, the "offense" play, hasn't been meaningfully tested in five years. That's the gap.
Fix the foundation first. Clean up bugs, add trust signals and pricing transparency that convert browsers to bookers, and build dedicated landing pages for your highest-value audience segments.
Dedicated landing pages for the highest-value audience segments. These serve double duty: they capture organic long-tail keywords your competitors own today, and they give paid campaigns a conversion-optimized destination instead of generic pages.
You're already on GoHighLevel and loving the unified inbox. This phase builds revenue-generating workflows on top of what you already have. No new platform, no migration. Just the automation sequences and AI chatbot that turn GHL from a communication hub into a booking engine.
The missing piece: getting FareHarbor booking data into GHL so automations can trigger based on real customer actions.
Highest priority given NWT's 5.0 rating with only 32 reviews.
Your unique competitive advantage. No one else has two distinct water experiences to cross-promote.
Even a 5% cross-purchase rate between the two brands could generate $40K-$75K in annual incremental revenue with zero ad spend.
You mentioned wanting an AI assistant to handle common questions and cut phone volume. GHL's Conversation AI deploys across website chat, Instagram DMs, Facebook Messenger, and SMS, all flowing through the single pane of glass you already love.
Tourism email marketing delivers $53 ROI for every $1 spent, significantly above the $36 cross-industry average. With GHL workflows already running from Phase 2, this phase layers on strategic campaigns, list-building systems, and a seasonal broadcast cadence that turns one-time guests into repeat bookers.
| Sequence | Emails | Trigger | Goal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Welcome Series | 3 over 7 days | New subscriber | First booking (target 8-12% conversion) |
| Pre-Trip Nurture | 3 over 3 days | Booking confirmed | Reduce no-shows, drive add-ons |
| Post-Trip & Review | 4 over 14 days | Tour completed | Reviews, referrals, UGC |
| Re-Engagement | 3 at 30/60/90 days | Time since last trip | Repeat bookings (15% re-book target) |
| Birthday / Anniversary | 1 email + SMS | Date field match | Special occasion bookings |
| Bach Referral | 2 post-bach cruise | Bach tag + 7 days | Brides refer other brides-to-be |
| Corporate Re-Activation | 2 quarterly | Corporate tag + 90 days | Annual event repeat bookings |
| Season | Frequency | Content Mix |
|---|---|---|
| Peak (Apr-Oct) | Weekly | Event tie-ins (CMA Fest, NFL, July 4th), flash sales for weekday fills, new cruise spotlights, UGC features |
| Shoulder (Mar, Nov) | Bi-weekly | Early-bird season openers, holiday party cruises, gift card pushes |
| Off-Season (Dec-Feb) | Monthly | Year in review, Nashville insider content, gift cards, behind-the-scenes, early-bird season passes |
Google Ads is currently managed by Tomis. This phase can supplement or replace that, but either way the new landing pages from Phase 1 and GHL tracking from Phase 2 unlock campaign strategies that weren't possible before. We're also adding TikTok Search Ads, a channel your competitors aren't touching yet.
TikTok Search Ads let you appear in TikTok search results when users search "nashville bachelorette ideas," "things to do in nashville," and "nashville boat party." Pontoon Saloon already has 7,200+ followers and 122K likes, so there's existing content to leverage. Your competitors are nowhere on this channel.
Why TikTok Search now: 40% of Gen Z uses TikTok as a search engine for travel planning. Nashville bachelorette content is massive on the platform. Your existing content library is an asset. And your competitors aren't there yet, so there's a real first-mover window.
Phases overlap so we move fast. Goal: Phases 1 and 2 fully live before April peak season opens.
Fix all bugs/typos on both sites. Add NWT review widget and email capture. Add PS pricing to homepage cards. Technical SEO audit. GBP optimization and NWT Yelp listing creation.
Design and build 5 segment landing pages. In parallel, build FareHarbor-to-GHL data pipeline, connect GBPs to Reputation Management, configure SMS.
Build, test, and launch all 4 automated workflows (review gen, abandoned booking, pre-trip, cross-sell). Review generation goes live immediately so NWT reviews start building before peak season.
Train and deploy Conversation AI across both brands. Install lead magnets and QR capture on both sites. Build all 7 automated email sequences.
Launch first broadcast campaigns. Begin weekly newsletter cadence for peak season. Simultaneously audit both Google Ads accounts and deliver restructuring recommendations.
Implement Google Ads changes. Launch competitor conquest and revived bachelorette campaigns pointed at new landing pages. Set up and launch TikTok Search Ads test campaigns.
All systems running. Enter ongoing optimization cycle: SEO content, GHL workflow tuning, email A/B testing, ad performance optimization. Monthly reporting and strategy calls.
Peak season target: Phase 1 + 2 live by early April. Email sequences firing by mid-April. Google Ads restructured by May. TikTok Search tested by June. Full stack optimized for the Jul-Sep revenue peak.
We've structured this so the majority of build-out work is absorbed into the monthly retainer rather than front-loaded as a large setup fee. The onboarding fee covers hard costs and initial discovery, and the retainer covers all ongoing execution across every phase.
| Included in Onboarding | Amount |
|---|---|
| Phase 1A quick wins and bug fixes (both sites) | Included |
| Technical SEO audit and local listing setup | Included |
| FareHarbor-to-GHL pipeline build | Included |
| GBP integration and SMS configuration | Included |
| Google Ads audit | Included |
| One-Time Onboarding Fee | $4,000 |
| Service | Includes | Monthly |
|---|---|---|
| Web Dev & SEO | Landing page builds (Months 1-3), 1-2 blog posts, GBP management, backlinks, technical maintenance | $1,000 |
| GHL Automation | Workflow builds (Months 1-3), chatbot setup and training, ongoing optimization, reporting | $850 |
| Email / SMS Marketing | Sequence builds (Months 2-3), weekly campaigns (peak), list hygiene, A/B testing | $750 |
| Paid Media (Google + TikTok) | Ads restructure (Month 3), TikTok setup (Month 3-4), ongoing optimization, reporting | $750 |
| Platform Costs | GHL AI Employee (~$97), Twilio SMS (~$50), email sending (~$20) | ~$167 |
| Total Monthly Retainer | $3,517/mo | |
Ad spend is separate. Google Ads (~$3,250/mo avg) and TikTok test budget ($500-$1,000/mo) are paid directly to the platforms, not to Captive Demand. The retainer covers all service fees and platform costs.
| Category | Amount |
|---|---|
| Onboarding Fee | $4,000 |
| Monthly Retainer x 12 | $42,204 |
| Year 1 Captive Demand Fees | $46,204 |
| Google Ads spend (est., paid to Google) | ~$39,000 |
| TikTok Ads spend (est., paid to TikTok) | ~$6,000-$12,000 |
Conservative projections based on industry benchmarks and comparable implementations:
Every phase builds on the last, and the sooner we start, the more of peak season 2026 we capture. Nashville Riverboats is already building their digital presence. The time to strengthen yours is now.
Walk through this together. Adjust scope, priorities, and phasing to your comfort level.
WordPress admin, FareHarbor, Google Ads, GHL admin, Google Business Profiles, and analytics access. We sign a 6-month initial agreement with a 30-day out clause.
Phase 1A quick fixes ship within 5 business days. NWT bugs gone, social proof visible, PS pricing on homepage. You'll see changes before the next strategy call.
Simple to start: $4,000 onboarding + $3,517/mo retainer. All four phases are included from day one and rolled out over 16 weeks. No surprise invoices, no scope creep charges. Just consistent execution across web, automation, email, and paid media.
Spencer Donaldson
spencer@captivedemand.com