Prepared by
Digital Growth Plan
Websites, SEO/AEO, landing pages, paid media, and email startup consulting to dominate Nashville's water tourism market.
Pontoon Saloon
Nashville Water Taxi
Websites, SEO/AEO, landing pages, paid media, and email startup consulting to dominate Nashville's water tourism market.
Pontoon Saloon and Nashville Water Taxi have the brand equity, reviews, and on-water experience to own Nashville's water tourism market. The gap is on the digital side: the websites need conversion optimization and dedicated landing pages, SEO/AEO needs to be built out to capture both traditional and AI-driven search, and paid media needs fresh thinking beyond five years of the same playbook.
Nashville Riverboats is launching two historic paddlewheelers downtown this spring. They already rank #1 for "nashville river cruise." Your brands should own that spot and every other high-value query in this space.
This plan focuses on three areas based on your priorities: websites and SEO/AEO as the core engagement, a 3-6 month email/SMS startup consulting sprint to get Matthew up and running, and paid media across Google Ads, Facebook, and TikTok Search Ads.
| 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 |
| 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 |
| AEO Readiness (AI Search) | ❌ No markdown, no LLM optimization | ❌ No markdown, no LLM optimization |
| Keyword | PS Rank | NWT Rank | Opportunity |
|---|---|---|---|
| "nashville party boat" | #1 | N/A | Defend position |
| "nashville bachelorette party boat" | #1 | N/A | Defend + dedicated landing page |
| "nashville river cruise" | #2-3 | #2 | Nashville Riverboats is #1 |
| "nashville boat tours" | #2-3 | Below fold | Both brands should rank Page 1 |
| "nashville sunset cruise" | Not ranking | Not ranking | No page exists. High search volume. |
| "things to do in nashville on the water" | Not ranking | Not ranking | No content targeting this |
| "nashville family boat tour" | Not ranking | Not ranking | NWT's niche. No optimized page. |
| "titans game parking alternative" | N/A | Not ranking | Zero competition. Perfect for NWT. |
Spring 2026: Nashville Riverboats is launching two historic paddlewheelers at a downtown dock with significant press coverage (featured on ABC's "9-1-1: Nashville"). They already rank #1 for "nashville river cruise," directly threatening NWT's core query. Both of your brands should command that #1 spot. Strengthening your web presence and SEO/AEO 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 |
| Branded % of Spend | 23% of spend, 54% of revenue | Similar ratio |
| Weakest Campaign | Corporate: 0.4x ROAS | PMax: 4.8x (improving) |
| Bachelorette Campaign | Shut down at 4.2x ROAS | N/A |
The branded spend issue: Branded campaigns are efficient (28.1x ROAS) but that's people who already know you. The real growth comes from reducing branded spend and redeploying to non-branded acquisition: party bus, party tractor, competitor terms, and bachelorette keywords. That shift hasn't happened in five years. We'll make it happen.
This is the core of our partnership. Fix the foundation, build dedicated landing pages for your highest-value segments, and ensure both brands dominate traditional search and AI-driven search engines.
Dedicated landing pages for the highest-value audience segments. These capture organic long-tail keywords your competitors own today, and give paid campaigns a conversion-optimized destination instead of generic pages. All pages support dynamic text replacement so headlines update based on the visitor's search term.
Why AEO matters now: Click-through from traditional search has dropped ~25% due to AI search. We're seeing a 25% traffic lift for clients who optimize for LLM crawlers through markdown conversion and structured content. This is a real competitive edge that Tomis and most agencies aren't doing yet.
Your goal is to run email and SMS in-house with Matthew at the helm. We'll get him up and running with strategy, configuration, segmentation, and templates he can build on. This is a 3-6 month engagement designed to hand off a fully operational system, not create an ongoing dependency.
The goal is independence. By month 6, Matthew has the strategy, the templates, the segments, and the confidence to run email/SMS without us. We're building a system, not a dependency.
Google Ads needs a strategic shift from branded defense to non-branded offense. We're adding Facebook to the mix and launching TikTok Search Ads to capture the next generation of Nashville tourists where they actually search.
TikTok Search Ads let you appear when users search "nashville bachelorette ideas," "things to do in nashville," and "nashville boat party." PS already has 7,200+ followers and 122K likes, so there's content to leverage. Your competitors aren't here yet.
Will TikTok ads hurt organic? Short answer: no. TikTok Search Ads run separately from your organic profile. Your organic reach, follower growth, and video performance are not affected by running search ads. In fact, the signals often help. Ad engagement (likes, follows, shares) feeds back into your organic presence. Many brands see organic growth accelerate after launching ads because the additional impressions drive profile visits and follows.
Goal: website fixes and landing pages live before April peak season. Paid media restructured and testing by May.
Fix all bugs/typos on both sites. Add NWT review widget and email capture. Add PS pricing to homepage cards. Technical SEO/AEO audit. GBP optimization and NWT Yelp listing creation. Begin markdown conversion for AI search.
Design and build 5 segment landing pages with dynamic text replacement. In parallel, deliver email/SMS strategy document and template library to Matthew. Configure list-building infrastructure on both sites.
Build and send first campaigns alongside Matthew. Bi-weekly coaching calls begin. Launch ongoing blog content program (2-4 posts/month). Continued SEO/AEO optimization.
Full account audit. Implement branded spend reduction. Launch competitor conquest campaigns (party bus, tractor keywords). Revive bachelorette campaign pointed at new landing page.
Build audience-based campaigns, retargeting, and lookalike audiences. Launch with UGC-first creative. Begin weekly optimization cycles.
Set up and launch TikTok Search Ads test campaigns. Repurpose existing content as ad creative. Begin measuring cost per booking against Google and Facebook benchmarks.
All systems running. Ongoing SEO/AEO content, blog program, landing page testing, paid media optimization across all three platforms. Monthly reporting and strategy calls. Email consulting continues with Matthew through month 6 as needed.
Peak season target: Landing pages live by early April. Blog content rolling by mid-April. Google Ads restructured by May. Facebook and TikTok testing by June. Full stack optimized for the Jul-Sep revenue peak.
Simple pricing. Low upfront, monthly retainer covers all execution. Email consulting is a time-bound sprint, not an ongoing charge.
| Included in Onboarding | Amount |
|---|---|
| Phase 1A quick wins and bug fixes (both sites) | Included |
| Technical SEO/AEO audit + local listing setup | Included |
| Email/SMS strategy document + template library | Included |
| Google Ads audit | Included |
| One-Time Onboarding Fee | $4,000 |
| Service | Includes | Monthly |
|---|---|---|
| Web Dev, SEO/AEO & Blog Content | Landing page builds (Months 1-3), 2-4 blog posts, GBP management, backlinks, AI search optimization, ongoing technical maintenance | $1,500 |
| Email/SMS Consulting (Months 1-6) | Bi-weekly calls with Matthew, campaign coaching, sequence strategy, performance reviews. Designed to hand off. | $500 |
| Paid Media (Google + Facebook + TikTok) | Google Ads restructure and optimization, Facebook campaign management, TikTok Search setup and testing | $1,000 |
| Total Monthly Retainer | $3,000/mo | |
Ad spend is separate. Google Ads (~$3,250/mo avg), Facebook ($350-$600/mo), and TikTok test budget ($500-$1,000/mo) are paid directly to the platforms. The $3,000/mo retainer covers all Captive Demand service fees.
After Month 6: Email consulting drops off as Matthew takes full ownership. Monthly retainer adjusts to $2,500/mo for ongoing web, SEO/AEO, blog content, and paid media management.
| Category | Amount |
|---|---|
| Onboarding Fee | $4,000 |
| Monthly Retainer, Months 1-6 ($3,000 x 6) | $18,000 |
| Monthly Retainer, Months 7-12 ($2,500 x 6) | $15,000 |
| Year 1 Captive Demand Fees | $37,000 |
| Google Ads spend (est., paid to Google) | ~$39,000 |
| Facebook Ads spend (est., paid to Meta) | ~$4,200-$7,200 |
| TikTok Ads spend (est., paid to TikTok) | ~$6,000-$12,000 |
Conservative projections based on industry benchmarks and comparable implementations:
The plan is built around what you've told us matters most: own the #1 spot with both websites, get Matthew set up on email, and bring fresh thinking to paid media. Everything else, GHL and automations, your team with Stannect has covered. We stay in our lane and focus on what moves the needle.
Walk through this together on our call. Confirm priorities, adjust anything that doesn't feel right.
WordPress admin, RocketRez, Google Ads, Google Business Profiles, Facebook Ads Manager, TikTok Ads, and analytics access. 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.
$4,000 onboarding + $3,000/mo. Websites, SEO/AEO, blog content, landing pages, email consulting for Matthew, and paid media across Google, Facebook, and TikTok. All rolling from day one.
Spencer Donaldson
spencer@captivedemand.com