When a Multi-Award-Winning Luxury Retreat Calls, You Answer
- thesocialcue
- Jan 21
- 3 min read
Case Study: Gwinganna Lifestyle Retreat
Over three years, we partnered with one of Australia’s most awarded and forward-thinking wellness brands. One of our most beloved partnerships to date.
What started as a social-first brief evolved into a full-funnel digital ecosystem designed to build awareness, convert attention into intent, and compound long-term brand equity as the landscape shifted.
As Gwinganna moves into its next chapter, growing its internal team, we step back with nothing but respect (and pride) for what we built together. We’ll be happily returning as guests. Tahini Balls are very much included.
This is what long-term, aligned marketing partnerships look like.
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When a multi-award-winning luxury wellness retreat (and one of the most innovative brands in the country) like Gwinganna Lifestyle Retreat reaches out, you say yes without hesitation.
At the time of onboarding in 2023, social media sat firmly in the presence-only category.
Our role was to transform it into a strategic growth lever, supporting awareness, demand, and ultimately, bookings.
Over the course of our partnership, the scope naturally evolved into a full-funnel digital rollout, aligned with Gwinganna’s long-term vision for sustainable growth.
OUR STRATEGY:
We repositioned Gwinganna Lifestyle Retreat to a video-first content strategy designed to increase reach, retention, and engagement, showcasing a human-led, behind-the-scenes view of the retreat.
Lifestyle-led and UGC-style content creation was introduced intentionally to build trust, signal relevance, and improve top-of-funnel efficiency.
In parallel, we developed expert-driven content to establish authority, educate the audience, and reinforce long-term value, supporting deeper intent.
As engagement signals strengthened, we activated retargeting campaigns, converting awareness into action by re-engaging high-intent audiences and guiding them toward enquiry and booking.
SCOPE ACROSS PARTNERSHIP:
• Design & Video Editing
• Strategy & Consultancy
First 90 Days:
• Reach: 113K (+818%)
• Link Clicks: 3,981
• Visits: 18,534
• Reach: 503K (+2.1K%)
• Link Clicks: 18,741
• Visits: 12,816
6 Months In:
• Reach: 202K (+1.5K%)
• Link Clicks: 7,890
• Visits: 30,388
• Reach: 998K (+4.3K%)
• Link Clicks: 36,345 (+129%)
• Visits: 22,952
18 Months In:
• Reach: 553K (+4.4K%)
• Link Clicks: 31,379
• Visits: 108,074
• Reach: 2.95M (+12.9K%)
• Link Clicks: 141,876 (+795%)
• Visits: 76,953
WINS:
Over the course of our partnership, Gwinganna Lifestyle Retreat grew its Instagram community from 19K to 44K followers.
Strong organic engagement laid the foundation for highly efficient paid campaigns, allowing us to scale reach and traffic while maintaining performance. Despite operating in a high-consideration, premium category, ROA remained strong.
We significantly increased brand awareness, delivering millions of impressions and sustained visibility across platforms.
We had the opportunity to capture UGC and experience-led content from the perspective of a guest, immersing ourselves fully in the Gwinganna experience. #workperk
We also provided ad hoc influencer support, partnering with aligned tastemakers to experience Gwinganna Lifestyle Retreat first-hand, extending reach, credibility, and influence as part of the broader growth strategy.
TESTIMONIAL:
The Social Cue has been a valued digital partner to Gwinganna Retreat & Spa from the early stages of our social media journey. They established our social channels and supported their growth over a three-year period, helping to build a strong, consistent digital presence aligned with our brand and values.
Throughout our time working together, The Social Cue brought a thoughtful, strategic approach to both paid and organic activity, with a clear understanding of audience engagement. They were consistently professional, collaborative and responsive, working closely with our internal team.
We sincerely appreciate Social Cue’s contribution in laying a strong social media foundation, and we would highly recommend their services.
Che de Jong, Marketing Manager, Gwinganna Retreat & Spa
READY TO PARTNER WITH AN AGENCY THAT GETS IT? GET IN TOUCH.




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