Big Island PR firm wins international award

Turning website traffic into retail sales has earned Kinoshita Communications LLC an international Hermes Creative Award, the PR Communications agency announced today.

The award was based on the evaluation of the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals’ judges and recognizes outstanding achievement in traditional and emerging media.

Kinoshita Communications LLC was hired by The Shops at Mauna Lani, located on the Kohala Coast, for a six-month campaign to increase shopping center traffic and retail sales. Objectives included raising visibility on mobile devices, getting more impact from social media efforts, increasing website traffic and getting better rankings for top keyword phrases (SEO).

Kinoshita Communications designed, implemented and managed an integrated cross-platform campaign that included Facebook and Google advertising, pay-per-click (PPC) management, location-based offers, outreach to travel sites and custom web applications that seamlessly integrated with Facebook, Twitter and Constant Contact.

In less than six months, the campaign generated an 83 percent increase in social media traffic to the website. The shopping center rose to the No. 3, No. 4 and No. 6 positions for important Google keyword search phrases, including “Big Island Shopping Center.” Overall, new business leads and shopping center traffic increased as a direct result from campaign efforts.

“We’re very proud of this work which continues to produce positive results for The Shops at Mauna Lani,” said Laura K. Kinoshita, president of Kinoshita Communications. “An investment in a company’s website pays dividends for years to come.”