The Great Barn Devon: Supporting Growth Through Consultancy, Development & Digital Strategy

The Great Barn Devon is a premium wedding and events venue located in Devon, offering exclusive-use weddings, luxury accommodation and event experiences.

The venue already had a talented internal marketing team and a clear direction for its brand and digital presence. However, specialist support was required to ensure that both the website and digital marketing infrastructure were implemented effectively.

Rather than taking ownership away from the client, Dancing Badger worked alongside the existing team, providing technical expertise, strategic guidance and implementation support where required.

This collaborative approach helped strengthen both online visibility and marketing performance whilst allowing the client to maintain control of its ongoing activity.

Key Results

+24.7%

Increase in Organic Search Traffic

Organic Search sessions increased from 728 to 908 year on year, helping The Great Barn Devon attract more prospective visitors through search engines.

+66.6%

Increase in AI Discovery Traffic

Traffic from AI Assistant platforms grew from zero to 66 sessions, helping position the venue for emerging search behaviours and AI-powered discovery.

+25%

Increase in Searches for “The Great Barn Exeter”

Branded local search demand increased significantly, indicating stronger awareness and local visibility.

121

Wedding-Enquiry Actions Generated Through Google Ads

The newly launched Google Ads campaign generated brochure downloads, lead form submissions, conversation starts and call interactions, creating a strong foundation for ongoing lead generation.

The Client

The Great Barn Devon is a luxury wedding and events venue offering exclusive-use celebrations, on-site accommodation and bespoke guest experiences.

As competition within the wedding venue sector continues to increase, ensuring strong visibility across local search, wedding-related searches and paid advertising channels is critical for attracting new enquiries and bookings.

The Challenge

The Great Barn Devon already had a strong brand and a clear vision for its digital presence.

However, there were several areas where specialist support would deliver greater impact:

• Building and implementing the website effectively
• Providing technical expertise beyond internal resources
• Setting up and launching Google Ads campaigns
• Improving local SEO visibility
• Establishing systems for local search monitoring
• Supporting long-term organic growth
• Enhancing visibility for wedding venue searches
• Providing guidance without disrupting internal processes

The objective was to strengthen performance whilst supporting, rather than replacing, the existing marketing team.

Our Role

Website Development & Technical Delivery

The Great Barn Devon approached Dancing Badger with an established vision and design direction for the website.

Our role was to provide the technical expertise required to transform those concepts into a fully functioning, user-friendly website capable of supporting long-term growth.

By working closely with the internal team, we helped ensure the final website reflected both the venue’s brand and commercial objectives.

SEO Consultancy

SEO support focused on helping The Great Barn Devon increase visibility across wedding and venue-related searches.

This included:

• Technical SEO recommendations
• Search visibility analysis
• Keyword opportunities
• Website structure recommendations
• Local SEO improvements
• Content guidance

As part of the project, we recommended and implemented BrightLocal, allowing the team to monitor and improve local SEO performance on an ongoing basis. The internal team continues to use and manage this platform independently.

Google Ads Setup

Dancing Badger helped establish Google Ads activity designed to generate qualified wedding enquiries.

Campaigns were configured to support:

• Brochure downloads
• Enquiry generation
• Lead forms
• Phone interactions
• User engagement

From launch, the campaign generated more than 120 measurable engagement and enquiry actions, providing a valuable source of qualified leads.

Strategic Consultancy

A key part of the engagement was providing strategic input rather than simply executing tasks.

This included:

• Marketing advice
• Technical recommendations
• Search visibility guidance
• Audience insights
• Platform recommendations
• Best-practice implementation

This flexible approach allowed the in-house team to remain in control whilst gaining access to specialist expertise whenever required.

The Approach

Our role was never to replace The Great Barn Devon’s internal marketing team.

Instead, we focused on complementing and supporting existing resources.

By understanding the client’s structure and strengths, we were able to step in where specialist knowledge was needed whilst allowing the internal team to continue leading day-to-day marketing activity.

This consultative model ensured:

• Growth could continue sustainably
• Knowledge remained within the business
• Internal resources were strengthened
• Best-practice tools were implemented
• Specialist expertise was available when required

Results

Key Outcomes

• 24.7% increase in Organic Search traffic
• Increased visibility across wedding-related search terms
• Improved local SEO infrastructure through BrightLocal implementation
• Successful delivery of the website build
• Google Ads campaign launched and configured
• 121 wedding-focused enquiry and engagement actions generated
• Strong growth in branded local search demand
• Improved rankings for key wedding venue searches
• Ongoing support provided without replacing the in-house team

Improving Visibility for Wedding Venue Searches

One of the most significant areas of growth came through improved visibility for wedding-related searches.

Search performance improved across key terms including:

• Devon wedding venue
• Wedding venues in Exeter
• Small wedding venues Devon
• Wedding venues with accommodation

Several of these searches showed substantial ranking improvements, increasing opportunities for prospective couples to discover the venue through organic search.

Supporting, Not Replacing, Internal Teams

The Great Barn Devon perfectly reflects the philosophy behind DB Growth.

Not every business wants or needs a fully outsourced marketing function.

Many organisations already have talented internal teams and simply require additional expertise in specific areas.

Our role was to provide that expertise, helping the client move faster, avoid technical pitfalls and implement industry-leading tools and strategies while keeping ownership and knowledge within the business.

Conclusion

The Great Barn Devon project demonstrates the value of a flexible, consultative approach to digital marketing.

By combining website development expertise, SEO consultancy, Google Ads implementation and ongoing strategic support, Dancing Badger helped strengthen the venue’s digital foundations whilst supporting the existing marketing team.

The result was a successful website launch, a 24.7% increase in organic search traffic, improved wedding venue visibility and a paid advertising programme generating more than 120 wedding-related lead and engagement actions. Most importantly, the project showcases how specialist support can work alongside internal teams to accelerate growth without replacing existing capabilities.