Customer Story: The Santa Lucia Preserve

Nestled in the hills surrounding the historic town of Carmel-by-the-Sea lies The Santa Lucia Preserve, a conservation development that boasts a golf club and ranch club, recreational activities, and 297 unique homesites, all integrated seamlessly within a 20,000-acre nature preserve. The Santa Lucia Preserve is the epitome of luxurious laid-back living. The best part? This gated community and nature preserve uses Issuu, so readers like you can gain a glimpse into their community! 

As part of our ongoing customer story series, we chatted with Marketing & Communications Coordinator Caleb Rosenberg from The Santa Lucia Preserve and discussed how nature-focused organizations like theirs utilize digital tools such as Issuu. Check out what they had to say. 

Q: How did you initially discover Issuu?

We wanted to market The Preserve to current and prospective members, and Issuu allowed us to do both. Utilizing Issuu helped us deliver digital content to our current residents and also target future homebuyers by showcasing our scenic houses, hikes, and amenities. For example, when houses are periodically listed for sale, we partner with real estate agents to showcase the properties digitally. For The Santa Lucia Preserve, Issuu is used both internally and externally to market towards those on the outside as well as people who are already members within our community.

Q: What role does digital content play in your overall business and marketing strategy? 

By targeting two different audiences (prospective and current members), our marketing strategy varies. For example, our website is designed as an external marketing tool for people first discovering The Preserve and features information regarding the available homes, amenities, and activities in nature. However, residents who can log into our website have access to the monthly in-depth sales and marketing reports on Issuu. In terms of our digital content on Issuu, we target both groups by including photography-based magazines as well as sales data. 

Q: What type of content do you share most often?

We typically share magazines, sales reports, and brochures. As mentioned above, our shared content is typically targeted towards different audience groups. While some publications showcase The Preserve in hopes of attracting guests and gaining traction, others break down the yearly reports for residents. 

Q: What features do you use the most within Issuu?

We highly utilize the fullscreen experience, as it allows the reader to fully immerse themselves in The Preserve’s natural beauty. In fullscreen mode, we also appreciate how the page flipping functionality replicates a physical brochure or magazine. We also embed links and videos throughout our content. One of our greatest priorities is showcasing the intricacies and wonder of The Preserve, and features like these help us do so. We also regularly utilize the “unlisted publication” feature, allowing us to provide exclusive content for our members while keeping outward-facing brochures and magazines public.  

Q: Aside from Issuu, what tools are in your content marketing toolbox? 

Right now, the primary tools we use outside of Issuu are Adobe Indesign, Lightroom, and Photoshop, as well as Google Business Suite.

Q: How do you typically share your publications with your audience?

A couple of our publications are embedded in our private website for members; however, we do not share our Issuu content with the general public through our website. Instead, we have a newsletter that is distributed every month to prospects, real estate agents, and local industry partners, which includes links directing them back to our content on Issuu. Our sales team also regularly links to digital resources on Issuu within personalized one-on-one emails with prospective buyers and other organizational partners who may find the resources helpful.

Q: What kind of impact has digital publishing had on your organization and on the success of your marketing efforts?

Using Issuu helps us visualize the experience of the reader and adjust our content accordingly. This encourages us to take advantage of the many features Issuu offers. 

Q: When thinking about future content publishing plans, what excites you the most? Is there anything you’re looking forward to trying?

With today’s market, we are hoping to amplify our social media presence. We are planning to play around with the digital stories tool and see how that can help boost our content on Instagram and other social media platforms. 

Thanks for joining us, Santa Lucia Preserve! 

There is no doubt that The Santa Lucia Preserve is one of a kind. Timeless, scenic, and inclusive, this community may be physically private, but their content on Issuu allows everyone to explore The Preserve’s amenities and learn more about the important conservation work there. To see for yourself, explore their content here. 

Are you looking to kick-start your company, initiative, or creative passion? Now that you’ve found some inspiration from Santa Lucia Preserve try using Issuu today.