Talk about opening with a bang. Newport Beach, California-based Lido House, the 148th hotel in Marriott’s Autograph Collection, officially opened its doors May 17 with a big party. The objectives? Increase awareness of the property to encourage bookings; share social posts that resonated with the property’s audience; and hammer home the exclusivity of the hotel with an invite-only event featuring a surprise performance by musician Aloe Blacc.
“The biggest challenge was the pent-up demand from the local community,” says Lido House General Manager Adam Beer. “Being an invite-only celebration, we were challenged to find alternative ways to keep the community engaged during the various activations throughout the day. Implementing content-rich Instagram Stories gave our social followers the access to get a sense and feel of being a part of the celebration.”
(Newport Beach, California-based Lido House was one of six winners in HOTELS 2018 Social Hotel Awards for Best Reputation Management, Property)
According to Beer, this resulted in 25 times more Instagram Story views than views on an average day. The 130-room property also utilized Instagram Stories’ “swipe-up feature” to direct users to the hotel’s website.
“The increased awareness of our hotel website drove booking conversion,” Beer adds. “Social was a key factor in curating and conveying the hotel’s sophistication to the community.”
Budget: US$200 went to Facebook and Instagram advertising over the campaign period from May 17-26
Goals: The grand opening aimed to receive 3,500 total social engagements on Instagram and Facebook, 100,000 impressions across all social channels and 30,000 Instagram Stories views
Target audience:
• Current users and followers of the Lido House Hotel Facebook and Instagram social pages
• 21-65-plus years of age and in the Lido House feeder markets who have an interest in Newport Beach, traveling and weekend getaways
• Attendees of the event, whom the property engaged with in real-time
ROI:
• 235,000 impressions across Facebook and Instagram; four times more social impressions than the weekly average
• 7,100 total social engagements with half of that total (3,372) coming from custom animation created for the celebration
• 102,000 Instagram Stories views, 25 times more than average account views
• Assisted with a 10% increase in occupancy the week after the grand opening compared with the week before
Judges?
Loren Gray (founder, Hospitality Digital Marketing): Solid campaign, clear objectives, and defined metrics. Good job!
Julie Freeman (EVP and Managing Director, NJF at MMGY Global): Lido House used a property launch to put themselves on the digital map through live coverage
Runner-up: Terranea Resort