Best Western Awarded for Integrated Use of Multiple Digital Marketing Platforms to Drive Bookings and Brand Engagement
NEW YORK, 2013-01-31 — /travelprnews.com/ — Best Western International (http://www.bestwestern.com/), was named the 2012 eMarketer of the Year at the Adrian Awards gala in New York City, held Monday, January 28.
The eMarketer of the Year award honors excellence in hospitality digital marketing. It was presented by TravelClick, the leading provider of revenue-generating solutions for hotels, together with Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI). This is the twelfth year TravelClick has awarded this honor—applicants provide detailed data on their emarketing strategies and campaigns and are judged by an independent panel of digital marketing and ecommerce experts.
This year’s winner, Best Western launched several social, mobile and online initiatives to support its newly rebranded properties including a complete re-launch of its website and mobile site, which streamlined booking steps incorporating reviews and trip planning tools, plus a convenient way to manage Best Western Rewards® accounts.
The updated search marketing strategies include keyword brand terms with top destination markets as well as used a combination of video, and paid advertising to educate consumers on the three hotel types.
Additionally, Best Western was the first major international chain to enable travelers to book hotel rooms directly from its Facebook page which produced an increase in reservations in the first few months and continues to drive nearly 10,000 unique visitors to bestwestern.com monthly. They were also the first in their hotel category to reach 500,000 followers on Facebook.
Best Western’s “Be a Travel Hero” campaign redefined the term “road warrior,” and turned them into Travel Heroes. Using a custom Facebook app, users selected their ideal vacation destination, named their dream trip and invited Facebook friends to come along for a chance to win their dream trip. The campaign generated a 20 percent increase in reservations revenue over the previous year’s promotion, more than 400 million impressions in media, shares and PR mentions.
“Best Western’s integrated, digital marketing efforts make it easy for guests to become brand evangelists and to find and book reservations on a myriad of online and social channels,” said John Hach, Senior Vice President of Global Product Management at TraveClick. “Best Western not only utilizes best ecommerce practices, but also takes an opportunistic approach to social media promotions and other digital media campaigns which have resulted in significant growth of their overall online bookings. TravelClick along with HSMAI is proud to provide Best Western with the eMarketer of the Year award as it continues to grow its presence in the online and social space.”
The 2012 award was judged by an independent panel of digital marketing and ecommerce experts including:
- Daniel J. Connolly, Ph.D., Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs and Interim Chair, University of Denver’s Daniels College of Business, Department of Business Information and Analytics
- Tim Peter, Founder of Tim Peter & Associates
- Richie Karaburun, Vice President, Global Supplier Relations at RADIUS
- Barbara Taylor Carpender, CMM, CHSC, Founder of Taylored Alliances
- Jane Lewis, Vice President, Global Strategic Account Management at Orbitz Worldwide
2012 eMarketer of the Year.pdf
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About TravelClick, Inc.
TravelClick (TravelClick.com) is the leading provider of revenue generating solutions for hoteliers across the globe. TravelClick offers hotels world-class reservation solutions, business intelligence products and comprehensive media and marketing solutions to help hotels grow their business. With local experts around the globe, we help more than 30,000 hotel clients in over 160 countries drive profitable room reservations through better revenue management decisions, proven reservation technology and innovative marketing. Since 1999, TravelClick has helped hotels leverage the web to effectively navigate the complex global distribution landscape. TravelClick has offices in New York, Atlanta, Chicago, Barcelona, Dubai, Hong Kong, Houston, Melbourne, Orlando, Philadelphia, Shanghai, Singapore and Tokyo. Follow us on twitter.com/TravelClick and facebook.com/TravelClick.
Danielle DeVoren
KCSA Strategic Communications
212.896.1272
ddevoren@kcsa.com