Boutique American Hotel Customizes Content and Targeting to Capture Demand

The compelling guest review, paired with a targeting booking window on Expedia TravelAds, produced a successful campaign despite the challenging booking environment.

Monica Schmidt (she/her), Director of Revenue, Eaton DC

Overview

Eaton DC has an engaging, unique, and highly authentic brand but their high-concept hotel in the heart of Washington D.C. was struggling to fill rooms during the pandemic. They believed that if they were able to increase visibility with the right travelers, they would be able to continue driving revenue. 

The Opportunity

With a brand as clear as Eaton’s, you generally don’t have to do much convincing. Once their target audiences see what is on offer—their website features an art gallery and a radio station—they are ready to book. But during the pandemic, travelers were not making decisions based on their ‘usual’ criteria. Additionally, there were many hotels competing for last minute travel shoppers. It was hard to rise above the noise of all the other hotels offering last minute deals.

The Solution

By partnering with Expedia Group Media Solutions, Eaton realized that their listings were not receiving enough visibility to be considered by their ideal bookers. They needed to capture the demand that was out there by ensuring that their listings were viewed. Additionally, by looking at the data they saw an opportunity to earn bookings with travel shoppers who were planning their trip further out. They decided to cast a wider net by incorporating the 22+ travel window into their bidding.

The additional, underlying challenge faced by Eaton and many other hotels during the pandemic was the question of how to build trust with travel shoppers. They designed an authentic and honest ad by leveraging a review from an actual customer in their TravelAds ad copy. The ad (pictured above) quotes a guest review that describes Eaton as a, “stylish, friendly, cozy sanctuary during the pandemic.”

Results

By customizing their ad content and strategically adjusting their targeting, Eaton was able to improve their engagement and drive room night demand. Year over year click through rate increased 500% and room night demand increased by 130%, year over year.

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