Questus and Wyndham Hotels & Resorts have been partners since 2017, and Ramada entered the portfolio of Questus-supported brands in 2018. With over 800 locations globally, this midscale brand is positioned to be the go-to hotel for any world-traveler looking to sample new locations and experiences. As a result, one of the brand’s primary audiences is the cultural traveler—people who gravitate towards metropolitan locations, music, art, cuisine, and global sites. However, as international travel declined amidst a pandemic economy, it was crucial to keep the spirit of Ramada alive while incentivizing domestic, drive-to travel.
With this in mind, Questus decided to conceptualize, develop, and launch a social campaign that would drive consideration for Ramada’s US & Canada locations by highlighting top domestic cities that offer globally flavored experiences.
We introduced our clients to Ramada’s own “Say Hello to My World” campaign. In partnership with content creators that our agency hand-selected, we positioned the Ramada hotels as a place to explore local flavors and culture, giving a global feel to domestic travel. We hired (4) content creators to complete a stay at the Ramada nearest them and asked each creator to capture a virtual tour–through video and image content – of his or her “world” surrounding the selected Ramada location. Through these virtual tours, the content creators offered recommendations on what to see, eat, and do around the hotel and local area, while also highlighting hotel features and amenities. The Ramada properties and cities highlighted in these virtual tours included Austin (TX), Santa Barbara (CA), Tuscaloosa (AL), and Ottawa (Ontario).
With the goal of driving traffic and consideration, we launched 15-second videos and image carousels across Ramada’s Facebook and Instagram channels. We targeted Ramada’s core audiences within the US and Canada, including Ramada's bookers, engagers, and lookalikes of bookers and engagers.
The social campaign drove strong consideration amongst our target audiences, resulting in a total CTR of 2.56% and outperforming the brand’s 2021 CTR benchmark by a groundbreaking 135%. In reviewing core audience performance more granularly, the prospecting audiences were the most receptive, garnering a staggering CTR of 6.14%. Our content was not only a hit with core Ramada fans, but even more so, it engaged prospective customers, driving business growth by pulling in new brand evangelists.
