As the master brand and loyalty program for a portfolio of more than 30 hotel brands, one of Marriott Bonvoy’s most important objectives was to deepen loyalty with their most valuable members. On social media, that means creating more, and more meaningful, touchpoints for members to engage with Marriott Bonvoy outside of hotel stays.
Marriott noticed that Facebook Groups were a popular platform for members to connect, share travel tips, and discuss points and promotions. In 2020, they decided to create an official Facebook Group to foster a valuable community for both members and Marriott. Shifting their Facebook approach from broad posting to cultivating a Group of highly-engaged fans has paid off for Marriott Bonvoy.
In 2023, Marriott set out to develop their Facebook Groups community further. They planned to:
Grow group membership to strengthen the community, and therefore their overall Facebook presence.
Drive engagement between the program and high-value members.
The Insiders Facebook Group is a valuable social listening source for Marriott Bonvoy to help them understand how members perceive the program, what they value, and what they’d like to see improved. Marriott Bonvoy Insiders was designed to be a place where members can get the inside scoop and hear important program news first, straight from the source. Marriott wanted their members to feel valued, heard, and appreciated in the group. In 2023, Marriott implemented a Surprise and Delight strategy on Insiders (among other channels) to send members brand-aligned gifts based on their interests and participation in the group.
Working alongside their community managers, Marriott implemented a strategic plan to engage with their most loyal Insiders with clever and interesting creative. Through timely, attentive, and human community management seven days a week, Marriott created a comfortable place for Insiders to converse with each other and share their favorite travel destinations, Marriott Bonvoy hotels, and their expert tips on how to make the most out of the program. Marriott encouraged lively, civil discussion and closely monitored all posts and comments to ensure members were engaging respectfully, getting their questions answered, and enjoying their conversations. Every month, Marriott collaborated with other internal teams to create content and share updates about the program, including promotions, launches, and program changes. Marriott also created custom content for Insiders based on feedback, sentiment, and overall conversation topics. This custom content includes Marriott Bonvoy themed games and timely travel trends. For other social channels, Marriott created Instagram Reels of real recommendations sourced from Marriott Bonvoy Insiders, using UGC from the group (see Instagram Reel link for visual reference).
Insiders are some of Marriott Bonvoy’s most engaged members, so they can be very passionate about aspects of the program and program changes. Marriott sought to keep the group as positive as possible by enforcing the group rules and paying close attention to tricky conversations. When discussions crept towards controversy, Marriott opted to create a post to reinforce the rules and remind members about the ultimate goal of the group, which is to talk about their shared love of travel through Marriott Bonvoy. After posting this, Marriott noticed a spike in positive posts and conversations.
These members are actively seeking out conversations about the Marriott Bonvoy program, making this group a unique audience compared to all other social audiences for Marriott Bonvoy, including traditional Facebook page audiences. Insiders are true program experts who don't want to be advertised to or given “fluff.” This makes copywriting for the group very tricky, as Marriott must balance a casual approachable tone with respect for the members’ loyalty. Marriott Bonvoy Insiders challenged Marriott to create content that acknowledged members’ deep knowledge of the program and met their unique needs for engagement.
As of December 31, 2023, Marriott Bonvoy Insiders reached over 195K members, including high-tier Elite members (mostly Platinum, Titanium, and Ambassador) as well as new members who sought to learn more about the program. Marriott measured their success via growth and engagement.
The group grew 30.1% in 2023 via approximately 45K membership requests.
An average of 60K daily active members delivered 1M total engagements in 2023. 10K posts drove 312K comments and 754K reactions. This means that, on average, one-third (33%) of the group was active in it on any given day. By contrast, only 8% of users see updates from a Facebook Page, confirming for Marriott that using Groups was essential to achieve their engagement goals on Facebook.
In just four months of activation in 2023, Marriott’s Surprise and Delight strategy resulted in 31 earned pieces of content, 1.3M earned and organic views, and 21K engagements with very positive sentiment across multiple audience segments including health and beauty, family, travel and Formula 1. This resulted in an estimated $65K of earned media value.
Marriott Bonvoy Insiders Facebook Group marketing efforts were 100% organic only in 2023 and the group is private, meaning that members must request and apply to join. Marriott was able to cultivate an entirely opted-in audience for a community dedicated to the loyalty program and its portfolio. This is why Marriott Bonvoy focused on creating a group, or rather, a community instead of relying just on a standard Facebook Page to achieve their goals.
