The Marriott Bonvoy Member Education campaign set out to redefine how paid social advertising can drive both awareness and engagement for a global loyalty program. Our primary goal was to reach new audiences—especially next-gen travelers and non-members—while deepening understanding of program benefits among existing members. We identified a critical gap in awareness of Marriott Bonvoy’s offerings as a travel marketplace and aimed to close it by delivering authentic, digestible, and entertaining content across Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest, and LinkedIn.
To ensure our content was fresh and highly relevant, we invested in a custom content shoot in January 2025 at Sandborne Santa Monica and Marriott Marina del Ray. This enabled us to capture vibrant, real-life moments that showcased aspirational yet attainable travel experiences. Our creative strategy was further elevated through cross-partnership integrations with Starbucks and Uber, demonstrating how members can seamlessly earn and redeem points in everyday life—making loyalty tangible and relatable.
We leaned into “edutainment”—short-form, social-first videos that demystify loyalty benefits and make them feel attainable. By leveraging platform-native trends, influencer partnerships, and creator-led storytelling, we fostered genuine connections and activated members. Our targeting strategy focused on young professionals (18–35), active Bonvoy members, and travel enthusiasts, using precise audience segmentation and interest-based targeting to maximize reach and relevance.
Our KPIs included video views, view-through rates (VCR), favorability, and engagement rates, measured via brand lift studies and platform analytics. While click-throughs and conversions were tracked, our core ambition was to spark consideration and keep members engaged—not just drive traffic. Ultimately, our goal was to position Marriott Bonvoy as the go-to travel loyalty program for a new generation, using paid social to deliver compelling, measurable results.
Strategic Highlights:
The custom content shoot provided a rich library of authentic, visually stunning assets that resonated across platforms.
Strategic integrations with Starbucks and Uber brought everyday value to life, reinforcing Marriott Bonvoy’s relevance beyond hotel stays.
Creator-led assets and influencer partnerships amplified reach and authenticity, driving measurable lifts in awareness and consideration.
Total Reach: Over 45 million impressions across TikTok, Pinterest, and LinkedIn.
Pinterest: Achieved a 28.59% video completion rate—well above the hospitality industry benchmark of ~20% for paid video ads.
TikTok: Delivered a 7.1-point lift in Ad Recall, outperforming the travel industry benchmark of 4.9 points. While engagement was lower than brand average, this was attributed to more polished content, offering a valuable learning for future iterations.
LinkedIn: Achieved a 35.62% VCR and a CPM of $38.03, which is competitive given the platform’s B2B targeting environment.
Platform Performance Snapshot:
TikTok: Spend $134,929.72 | Impressions 26.8M | CPM $5.04 | VCR 8.09% | Video Completions 2.17M | CTR 0.25%
Pinterest: Spend $119,999.93 | Impressions 14.7M | CPM $8.18 | VCR 28.59% | Video Completions 4.2M
LinkedIn: Spend $79,990.47 | Impressions 2.1M | CPM $38.03 | VCR 35.62% | Video Completions 29.9K
Compared to industry benchmarks:
CPM: Hospitality averages range from $5–$12 on TikTok and Pinterest, and $30–$40 on LinkedIn.
VCR: Industry averages hover around 15–25% for short-form video; our campaign exceeded this on Pinterest and LinkedIn.
CTR: TikTok’s 0.25% CTR aligns with hospitality norms, which typically range from 0.2–0.4%.
Brand Lift Insights:
TikTok drove a 7.1-point lift in Ad Recall and increased familiarity with Marriott Bonvoy’s member benefits.
Pinterest’s brand lift study showed a 2.9-point lift in campaign awareness among the Member Audience segment.
Instagram and Pinterest reels drove strong engagement, with creator-led storytelling outperforming traditional brand assets.
