The “Travel Hero Program” connected the existing rewards promotion to a more engaging social experience through the launch of the “Travel Hero” app on Facebook. Travellers were able to book a room at any of its 4,000 hotels without leaving Best Western’s Facebook page.On Facebook, the target was invited to pick their dream vacation, invite loved ones and get started on their Travel Hero journey. The program harnessed the huge network effect of friends and family for additional exposure. Rewards members who booked trips and invited a friend received additional entries into the dream vacation give-away. Weekly instant win opportunities kept our target engaged.The program was supported with an extensive reach campaign on Facebook supported by 200+ ad units/variations.

Knowing we were breaking new ground in the social arena, we built an econometric model to provide learnings and measurement. With it, we continuously optimised performance.

We proved the power of social media can deliver meaningful business results for a hotel brand (this was clear given social was the only difference in the promotion year over year).•More ‘likes’ –250%+ making Best Western the #1 national hotel brand on Facebook •More engagement—engagement on Facebook shot up 1,250% during the program•More talk—400+ million earned impressions (via PR and Facebook)•More revenue—30%+ revenue versus the same promotion in the previous yearoBest Western’s most successful spring promotion ever, generating as much revenue as the previous two years’ spring promotions combined