Introduction
The Summit Lodge is a boutique hotel in Whistler Village with a positive reputation for thoughtful amenities, excellent service, and being (very) pet-friendly.
Despite being a small team with limited resources, we were able to achieve outstanding results, regularly occupying TripAdvisor’s #1 position for Whistler hotels according to guest rating, twice earning TripAdvisor’s “Travellers’ Choice” award as one of the top 10 hotels in Canada, and earning five consecutive titles as Canada’s #1 Ski Boutique Hotel (World Ski Awards).
Summary
As the Creative Digital Strategist at the Summit Lodge, I operated a program consisting of the following:
- Selling Whistler as a destination with stunning imagery and helpful resources
- Celebrating guests by reposting and engaging with their content, and providing fast, friendly responses on social channels
- Generating high-intent web traffic with search-optimized content
- Converting high-intent web traffic with Google Adwords
- Growing audience and media library with content partnerships
- Improving guest experience and reducing support burden by proactively answering FAQs (using autoresponders, email sequences, etc.), and integrating social channels with Front Desk workflow
- Amending backend technologies to produce useful data and functionalities (cross-domain conversion tracking, email automation)
Samples
Guest Relationship Management
Increased customer loyalty by proactively engaging with guest comments, messages, tags/mentions. Identified and nurtured “superfans” with spontaneous perks and giveaways (rewarding our most active brand advocates). Incorporated customer service representatives (Front Desk Agents) with digital channels to provide timely and accurate responses.
Sample strategy document: Instagram Guide for Front Desk Agents
Blog and Website Content
Provided relevant information alongside attractive imagery to give guests confidence in the hotel and help them make travel plans. Attracted organic visitors with search-optimized content. Provided helpful resources and contact portals for guests and media.
Collaborated with freelance designer and developer in 2020 for complete website redesign.
Ranked #1-5 on Google for a number of valuable queries*, including: “Whistler Winter”, “Whistler Season Dates”, “AirBnB Whistler”, “Whistler Wildlife”, “Pet Friendly Whistler”, and more.
Nature and Lifestyle Photography
Promoted Whistler as a destination with attractive imagery.
Hotel Photography
Showcased the hotel with engaging imagery to differentiate from our competitors.
Videography
Provided an immersive glimpse into the world of Whistler and the hotel.
Social Content
Earned rapport with past and prospective guests by sharing unique content to Facebook and Instagram, portraying Whistler and the hotel in an approachable and attractive manner.
Content Partnerships
Expanded content library and following by partnering with creators and influencers.
Reposts and Mentions
Promote brand awareness by earning shoutouts from relevant industry platforms and influencers.
Google AdWords
Launched evergreen campaign for high-intent traffic, earning 5:1 ROAS.
Email Marketing & Automation
Collected guest emails for discount incentive. Captured revenue with seasonal promotions to targeted list segments. Used pre and post-stay email sequence to improve the guest experience and incentivize positive reviews.
Conversion Tracking/Analytics
Worked with freelancers to troubleshoot a problematic cross-domain tracking implementation, resulting in seamless conversion tracking between the primary website and our online booking engine.
Monitored Google Analytics to discover trends in user behaviors and identify opportunities for content optimization. Earned Advanced Google Analytics Certificate.
