How a Spanish Hotel Company Uses Tripadvisor in Its Rebranding Strategy

Selenta Group manages nine properties in various Spanish cities. We spoke with Silvia Sutter, Online Traffic Manager at Selenta, to find out how she has increased visibility and traffic for SOFIA Hotel with Tripadvisor.

Tripadvisor as part of the rebranding strategy

Rebranding Selenta’s properties has been a huge undertaking that began last year and taken months of planning and preparation. “We transformed the company and rebranded as a whole, and are now working on repositioning our properties as luxurious and high-end,” says Sutter.

The goal? Growing visibility and traffic to all nine properties. Says Sutter, “We want to expand our market and reach more US travelers — since the majority of our guests are traditionally from Spain and the United Kingdom.”

Sutter turned to Tripadvisor to market the re-launch of SOFIA Hotel, a property Selenta has recently renovated. “Tripadvisor is an important marketing channel because this source of traffic raises our overall performance and travelers from Tripadvisor are more likely to convert,” she says. “We updated SOFIA’s Tripadvisor listing page with our new name, photos, and other information to not only promote the renovations, but also reset guest expectations.”

Increasing visibility with Sponsored Placements

To get more exposure for SOFIA in the competitive Barcelona market, Sutter uses Sponsored Placements. “We decided to try Sponsored Placements to increase SOFIA’s visibility and brand awareness. The additional exposure from Sponsored Placements puts the property in front of more travelers who are searching for a place to stay in Barcelona,” she says.

SOFIA has gained more visibility and traffic. “The results have been great: Sponsored Placements has performed so well for SOFIA that all nine Selenta properties now have active campaigns to increase their exposure,” says Sutter. “On average, these ads have generated over 50,000 impressions for each property in 6 weeks to highly targeted travelers.”

And that visibility is paying off: “We’ve driven more traffic to the SOFIA website, creating leads that ultimately convert. Since starting Sponsored Placements, booking referrals for SOFIA have increased,” continues Sutter.

SOFIA’s online reputation cycle has also accelerated. “The uplift in visibility has jump-started our online reputation cycle for SOFIA, which has helped it to be ranked in the top 10% for accommodations in Barcelona,” Sutter says. “As more guests stay at SOFIA, they write reviews and post photos, restarting the cycle of inspiring potential guests to pick our property.”

Sutter plans to run Sponsored Placements all year. “If conversions continue increasing thanks to Sponsored Placements, we’ll always run our ads as our rebranding progresses. The ads have helped me reposition our properties, drive more traffic to our websites, and get more bookings,” she says.