Driving digital performance through content marketing - an interview with Robin Bennefield
Content creation and storytelling are not new by any means, but they have gained a significant importance in the past few years. They have become ubiquitous with brand positioning, marketing, and communication. As with any opportunity there are associated risks, one of them being not differentiating yourself from your competitors, and another would be to put a lot of efforts into ineffective content, not reaching the right customers, or not in the right way.
Here with us today is Robin Bennefield, Editorial Director at Marriott International and Editor-in-Chief of Marriott Bonvoy Traveler, the travel company’s digital magazine, inspiring millions of travelers to explore new places and discover the world. Even when the world could not travel, Robin and her team managed to engage their audience, grow it, and drive performance!
Lumax Digital (LD): Dear Robin, it is a great pleasure to have you with us today, thank you very much for taking the time! Can you please let us know a little about yourself, your role at Marriott Bonvoy Traveler, your experiences and what you have been building so far?
Robin Bennefield (RB): Hello! I am Robin Bennefield and I am Editorial Director at Marriott international. I sit within a content marketing team in Marriott's global Marketing team. I also serve as Editor in chief of Marriott Bonvoy Traveler, which is our editorial publication, dedicated to telling the stories of the world's greatest destinations and bringing those destinations to life through the Marriott Bonvoy portfolio.
LD: Can you tell us more about Marriott Bonvoy Traveler? When and how it was created, and how it evolved over the years?
RB: Marriott Bonvoy Traveler has been around for about 6 years now. The site was developed to drive inspiration, top of funnel for travelers who want to be inspired about where to travel in the world. And who better to deliver that information than the world's largest hotel company? We wanted this content to also shine a light on how to do these destinations from Marriott Bonvoy’s perspective.
Secondarily, we wanted to make sure that the content we were creating would drive this inspiration organically, so SEO was a really a big piece of the work. We made sure that we were thinking about how people would be searching to find these destinations and about how to be relevant in these search engines. We are also providing context for Marriott Bonvoy and the things that you can do within the destination. And then hopefully inspiring people to have a better understanding of our brands and eventually book as a result.
LD: Fascinating! Now where do you find your inspiration, and how do you define what will work vs. what will not engage? Do you have a secret recipe?
RB: Actually, I have a journalism background and I have worked in digital media, so I bring those journalistic skills to the table. We want to stay relevant on what destinations are trending, on how people are traveling right now. That informs the types of stories that we want to create and informs the kinds of storytelling that we want to do. For example, Road Trips are something that it is very relevant for people right now because they may want to explore closer to home, so we are writing more stories on how and where to do local road trips. We also look at what other people do, I love looking at the New York Times, at Travel and Leisure and seeing new ways that they are innovating and storytelling and trying to up our game in the space.
LD: Are you usually able to identify from the get-go if something is going to work or not? Are there some common things that will or won’t work?
RB: I guess my approach to this might be again from a journalistic background. Marriott Bonvoy Traveler is meant to be editorially focused, and I am sitting in an organization that is marketing forward. As marketers you often want to talk about your product first and foremost, right? Our perspective is that we want to think about the reader and the consumer first and foremost, and what they are interested in, what is going to provide value to them, and sometimes some marketing messages may not fit within that storytelling. We always focus on what is really going to matter to the reader and not just what we want to put in front of them. How do we to tell a story that is authentic to them? That means also bringing the brand along or bringing along some message that we want to impart, but it is really all about the reader first.
LD: Interesting! How do you measure success? What are the most important metrics you look at?
RB: We are looking at engagement metrics: page views and the amount of time spent on articles. For example, when we started exploring podcasting, we wanted to understand downloads and how far people have listened to the episodes. It really is just about engagement: how much time people are spending with the content that we are creating?
LD: Do you blend your first-party data meaning the one on Marriott Bonvoy Traveler as well as the one on social medias, like Instagram Facebook and the engagement you get there? And do you tie the two together?
RB: We are obviously looking at Social Media metrics, but we primarily look at our first-party data. And of course, when we are able to do paid media campaigns, we also include in our analysis the insights from the ad platforms. Another big metric for us is the Newsletter. Ours goes out to millions of Marriott Bonvoy members and we are looking in particular at the opening rate.
LD: Great thanks for sharing, analytics are always such an important part for any content creation! I remember you mentioned, when preparing for this interview, that during lockdown you managed to create a series that was a huge success, can you tell us more about it?
RB: Sure, the Newsletter is a big component of how we promote, how we distribute our content. Before the pandemic, our Newsletter was meant to promote Beach Travel, this was in March 2020, and we swiftly realized this was not relevant content for the moment. So, we needed to pivot the focus of our Newsletter to be more appropriate. We then quickly started creating articles based on what we were hearing: lockdowns were pending, and we knew travel just wasn't possible. How do you continue to think about travel? How can you be inspired or dream about travel?
So, we crafted articles about ways to travel virtually: podcasts, books, how to convert your home into a Luxury Hotel experience, virtual tours to take and films to watch. Anything to keep you dreaming about travel.
We created 6 new articles for the April 2020 Newsletter. Right at that time, we ourselves were going into lockdown furloughs and when this Newsletter went out, it was the one kind of inspirational piece of content that went out during this time frame. A lot of the other communications going out were about what is going to happen to your points or what is happening on property and things like that.
Our Newsletter was something that allowed people to escape and think a little bit about what travel they want to take in the future. It did very, very well - our benchmark opening rate for our Newsletter at the time was 15% and this particular Newsletter did 28%. - and as a result, I think it was a lightbulb moment for a lot of people around the company that we still needed to stay inspired during this time frame. So, a few of us were brought back from furlough in order to continue creating articles for Traveler to do just that.
LD: That is a great win! Well done. Is there one specific series or type of content that you are particularly happy about?
RB: I am really proud of the work that we are doing right now. There are lots of things that we have done in the past that we have been able to tell that are really interesting and compelling stories. I am really excited about the podcast work that we are doing right now. It is a growing medium; I think it really allows for that inspiration and even more intimate and authentic storytelling. We have a podcast series right now called « About the Journey » that is focusing on Road Trips. It is about the experience that you have, getting from point A to point B, and so all those small stops that you take and the people that you meet along the way. We have conversations with those people, and I think it really brings the experience of travel to life. I am really proud of that and where that is going.
I am also excited about where we are going with a more interactive storytelling: we have just launched a story about LGBTQ+ communities in New York City. It’s a story about these small entrepreneurs. Given what has happened with the pandemic, a lot of small entrepreneurs have been struggling during this time and we wanted to bring to life these places. They are still here, still worth visiting and they need our support more than ever.
Thereby we profiled some of these entrepreneurs and performance spaces and bars in the city and did some beautiful photography along, and that is something that we are looking to do more of!
With these types of stories, we take a rich multimedia approach to storytelling including short videos, audio, maps and more. That's where we are going, and I am really excited about it.
LD: To conclude, what would be your recommendation to our readers, for the 3 keys to compelling content creation and storytelling?
RB: I would say the top things to keep in mind for storytelling is, and this term is overused, but I would say Authenticity - to really be true to the story that you are telling. Then I would say Innovative - your storytelling approach should come from a different perspective, whether that is from the storyteller perspective or finding that thing that is really striking within that story. Lastly, I would say Honesty, which I guess also gets back to authenticity.
LD: What would be the top three « don't do »?
RB: To talk about yourself, to follow the pack and not being factual, not being accurate.
LD: Now some rapid-fire questions: Favorite destination?
RB: Hong Kong, been there several times, and I love the energy of the city, I love the food, it’s just got great character.
LD: The first place you will travel to when you resume travelling?
RB: The first place that I would travel internationally to is Portugal.
LD: The top destination on your travel bucket list?
RB: Japan
LD: A brand that inspires you the most through their storytelling?
RB: REI. I met their director of content and I just I love what they are doing. It's so organic to them and they have been very bold and innovative in the way that they are telling stories. They are doing films and feature films that really stand out and speak to their brand and consumer. You do not see REI in any of these things - to my point before - but it is helping people, it is telling stories that matter to their audience and I think helps them have a broader affinity for their brand
LD: Your Favorite quote?
RB: “Be the change in the world that you want to see » Gandhi
LD: The book you keep going back to?
RB: I just read this book but I think I would read it again only because I like this person! I read the autobiography of Cicely Tyson, it is called « Just as I am » and it is great! I love the way that she lived her life, she faced and overcame a lot of challenges to live this extraordinary life. To me that is a great, great model, a great inspiration to go back to.
LD: Well, thank you so much for sharing these insights Robin, it was great having you here today!
RB: My pleasure, thanks for having me!
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