Hand Picked Hotels

The Challenge

Handpicked Hotels (HPH) is a luxury hotel group based in the UK and the Channel Islands.

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With an ambitious goal of increasing revenue growth by 30% year-on-year (YoY), HPH sought support in executing a highly effective Google Ads strategy. When they approached Vagabond, the hotel group knew it needed to prioritise new customer acquisition and reach a broader demographic to achieve this goal. 

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HPH’s customer acquisition strategy focused heavily on search campaigns, with limited success in targeting new customers or segmenting audiences effectively. While they had historically applied best practices on Google, the lack of segmentation and focus on acquiring new clientele was limiting the brand's opportunities for growth.

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Our Solution

To address these challenges, our team proposed a complete restructure of HPH's Google Ads, Microsoft and Meta accounts, shifting towards a more diversified approach. 

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1. Account Audit, Research, and Strategy Development: We began with a comprehensive audit of HPH accounts, performing in-depth industry research and market analysis to identify key opportunities. Following an ideation session and thorough discussions with the client, we presented a full proposal for restructuring the account. After incorporating client feedback, the proposal was finalised, and over four weeks, we built out the new campaigns using test budgets. As these campaigns gained traction, we gradually transitioned budgets and targets to the new structure, establishing an ongoing PPC optimisation roadmap.

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2. Launch of Advanced Targeted Campaigns and Enhanced Ad Quality: We introduced Performance Max campaigns, an AI-powered tool that focuses on driving performance based on your specified conversion goals. We paired this with fresh assets crafted by our expert creative team, celebrating each hotel’s USPs - grounds, facilities, and dining. This fresh creative approach enhanced ad quality, while the addition of targeted audience, location, and affinity-based strategies ensured efficient spend toward high-value customer segments, to maximise revenue per stay.

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3. Campaign Restructure: A complete campaign overhaul was executed, featuring the implementation of AI-powered Performance Max campaigns, dedicated brand search campaigns, and retention-focused initiatives across all of the brand's accounts.

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We adopted a dual approach by consolidating the account structure into groups of campaigns focused on key sales areas and segmentation. This ensures that each campaign is purpose-driven and optimally set up to achieve its specific goal, ultimately increasing budget efficiency and maximising achievable results.

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Additionally, we applied business-as-usual (BAU) optimisations for keywords and ensured that their data was always current. This ensures we continuously build on results each week and year on year. Up-to-date data ensures we are targeting previous customers and matched customers consistently, maximising the ROI of campaigns. Balancing budgets across new campaigns required a precise budget tracker and consistent communication with HPH, ensuring transparency and alignment as we navigated this strategic overhaul.

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Results

The creative overhaul delivered outstanding results for Hand Picked Hotels, with a significant boost in campaign performance across key metrics:

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• CTR doubled in YoY, driving higher engagement.
• ROAS improved 3x, generating significantly more bookings.
• CPC reduced by 45%, increasing traffic efficiency.‍

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By refreshing ad creatives and optimising campaigns, we turned HPH’s Meta ads into high-performing assets that resonated with their audience, boosted engagement, and drove bookings.