Infographic: Marriott’s Content Center of Excellence

Today, Marriott has one of the most sophisticated content marketing programs around the globe. But several years ago, Marriott was producing a lot of content without a central hub in place for strategy or cross-brand promotion. The program’s leaders suspected that their content felt too much like traditional marketing copy—hard-selling specific products or services—yet they couldn’t quite prove the value of what they created.

When Marriott partnered with Contently, the brand had their sights set on cracking the code of content marketing ROI. “When marketers say they can’t quantify ROI, it drives me crazy,” said Marc Graser, Marriott’s senior director of creative and content marketing.

To start, Marriott Traveler anchored its 30 brands with a single strategy. Their team of seven full-time employees had a centralized place to communicate, track progress, approve work, and most importantly, analyze each project’s reach.

“We can track how every article performs,” Graser said. “We know how many hotel rooms are visited from posts, how many room nights were booked, and how much money was generated as a result. We also know how much money is generated from our email newsletters from hotel bookings, and we know the demographics of who is looking at all of our content at all times. Everything should be trackable.”

With a firm foundation in place, Marriott is ready to focus on more multimedia content in the future. The plan is to incorporate more ambitious initiatives like influencer marketing, streaming video, and podcasts.

“Contently helped streamline the process onto one platform,” Graser said. “We could submit and accept pitches for stories, find talented writers to hire, and manage the editing and overall production process in a more efficient manner. Once Marriott Traveler took off, we started enlisting other brands within the Marriott portfolio to also use Contently as a way to further streamline the editorial process.”

Check out the infographic below to learn more about how Contently helped Marriott develop its content strategy and boost its revenue.