The Best Western Plus Oceanfront in Virginia Beach has over 4,000 square feet of flexible banquet and meeting space to accommodate groups of up to 180 guests.
From intimate two-person meetings in the boardroom to large formal weddings in their elegant ballroom, the hotel offers a variety of event space.
The Challenge
There are 20 hotels within a five mile radius of the boardwalk in Virginia Beach so there is a lot of competition for event business.
The Best Western Plus Oceanfront was looking for ways to stand out and increase event revenue. Because the hotel hosts destination weddings, they also wanted to be able to reach brides nationally.
The Solution
Diana Monteforte Pearson, the hotel’s catering director, started purchasing leads in Eventective’s Pay-Per-Lead Program to target prospective customers looking for event venues in the Virginia Beach area. She bought a significant number of leads and worked them by following up numerous times with personal emails, phone calls and responses through Eventective’s interface.
In March 2012, Diana decided she needed to increase her online visibility and joined EventClicks, Eventective’s pay-per-click advertising program.
After success booking business from Eventective leads and advertising, she upgraded to the Premium Subscription to get the maximum visibility on the site and unlimited free leads in the Pay-Per-Lead Program.
The Result
Phone calls to the venue are up 40% since advertising with Eventective and Diana is sure that number is going to increase. She loves that “people are calling us instead of us chasing them.”
The venue went from booking on average 1 or 2 events a month to booking 4 to 6 events a month. Within days of adding event packages to the listing, the hotel had two bookings for wedding packages and in one week booked three events for Eventective users.
Diana said this success is definitely attributed to the increased online visibility the hotel has received since advertising with Eventective. Eventective is the only paid online advertising they currently have.
Diana’s Advice
Diana’s advice for venues is to make sure you have online visibility by advertising and showcasing your business with quality photos and demonstrate value by posting affordable event packages on your listing.
A bride from Missouri called the hotel because she found them on Eventective when looking for a destination wedding location and was intrigued by their variety of wedding packages. The bride booked her wedding at the venue based solely on the information online and her conversation with Diana.
If you are participating in the Pay-Per-Lead Program respond to lots of leads, work them and have reasonable expectations.
Diana has learned that the more she communicated with the prospective customer through Eventective’s respond tool, the more responses she received.
She also does not wait for leads to show up in her email and uses her Leads page daily to view, manage and respond to event requests as soon as she receives them.
Best Western Plus Oceanfront Virginia Beach
www.bestwesternoceanfront.com
214 Guest Rooms
4,000 Square Feet of Event Space
Direct Beach Access
Annual Host to a National Surfing Competition
Sponsor of Military Events including Langley Air Force Base and National Red Hats Organization
