Educating a market that had never seen the product before

A first-of-its-kind product demanded an intensive testing and learning phase. Early research revealed a lack of Australian and New Zealand audience knowledge about hotel unit investments, and waning trust in the property market amid rising interest rates and lingering post-pandemic tourism uncertainty. The audience, 40-60 year olds with large disposable incomes, GST registered in New Zealand, had to be found and educated at the same time.

We led with education: key benefits of hotel unit investment in the ads themselves, FAQs on the landing page addressing common concerns, and investment value statistics front and centre alongside location and amenities. Facebook built brand awareness through static, carousel and video ads, while Google put the La Quinta name against as many Auckland investment property searches as possible across branded and non-branded keywords.

The early learning phase paid for itself: ads containing keywords like ‘invest’ and ‘investors’ converted best, and the focus shifted to the most qualified audience, people already familiar with the product category, promoting the financial appeal and easy maintenance rather than educating the unaware.

The first month hit its lead target within 10 days of going live, at a 7.47% conversion rate and 81.82% profiling rate. Across a toughening market the campaign has held an above-average 5.31% conversion rate with 99 leads as of October 2022, and a 77% overall profiling rate painting La Quinta a clear picture of its buyers, their budget, existing properties and preferred product. At the five-month mark, La Quinta generated its first sale from a Facebook lead.