Hotels.com has built a microsite for the campaign, which is optimized for mobile devices. The Hotels.com sweepstakes runs through Feb. 22.

“While most parts of North America are seeing wintery weather, we wanted to send some lucky winners to seven warm, beautiful beachfront resorts for a much needed winter escape,” said Taylor Cole, director of public relations and social media at Hotels.com, Dallas, TX.

“The social sharing feature of our ‘Wish I Was Here’ campaign allows participants to pick and choose their favorite locales and share via their Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn pages,” she said. “Plus, participation is incentivized with a travel discount that may be used toward a hotel stay at one of thousands of properties on our site.”

“The convenience of booking a hotel room on the go has never been easier as we have experienced thanks to the millions who have downloaded the Hotels.com mobile booking application. Mobile phone and tablet hotel booking applications are driving the industry forward with more than two-thirds of bookings now done on a last-minute basis”

How it works
The campaign’s success is based off of consumers sharing content via social media.

Via the site, consumers can connect to their Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn account and pick their favorite beach resort from a list of seven Hotels.com-selected destinations in the United States.

To vote, consumers can click on the ‘share with friends’ button and pick the social media site to push the content to.

Consumers who share a property unlock a coupon for 10 percent off of a stay at the resort. Users can choose to have the coupon either emailed or printed.

From there, consumers can book reservations directly from Hotels.com’s mobile site.

Additionally, for each piece of content that is reshared, users receive an additional sweepstakes entry.

At the end of the sweepstakes, seven winners will be picked to receive a voucher for two free nights’ adult stays at the resort that they chose.

Mobile bookings
Given how mobile and social go together hand-in-hand, Hotels.com is smart to optimize the campaign for mobile devices.

Mobile has played a big role in Hotels.com’s marketing over the past few years.

For example, last August the company launched a video marketing campaign to show consumers how easy it is to book a hotel on the company’s mobile platforms.

Hotels.com revamped its iPad app at the same time (see story).

Furthermore, Hotels.com launched its Windows Phone 7 app, the company reported that 60 percent of mobile bookings are made for same-day reservations (see story).

“Hotels.com is redefining the customer and hotel shopping experience by connecting travelers to our travel destination content across the Web, tablet, smartphones and social channels,” Ms. Cole said.

“As part of our journey in helping our customers find their perfect place, we are making all customer interactions more social,” she said. “This allows real-time engagement while enabling them to connect and share with their own social networks.”

Final Take
Lauren Johnson is associate reporter on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York