Project Role
Lead Strategist, Social Media & Content Strategy

The Business Problem
Shinola Hotel, a luxury boutique hotel in downtown Detroit, lacked a cohesive social media presence that fully captured its design-driven ethos, deep local roots, and high-end hospitality experience. While the physical space embodied craftsmanship and culture, the digital presence lacked engagement, storytelling, and a clear brand voice.

The challenge was to:

• Position Shinola Hotel as a cultural and hospitality landmark
• Expand reach to travelers, creatives, and business professionals
• Drive engagement through experience-driven content
• Strengthen community ties through local partnerships and events

Without a strategic approach, the hotel risked blending into the background in a competitive hospitality landscape.

The Insight
Luxury hospitality is no longer just about where you stay—it’s about what you experience. Today’s travelers and locals are drawn to brands that tell a story, evoke a sense of place, and create immersive cultural connections.

Shinola Hotel had an opportunity to differentiate itself by leveraging its Detroit heritage, Shinola’s craftsmanship, and the city’s creative energy to connect with its audience in a meaningful way. A strategic social media approach needed to:

• Showcase Detroit’s vibrant cultural scene and local collaborations
• Highlight the guest experience beyond traditional hospitality marketing
• Reinforce Shinola’s commitment to craftsmanship and storytelling

The Solution
As Lead Strategist, I developed a comprehensive social media and content strategy to transform Shinola Hotel’s digital presence on Instagram and Meta (Facebook) into a dynamic and engaging platform.

The strategy focused on three core content pillars:

• Design & Craftsmanship: Showcasing the hotel’s aesthetic, architecture, and handcrafted details
• Detroit & Community: Highlighting partnerships with local artists, businesses, and cultural events
• Hospitality & Experience: Bringing the guest experience to life through user-generated content, storytelling, and event-driven engagement

To execute this strategy, I:

• Developed and implemented a new social media framework alongside the social strategist, ensuring content themes reflected Shinola’s craftsmanship, luxury hospitality, and Detroit heritage.
• Oversaw the structured content calendar for Instagram and Facebook, incorporating diverse content formats such as short-form video, carousels, and interactive posts
• Shifted the focus from static architectural photography to immersive storytelling- featuring guests, events, and Shinola Hotel as a cultural hub.
• Refined the brand’s visual and narrative approach, ensuring a consistent, aspirational, approachable tone across all social platforms.

This strategic approach elevated Shinola Hotel’s social media presence, turning it into a destination that embodies Detroit’s creativity, craftsmanship, and culture—both online and in real life.