Hilton Worldwide is inspiring travel enthusiasts to realize their fantasy vacations by introducing a mobile-optimized microsite where visitors can create digital vision boards and share them with friends via social media.

The hotel marketer is following up its ?Stop Clicking Around? campaign with a partnership featuring performer Derek Hough, whose own inspiration board is available on the online hub. Hilton has been placing a bigger emphasis on fresh, digital content recently as it ramps up to keep its brand at the forefront of social media users? newsfeeds and minds.

?The smartphone is becoming travelers? top companion, giving them 24/7 access to apps, Web sites and social channels while they?re on-the-go,? said Mary Beth Parks, senior vice president of global brand marketing at Hilton Worldwide. ?This growth of technology has shifted travelers? perceptions of when and how they want to be communicated with, and has widened the number of touch points Hilton Hotels & Resorts has with them.

?As such, we?re committed to providing exceptional experiences and service to them no matter the communication medium they use and to ensure we?re reaching them where they are spending much of their time. We will continue to optimize the site as it evolves.?

Transforming dreams into reality
Hilton is hoping to inspire vacation-goers to stay at one of its resorts by rolling out an online and mobile-optimized hub dedicated to the power of visualization. The brand has tapped Dancing with the Stars choreographer Derek Hough for a new partnership, which is meant to encourage individuals to move beyond dreaming and toward doing.

Consumers may visit www.OurStageYourStory.com on their mobile devices to brainstorm an upcoming getaway and subsequently book accommodations. A recent study by Hilton found that 86 percent of travelers choose goals for themselves, such as visiting new destinations or doing certain activities. The process of visualization generally helps them achieve these desires.

To help more customers make their dreams a reality, Hilton is prompting site visitors to create their own mobile-optimized vision boards. The microsite provides a variety of templates, as well as a library of images from locations around the world.

Consumers can delineate the contents of their bucket lists by browsing the site?s offerings and putting together a digital dream experience, which may fuel them to book a vacation to their destination of choice.

Additionally, travel fans will be able to grab inspiration from others? vision boards, and will be able to share their own via social media.

This could prompt others to visit the site and create their own boards as well.

Hilton is planning on refreshing the site with new content periodically, and will give users who share their vision boards with social media followers a chance to make their dream vacation come true.

To create a board, consumers are asked to sign in with their Facebook accounts.

Unlocking mobile?s prowess
This new partnership and initiative arrives on the heels of Hilton?s latest mobile-first offerings, proving that the brand is intent on connecting with digitally-savvy travelers, many of whom belong to the millennial demographic.

Last month, Hilton placed mobile at the center of its latest marketing initiatives, which included enhanced digital keyless entry options, its largest-ever campaign with a call-to-action for rewards memberships and a celebrity-supported social media contest, pointing to mobile's potential to build brand across demographics (see story).

Hilton is also no stranger to leveraging social media as a top communication platform.

In September of 2015, Hilton's mid-priced Hampton chain celebrated consumers looking for adventure on the weekends, a segment identified by internal research, with a new social media contest and mobile-optimized aggregation site (see story).

?Through this platform, Hilton Hotels & Resorts wants to remind audiences why they should travel in 2016 and beyond, providing them with the tools to turn travel dreams into a reality,? Ms. Parks said.