2012 Top 10 Digital Marketing Resolutions

　　Last year the economy remained in recovery mode, allowing the industry to focus its efforts more on marketing to the travel consumer and less on scaling back budgets for the first time in several years. The convergence of social media, mobile Web and location-based services, increased personalization and relevancy of marketing messages, the continued onslaught by social buying/flash sales sites and other heavily discounted distribution channels, the Google Panda and Freshness updates, and ‘engaging’ the traveler at all touch points via multi-channel marketing were all hot topics last year and will continue to dominate in 2012.

　　Here are the Top Ten Digital Marketing Resolutions your hotel company should consider adopting in 2012:

　　1. I will bring social, local and mobile marketing initiatives to the forefront of my hotel digital marketing plans this year.

　　Situation:

　　In 2012 hoteliers will be hearing a lot of the buzzword SoLoMo (SOcial, LOcal, MObile). Meant to convey the convergence of these three major media, the term SoLoMo describes a “marriage made in heaven” between the three content and marketing platforms. Why does this mean for hoteliers? Hotel guests are avid SoLoMo services users. Most social network engagements by travel consumers are done via mobile device.

　　The success of location-based social media such as Foursquare has shown us that rewards and recommendations are only the beginning. Hoteliers need to consider how to best utilize SoLoMo to engage their customers and generate incremental revenues.

　　Action Steps:

　　By focusing efforts on social media, local marketing, and mobile marketing, hotel marketers have the ability to deliver more personalized, relevant content and engage existing guests and potential customers like never before.

　　To begin with, how well optimized are your property profiles in the main data providers, which feed many local directories and geo-social sites? How well optimized are your property local search listings on Google Places, Yahoo Local, and Bing Local? What about all the local online directories and yellow pages? Do you have a local citation listing program in place?

　　Once you take care of your local content and listing strategy, it is time to enhance your mobile marketing presence. How deep, relevant and engaging is the local content on your mobile site? Do you have automated push of specials, promotions and local events from the property “desktop” website to the mobile site to keep your mobile presence “fresh?” Does your property take advantage of coupon promotions through Google?

　　2. I understand this industry is complex and will work to make sense of a very convoluted digital space/online marketplace.

　　Situation:

　　Hoteliers have been rightfully confused by the myriad of headlines about the changing landscape of hotel distribution, from articles titled “Google will change your hotel’s distribution strategy” and “Facebook as an E-commerce engine,” to “How to make Twitter Sell” and “Mobile Apps to Impact Hotel Distribution.” In other articles OTAs are proclaimed to be a “good thing” because of the so-called billboard effect and contribution to new client acquisitions. On a daily basis, hotel owners, managers and operators are bombarded by far-fetched and often conflicting messages and claims.

　　The recession brought an onslaught of new players to the travel marketplace, which further convoluted the complex online marketing and distribution channels and online travel consumer behavior. Social buying sites (group buying, flash sales sites, member-only sites) and last-minute mobile sites are all presenting themselves as the “future of hotel distribution.” To add to the confusion, mobile and social have forever changed the way people research, plan and purchase travel – shorter booking windows, greater transparency, and peer recommendations are just some of the ways the integration of social and mobile have affected purchasing habits. Understanding this increasingly convoluted digital space and the increasingly complex online travel consumer behavior can feel like a monumental undertaking.

　　Action Plan:

　　In this dynamic industry, taking time on a daily basis to stay current with hotel digital marketing trends is a must. To start, adopt a business approach when analyzing whether or not use these new marketing formats and channels. In spite of all that is happening in the digital space, hotel marketing and distribution fundamentals have not changed. Try to correctly categorize these new sites, players and business models by asking yourself a set of simple questions: Is the site an advertising medium or a distribution channel? Does it work against accepted rate parity and best rate guarantee principles? Would a promotion via one of those sites alienate your existing corporate, group and leisure clients? Does working with these new players adhere to industry’s best practices in marketing and distribution?

　　3. I will continue to account for the continued shift from offline to online, and engage the hyper-interactive travel consumer via multi-channel marketing efforts.

　　Situation:

　　The shift from offline to online continues. The online channel has been rapidly growing for 16 years straight. Internet bookings for the top 46 hotel chains now constitute 54% of all the chains’ CRS bookings. The online channel has grown by 25% in the last four years alone, while the share of the GDS travel agent channel and voice channel has decreased by 25% and 11.1% in the past four years, respectively.

　　Action Plan:

　　Multi-channel marketing is the foundation for a smart direct online channel strategy. In this environment, the hotel website, SEM campaigns, email marketing, social media presence, mobile, etc. have a symbiotic relationship. For example, if you launch a website promotion, you should also send an email to the hotel’s opt-in list, announce it on Twitter and Facebook, launch a paid search campaign and publish a blog posting via the hotel blog.

　　4. I will take advantage of the mobile channel, especially in this marketplace where my competitors are behind the times.

　　Situation:

　　Mobile internet usage will surpass desktop internet usage by 2014 (Morgan Stanley). Google reports four-fold year-on-year increase in mobile search, and that one out of five hotel queries come from mobile devices. Coda Research projects 65% compounded annual growth of mobile commerce from 2010 through 2014, to reach US$24 billion. Many OTAs and hotel chains reported several-fold increases in their mobile bookings in 2011. Last year more than 4.7% of website visits and more than 3% of all bookings came from mobile devices across our hotel client portfolio.

　　Action Plan:

　　In 2012, hoteliers should continue to focus on building and enhancing their mobile websites and launching mobile marketing initiatives, such as mobile SEM, SEO, mobile-social media initiatives, interactive sweepstakes and contests. In 2012, hotels should spend 9% to 10% of their overall digital marketing budget on mobile marketing initiatives.

　　5. Now that I know social media is a customer engagement channel and not a distribution channel in hospitality, I will use social media correctly to create buzz around my hotel, target receptive audiences, provide customer service and enhance customer experiences. This will ultimately stimulate hotel website visits, interactions and conversions on the hotel website.

　　Situation:

　　There is no doubt that social media has changed how travel consumers research and plan travel, access travel information, and perceive the credibility of information. Internet users are increasingly influenced by social media sites and peer reviews. By utilizing a comprehensive social media strategy, smart hoteliers engage their customers and enhance their experiences, generate buzz and improve customer service.

　　Many hoteliers have underestimated the complexities and involvement required for managing the property’s social media profiles. Infrequent or bland, “sales pitch” postings, lack of interactivity, creativity, fun and intrigue plague the social media presence of many hotels.[page]

　　Action Plan:

　　This year work on establishing or enhancing a brand consistent Facebook and Twitter presence; monitor customer reviews/engagements for any customer service issues; use engaging posts (ask questions, use trivia, hold contests); locate/designate your on-property social media champion, and partner with a social media strategy and technology firm to provide strategy, training, and technology implementations such as Facebook custom tabs, contests, etc.

　　6. I will rise to the challenge imposed by the recent Google Panda and Freshness updates!

　　Situation:

　　Today’s hotel website must adhere to very high expectations from not only website visitors but also the search engines. In a typical year Google makes more than 500 updates to its search algorithm. 2011 saw two major updates: the Google Panda Update (now in version 2.5) and the Google “Freshness” updates, which made most hotel websites obsolete by introducing very strict requirements for content, interactivity, and page download speeds. The Panda update requires websites to have engaging and unique website content (as opposed to bland, old and tired content and in addition to the existing requirement for deep and relevant content) that increases the site’s “stickiness”. The recent Google Freshness update requires that hotel websites maintain fresh and new content to rank high in the search engines.

　　Why are these updates important for the hospitality industry? Between 50%-70% of hotel website visitors and website bookings originate as leads from the major search engines.

　　Action Plan:

　　In 2012 hoteliers must work harder than ever to enhance the uniqueness and engaging nature of the content on the property website by employing professional hospitality copywriters and maintaining fresh content on the hotel website year-round.

　　7. I will decrease dependence on the OTAs this year, adding thousands of dollars in incremental revenues to my hotel’s bottom line.

　　Situation:

　　Did you know that since 2007, OTAs have increased market share by 32% at the expense of the hotel direct online channel (hotel websites)? STR estimated that the true cost of OTA distribution in 2010 alone was more than US$2.5 billion in the form of abnormally high merchant commissions. It is 10 to 15 times cheaper to sell your rooms via the direct online channel compared to the OTA channel.

　　We do not envision a scenario in which 100% of Internet bookings are made via the direct online channel. The OTAs and other intermediaries in the indirect online channel do play a necessary role in certain areas of the travel planning and purchasing process (dynamic packaging). Even pre-Internet, approximately 25% of all hotel bookings in the U.S. came via the indirect channel (travel agents, tour operators, and wholesalers).

　　Action Plan:

　　Driving bookings through the direct online channel – the hotel website – needs to be every hotelier’s priority in 2012. In addition to being the most cost-effective distribution channel, the direct online channel provides long-term benefits and competitive advantages. It prevents rate and brand erosion, helps the hotel “own” the customer, enables cross-channel and multi-channel marketing initiatives, builds brand loyalty, and more. The OTAs’ fair share should not be higher than 15% for franchised and 25% for independent properties from all Internet bookings. We should not be seeing the current industry average of 40% OTA contribution.

　　Start by changing the property mindset: OTA commissions = marketing dollars. Do a distribution cost analysis. Maintain strict rate parity and a best rate guarantee. Focus on and budget accordingly for the direct online channel.

　　8. I will not resort to desperate measures and use social buying and flash sales sites in 2012.

　　Situation:

　　Social buying and flash sales sites emerged as a result of the recession. Social buying and flash sales sites in travel and hospitality, such as Groupon Getaways with Expedia, LivingSocial.com, and SniqueAway.com are an integral part of the economy and the supply-demand market equilibrium.

　　Action Plan:

　　Some hoteliers participate in social buying and flash sales sites merely because their competition is doing so. Our advice? Don’t succumb to the devil. Stick to the fundamentals in hotel distribution and make sure you are covering all the bases in the direct online channel.

　　9. I will focus on determining the effectiveness and ROI of my digital marketing campaigns and make smarter use of analytics technology to determine true ROI and campaign effectiveness, as well as test, test, test to achieve better results.

　　Situation:

　　The explosion of social media and mobile marketing, along with channel convergence and multi-channel marketing, has made it more imperative for hoteliers to track the effectiveness of hotel digital marketing initiatives and optimize returns from their limited budget resources. The available analytical technology tools today offer cost-effective yet powerful ways to track the results. They allow us to track conversions from the hotel website and all digital advertising campaigns such as SEM, banner advertising and re-targeting. Call analytics allows us to track the effectiveness of the voice channel, as well as the mobile web and print ads.

　　In addition, we can retarget and behaviorally target website visitors and have more access than we have ever had to consumer’s browsing and purchasing habits.

　　Action Plan:

　　Invest in analytics technology in 2012 if you haven’t already! Having a full understanding of which initiatives work and which don’t will offset the cost of the investment.

　　For your banner advertising and re-targeting campaigns, use a banner delivery and tracking tool like DART to track post-impressions and post-click activity and conversions and gain a deep understanding and knowledge of your banner campaigns’ returns.

　　Did you know that 7 of 10 hotel bookings from mobile devices actually happen via the voice channel? Track the contribution of mobile website and mobile marketing initiatives, as well as voice reservations from your desktop website, via call analytics to determine the true effectiveness of these media. Using call analytics and QR Codes in your offline print advertising has become the norm.

　　10. I will partner with savvy digital marketers who know it all and can guide me through this process, so I can drive the most revenue ever through my most cost-efficient channel — my hotel website.

　　Situation:

　　Navigating the online marketplace can be confusing and overwhelming. The pace of change in this industry, including technological advancements, updates to search engine algorithms, and new solutions for driving direct online revenues are almost impossible to keep up with.

　　Additionally, most hoteliers are already shuffling many different priorities each day and are not able to devote the majority of their time – if any time – to keeping up with industry trends and best practices.

　　Action Plan:

　　In this dynamic industry it is important to stay on top of quickly moving trends, prioritize initiatives that generate direct online bookings, and be flexible enough to continuously adjust hotel digital marketing campaigns for optimal results. Partner with digital marketing experts who will make driving direct online revenues for your hotel their priority.