Top Ten Internet Marketing Resolutions as a Hotel company 2009- 2010
1.
I will turn 2009 into the Year of Outsmarting the
Competition.
Even though fewer people will be traveling to my hotel's
destination, I know there will be more than enough travelers to maintain a
healthy occupancy rate if I can “steal” market share from the competition. I
know that my competitors are skeptical about the current economic downturn and
are consequently slashing marketing budgets. I will continue to invest in my
Internet marketing and do my best to increase market share by being a smarter
marketer in 2009.
2. I will overhaul my
hotel’s marketing budget to achieve the highest return-on-ad-spend (ROAS).
Unlike the competition, I will not automatically cut my
hotel’s marketing spend, but re-evaluate my marketing efforts and advertising
budget and focus on proven return-on-investment (ROI)-centric efforts. I will
shift funds from offline to online advertising formats. I will shift funds from
brand-building to direct-response initiatives. I will track every dollar spent
with sophisticated website analytical and campaign tracking technology
(Omniture, DART, etc.) to make sure that I achieve respectable
return-on-ad-spend (ROAS) from every campaign.
I understand that in this
economic environment I should not be experimenting with unproven advertising
formats. In 2009 I will focus only on proven Internet marketing formats that
generate above industry-average returns at the lowest possible cost. I will not
spend valuable marketing dollars on traditional and expensive media formats, or
on “sexy” new media initiatives like advertising on popular, but irrelevant to
the travel planning and decision process social media sites like YouTube,
Facebook.com, MySpace.com, etc. I will not fall prey to the “Stockholm
Syndrome” (advertise on online travel agencies where the advertising cost, in
addition to hefty margins, can drive the total cost to my hotel to 30%-40% from
booked hotel revenue).
3. I will re-evaluate the
importance of my hotel’s key customer segments and feeder markets in lieu of
the economic downturn.
Have my main feeder markets changed lately? Have my
traditional key customer segments’ contribution changed? I have already noticed
a drop in my fly-in guests’ share due to airfare hikes, cuts in corporate
travel budgets, and reduced airline capacity, and I understand the need to
focus more on my drive-in market. I will do a thorough customer segmentation
analysis and take a hard look at how my property markets to my key customer
segments (e.g. meeting planners, groups, business, leisure), as well as develop
a marketing plan to target my most important feeder markets.
I will continue building
interactive relationships with my customers. In this new online environment I
don’t just want to provide great service to my guests, I want to “own” the
customer throughout the travel planning and decision making cycle and not allow
the third-party online intermediaries to own my customers. I will focus on
building customer loyalty via reward programs and other eCRM initiatives.
4. I will become a
smarter eMarketer in 2009.
I understand how important it is to track conversions on my
website and ROIs from my Internet marketing campaigns and figure out what works
and what doesn’t. In 2009 I will track the post-impression and post-click activity
of each campaign and track conversions (bookings, room nights, revenues) from
every campaign. I will implement the latest website analytics + campaign
tracking technology to track ROI from my online marketing efforts and adjust
marketing spend instantaneously based on ROIs. I will know exactly which
Internet marketing campaigns—search marketing, email marketing, display
advertising, strategic linking, etc.—produce bookings and revenues, how much
and at what ROI.
I will become ROI-centric.
I know that measuring ROI is the last priority for many vendors out there. I
will no longer accept excuses from my interactive vendors about how difficult
it is to track conversions and ROAS and that the “technology is simply not
there”. I will only work with an Internet marketing vendor that provides a
comprehensive Internet marketing strategy and focuses on online marketing
formats that generate the highest ROIs. I will demand full transparency in fees
and marketing spend, and accountability for results. I will require 24/7 access
to state-of-the-art website analytical and campaign tracking tools, utilization
of industry’s best practices, and marketing spend that can be tracked. If my
current vendors cannot accommodate my hotel, I will replace them in a
heartbeat.
5. I will re-evaluate my
hotel marketing strategy to provide a Unique Value Proposition to my customers.
I will create unique hotel offers based on unique product
attributes. I will not be competing only on price. I know that I will never be
able to attract and retain more sophisticated travel shoppers and more affluent
customers if I compete on price alone. I understand that the online travel
agencies have been responsible to a great extent for the commoditization of the
hotel product and services.
I will work hard against
any further commoditization of my hotel product and services. I will identify
unique aspects of my hotel product and destination, and develop a
differentiated approach to reach my key customer segments by creating unique
specials and packages, event-related getaways, and seasonal promotions.
6. I will develop my
hotel’s differentiation strategy to “stand out” amongst my competitors.
I understand that in an economic downturn, when all my
competitors are slashing prices and competing on rate alone, I have to
distinguish my hotel to attract more discriminating customers, achieve higher
ADRs and increase market share. To set my hotel apart from the online travel
agencies, I will stay within rate parity, but provide additional value such as resort
or dining credits, room/suite upgrades, etc. if guests book on my site. To
differentiate my hotel from the comp set, I will offer what my competition does
not: a broader selection of specials and packages in a variety that my
customers can appreciate: seasonal specials, suite specials, weekend specials,
family specials, romantic getaways.
7. In 2009 I will
continue making the direct online channel the centerpiece of my Internet
strategy
Because I know it provides my hotel company with immediate
results in a very difficult economic environment as well as long-term
competitive advantages. I know that the leading hospitality brands
already enjoy a very healthy 76:24 direct vs. indirect online distribution
ratio, and Direct Online Channel sales will exceed 61% for the industry as a
whole in 2009. I will maintain strict rate parity across all marketing channels
and maintain a best rate guarantee, while at the same time creating unique
product offerings to provide a unique value proposition to my customers. I will
employ a comprehensive Direct Online Channel strategy to significantly increase
my direct online sales and shift bookings from more expensive distribution
channels to the least expensive channel—my hotel website.
8. I will optimize and if
needed re-design my hotel website in 2009.
I know that hotel Internet marketing starts and ends with the
hotel website and my site has become the first, and in many cases, the last
point of contact with the travel consumer. I understand that the site is the
hotel’s most important marketing asset today and enhancing and optimizing the
hotel website should be a top priority in 2009. I will aim to enhance my hotel
website’s user-friendliness, search engine-friendliness, travel
booker-friendliness, and interactive relationship-friendliness, which will
boost conversion rates, improve search engine rankings, and website revenues. I
also know that a well done website optimization and enhancement or re-design
will pay for itself within 3-4 months.
I realize that if my site
is over 12 months old, a website optimization is due in 2009, in order to take
full advantage of the much cheaper organic search related visitors my your
site. I also know that if my site is over 2-3 years old, a website re-design
should be considered, or at least budgeted for late 2009. I know that my
website should “speak” to two distinct audiences: travel consumers to whom the
site must comprehensively describe all aspects of the hotel product and
services, and the search engines, for which the site must adhere to best
practices related to H1 headers, body copy (keyword density), page titles,
description tags and keyword tags.
9. I will re-consider my
hotel’s Web 2.0/Social Media Strategy
And implement effective, yet inexpensive, initiatives as part
of my comprehensive direct Internet marketing strategy.
I want to listen to what my
customers are saying. I know that by adopting best practices for monitoring
customer review sites I can not only gain unfiltered insights into the customer
experience and immediately address any issues and act appropriately, but I can
also attract new customers. On the other hand I know that I can establish
interactive relationships with my customers via Web 2.0/Social Media
initiatives on my website such as expert blogs, consumer experience and photo
sharing, contests and sweepstakes, etc.
10. I will take a hard
look at how Best Industry Practices are being utilized in my hotel Internet
marketing strategies
And by my hotel’s Internet marketing vendors. I know that
now, after almost 14 years since the first online hotel booking, best practices
have been established in practically every aspect of hotel Internet marketing.
I do not want my Internet marketing vendors to “learn the business on my
dime”. I will make it my mission to acquire new core competencies and
adopt best industry practices by partnering with leading hospitality experts in
Internet marketing and direct online channel strategies.
I like to have a
crystal-clear understanding of what the best practices and latest trends are in
Internet marketing in hospitality. What works, what doesn’t, and why. I
recognize I don’t have all the answers and that there are thought leaders and
other proven professionals, who can help me and my hotel stay competitive in
these dire times, preserve and increase market share, and generate the highest
website revenues and ROIs.
I will work with Internet
marketing experts to disseminate eKnowledge and best practices, making my team
stakeholders in the corporate Internet marketing efforts. I will hire experts
who can teach me and my staff best practices and keep us apprised of the latest
trends. These Internet marketing practitioners will provide crucial
professional development as well as guide our direct Internet marketing strategies,
online brand building strategies, e-CRM, and website re-design and
optimization, search and email marketing, and Web 2.0 initiatives.
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