News for the Hospitality Executive |
Three
Changes We Will See In Hotel Marketing In 2011 By Neil Salerno In
the last two years, the economy has taken
a severe toll on our industry and its resources. In the resulting
scramble to stay
afloat, many hotels turned to every marketing and operational technique
they
could uncover. Some of those techniques helped, some didn't. Many
hoteliers
searched for that one unique tactic which would turn everything around;
only to
find that it doesn't exist. Experimentation
is always expensive in terms of time and human resources. The simple
fact is
that the basic tactics of hotel sales and marketing still work. My
impression
is that, in recent years, many hoteliers have drifted away from the
basics, in
favor of new technology and the many unrealistic promises about the use
of non-travel
related social media. This type of social media has not yet made any
impact for
individual hotels. Beginning
in 2011 or sooner, I believe that we will see many hotels return to a
more
balanced marketing strategy. More hotels will return to the time-proven
tactics
of creating more personal contacts and a resolute effort to develop
longer
lasting business relationships. The climate is ripe for a return to
customer
relations management after several years of the de-personalization of
relationships inherit with the Internet. I
believe that more hotels will begin prioritizing tactics within their
marketing
strategy to eliminate wasted efforts and maximize time spent on those
things
that actually produce business. The Internet and other forms of
electronic
marketing should supplement and enhance your property sales efforts,
not
replace it. I believe that the Internet can have a significant impact
on a
hotel's marketing coverage and resultant revenue income, but it is not
the only
way to market a hotel. During
the economic crisis, many hotels were forced to eliminate, or simply
not
replace, some key positions, which forced the remaining staff to
take-on
additional tasks and responsibilities; multi-tasking has become the
norm in
many hotels. As the business climate improves, I see a growing trend to
return to
hiring sales specialists to create new contacts and build hotel sales. There
is a growing trend for hotels to out-source Internet and electronic
marketing
in order to free-up time and dollars to be re-directed toward the
property
sales effort. Outsourcing these tasks allows hotels to concentrate on
their
core marketing tactics to build long-term business the way we did
before the
Internet. On
the other hand, many more hotel site designers need to take-on full
responsibility for the marketing and sales production of the websites
they
design. Hotel website designers who design a hotel website, publish it,
and
"forget it" need to rethink their positions. I believe that our
industry will see many more productive sites if site designers begin to
accept
the responsibility for the reservation
and sales results of the sites they design. This
will force website designers to build sites which produce sales and not
simply
design sites which look attractive, but are dysfunctional from a search
and
sales stand-point. More site designers are also beginning to realize
that there
is much more to marketing on the Internet than simply using search
engine
optimization. A relatively new term for hotels "Search Engine
Marketing" needs to be adopted by site designers. Search engine marketing includes destination marketing, which is so vital for search; creating online packages and promotions, using social media to build in-bound links, using online blogs, application of site analytics results, and blast email mailings; all necessary to the search and sales success of a hotel website. A Stronger Focus on Creating Profitable Revenue During
the economic crisis, hotel revenue management experienced a resurgence
of
interest among hoteliers. The reduction in sales volume forced many
hoteliers
to "sell smarter"., not just harder. Revenue management was created to
build net income while maximizing occupancy through rate and inventory
management. Revenue
management takes the focus off of just selling rooms to concentrating
on building
net income. Many of those hotels which drastically dropped their rates
during
the recession will find it extremely difficult to bring them back to
more profitable
levels as the recession recedes. Unfortunately, many of these hoteliers
resorted to drastically reducing rates because they just didn't know
what else
to do. |
Contact:
Neil Salerno, CHME, CHA |
Also See: | Hoteliers,
How Are FaceBook & Twitter Working For Ya? / Neil Salerno /
July 2010 |
Social Media For Hotels – What Helps, What Doesn't / Neil Salerno / December 2009 | |
Hoteliers…What is Your eMarketing Proficiency? An Electronic Marketing White Paper / Neil Salerno / February 2010 |