Fuel to Power Live Video Interviews With HITEC 2019 Exhibitors and Attendees
Fuel | June 11, 2019
Sales & Marketing
Cannabis & The Hospitality Industry
Chamberlin Public Relations | October 1, 2018
As more states ease laws on cannabis usage, hotels are finding new ways to incorporate the drug into their product offering, either catering to new demographics or offering new services for those eager to try something different and exciting. According to a Gallup poll from late last year, more than 65 percent of Americans "support legalizing marijuana for both recreational and medicinal use." So far, 31 states across the country now permit marijuana use in some form, even though the drug is still classified as "schedule 1," meaning that it has a high potential for abuse. Even so, recreational use of cannabis is now legal in nine states...
Beat the OTAs: Use Your Hotel Website to Tell a Unique Brand Story
Steffan Berelowitz | October 1, 2018
By Steffan Berelowitz Competing with OTAs for direct bookings continues to represent an uphill challenge for hotels. The likes of Expedia and Booking.com have become masters at conversion, investing millions to whisk shoppers from browsing to booking in the minimum amount of steps. However, the transactional nature of this experience is far from inspiring. It also makes it hard for hotels to stand out and showcase their unique personality. Deals and limited offers therefore become the means of differentiation, which clearly isn't good for business. To stand out from the crowd and drive more direct bookings, it's important to think of yo...
Now Available for Download: Smart Hotelier’s Guide to 2019 Digital Marketing & Technology Budget Planning
HEBS Digital | September 27, 2018
With budgeting season comes the time to analyze digital marketing initiatives and plan for trends that may arise throughout the year. When constructing your budget, think about upgrades your property needs to make regarding digital technology and marketing strategy. Knowledge of where the industry's key benchmarks are headed is critical to budgeting appropriately and knowing where to focus your efforts to see results. According to STR, the US hotel industry is projected to see growth, slow yet steady, through 2019. However, supply will continue to outweigh demand in many major markets (2.3% vs 2%). Occupancy is increasing by 0.3%; A...
Cendyn Is North America’s Leading Hotel CRM Technology Provider & Data Driven Marketing Agency for 2018, as Voted by Prestigious World Travel Awards
Cendyn | September 24, 2018
Boca Raton, Florida – September 24, 2018 – Cendyn, the leading provider of hotel CRM and hotel sales platforms in the hospitality industry, has been voted as North America's Leading Hotel CRM Technology Provider and North America's Data Driven Marketing Agency for 2018. The prestigious World Travel Awards recognizes companies, organizations and brands that push the boundaries of hospitality industry excellence. "We are truly honored to have won these awards. Cendyn was founded over 20 years ago in North America, so these awards really resonate with our continued efforts to innovate and evolve with the hospitality indust...
The Top 5 Things You Need to Know Now in Hotel Digital Marketing: September Edition
HEBS Digital | September 20, 2018
By Margaret Mastrogiacomo, VP Strategy This month, Google's search engine algorithm update takes full effect, Facebook rolls out new video format to more advertisers, and animated typography helps website content pack a punch. From SEO to design, read on to learn the top5 things you need to know now in hotel digital marketing. SEO: The Google search algorithm update on August 1 is now officially rolled out. Overall, the search engine update is considered a broad core algorithm update, so there are no specific optimizations that the SEO community should be focused on. However, now more than ever, marketers should ensure that the websit...
Hotel Marketing Budgets: How Much Is Actually Enough?
Tambourine | September 19, 2018
According to a recent study, Booking.com and Expedia return $16 for every dollar spent on marketing. This looks great on paper, but the reality is that over the last decade OTAs' return on marketing investment decreased by 15%. This explains why Booking.com dramatically decreased its advertising spend. The same story is playing out across the hotel marketing landscape… cost-per-acquisition is soaring, and if the Goliaths of the industry had to change their strategies, it's probably time to sit down and address the elephant-in-the-room: how much should you be spending on marketing? First: What's in the Marketing Budget? Allocation...
What Is RFM? Top 5 Ways to Elevate Your Digital Strategy & Increase Direct Bookings
HEBS Digital | September 17, 2018
By Margaret Mastrogiacomo, VP Strategy The digital landscape is constantly evolving. Hotel digital marketers continue to seek more effective and cost-efficient ways to reach the right audience, at the right place, and at the right time. But do hotel marketers truly know the value of each and every guest and, more importantly, do they understand what motivates guests to choose their hotel, then choose to stay again? Understanding the lifetime value of guests, including the type of content and promotions that compels them to book direct, is crucial to an effective book direct strategy. So, what's the secret to understanding the value of y...
The 5 Deadly Sins of Content Marketing
JLNPR Inc. | September 13, 2018
By Jennifer Nagy Are you a sinner or a saint? While we all have our good and bad days, when it comes to the BIG five sins of content marketing, I'd guess that most hospitality marketers have been very naughty this year (tsk tsk!)! (In case you need a quick overview of what content marketing is and why you HAVE TO implement a content marketing strategy for your hospitality business today (no matter whether yours is a B2B or B2C company), read my HuffPost article, "Content Marketing 101.") Now that we're all caught up, let's put your marketing tactics to the test… have you committed any of these five content marketing sins? If so,...
Puzzle Partner Enters 5th Year Supporting Innovative Travel & Hospitality Companies
Puzzle Partner | September 11, 2018
B2B technology marketing agency Puzzle Partner marks major milestone working with the industry's most recognized technology brands to generate excitement and exposure TORONTO, ON (September 11, 2018) – Puzzle Partner, the most trusted travel and hospitality technology marketing agency, is celebrating a significant milestone this year. The company, founded in 2013 by industry veterans, is now entering it's fifth year of helping their clients engage with their target audiences to raise awareness, drive new business opportunities and build market share. The company's vision to empower brands through educational and entertaining c...
Tambourine: Do You Know Your Hotel’s Optimal Business Mix?
Tambourine | September 7, 2018
As the number of hotel distribution channels, marketing tools and rate types increase—and the cost for each booking varies—so does the need for determining a hotel's optimal business mix (OBM). But with so much data to process and analyze, coming from multiple sources, the challenge is to maintain a high-level perspective on the hotel's overall revenue goals and needs. That's where the art and science of determining a hotel's OBM come into play. To put it simply, finding a hotel's OBM is the process of finding which sales channels, demand segments and rates work best for the property, factoring in the cost of each customer, ...
Now Available for Download: Technical SEO on the Hotel Website eBook
HEBS Digital | September 6, 2018
Why It's One of the Most Important Online Revenue Drivers In hospitality, technical SEO is one of the least understood and very much ignored digital technology and marketing disciplines. Technical SEO plays a major role in influencing Google and other search engines to rank your hotel website higher in search engine results pages (SERPs), which results in qualified website visitors and bookings. Google has frequently stated that it is using more than 200 major ranking "signals" with many thousands of sub-signals and variations. The following three categories are well within hoteliers' control, and if the hotel website is optimized t...
The Impact of Influencer Marketing on the Booking Journey
Angharad Miller | September 6, 2018
By Angharad Miller Let's set the scene. Up until the digital revolution, traditional marketing and word-of-mouth were the only real ways to grow consumer awareness at a notable scale. With today's consumers, however, traditional marketing through channels such as television and radio produces a disconnect between audience and the business. What has changed? Obviously, the consumers of today can be found online. One of the largest generation of consumers to date, millennials, now spend one in every five mobile minutes on Instagram or Facebook. Digital word-of-mouth reaches millions more potential customers around the world more rapidly t...
Cendyn Is Asia’s Leading Data-Driven Marketing Agency 2018 as Voted by Prestigious World Travel Awards
Cendyn | September 4, 2018
Boca Raton, Florida – September 4, 2018 – Cendyn, the leading provider of hotel CRM and hotel sales platforms in the hospitality industry, has been voted as Asia's Leading Data-Driven Marketing Agency, 2018. The prestigious World Travel Awards recognizes companies, organizations, and brands that push the boundaries of industry excellence. This award in Asia follows Cendyn's win, earlier this year, of Leading Hotel CRM Technology Provider and Data-Driven Marketing Agency in Europe 2018. "We are truly honored to have been recognized by this award in Asia, " says Charles Deyo, CEO & President at Cendyn. "In s...
What’s Wrong With Your Hotel Website? Ask Your Call Center Team
Doug Kennedy | August 29, 2018
By Doug Kennedy, KTN and Dave Spector, Tambourine Hotel and resort marketers have a powerful secret weapon, which in many cases is grossly underutilized: their call center reservations team. Even for hoteliers with a robust direct website, call centers remain a vital link in the booking and communications chain, and are a near boundless source of guest information and insight. Hotel and resort websites are great for showcasing amenities, telling a story and providing fundamental property info to a wide array of visitors, but it's crucial for hotel marketers to tap their call center teams for acute feedback about what inbound callers tru...
The Top 5 Things You Need to Know Now in Hotel Digital Marketing: August Edition
HEBS Digital | August 28, 2018
By Margaret Mastrogiacomo, VP Strategy The latest digital innovations this month include big announcements from Google, new Pinterest video opportunities, and geometrical shapes making a statement in website design for lifestyle brands. From SEO to design, read on for the top five things you need to know now in hotel digital marketing. 1. SEO: Google announces expandable featured snippets in search results. Providing more context to search results has always been Google's mission. Now, when a user submits a search query to Google, they may receive a variety of expandable snippets below the main snippet in the knowledge panel. This is cu...
Royal Caribbean International Gives High Approval to Videotel Digital
Videotel Digital | August 23, 2018
SAN DIEGO, AUGUST 27, 2018 - Creating waves of the best kind on the open seas, Videotel Digital receives a great review from Royal Caribbean International cruise lines. Having come on board with their PUSH Interactive Digital Signage Solution with the VP71XD Media Player, the company lends a hand in an unforgettable entertainment experience for those sailing. Proving to be essential in the hospitality industry for the personalized way guests can be intrigued during visits to venues, hotels, resorts, cruise lines, trains, bars, restaurants, and the like, the company takes center stage. "Videotel's equipment has been a proven solutio...
How to Measure Social Media ROI: A 4-Step Plan for Marketers [Infographic]
MDG Advertising | August 23, 2018
Are you unsure about how to measure the return on investment of your social media marketing? If so, you're not alone. According to The CMO Survey, only 23% of senior marketers say they can determine the impact of their social efforts quantitatively. This struggle is understandable: assessing all the various types of organic social engagements that happen across multiple platforms can often feel like impossible task. The truth is that it's not. While measuring social ROI does take some time and work, it's absolutely achievable for firms of all types. So, how can brands tackle this problem? To find out, check out the key findings below, a...
Tambourine: Use Data to Get More This Budget Season
Tambourine | August 20, 2018
This budget season, you'll need to prove how much hotel revenue you brought in or risk losing your funds. A successful hotel marketing budget not only requires the guts to ask for what you need, but the data to back it up. We're constantly pushing hotel marketers to attach numbers to their success and to keep track of hotel marketing metrics that matter, instead of simply touting website visitors, social media followers, ad impressions and email open rates. Nowhere does data become more critical than during budget season. Your owners care about bottom line results and hold your marketing team accountable for revenue just as much as they...
Vizergy Digital Marketing Turns 20 Years Young This Month
August 16, 2018
Digital Marketing Firm Celebrates Two Decades of Success in August Vizergy, the hospitality industry's leading digital marketing and technology company celebrates it's 20th anniversary while enjoying record growth and revenues. The company, originally branded as Secure-Res, started in 1998 with a goal of helping hotels and resorts solve a common problem: understanding how to capture customers and generate revenue in the early years of the Internet. "Our founder Joe Hyman really was a bit of a visionary in our space. He developed a piece of software that allowed consumers to make online reservations before platforms like Travelocity and ...
Why Offering Local Tours and Activities Is a Huge Revenue Opportunity for Hotels
HEBS Digital | August 7, 2018
By Max Starkov, President & CEO at HEBS Digital Background: Offering local tours and activities - i.e. experiences in the destination - is a multibillion dollar business, with the OTAs having shown a growing interest in this sector. Expedia alone is looking to grow its local tours and activities sales fivefold - from approximately $400 million a year to over $2 billion. Expedia currently has 4,000 suppliers providing 27,000 tours and activities worldwide. Airbnb, through its Experiences offering, has been rolling out tours and activities in many of its key destinations with the goal of bringing its offerings to 1,000 cities. Recentl...
Tambourine Shares Three Easy Ways to Tighten the Bond Between Marketing and Revenue Management
Tambourine | August 6, 2018
The days of hotel marketers and revenue managers working in separate silos are over. Opening up dialogue and combining intelligence between these two departments are the first steps towards becoming a profit powerhouse. Here are three tips from industry leaders to optimize the connection between departments and keep them working in sync: 1. Give Each Other a Seat at the Strategy Table Bring revenue managers to marketing strategy meetings and vice versa. Each should be on hand when planning future pricing and marketing campaigns. Feedback between the departments should be fluid and open. "If marketing and revenue management teams don't c...
The Joy of Publicity
Babs Harrison | August 3, 2018
By Babs Harrison It's the "in" thing to say these days - "oh, we don't need traditional media, we're on social media, and isn't traditional media all fake news anyway?" Listen up: hoteliers and spa operators still need traditional media. The smart ones know it. As for the others, well, they will learn that they needed to be playing in traditional media all along. Earned media are a building block in just about all effective marketing campaigns, certainly for high-end travel products. This is 2018 and, obviously, every property now needs a multi-pronged PR strategy. Social media must figure into this -...
7 Tips for Succeeding With Instagram Marketing
MDG Advertising | August 2, 2018
This year is set to be a big one for Instagram marketing. According to Social Media Examiner's annual report, in 2018 some 69% of marketers plan to increase their investment on the platform and 74% plan to learn more about how to best use the social network. What's driving this spike in interest? Largely, a quickly growing audience and considerable popularity with younger consumers: Instagram now has more than 800 million active users, with 71% of US adults ages 18–24 and 72% of US teens ages 13–17 utilizing it. However, while most marketers understand the power of the platform, actually establishing a successful presence re...
Hotel Tech Partner vs. Vendor: Knowing the Difference and Why It Matters
Glenn Wirick | July 31, 2018
By Glenn Wirick Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing Pegasus Solutions As leaders in the hospitality industry, we're in the business of building and cultivating relationships. Not just relationships with guests, however — also relationships with the technology providers that hotels, resorts, chains and management companies align with to enhance their service offering. The software providers that lodging operators work with can play a pivotal role in the on-going success of their hotel. When in the market for new software, hoteliers should be vetting potential partners — not just vendors. Why? Because the software ...
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Breaking News
1,000-Room Plaza Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas Upgrades Magstripe Door Locks to dormakaba RFID
Beach Retreat & Lodge at Tahoe Installs STS Cloud to Manage Groups and Events at Full-Service Destination Resort
Vertical Booking USA Launches a New Mobile CRS App & Releases a New Update to CRO
The Time Between Reservation and Arrival Is the Biggest Missed Opportunity for Revenue
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