stephanie smith
Tiered Marketing Approach to Hotel Recovery
Stephanie Smith | February 18, 2021
By Stephanie Smith Hotel markets across the US are behaving differently. They are rebounding at a different pace. Even hotels within the same market are not seeing the same patterns. While you cannot predict the future, you still need a plan. A tiered plan will give you what you should be doing now, then when there are positive signals demand is returning, have that plan ready. Here is a 3-step approach to creating a plan that works for your specific situation. 1 – Analyze the Data While your own hotel reports will show you what segments are traveling to our hotel and your direct competitive set, that may not be forward looki...
How to Audit (and Fix) Hotel Tax Rates to Save a Few Bucks
October 22, 2020
By Stephanie Smith With the amount of uncertainty in the world due to COVID19, now more than ever hotels must fight for every dollar! There is no easy reservation today. One of the most overlooked ways hotels can reduce their losses is by ensuring the correct tax rates are reflected on both your own website and all Online Travel Agency [OTAs] websites. Although seemingly intuitive, the review process is often ignored and forgotten. Once implemented, hotels are instantly guaranteed a few cents per reservations – which can really add up over time! Do a Tax Audit Against Your Own Hotel Website Check with your finance department on what...
Why You Should Not Invest in Metasearch Right Now
Stephanie Smith | September 3, 2020
By Stephanie Smith Buckle in kids, this is not a popular opinion. If you had asked me my opinions about MetaSearch pre-Covid, my response would be different. If you need a tutorial on what is MetaSearch, check out this article from Milestone. But, today, cash is tight. Budgets are being squeezed. While I still believe in “Book Direct” and the long time value of the customer, the customer has changed. Your loyal points fanatic is not traveling. Your corporate BT is not traveling. Who is traveling? Your local customer within a 1 to 2 hour radius of your hotel. Even if you leverage metasearch to get them to book direct on ...
10 Items to Include in Your Hotel Marketing Budget
Stephanie Smith | October 21, 2019
By Stephanie Smith Now is the time to ask for funds for your 2020 hotel marketing budget. Here are some must-have digital marketing items to include and how to think through that process. Note for branded hotels: be sure you understand what the brand does for you, and what you need to handle at the hotel level. The brand sets aside funds for branding but generally does not make its way down to promote specific hotels. For Marriott, you have the option to opt into Marriott Digital Services. If you are a Hilton, you are automatically enrolled in Hilton Advance and can opt into Hilton Amplify and Elevate. Gather Reports and Analyze Tre...
How to Optimize for Marriott SEO
Stephanie Smith | September 12, 2019
By Stephanie Smith There are likely many Marriott properties in your given market, and it is important to distinguish your hotel from other Marriott properties as well as other hotels in your competitive set. Doing Marriott SEO (Search engine optimization) is just one differentiating technique when understanding where brand marketing stops and individual hotel marketing begins. Whether you are doing it yourself, hiring Marriott Digital Services or an outside agency, consider these factors when doing search engine optimization (SEO) for a Marriott branded hotel. Factors in Marriott SEO For ease, let’s divide our SEO strategy i...
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