best practices for maximizing your hotel’s online revenue...
TRANSCRIPT
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An HSMAI Partnership Presentation
With Vizergy®
September 21, 2010
Best Practices for Maximizing Your
Hotel’s Online Revenue and ROI
Based on the survey “Assessing the Industry – Hotels’ Online Spend and
Strategy Deployment”
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Overview of Format and TopicOverview of Format and Topic
Webinar Moderator
Fran Brasseux
Executive Vice President, HSMAI
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POLL QUESTION #1POLL QUESTION #1How many people are participating in
this webinar at your location today?
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Agenda
Meet the panel
Examine today's Internet marketing landscape
Review highlights from: “Assessing the Industry – Hotels’ Online Spend and Strategy Deployment”survey
Assess current strategies
Evaluate and understand areas for improvement
Establish steps for a plan of action
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Joseph R. HymanFounder and CEO, VIZERGY®
17 years of hospitality experience
Established VIZERGY, formerly SECURE-RES in 1998 - which
touts over a billion dollars in consumer direct bookings for
its hospitality clients
Under his leadership, VIZERGY is recognized as an industry
leader in hospitality online marketing
VIZERGY was recently named, for the third year, one of the 50
fastest growing private companies in Northeast Florida
Named one of HSMAI's Top 25 Most Extraordinary Minds in
Sales and Marketing 2009
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Mike Parent
Vice President of Sales & Marketing
Coakley & Williams
Joined Coakley & Williams Hotel Management Company in 2007 as Vice President of Sales and Marketing.
Previous experience includes sales management positions with Potomac
Hotel Group, TAJ Hotels International, Hilton, and Sunburst Hospitality.
Served as Sr. Director of Strategic Partnerships at Choice Hotels
International.
As Vice President of New Hotel Sales Support for Choice Hotels
International, Mike built and led a nationwide team of sales directors and
construction professionals who specialized in opening new and conversion
properties.
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Kathleen Culleninspire resources
Hospitality Consulting Firm
� Provide consulting and training services to hoteliers in areas of revenue management, distribution, reservations and technology assessment
� Previously with Raffles International and SwissotelHotels and Resorts
� Co-Author� “Dynamics of Revenue Management: Top Line to
Bottom Line”
� “Evolving Dynamics of Revenue Management: A
Comprehensive Road Map for Hotel Owners, Operators
and Practitioners”
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Forrester Research estimates that 32% of hotels’revenues come through online bookings. This includes brand.com bookings and those made through third-party websites such as Expedia and Priceline.
Forrester Research also estimates that the overall travel industry allocates 29% of its marketing budget to online, including search, display, mobile and social.
Travel allocates more of its budget to online media than any other industry.
Approximately 62% of a travel company’s interactive marketing budget is currently allocated to search engine marketing.
Why is this so important?
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77% said their website
traffic is growing
70% said their website
revenue continues to grow
70% are seeing their
greatest returns in online
investments
40% of respondents do not
have a social media strategy
47% spend less than 20% of
their marketing budget
online
Study Highlights:
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Does your website sell?
“Does your site focus solely on your
property, or does it include information
about the local area (events, attractions,
transportation, restaurants, businesses,
etc.)?”
67% of hoteliers said that meetings are a part of
their overall strategy. When asked if meeting
planners are looking at their website, more than
half said no or were unsure.
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A Solid Foundation is Key
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Best Practices: Websites
Ensure the website platform will support the latest
technology
Work closely with your vendor to understand your
website’s capabilities and available tools
Examine your website’s tools/technology to help
identify any gaps
Ensure that the website is easy to navigate on a
smart phone
Ensure that visual content such as quality photos
and virtual tours are up-to-date and available
The following are recommendations on items to review to get a ‘status check’
and create a plan to action, as well as some best practice recommendations that should be in place to ensure the site remains up-to-date.
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Best Practices: Websites, cont.
If meetings are a part of the hotel’s overall strategy,
ensure that an online RFP tool is in place
Ensure that content is easy to update
Be authentic and create compelling content
Create content tailored to the hotel’s target market
Get a “fresh” set of eyes to objectively review content
and test tools such (i.e. create a reservation to go
through the RFP process)
Ensure that the pre and post stay messaging is evaluated
and consistent with your brand message
“Use your
post stay
emails to
encourage
guests to
write a
review.”
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Create an Emotional Connection
Create an online customer
experience that transcend
the typical and help
maximize the time the
customer spends on your
site.
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Building the Right Merchandising Platform
Visual Appeal - Creating an emotional
connection with the target audience
Demand Generator Content - Consumers want
to be sure that the hotel of their choice
includes the right location and area
specifications based on their needs for each
unique visit.
Navigation - Website functionality must be
intuitive and easy-to-use.
Flexibility - The website platform must be flexible enough to keep up
with the most modern programming techniques, allowing hoteliers to
keep up with the rapid changes of technology.
Scalability - Keeping an eye towards the future and ensuring that the
website platform has the ability to grow with the needs of a hotel or
hotel company is another important factor.
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• With Google mashups, a rapid influx of new Internet browsers such as Chrome, IE9 and Safari, and increasingly popular mobile sites, online marketing can quickly become dated.
“Is your site mobile ready?”
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Social Media for HotelsWhen hoteliers were asked if they have a social media
strategy, 60% responded “yes” and 40% “no”.
When asked, “Do you have a proactive plan to encourage
guests to post online reviews, photos and comments?”, the
answers were split evenly − 50% “yes” and 50% “no”.
While 40% of the hoteliers surveyed indicated that they
do not have a social media strategy, it appears that more
than half of the hoteliers surveyed are handling social
media in a tactical way.
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Pinpointing Your Property’s Best ROI
70% of those surveyed indicated that they see the
greatest ROI from their online efforts.
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70% of those surveyed indicated that they see the
greatest ROI from their online efforts.
PAID SEARCH
DIRECT
REFERRER
AD CAMPAIGN
NATURAL SEARCH
Pinpointing Your Property’s Best ROI
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How Do Your Peers Spend Their Budgets?
Online projects have longer shelf lives and
better tracking (than traditional media) to
measure ROI.
Email Blast
SEO
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Resources
WEBSITE HOSTING
WEBSITE MAINTENANCE
WEBSITE DESIGN
IN-HOUSE? OUT-SOURCE?
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Best Practices
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Best Practices
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How Much Time Do You Spend on
Measurement and Analytics?
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Understand Your Key Performance Metrics
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Best Practices
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Best Practices
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Q & A
� Kathleen Cullen
� Mike Parent
� Joe Hyman
Thank you!
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The Evolving Dynamics of Revenue Management:
A Comprehensive Revenue Optimization Road Map for
Hotel Owners, Operators and Practitioners
By Kathleen Cullen & Caryl Helsel
Published by HSMAI Foundation in partnership with the HSMAI Revenue Management SIG Advisory Board and TravelCLICK
Revenue Management has continued to grow as a science and an art over the past several years in many
industries, and especially in the hospitality industry. On the most fundamental level, the basis for success is
to have the right revenue management organization in place to support the revenue strategy. A solid
understanding of revenue management is critical throughout an organization, from top to bottom. This
HSMAI Foundation publication brings you and your property the very latest information on understanding the market, market segmentation, forecasting, revenue strategy, pricing, inventory control strategies, and
performance analysis. Included are a plethora of case studies to help you optimize revenue at all levels.
Order today at www.hsmaipublications.com.
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TodayToday ’’s webinar is copyright 2010 by the Hospitality Sale s & Marketings webinar is copyright 2010 by the Hospitality Sale s & Marketing Association International Association International with All Rights Reserved.with All Rights Reserved.