planning your hotel's 2013 digital marketing strategy

PREPARING YOUR HOTEL’S 2013 DIGITAL MARKETING STRATEGY

PRESENTED BY:

Brian Fitzgerald

VP, Digital Strategy | O’Rourke Hospitality Marketing

PREPARING YOUR HOTEL’S 2013

DIGITAL MARKETING STRATEGY


Webinar Goals & Objectives

1. Share emerging marketing channels and opportunities

2. Equip hotels with the tactics necessary to evaluate and leverage these channels

3. Help properties plan their budgets and marketing plans for 2013


Webinar Agenda

About O’Rourke

Mobile Trends and Strategy Development

Web Design & Development Trends

Pinterest

Retargeting and Remarketing

Targeted Content and Conversion Rate Optimization


ABOUT US |


Who We AreO’Rourke Hospitality Marketing

Award-winning marketing firm based in Newburyport, MA.

Almost twelve years of experience working exclusively with the hospitality industry.

Providing full-service marketing solutions

Sister company Mobile Media Applications


Who We AreMobile Media Applications, LLC

Mobile app development company, founded in 2010

Specializing in the hospitality industry

Ustay is an easy to use software platform that’s affordable, measurable and creates iPhone and Android apps for hotels

Mobile Media Applications also builds custom mobile applications for various hospitality needs


What We Do


MOBILEWe’re running out of time to address mobile


By 2015, more U.S. Internet users will access the Internet

through mobile devices than through wired devices

Source: IDC – Worldwide New Media Market Model


Mobile Website Strategy Best Practices

Mobile users DO have time and DO scroll

Don’t sacrifice content just because it’s mobile

Speed, your mobile website should be lightning-quick

Use mobile site redirects

Consider a responsive solution (more on that later)


Mobile Website Design Best Practices

Know what is important and make it easy to find:- Getting ‘Home’- Calling- Booking

Mobile optimized booking engine

Big user interface (UI) elements

Take advantage of phone features – tap to call, GPS, touch, etc.


Mobile Website Case Study – The Trend

Spruce Point Inn – Percentage of Mobile Visits


Mobile Website Case Study – The Strategy

Developed a mobile sitemap- Keeping all content

available- Organizing it for a mobile

user

Created designs to accurately reflect the brand

Used design elements optimized for a mobile user


Mobile Website Case Study – The Results

Within two weeks the cost of the mobile site investment was recovered


MOBILE SEARCHHow to show up in mobile search results


Mobile, Local Overlap

Mobile refers to a device and/or the method that a consumer is using to find information

Local refers to the type of information or search query they are looking for

Google officially says that 40% of mobile queries are local in nature

Microsoft has said this number is roughly 53%


Mobile Search Opportunities & Best Practices

Many of the fundamentals for local/mobile search optimization have not changed

It’s still important to:

• Have an address in the city that’s being searched

• Have an address close to the city center

• Associate your business with complete and proper categories.

• Have a mobile website

• Ensure your data is accurate and complete across the Local Ecosystem

• Focus on Google + Local


The Local Search Landscape is Extremely Complex


Google + Local Ranking Factors

The number, authority and velocity of +1’s on a hotel website.

Google provides ‘+’ badges and widgets that you can place on your site.

Getting more follows and “+’s” for your website can help you rank better in local search.



The number, authority and velocity of Adds/Shares on Google+

Setup your Google+ profile, post often, interact with others



Google is heavily pushing their reviews product

They are not promoting third Parties like TripAdvisor, Yelp and Expedia any more

Find ways to encourage customers to leave reviews on Google+


Thoughts for Local & Mobile Search in 2013

Ensure your data is accurate and complete across the Local Ecosystem

Setup and ensure your Google+ Local page is optimized

Get more involved with the Google+ environment, add a link from your website to your Google+ profile

Optimizing for Google+ is not a “silver bullet” for Local SEO, but it matters

Consider a mobile website


WEB DESIGN + DEVELOPMENT

Responsive Web Design


What is Responsive Website Design?

Responsive web design is a technique used to build websites that allows the same website code to be accessed across all devices at a single URL

This design approach ensures that no content is ever inaccessible to a mobile user and provides a streamlined user experience on any device


“Day by day, the number of devices, platforms, and browsers

that need to work with your site grows. Responsive web design

represents a fundamental shift in how we’ll build websites for

the decade to come.”

Jeffrey Veen


Why Responsive Design?

It’s What Your Guests NeedAs we’ve discussed, more and more guests are going mobile

It’s Easy To ManageManage all of your content, for all devices, in one place

Google Likes It They've stated publically that responsive design is the preferred approach

It’s “Future-Proof”Sites that are designed responsively can adapt to any screen size

It’s Content-FocusedIt challenges us to focus solely on the content that matters to users

It’s AffordableInstead of building 2+ separate sites, build one


Case Study

DEMO


Considerations for future website projects

Strongly consider a responsive solution

Get several proposals and evaluate the pros, cons and pricing

Think about the future and how consumer interactions will continue to evolve

Responsive Website Promotion – Contact us to learn more


PINTEREST

An emerging social channel you should know about


What is Pinterest?

It’s a place to bookmark (Pin) images and videos you find from around the web

Your “pins” are visible to other Pinterest users and you can see the pin boards of others.

Search for topics and ideas that are of interest

Pinterest Business Pages


Pinterest – Who and How?

Source: Mashable


How Can It Benefit My Hotel?

Visually show off your property and brand through images and video



Demonstrate local area expertise, itineraries



Target specific business segments like weddings, meetings, family/kids, romance, etc.



Adopt early – differentiate from competitors

SEO- No direct inbound link benefit but strong social signal- Optimize pins for search on Pinterest

Add Pinterest integration to your site through follow buttons & pin buttons

Pinterest for Business- Post case studies & tips for success- Eventually – Buy now button, targeted ads and business analytics may be in

the works for businesses on Pinterest

Setup an account and experiment


SEARCH REMARKETING & DISPLAY RETARGETING

The next big digital marketing opportunities


Search Remarketing Example

After visiting a site the user sees PPC ads in Google search results


Why Search Remarketing?

Leverage information you have about a consumer to impact you’re messaging and bidding strategy within your SEM campaigns to improve performance.

Maximize your PPC ad copy

Manage CPCs better – Spend more to get the click from the consumer that already knows your brand

More personalized landing pages


Display Retargeting Example

After visiting a site the user sees targeted messaging on other sites across the web


Why Display Advertising?

eMarketer projects that display will overtake search as the largest online ad spending category by 2015.

Google reports that the average travel shopper uses 10.2 information sources before buying. Being present on as many of these channels as possible is becoming more critical.


Retargeting Case Study – Spruce Point Inn

Situation- Spruce Point Inn had two months before they closed for the

season

- They had select inventory available to fill during the remaining 8 weeks

Strategy- Developed a Autumn Romance package to target couples

looking to escape for a weekend

- Decided retargeting would be a perfect opportunity to message previous website visitors with targeted message about the package


Display Case Study – The Creative

Creative set 1 – Getaway, romance, memories

Creative set 2 – Getaway, autumn, Botanical Gardens, memories


Display Case Study – Campaign in Action


Display Case Study – The Results

Total Impressions = 426,194Total Clicks = 434CTR = .10%Direct revenue = $2,430


Considerations for 2013

Consider budgeting some additional advertising spend for display opportunities

Display opportunities can help differentiate and shift-share

What segments can you create? Broadly retargeting everyone, or targeting people based on certain actions?

Budgets can start as low as $50/week and can easily turned off/on


TARGETED CONTENT

Personalize content & increase conversions


Conversion Rate Optimization

As everyone gets familiar and comfortable with marketing tactics like email, SEO and PPC, everyone now knows how to do a better job of getting people to their site

The next phase of this evolution is how to better convert those people once you get them to your site. Enter Conversion Rate Optimization.

Conversion rate is impacted by many factors:– Site usability– Site content– SEO keyword strategy– Paid search keyword strategy– Rate– Occupancy– Targeted content


If you know something about a visitor to your website, why

wouldn’t you use that information to improve their experience?


Personalization is What We Do

Many hospitality companies and hotels around the world have perfected personalization at a property level

Personalizing and customizing things like:- Room preferences- Rate preferences- Meal/snack preferences- And more

This level of service does wonders for guest service and makes guests come back

Technologies exist that allow us to bring this same level of service to our website


Targeted Content Case Study – The Wentworth


52


Considerations for 2013

Think about how you can better convert the visitors you are already getting to your website

Look at targeted content methods to deliver the right message to the right customer at the right time


RECAP

Takeaways


Takeaways

1. Think about what you need to do with your mobile strategy in 2013

2. Understand the options that are available when it comes to website development

3. Get ahead of competition through channels like Google+ and Pinterest

4. Consider retargeting and remarketing to differentiate and shift share

5. Bring personalization philosophies to the web through targeted content


O’ROURKE HOSPITALITY MARKETING

phone 978.465.5955

Email [email protected]

THANK YOU

For more information, please contact:

planning your hotel's 2013 digital marketing strategy

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