LAS VEGAS—Vantage Hospitality Group intends to build an even larger presence in social media, using it as marketing and distribution tools, chain executives told more than 600 attendees last week during the group’s annual convention.
Reputation management is a special focus for the company and its brands, particularly the economy Americas Best Value Inn and Canadas Best Value Inn chains. During the convention, members overwhelmingly voted to add the TripAdvisor review widget to individual properties’ pages on brand websites. The chains’ 2013 marketing budgets included funding for syndication of TripAdvsior content on Vantage websites, with the ability for individual properties to add the content to their pages.
According to Jordan Langlois, VP of brand management, the 336 properties participating in the pilot program have an average TripAdvisor rating of 3.44 out of 5. He said those hoteliers who properly manage their reputation management, including working to improve their ratings, see a boost in average daily rate and revenues.
“There’s power in the hands of your guests, and positive reviews from them leads to increased revenues and results,” he said, adding ABVI properties that raised their rating from 2 to 4 saw on average a 20% increase in ADR, which translates to as much as $50,000 in additional revenues.
For properties under Vantage’s Lexington brands, an increase in rating from 3 to 4 correlated to an increase in ADR of 60%.
Bernie Moyle, Vantage COO and CFO, made a pitch to members to take full advantage of the marketing programs and member services offered by the group. He demonstrated the difference in return on investment in membership fees for fully involved owners versus those who don’t participate in as many programs as possible.
“A hotel in which the owner participates in marketing programs at the bare minimum can expect an ROI of 145%,” Moyle said. “While that’s good, an actively engaged property that uses all the marketing resources and focuses on guest satisfaction can realize an ROI on fees of 417%.”
Technology and distribution
Deb Lambert, Vantage’s eBusiness strategy consultant, said the company is maximizing its online marketing mix with special emphasis on mobile marketing.
“Four out of five people have mobile phones, and one in four people check their phone on average every 30 minutes,” she said. “This shows that we need to be available to book when, where and how our guests want to book.”
She said while visits to Vantage’s websites increased 24% in the past year, one-third of all traffic is coming from mobile sources, and mobile bookings have increased by 430%.
Among other online marketing initiatives, Vantage plans to enhance its mobile sites and allocate more marketing dollars to mobile ad placement, including what Lambert called “geotracking and dayparting.”
“Someone with a smartphone traveling the highway within five miles of your hotel between 6 p.m. and midnight searching for a hotel to book would see an ad for your property pop up on their phone,” she said, explaining the technology.
Vantage also saw gains in all reservations traffic in the past year, with a 16% jump in bookings through the central reservations system. Vicki Schell, VP of distribution, said the increase translated into 71,000 additional reservations, 120,000 more roomnights and an average of $8,000 in additional revenues for each property in the system.
Marketing multipliers
A key strategy for Vantage has been piggybacking on free or discounted marketing vehicles to gain extra marketing exposure. In the past year, the chain was able to receive $3.8 million in free exposure, which multiplied its marketing budget by 50%, Jim Gagen, media director, told members.
In one initiative, the brands reached 30 million TV viewers by offering trips to Vantage properties as prizes on game shows. It also has a marketing alliance with more than 100 national parks, and owners and operators of properties in some markets exhibited at local home and garden shows, which were attended by a combined 500,000 consumers.
Its paid media buys included TV ads on the WB Network and 10-second advertorial-type spots on information shows. ABVI expanded its radio coverage to include a national Hispanic radio network, and Lexington added national radio to its marketing program with a campaign on the Wall Street Journal Radio Network.
Vantage recorded 396.6 million media impressions in the past year, up 33 million from the previous years. TV impressions were up 50%.
Members vote
In addition to the TripAdvisor initiative, ABVI and CVBI members voted on three other proposals, each of which required a two-thirds majority for passage:
- A new policy that puts proper use of the brands’ logos on marketing materials as part of the system’s quality assurance inspections passed with a 90% vote. Starting in March, improper use of the logos could result in deficiencies in QA scores.
- Seventy percent of members voted to increase fees by $1 per month in each of the next three years. Chain executives said the three-year schedule of increases gives them the ability to plan and execute long-range member services programs.
- Nearly 90% of members agreed to require guestroom TVs to be replaced with a minimum 32-inch flat-screen unit as current TVs become unserviceable or are removed.