NEW YORK—Hotel marketers, revenue managers and ecommerce executives need to “control the conversation” when it comes to their digital marketing footprint, according to Vizergy’s Nick Turner, who spoke during a Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International of Greater New York meeting.
“Hoteliers need to pay as much attention as possible to their online presence,” the digital marketing company’s director of strategic accounts told HotelNewsNow.com during a subsequent interview. “If you’re not paying attention to your presence online, then others will be defining your brand for you.”
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Nick Turner Vizergy |
Turner told the audience that hoteliers need to “arm themselves” with a Web content management system (for all website versions), social monitoring tool and an analytics platform. They also must stay in tune with their markets, he added.
“No piece of your online presence is independent of any other,” Turner said, “When it comes to your digital footprint, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.”
During the presentation, Turner highlighted “Must Do’s,” “Nice To Do’s,” which often were paid activities, and “Don’t Do’s” in a number of areas, including hotel website, search engines, social media, reviews and online travel agencies.
Website winners
Website “Must Do’s,” said Turner, include providing detailed content on both desktop and tablet versions.
For mobile websites, however, “keep it short and sweet: location, click to call, bullet lists and nearby events.”
Hoteliers must own all relevant domain names, he said. One New York property that Turner called “Hotel X” has the hotelx.com domain but an OTA owns the xhotel.com address, meaning searches for the latter go directly to the OTA.
Local content can really differentiate a hotel, he said. For instance, special events like film festivals and sporting events can be demand generators. And an area guide can be crucial. He showed the website of a Brooklyn hotel that prominently shares its home page with the nearby Barclays Center, the new arena that is home to the Brooklyn Nets.
Website “Nice To Do’s” include weekly or monthly blog posts, guest reviews and concierge tips of the week.
“Don’t Do’s” include auto-playing content (video and music that plays automatically), featuring Flash content (which doesn’t work on Apple’s iOS operating systems) and having the same content for different devices
Search engine and OTA advice
For search engines, Turner said “hotels need to ensure they have an ad for paid search, and to have their organic listing and local search (usually maps) display correctly. The more you can push down OTAs on your listing, the more likely you are to get a direct booking.”
On OTAs themselves, “You have more control over that channel than you may think,” Turner said. “And keep in mind that many consumers start at the OTA, then go to your brand site.”
OTA “Must Do’s” include maintaining consistency in messaging across all channels, thinking about content and pictures and knowing what keywords are relevant to a hotel’s location.
Turner said hoteliers should treat OTAs as more than just a distribution channel. “They are effective at branding and differentiating markets and properties. Talk to your OTA market managers. Create rate parity and keep it. Do not create unfair advantages. Understand the cost of doing business with them. And understand your competitors’ content strategy.”
OTA “Nice To Do’s” include taking advantage of enhanced listings when available, considering performance-based marketing on various platforms, and using “all channels to promote your offers—the wider you spread them, the more effective they can be.”
OTA “Don’t Do’s” include never assuming anything, Turner said. Hoteliers are responsible for the accuracy and tone of their content. Additionally, they should not rely too heavily on the third-party intermediaries—but they shouldn’t ignore them either. OTA platforms change constantly, adding features and widgets that change the buying experience.
Social media must do’s
Turner said social media today is the equivalent of in-person customer service 25 years ago.
“Just because your followers are not posting does not mean they are not spectators and just as important,” he added.
Social media “Must Do’s” include being present in chosen outlets and posting consistently in message and timing.
Turner said hoteliers should use social media for search because “optimized and engaged social profiles will rank your hotel on branded search terms, helping to place your (website) above the OTA’s. Social can be used to capture a large share of organic traffic.”
Social media “Nice To Do’s” include using Twitter as a way to extend concierge services with a conversation about customer service and local information. Turner also advised using location-based services like Foursquare and Facebook Places to offer guests services as they check in on their phones. Facebook and Twitter also can be used to solve service issues and promote last-minute deals, he added.
Social media “Don’t Do’s” include thinking of social media as a distribution channel. Don’t “over-post,” Turner said. Hotel pages with postings more than seven times a week see a 25% decrease in interaction rates. He also advised attendees not to push promotional content out in every post. Instead, be creative. “Fill-in-the-blank posts (such as, ‘What is your favorite restaurant in our city?’) generate about 90% more engagement than the average post,” he said.
Turner said hoteliers should never ignore customer questions and comments. They also should not expect their target audience’s attention just because they have a social media presence; don’t expect that “if you build it, they will come,” he said.
Reviewing review best practices
Review “Must Do’s” include filling out hotel descriptions on various review sites, monitoring reviews and encouraging reviews via post-stay emails, comment cards, etc. Hoteliers always should respond politely to any negative review and an additional one or two positive review each week.
Hotel rankings depend on more than positive reviews, Turner said. For example, 200 4-star reviews will rank a hotel higher than five 5-star reviews.
“Nice To Do’s” include paying for content like business listings and cost per click on TripAdvisor.
“Don’t Do’s” include not paying attention to review sites other than TripAdvisor; guest feedback on sites such as Yelp, Google Places and OTAs can be just as important. Hoteliers also should never “pick fights” with negative reviewers.
Some final tips
Turner shared a handful of helpful hints during the Q-and-A portion of his presentation. The highlights include:
- Don’t ignore video content—especially for lifestyle and boutique hotels. YouTube is the second largest search engine after Google.
- Erasing erroneous content can be difficult, but it is easier to change content. He noted that Manta, a widely searched business listing, “frequently gets things wrong.” An occasional online audit can be helpful to make sure information is accurate.
- To monitor future issues across all platforms, Turner recommended using Google Alerts, which lets subscribers know when certain keywords (e.g. a hotel’s name) is mentioned online.