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3 Changes We Will See In Hotel Marketing In 2011 | By Neil Salerno
In the last two years, the economy has taken a severe toll on
our industry and its resources. In the resulting scramble to stay
afloat, many hotels turned to every marketing and operational technique
they could uncover. Some of those techniques helped, some didn't. Many
hoteliers searched for that one unique tactic which would turn
everything around; only to find that it doesn't exist.
Experimentation is always expensive in terms of time and human
resources. The simple fact is that the basic tactics of hotel sales and
marketing still work. My impression is that, in recent years, many
hoteliers have drifted away from the basics, in favor of new technology
and the many unrealistic promises about the use of non-travel related
social media. This type of social media has not yet made any impact for
individual hotels.
Beginning in 2011 or sooner, I believe that we will see many hotels
return to a more balanced marketing strategy. More hotels will return to
the time-proven tactics of creating more personal contacts and a
resolute effort to develop longer lasting business relationships. The
climate is ripe for a return to customer relations management after
several years of the de-personalization of relationships inherit with
the Internet.
I believe that more hotels will begin prioritizing tactics within
their marketing strategy to eliminate wasted efforts and maximize time
spent on those things that actually produce business. The Internet and
other forms of electronic marketing should supplement and enhance your
property sales efforts, not replace it. I believe that the Internet can
have a significant impact on a hotel's marketing coverage and resultant
revenue income, but it is not the only way to market a hotel.
Less Multi-Tasking, More Specialization
During the economic crisis, many hotels were forced to eliminate, or
simply not replace, some key positions, which forced the remaining staff
to take-on additional tasks and responsibilities; multi-tasking has
become the norm in many hotels. As the business climate improves, I see a
growing trend to return to hiring sales specialists to create new
contacts and build hotel sales.
There is a growing trend for hotels to out-source Internet and
electronic marketing in order to free-up time and dollars to be
re-directed toward the property sales effort. Outsourcing these tasks
allows hotels to concentrate on their core marketing tactics to build
long-term business the way we did before the Internet.
On the other hand, many more hotel site designers need to take-on
full responsibility for the marketing and sales production of the
websites they design. Hotel website designers who design a hotel
website, publish it, and "forget it" need to rethink their positions. I
believe that our industry will see many more productive sites if site
designers begin to accept the responsibility for the reservation and
sales results of the sites they design.
This will force website designers to build sites which produce sales
and not simply design sites which look attractive, but are dysfunctional
from a search and sales stand-point. More site designers are also
beginning to realize that there is much more to marketing on the
Internet than simply using search engine optimization. A relatively new
term for hotels "Search Engine Marketing" needs to be adopted by site
designers.
Search engine marketing includes destination marketing, which is so
vital for search; creating online packages and promotions, using social
media to build in-bound links, using online blogs, application of site
analytics results, and blast email mailings; all necessary to the search
and sales success of a hotel website.
A Stronger Focus on Creating Profitable Revenue
During the economic crisis, hotel revenue management experienced a
resurgence of interest among hoteliers. The reduction in sales volume
forced many hoteliers to "sell smarter"., not just harder. Revenue
management was created to build net income while maximizing occupancy
through rate and inventory management.
Revenue management takes the focus off of just selling rooms to
concentrating on building net income. Many of those hotels which
drastically dropped their rates during the recession will find it
extremely difficult to bring them back to more profitable levels as the
recession recedes. Unfortunately, many of these hoteliers resorted to
drastically reducing rates because they just didn't know what else to
do.
In 2011, it is my hope that more hotels will get on the revenue
management band-wagon. There are many forms of RM and most of them will
work to build income and reduce the tendency to leave revenue on the
table, sell more rooms, but produce less profit.
Neil Salerno, CHME, CHA
Consultant, Marketing Coach, and Author
United States - Phone: +1 941/822-0662
Fax: +1 941/726-3719
Email: NeilS@hotelmarketingcoach.com
ORGANIZATION
 Hotel Marketing Coach
www.hotelmarketingcoach.com
1369 South Wembley Circle
USA
- Port Orange, FL 32128
Phone: 386/212-2846
Email: nsalerno@hotelmarketingcoach.com
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