The cost of guest acquisition is on everyone’s mind these days, which means GM’s are feeling pressure from ownership, asset managers and their hotel management companies to maximize the ROI from their marketing investments.
GM’s have responded in two positive ways:
1. GM’s are now holding their marketing teams accountable for contributing – in a tangible, measurable way – to revenue goals and generating leads.
2. GM’s are also championing their marketing team’s efforts and investing more time than ever before in improving their understanding of the complex challenges facing their hotel marketing team
To support this effort, here’s our list of 10 significant hotel marketing elements that every GM should be familiar with:
1. The Four Marketing Pillars: Price, Product, Promotion and Placement
A smart, easy place for every GM to start is understanding the four traditional pillars of marketing that directly drive the success of your hotel:
- Product
The most important of the four, classic marketing “P’s”: How does your product differentiate you? Consider both the hotel’s physical product (rooms, restaurant, meeting space, amenities, spa, etc.), as well as the service experience. GMs need to constantly work with their marketing team to determine if their product or service experience needs improvement (and then ask ownership for the funds)!
- Promotion (i.e. Advertising and Traffic Generation)
More than anything else, the GM MUST ensure that the marketing team’s promotional expenses and investments are synchronized with the hotel’s targeted business mix
- Placement (Distribution Channels)
GM’s need to know where the business is expected to come from and how the property’s rates and inventory are positioned there? How many groups vs transient do you expect and how much is actually being generated? How much inventory are you allocating to OTAs? Is your team relying too heavily on OTAs to reach revenue goals? Or, are you thoughtfully optimizing your own hotel website and booking engine to attract more profitable, direct bookings?
