There continue to be silos in commercial strategy. Let’s dig deeper into how digital marketing needs to function to guarantee a seat at the table.
NB: This is an article from Cogwheel Marketing, one of our Expert Partners
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Marketers need to first understand that all their acronyms mean nothing if the hotel isn’t getting its fair share and not taking market share from the competition.
Our world is full of acronyms. SOV, ROS, CPM, CPC, ROAS, KPI, CTA, CTR… and the list goes on.
They ultimately don’t matter if total hotel performance is not there. But we still need to be able to evaluate all these acronyms and use them as signals to continue to improve performance. What has to change?
Align on your Property Differentiators with your Sales Team
Ensure that your unique selling points (aka differentiators) are clear and communicated effectively. Collaborate with the sales team to highlight what sets your hotel apart in the market by segment.
Examples of Hotel Differentiators
- If you offer free parking in a metro area that largely charges for parking, that IS a differentiator.
- If you don’t charge a resort / destination / facility fee and most others do, that IS a differentiator.
- If you are a Hilton and offer room selection, check-in, and digital keys to completely bypass the front desk, that’s a differentiator. (And yes… it makes a HUGE difference… I checked in recently to a Holiday Inn Express. It took 1.5 hours to stand in line, just to be told no rooms were ready yet!)
- If you are directly across the street from an attraction, or are the closest one in driving distance, that is a differentiator.
- And don’t forget about group planners or brides and grooms; what you can give them that most others cannot is a huge differentiator!
And no, “free wifi” and “big screen TVs” are NOT differentiators, that is feature spraying and is ubiquitous with the competition. You might as well say “Cable TV”, because it has just as much pull.
Align on Your Future Need Dates with Your Revenue Team
“Future” does NOT mean two weeks out. It means 60, 90 or 120+ days out.
Expedia’s most recent “Path to Purchase ” study demonstrates that on average the planning window is about 70 days before the date of purchase. And the date of purchase is, on average, ANOTHER 70 days before they actually arrive; the keyword is “average”. While there are people booking and arriving inside of a 14-day window, the majority have a huge window to arrival, which you as a marketer and your partners as revenue managers have to plan.
Ask your revenue team if there are specific segments they want to get in front of, and when are their soft periods seasonally. Build a calendar to address these time frames.
It is important to work together with the revenue team to build applicable packages that enhance the guest experience but can also be marketed to increase visibility. If all you can come up with is 10% off BAR and a bottle of wine, save it. It will have near zero effect, other than needless rate displacement.
