Today, we’re talking about…Optimizing profit across all segments. Warning: We ask a LOT of hypothetical questions in this article.
NB: This is an article from Tambourine
When it comes to Direct Bookings, hotel digital marketers do a great job.
We scrutinize every penny spent on paid media and every penny lost to the OTAs. We compare every dollar spent on Google against what’s spent on Bing, Facebook, or Expedia, all this so we can confidently say where we are getting the best bang for our buck.
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When we have need periods or when the market shifts, we work hand in hand with revenue managers to figure out how to pivot. For all intents and purposes, hotel digital marketers have this direct booking stuff pretty well figured out.
But what about those other revenue drivers?
What happens when the restaurant in the hotel lobby is struggling? What happens when weddings business is down? What happens when the sales team is buried in unqualified leads? Who in your organization is problem-solving here? Do you have the same kind of confidence in your playbook for these segments as you do for leisure?
Who owns the success of weddings or meetings?
We know who’s responsible for selling, but who in your org can speak to the marketing costs associated with wedding or meeting leads the same way your organization can speak to marketing costs for leisure/direct booking? Who in your org is scrutinizing every penny spent against the return? On the leisure/direct booking side we know Google outperforms Bing, but do we know if Wedding Wire outperforms The Knot? What channel generates the lowest marketing cost per lead? What channel generates the highest return? At the end of the day, who at the property is deciding where the marketing budget for weddings or meetings is best spent and allocated? And, how confident are they?
What about your hotel restaurant?
When it comes to hotel restaurants, hotel marketing teams take on an entirely new set of marketing challenges. So many, in fact, we dedicated an entire article to it. Who in your org is deciding how to allocate marketing funds here? How do you measure success for tactics that aren’t so easily tied to revenue? With limited budget and resources, what marketing channels give you the greatest local reach? Is it Facebook, Instagram, Google, OpenTable, or Yelp?
What’s with all the questions?
Of course, we’re going to answer that question with another question. Are we giving the same care, time, attention, and budget to these other revenue drivers?
And…whose job is it anyway to optimize profit across all of these segments? Sales, marketing, revenue management? All three?
Flash Back!
Who in your organization is responsible for optimizing profit across all segments?
