In an unstable time—with huge cutbacks, unprecedented losses, and erratic consumer spending habits—experimentation with new marketing forms is not in our HeBS Action Plan.
In June 2008, HeBS laid out a comprehensive, reliable, and tested action plan for hoteliers for the rest of 2008 through 2009. We advocated ample, ROI-centric marketing budgets, online advertising, direct response initiatives, and aggressive budget tracking and analytics.
Additionally, we cautioned hoteliers to hold back on “sexy” new media initiatives—social media sites like Facebook, YouTube, and MySpace—which did not have proven track records with business advertisers.
Yesterday, EMarketer.com confirmed our advice in its article, “All About Facebook.”
While Facebook, if used properly, can serve as a branding tool, its “rapid user growth has not translated into advertising revenues,” the article declares.
“The habits of social network users are one obstacle” to direct revenues, it continues. “In 2008, IDC found that 43% of social network users never clicked on ads, a dramatic difference from the 80% of other Internet users who did so at least once a year. Further, 23% of nonusers who clicked on an ad then made a purchase; only 11% of social network users who clicked on ads did the same.”
An additional obstacle for the hospitality industry is that Facebook, MySpace, and YouTube are not associated with travel or hospitality; therefore, users are not visiting these sites with booking in mind, making your ads less relevant.
For hoteliers, now is not the time for trial and error. It is the time for effective, personal, and deliverable marketing.
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