Last year the economy remained in “recovery mode,” allowing the industry to focus its efforts more on marketing to the travel consumer and less on scaling back budgets for the first time in several years. The convergence of social media, mobile Web and location-based services, increased personalization and relevancy of marketing messages, the continued onslaught by social buying/flash sales sites and other heavily discounted distribution channels, the Google Panda and ‘Freshness’ updates, and ‘engaging’ the traveler at all touch points via multi-channel marketing were all hot topics last year and will continue to dominate in 2012.

How can hoteliers use real-time customer information to create time- and location-relevant promotions? Which digital channels and formats most effectively reach today’s hyper-interactive travel consumers and generate the highest ROIs? Should hoteliers be dedicating a significant amount of time to managing review sites and social media channels? What strategy should hoteliers adopt to stay competitive in search engine results when Google is consistently changing its algorithms?

The 2012 Top Ten New Year’s Digital Marketing Strategy Resolutions, presented by HeBS Digital for the 12th consecutive year, answers these questions and provides guidance on what hoteliers should do to succeed in the year ahead. With an improved outlook for the industry, technological advances, and the usage of mobile devices growing exponentially, opportunities for incremental revenues abound.

Here are the Top Ten Digital Marketing Resolutions your hotel company should consider adopting in 2012:

1. I will bring social, local and mobile marketing initiatives to the forefront of my hotel digital marketing plans this year.

Situation:

In 2012 hoteliers will be hearing a lot of the buzzword SoLoMo (SOcial, LOcal, MObile). Meant to convey the convergence of these three major media, the term SoLoMo describes a “marriage made in heaven” between the three content and marketing platforms. Why does this mean for hoteliers? Hotel guests are avid SoLoMo services users. Most social network engagements by travel consumers are done via mobile device. Consumers perform more than 3 billion local searches every month, and one in three mobile searches have local intent vs. one in five desktop searches (Google).

Unlike the desktop Web world, SoLoMo allows hoteliers to combine real-time customer geo-location with their demographic and psychographic information and time- and location-relevant promotions. The success of location-based social media such as Foursquare has shown us that rewards and recommendations are only the beginning. Hoteliers need to consider how to best utilize SoLoMo to engage their customers and generate incremental revenues.

Action Steps:

By focusing efforts on social media, local marketing, and mobile marketing, hotel marketers have the ability to deliver more personalized, relevant content and engage existing guests and potential customers like never before.

To begin with, how well optimized are your property profiles in the main data providers, which feed many local directories and geo-social sites? How well optimized are your property local search listings on Google Places, Yahoo Local, and Bing Local? What about all the local online directories and yellow pages? Do you have a local citation listing program in place?

Once you take care of your local content and listing strategy, it is time to enhance your mobile marketing presence. How deep, relevant and engaging is the local content on your mobile site? Do you have automated push of specials, promotions and local events from the property “desktop” website to the mobile site to keep your mobile presence “fresh?” Do you use micro-formats and Schema codes to relay the time- and location-relevant nature of these promotions and events to the search engines? Does your property take advantage of coupon promotions through Google?

Other recommendations include engaging your local customers via time- and location-relevant check-in promotions and rewards, launching social media promotions, contests, and post series via Facebook and Twitter, and blogging. Geo-social marketing initiatives allow hoteliers to integrate into customers’ lifestyles and connect (and stay connected) with them in ways that were not possible before. Industry experts already predict the end of the Foursquare-type check-in and envision a deeper and more experiential form of “social sharing” instead. Social, local and mobile marketing are great for time- and location-sensitive promotions. In 2012 focus on SoLoMo initiatives and you will remain ahead of the competition.

2. I understand this industry is complex and will work to make sense of a very convoluted digital space/online marketplace.

Situation:

Hoteliers have been rightfully confused by the myriad of headlines about the changing landscape of hotel distribution, from articles titled “Google will change your hotel’s distribution strategy” and “Facebook as an E-commerce engine,” to “How to make Twitter Sell” and “Mobile Apps to Impact Hotel Distribution.” In other articles OTAs are proclaimed to be a “good thing” because of the so-called billboard effect and contribution to new client acquisitions. On a daily basis, hotel owners, managers and operators are bombarded by far-fetched and often conflicting messages and claims.

The recession brought an onslaught of new players to the travel marketplace, which further convoluted the complex online marketing and distribution channels and online travel consumer behavior. Social buying sites (group buying, flash sales sites, member-only sites) and last-minute mobile sites are all presenting themselves as the “future of hotel distribution.” To add to the confusion, mobile and social have forever changed the way people research, plan and purchase travel – shorter booking windows, greater transparency, and peer recommendations are just some of the ways the integration of social and mobile have affected purchasing habits. Understanding this increasingly convoluted digital space and the increasingly complex online travel consumer behavior can feel like a monumental undertaking.

Action Plan:

In this dynamic industry, taking time on a daily basis to stay current with hotel digital marketing trends is a must. To start, adopt a business approach when analyzing whether or not use these new marketing formats and channels. In spite of all that is happening in the digital space, hotel marketing and distribution fundamentals have not changed. Try to correctly categorize these new sites, players and business models by asking yourself a set of simple questions: Is the site an advertising medium or a distribution channel? Does it work against accepted rate parity and best rate guarantee principles? Would a promotion via one of those sites alienate your existing corporate, group and leisure clients? Does working with these new players adhere to industry’s best practices in marketing and distribution?

Look deeper to understand the influence of each digital marketing initiative on the new online travel consumer. Advanced analytical tools can also help you make sense of this convoluted space. In this increasingly complex environment, consider partnering with a direct online channel strategy consulting firm to keep you informed and ahead of the competition.

 3. I will continue to account for the continued shift from offline to online, and engage the hyper-interactive travel consumer via multi-channel marketing efforts.

Situation:

The shift from offline to online continues. The online channel has been rapidly growing for 16 years straight. Internet bookings for the top 46 hotel chains now constitute 54% of all the chains’ CRS bookings. The online channel has grown by 25% in the last four years alone, while the share of the GDS travel agent channel and voice channel has decreased by 25% and 11.1% in the past four years, respectively. It’s critical that budget dollars are shifted to online marketing budgets, and that these budgets stay focused on hotel distribution channels that generate the most bookings, are cost-effective, and protect rate parity and price integrity.

In 2012 the mobile Web and social media will further establish the new breed of hyper-interactive travel consumers who demand “immediate, anywhere and anytime” customer engagement, information access, transaction capabilities, content sharing and customer service in real-time. Marketing to this new type of consumer requires a completely new, multi-channel marketing approach where the hotel engages consumers at all touch points.

Action Plan:

Multi-channel marketing is the foundation for a smart direct online channel strategy. In this environment, the hotel website, SEM campaigns, email marketing, social media presence, mobile, etc. have a symbiotic relationship. For example, if you launch a website promotion, you should also send an email to the hotel’s opt-in list, announce it on Twitter and Facebook, launch a paid search campaign and publish a blog posting via the hotel blog.

In 2012, hoteliers need to invest in technologies and expertise needed to better execute these types of multi-platform and multi-format campaigns. For example, invest in technology that allows for smart and centralized marketing content delivery: All new special offers and events at the property and destination are automatically pushed by your hotel “desktop” website Content Management System (CMS) to your property’s mobile site and Facebook and Twitter accounts.

What line items should you include in your 2012 hotel digital marketing budget in order to drive revenue through the direct online channel? In our recent article, The Smart Hotelier’s Guide to 2012 Digital Marketing Budget Planning, we provide detailed recommendations how to allocate your 2012 budget to achieve the highest direct online revenues and ROIs.

 4. I will take advantage of the Mobile Channel, especially in this marketplace where my competitors are behind the times.

Situation:

Today’s hyper-interactive travel consumers demand instant information and transaction capabilities, user location-oriented services, and personalization, attributes only the Mobile Web can deliver. Mobile users demand not only instant access to travel planning and booking capabilities, but a Mobile Web user experience that rivals and surpasses the Desktop Internet experience.

Mobile Internet usage will surpass desktop Internet usage by 2014 (Morgan Stanley). Google reports four-fold YOY increase in mobile search, and that one out of five hotel queries come from mobile devices. Coda Research projects 65% compounded annual growth of mobile commerce from 2010 through 2014, to reach $24 billion. Many OTAs and hotel chains reported several-fold increases in their mobile bookings in 2011. Last year more than 4.7% of website visits and more than 3% of all bookings came from mobile devices across our hotel client portfolio.

Smart hoteliers already know that the mobile Web adheres to different rules than the conventional desktop Internet. Mobile users have shorter attention spans than do traditional desktop users. They have less time to browse and are often on the go.

Action Plan:

Hoteliers need to develop and implement mobile Web-specific marketing initiatives, and not try to adapt existing “desktop” Internet assets like the property desktop website for use in the mobile space. It has become obvious that trying to squeeze your wide-screen 1280 x 1024-pixel “desktop” hotel website onto the tiny 320×480-pixel screen of a mobile device is a futile exercise that inevitably destroys usability and conversion rates.

In 2012, hoteliers should continue to focus on building and enhancing their mobile websites and launching mobile marketing initiatives, such as mobile SEM, SEO, mobile-social media initiatives, interactive sweepstakes and contests. In 2012, hotels should spend 9%-10% of their overall digital marketing budget on mobile marketing initiatives.

Start with the mobile website, your mobile hub for customer engagement. Is your mobile website specially designed to provide an excellent user experience in a mobile environment? Does it offer an engaging, contemporary design and functionality? Does it include content sections targeting your main customer segments? Have you increased your mobile site’s “discoverability” via mobile SEO and mobile SEM (e.g. Google mobile AdWords) and mobile media initiatives? Have you made the mobile website more interactive via mobile-social media initiatives, interactive sweepstakes and contests? Is your mobile website compatible with the recent Google Panda and “Freshness” updates and their requirement for unique and engaging content?

Here are the top mobile marketing initiatives hoteliers should focus on in 2012: mobile SEO, mobile link building to the site from mobile directories and sites, mobile SEM (paid search) campaigns, mobile banner advertising in the main mobile feeder markets, mobile contests and sweepstakes, and mobile promotions via SMS. Read our “Top 20 Secrets to Success in Hotel SMS Mobile Marketing” to help you get started.

As for the question of whether hoteliers should develop mobile apps or focus on developing and enhancing their mobile website, we firmly believe that hotels do not need a mobile app if they are a single-property, independent hotel. Nor do franchised hotels and resorts or smaller and mid-size hotel chains and multi-property companies. These hotel companies are better off focusing on building and enhancing their mobile websites and promoting the mobile site via mobile marketing initiatives. A single-property mobile site is six to ten times cheaper than a comparable mobile app. With rapid advancements in mobile technology, the lines between mobile apps and mobile websites are disappearing. Also, a mobile website is by default a cross-platform entity that can be viewed on all mobile platforms (iPhone, BlackBerry, Google Android, Windows Mobile, etc.), while apps or a customized version of an app must be created for every major platform.

 5. Now that I know social media is a customer engagement channel and not a distribution channel in hospitality, I will use Social Media correctly to create “buzz” around my hotel, target receptive audiences, provide customer service and enhance customer experiences. This will ultimately stimulate hotel website visits, interactions and conversions on the hotel website.

Situation

There is no doubt that social media has changed how travel consumers research and plan travel, access travel information, and perceive the credibility of information. Internet users are increasingly influenced by social media sites and peer reviews. By utilizing a comprehensive social media strategy, smart hoteliers engage their customers and enhance their experiences, generate buzz and improve customer service.

Many hoteliers have underestimated the complexities and involvement required for managing the property’s social media profiles. Infrequent or bland, “sales pitch” postings, lack of interactivity, creativity, fun and intrigue plague the social media presence of many hotels.

Action Plan:

In 2012 social marketing should continue to be an important component of your property’s marketing mix and part of the comprehensive direct online channel strategy for any hotel company.

Social media and social marketing initiatives should be reviewed as part of the overall multi-channel marketing strategy of the hotel. Instead of focusing on only bookings and revenue when measuring results from social media marketing, use social media for brand-building and buzz-building; as a medium to interact with and engage customers; as an important customer service channel; as a source of engaged and relevant traffic to the hotel website, and a way to make the hotel look current, cool and up-to-date.

This year work on establishing or enhancing a brand consistent Facebook and Twitter presence; monitor customer reviews/engagements for any customer service issues; use engaging posts (ask questions, use trivia, hold contests); locate/designate your on-property Social Media “Champion”, and partner with a social media strategy and technology firm to provide strategy, training, and technology implementations such as Facebook custom tabs, contests, etc.

In light of the recent Google Panda updates (to be discussed in more detail in the next resolution), allowing your website visitors to share your site’s content with Facebook Like/Tweet/Google +1 buttons is important to stimulate conversation and for search engine optimization purposes.

Avoid the all-too-common mistakes made my many hoteliers when participating on social media channels, including posting infrequently, only focusing on promoting packages and specials, not responding to questions and comments made to the hotel, and deleting comments.

 6. I will rise to the challenge imposed by the recent Google Panda and ‘Freshness’ updates!

Situation:

Today’s hotel website must adhere to very high expectations from not only website visitors but also the search engines. In a typical year Google makes more than 500 updates to its search algorithm. 2011 saw two major updates: the Google Panda Update (now in version 2.5) and the Google “Freshness” updates, which made most hotel websites obsolete by introducing very strict requirements for content, interactivity, and page download speeds. The Panda update requires websites to have engaging and unique website content (as opposed to bland, old and tired content and in addition to the existing requirement for deep and relevant content) that increases the site’s “stickiness”. The recent Google “Freshness” update requires that hotel websites maintain fresh and new content to rank high in the search engines.

Why are these updates important for the hospitality industry? Between 50%-70% of hotel website visitors and website bookings originate as leads from the major search engines. Traditionally, hotel websites are content rich vs. news rich, with descriptions and information featuring and explaining in detail every facet of the hotel business and service, from the bed linens to the capacity of a meeting room. The “static” content is there, but the “unique and engaging” and  “fresh” content is lacking. This is the main issue with current hotel websites after the latest Google algorithm updates.

Action Plan:

In 2012 hoteliers must work harder than ever to enhance the uniqueness and engaging nature of the content on the property website by employing professional hospitality copywriters and maintaining fresh content on the hotel website year-round.

Build promotional landing pages and tiles for timely specials and events. Create new content pages on various topics including seasonal and sports events, local festivals and customer segment-specific content. Use “micro-formats” applied to every local promotion and event, which signifies to the search engine that these events are in fact standalone current events, with exact starting and ending times. Incorporate Schema codes on all time-sensitive content pages. Maintain a blog highlighting specials and events along with general hotel news. Talk about local events, highlight someone’s stay, seasonal activities in the area, or feature infographics about your hotel or region that deeply engage users.

Another must is incorporating real-time Twitter feeds and Facebook interaction information in the hotel website to ensure that interaction is recorded, up-to-the-minute, and relevant.

Updating the hotel website should not be a costly endeavor – a good content management system should give hoteliers the tools they need to perform these updates easily, efficiently, and without extra cost to the hotel, as well as ensure automated push of new content (e.g. promotions, events, packages, etc.) from the “desktop” website to the property mobile site and Facebook and Twitter pages.

 7. I will decrease dependence on the OTAs this year, adding thousands of dollars in incremental revenues to my hotel’s bottom line.

Situation:

Did you know that since 2007, OTAs have increased market share by 32% at the expense of the hotel direct online channel (hotel websites)? STR estimated that the true cost of OTA distribution in 2010 alone was more than $2.5 billion in the form of abnormally high merchant commissions. It is 10 to 15 times cheaper to sell your rooms via the direct online channel compared to the OTA channel.

We do not envision a scenario in which 100% of Internet bookings are made via the direct online channel. The OTAs and other intermediaries in the indirect online channel do play a necessary role in certain areas of the travel planning and purchasing process (dynamic packaging). Even pre-Internet, approximately 25% of all hotel bookings in the U.S. came via the indirect channel (travel agents, tour operators, and wholesalers).

Action Plan:

Driving bookings through the direct online channel – the hotel website – needs to be every hotelier’s priority in 2012. In addition to being the most cost-effective distribution channel, the direct online channel provides long-term benefits and competitive advantages. It prevents rate and brand erosion, helps the hotel “own” the customer, enables cross-channel and multi-channel marketing initiatives, builds brand loyalty, and more. The OTAs’ fair share should not be higher than 15% for franchised and 25% for independent properties from all Internet bookings. We should not be seeing the current industry average of 40% OTA contribution.

Start by changing the property mindset: OTA commissions = marketing dollars. Do a distribution cost analysis. Maintain strict rate parity and a best rate guarantee. Focus on and budget accordingly for the direct online channel. Redesign the hotel website as per Google’s Panda and Freshness updates – you will gain competitive advantage over the OTAs and your comp set. Learn how to market your hotel better and smarter than the OTAs do. Embrace the mobile distribution channel and utilize social media to engage your customers. Focus on the customer experience.

And finally, utilize the OTAs as an incremental distribution channel: low season, group cancellations, weekends, or other scenarios.

8. I will NOT resort to desperate measures and use social buying and flash sales sites in 2012.

Situation:

Social buying and flash sales sites emerged as a result of the recession. Social buying and flash sales sites in travel and hospitality, such as Groupon Getaways with Expedia, LivingSocial.com, and SniqueAway.com are an integral part of the economy and the supply-demand market equilibrium. For social buying and flash sales sites to exist, there must be market equilibrium (price-quantity) between the demand side (quantity of members/engaged social buyers) and the supply side (quantity of fresh, intriguing deals).

In 2012, all signs are indicating that the hospitality industry is in recovery mode. STR projects that all three of the key performance measurements (occupancy rate, ADR and RevPAR) will realize steady increases for the year as a whole.

As travel demand improves, hoteliers have become reluctant to participate in social buying/flash sales sites because of their “open discount” business model need for steep 50%-60% discounts. Online travel consumers, disappointed by the lack of fresh hotel deals on the social buying sites, are reverting back to traditional booking channels: hotel direct, OTAs, GDS and voice.

Action Plan:

Some hoteliers participate in social buying and flash sales sites merely because their competition is doing so. Our advice? Don’t succumb to the devil. Stick to the fundamentals in hotel distribution and make sure you are covering all the bases in the Direct Online Channel.

Hoteliers should realize the existence of “The Law of Unintended Channel Share Loss” which stipulates the following: Any booking via the most discounted channel (i.e. Flash Sales Sites such as Groupon, LivingLocal.com or SniqueAway.com or an OTA) is one fewer booking for the same hotel via the hotel website, call center and GDS (in that order).

This is why we recommend that hoteliers focus on the direct online channel (the hotel branded website), which is by far the cheapest distribution channel. A booking via the property website of an independent hotel costs $10-$11, including all marketing and advertising expenses.

9. I will focus on determining the effectiveness and ROI of my digital marketing campaigns and make smarter use of analytics technology to determine true ROI and campaign effectiveness, as well as test, test, test to achieve better results.

Situation:

Is social media a hotel distribution channel? Is the mobile Web generating bookings? Do we still have to engage in the “old-fashioned” email marketing, which many hoteliers have branded “ineffective”? What are the ROAS (return on ad spend) from my search engine marketing (SEM)?

The explosion of social media and mobile marketing, along with channel convergence and multi-channel marketing, has made it more imperative for hoteliers to track the effectiveness of hotel digital marketing initiatives and optimize returns from their limited budget resources.  The available analytical technology tools today offer cost-effective yet powerful ways to track the results. They allow us to track conversions from the hotel website and all digital advertising campaigns such as SEM, banner advertising and re-targeting. Call analytics allows us to track the effectiveness of the voice channel, as well as the mobile Web and print ads.

In addition, we can retarget and behaviorally target website visitors and have more access than we have ever had to consumer’s browsing and purchasing habits. So why do we work so hard to get consumers to our website, yet fail to make the same effort in making sure our website meets the needs of these visitors? Making small tweaks to a hotel website may often result in significant increases in conversions.

Action Plan:

Invest in analytics technology in 2012 if you haven’t already! Having a full understanding of which initiatives work and which don’t will offset the cost of the investment.

For your website, utilize a web analytics tool like Adobe SiteCatalyst, powered by Omniture, the most advanced web analytics technology today, used by many major hotel brands and OTAs alike. For your paid search campaigns use Adobe SearchCenter, powered by Omniture, a sophisticated real-time paid search campaign management tool.

For your banner advertising and re-targeting campaigns, use a banner delivery and tracking tool like DART to track post-impressions and post-click activity and conversions and gain a deep understanding and knowledge of your banner campaigns’ returns.

Did you know that 7 of 10 hotel bookings from mobile devices actually happen via the voice channel? Track the contribution of mobile website and mobile marketing initiatives, as well as voice reservations from your desktop website, via call analytics to determine the true effectiveness of these media. Using call analytics and QR Codes in your offline print advertising has become the norm.

As discussed above, social media is not a distribution channel and social marketing initiatives should be reviewed with “sober eyes” and within the context of their impact on the multi-channel marketing strategy of the hotel. Instead of focusing on bookings and revenue when measuring results from social media, consider the quality and quantity of “customer engagements” such as “Likes”, initiated conversations, comments and questions on Facebook and @replies, and retweets on Twitter, as well as the impact of social marketing initiatives on customer service, customer relationship, buzz- and brand-building for the hotel, as well driving relevant, engaged traffic to the property website.

Invest in a tool like Adobe® Test&Target™, powered by Adobe Omniture®, to test multiple versions of a webpage to separate targeted populations. Track each version for key revenue metrics and visitor behavior in order to compare results. Suggested test projects include: testing locations of the booking engine widget on four different sections of a home page; rearranging the display of promotional tiles for greater usage and visibility; testing different marketing messages on the home page hero space; and comparing a rollover drop down navigation vs. static navigation on the main navigation. Dedicating some time and resources to tests such as these will give you insight into how best to structure the elements of your website for the highest conversion rates.

 10. I will partner with savvy digital marketers who know it all and can guide me through this process, so I can drive the most revenue ever through my most cost-efficient channel – my hotel website.

Situation:

Navigating the online marketplace can be confusing and overwhelming.  The pace of change in this industry, including technological advancements, updates to search engine algorithms, and new solutions for driving direct online revenues are almost impossible to keep up with.

Additionally, most hoteliers are already shuffling many different priorities each day and are not able to devote the majority of their time – if any time – to keeping up with industry trends and best practices.

Action Plan:

In this dynamic industry it is important to stay on top of quickly moving trends, prioritize initiatives that generate direct online bookings, and be flexible enough to continuously adjust hotel digital marketing campaigns for optimal results.

Partner with digital marketing experts who will make driving direct online revenues for your hotel their priority: Experts who will keep you up to date with best practices without you having to ask, who will proactively bring forth ideas to generate the highest website revenues and ROIs.

Work with a team of savvy digital marketers who will show you new ways to recoup lost opportunities, teach you how to stay on top of changes in the industry, and provide your hotel and team with real value, not just a service.

About the Authors

Max Starkov is President & CEO and Mariana Mechoso Safer is VP, Marketing of HeBS Digital, the industry’s leading full-service hotel digital marketing, website design and direct online channel strategy firm based in New York City (www.HeBS Digital.com).

HeBS Digital has pioneered many of the “best practices” in hotel digital marketing, social and mobile marketing, and direct online channel distribution. The firm specializes in helping hoteliers build their direct Internet marketing and distribution strategy, boost the hotel’s Internet marketing presence, establish interactive relationships with their customers, and significantly increase direct online bookings and ROIs.

The firm has won over 160 prestigious industry awards for its digital marketing and website design services, including numerous Adrian Awards, Davey Awards, W3 Awards, WebAwards, Magellan Awards, Summit International Awards, Interactive Media Awards, IAC Awards, etc.

A diverse client portfolio of over 500 top tier major hotel brands, luxury and boutique hotel brands, resorts and casinos, hotel management companies, franchisees and independents, and CVBs has sought and successfully taken advantage of the firm hospitality Internet marketing expertise offered at HeBS. Contact HeBS Digital consultants at (212) 752-8186 or success@hebsdigital.com.

The sale, offering discounts at up to 50% off at their most popular resorts, starts at midnight on Black Friday (November 25th) and extends through Cyber Monday (November 28th). Rates at these family-friendly North American resorts will start as low as $50 per night, making Shell Vacations Hospitality’s Black Friday Travel Sale the travel bargain of the year.

Leading up to the Black Friday Travel Sale, starting November 1, Shell Vacations Hospitality has offered daily deals and giveaways ranging from $100 gift cards and brand-new iPods to a seven-night stay at a Shell Vacations Hospitality resort. Via Facebook, Twitter, and the Black Friday Travel Sale site, participants can check-in daily for the day’s newest contest. Customers can also click the site’s “newspaper” feature to take advantage of short-term “Extra! Extra! Travel Specials” and are encouraged to share the site with friends and family.

This innovative, multi-channel marketing strategy helps to build Shell Hospitality’s Facebook fans and Twitter followers and expands email and mobile lists for future marketing campaigns. November’s daily giveaways also build excitement for the Black Friday Travel Sale, with participants encouraged to check in daily for new contests and deals. Last year, the campaign produced an outstanding ROI of over 1500%, generated buzz in Shell Vacations Hospitality’s social media channels, was picked up by various news outlets and won several awards – including the “Best in Show” Spectrum award from AMA Phoenix. This year, HeBS Digital expects the campaign to produce up to 40% more revenue than last year. Click here to view last year’s Black Friday Travel Sale minisite.

Shell Vacations Hospitality offers a collection of 26 resorts, hotels and lodges throughout North America ideal for family vacations, romantic getaways, reunions and business trips.

Click here to view the Shell Vacations Hospitality Black Friday Travel Sale. The sale will launch on midnight, November 25th!

What is the issue?
Although Schema.org was introduced by all three major search engines in June, its importance in terms of impacting search has been vastly underestimated. Launched simultaneously by Google, Bing & Yahoo!, Schema.org is an initiative “to create and support a common set of schemas for structured data markup on web pages.” In plainer terms, you can consider Schema a generous extension of your meta data.

Schema allow you to describe, in depth, details about a given page, sale, or event that otherwise wouldn’t be included on the website. For every dining page, packages page, event page, and any other content-rich page on the site, these codes allow you to embed exact information such as geographical location, start and end date, author or host, sale paremeters, sources about a subject, and more. These back-end bits of code enhance each page from an informational standpoint, and allow search engines to better understand what a page is all about.

What does it mean for hoteliers?
This is monumental for hospitality sites. Previously, sites were limited to certain content restraints based on design, highlights of the property, and attention span of users. These Schema allow marketers to add a host of information that is visible only to the search engines, providing them will all the information they need to more accurately judge if a website answers a user’s query.

For example, on a home page, you could include a Schema that details when the property was built, when it was last renovated, how many stars it has, any positive reviews, and the like. This is all information that search engines would find useful, but users may not be interested in. On a promotional package, a Schema could be included that details the start and end dates of the promotion, special rates & discounts, the details & restrictions, and a link to the website for a nearby theater show, for which two tickets are included in the package.

What is the solution?
Whenever possible, a page should be given a dedicated Schema. Schema.org has compiled an extremely thorough database of available mock-ups covering everything from photographs to TV series to locksmith. Each page that you think has the propensity to rank should be given a Schema in order to provide search engines with more information.

Schemas give us the opportunity to include much more information and be much more specific when discussing any given topic. Similar to microdata, they are the basis for “rich snippets,” which are the snippets of text that are displayed in SERPs. Giving search engines clearly-labeled, accurate, helpful information from which to construct rich snippets will catapult a site upwards in search rankings.

What do the HeBS Digital Marketing Experts recommend?
Ask your digital marketing agency to implement Schema codes on all important content-rich and time-sensitive web pages.

One of the many innovative components of HeBS Digital’s proprietary website content management system (HeBS Digital CMS Plus) is its ability to incorporate Schema on all time-sensitive landing pages such as local promotions, special offers or events at the property and in the destination, as well as on a variety of pages site-wide such as dining, accommodations, hotel services and amenities, etc.

These expansions of information open up a whole new avenue for providing information about a property, restaurant, event, or promotion. In time, Schema will become standard and you will have to search for the new thing to give your website an edge – but for now, these markups are enough to give you a leg up on the competition.

Sue Wiker is Lead Copywriter and Will Jerome is SEO Specialist at HeBS Digital.

• Interactive/Online – Online Marketing Campaign
• Interactive/Online – Microsite

The “12 Days Before Black Friday Travel Sale & Scavenger Hunt” microsite, designed by HeBS Digital, launched on October 31, 2010. The daily scavenger hunt ran for 12 days leading up to Black Friday.  A collaborative effort by all three companies, the campaign was a resounding success in terms of revenue, viral buzz and media coverage. Historically a slow booking period for hoteliers, the sale generated over 2,000% ROAS, significantly added to Shell Vacations Hospitality’s social media following, and increased the brand’s email and mobile opt-in lists. BLAZE PR secured campaign coverage on CNN.com, AOL Travel Online, BusinessReviewUSA.com, Budget Travel, TravelwithVal.com, WTSP.com and more.

Consumers were requested to spread word of the sale through social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Digg and YouTube. Daily prizes included single-night complimentary stays in Las Vegas, given to 12 winners on the 12th day, five-night stays at any Shell Vacations Hospitality resort, and more. The grand prize was a five-night stay at a beachfront resort in Kauai, including an airfare voucher. The grand prize was awarded at random to one of the entrants who collected all 12 clues by returning to the interactive site each day.

“Shell Vacations Hospitality is proud to accept these prestigious awards” said Shallana Lynn Edwards, Director of eMarketing. We achieved all of our campaign goals of boosting year-over-year revenue on the website, increasing awareness of Shell Vacations Hospitality’s discounted rates to 20 destinations, and considerably increasing our social media, email and mobile opt-in lists for future marketing efforts. Shell Vacations is thankful that AMA Phoenix has recognized the creativity and results of this campaign, and for the support provided by our partners BLAZE PR and HeBS Digital. ”

The awards were presented at the 2011 Spectrum Awards ceremony, held this past May at the Sheraton Phoenix Downtown. AMA Phoenix granted 42 awards in 11 categories, including one “Best in Show” award that carried across all the categories. In addition to earning the “Best in Show” title, Shell Vacations Hospitality garnered recognition for “Best Online Marketing Campaign” and “Best Microsite,” both of which fell under the Interactive/Online category.

Since 2008, OTAs have increased their market share in hotel distribution by nearly 45%. This is a serious setback for the hospitality industry and a return to the bad practices of the post 9/11 era. In the midst of improving economic climate and rising travel demand, can hoteliers reverse this negative trend and take back control of the online distribution channel?

There is no doubt that hotel distribution has changed dramatically over the past 16 years since the advent of the “commercial” Internet. Online distribution, social media and the mobile Web have all changed how we connect with, engage and ultimately convert customers. But the fundamental principles of hotel distribution have not changed that much. Hoteliers need to focus on distribution channels that “pass the litmus test” i.e.:

• Are cost-effective
• Generate the most bookings
• Protect rate parity and price integrity
• Reach the targeted customer segments

In other words, the main focus and priority for any hotelier should be to sell as much inventory via the most cost-effective distribution channels that can potentially generate the most bookings, while preserving rate parity and price erosion.

Based on the above fundamental principles, which of the following main distribution channels should be the main focus for hoteliers in 2011?

Note: Major Hotel Brands: Based on LOS of two nights and ADRs ranging from $100 – $300/night. Independent Hotels & Resorts: $75 – $150 per booking. Based on LOS of 2 nights and ADRs ranging from $150 – $300/night.

It’s obvious, isn’t it?  Channel C is by far the most cost-effective distribution channel:  it is 10-15 times cheaper than Channel A and 4-10 times cheaper than Channel B.

Channel C is obviously the only main distribution channel in the above table that deserves to be the main focus in 2011, especially in this new and optimistic economic environment of growth in travel demand, occupancy rates, ADRs and RevPARs.

Are you curious which channel represents what in the above professional quiz? Here are the correct answers:

• Channel A: Indirect Online Channel/OTAs
• Channel B: GDS Travel Agent
• Channel C: Direct Online Channel (Hotel Brand Website)

Having completed the above cost analysis, you would think that the direct online channel would be the main focus for hoteliers and they would be investing heavily in this channel and trying to shift market share from the OTAs and GDS Travel Agent channels. Wrong!

In just three short years since 2008, hoteliers’ direct online channel lost significant market share to the Online Travel Agencies (OTAs), who increased their booking contributions by a staggering 45%!

OTAs Enjoyed a Market Share Increase of 45% in 2010

Here are some disturbing stats from the Top 30 Hotel Brands:

• In 2010, only 67.3% of the online bookings for the top 30 hotel brands came from the direct online channel (i.e. the major hotel brands own websites: Marriott.com, Hilton.com, etc.), while 32.7% came from the indirect online channel (the Online Travel Agencies—OTAs) (eTRAK Report).

• In comparison, in 2008, 75.2% of all CRS online bookings came from the brand website, while 24.8% came from the OTAs (eTRAK).
• In other words, OTA contribution increased from 11.80% of total CRS bookings in 2008 to 17.10% in 2010 i.e. OTAs saw an increase of nearly 45% (HeBS Digital Research).
• This constitutes a significant increase of OTA contribution, compared to 2007, when 75.9% of all CRS online bookings came from the brand website and only 24.1% of the online bookings came from the indirect online channel (OTAs).

Here are the reservation sources for Major Hotel Brands in 2010 vs. 2008 (eTRAK Report)

Overall for the industry, in 2010 the indirect online channel (OTA) contribution to hotel online bookings was 40% (PhoCusWright).

As a result of this market share gain by the OTAs, revenue leaked from hotels to the OTAs in the form of abnormally high merchant commissions reached $5.4 billion in 2010 alone (HeBS Research).

Why Aren’t Hoteliers Investing More in the Direct Online Channel?

In addition to the obvious reason that selling your hotel via the OTAs is the “lazy man’s approach” to distribution, there are a few more reasons for that, including the assumption that selling through the OTAs is “free.”

• Many hotel companies (including a number of major hotel brands) exhibited a typical “knee-jerk” reaction to the deteriorating economic environment in 2008-2010, and “succumbed to the devil” by embracing the indirect online channel (OTAs) to compensate for decreased business.
• Many hotels had been accommodating the OTAs with bigger discounts, unique promotions (e.g. 24-hour sales) etc., thus jeopardizing their direct online channel and destroying years worth of achievements such as rate parity, best rate guarantees, and travel consumer perceptions that it is better to deal with the supplier directly.
• Independent hotels are overwhelmed by this rapid shift from offline to online distribution and often fail to compete for their fair share of the market. The main reason is the lack of understanding that Internet marketing is not an expense, but an investment with immediate returns at very high ROIs.  Another reason is the perception that cutting-edge Internet marketing services and technologies are out of reach and accessible only to large hotel chains.
• Franchised properties believe that the major hotel brands “take care of the Internet” for them, thus they miss serious local revenue-generating opportunities.

Naturally, we do not envision a scenario where 100% of Internet bookings are made via the direct online channel. The OTAs and other intermediaries in the indirect online channel do play a needed role in certain areas of the travel planning and purchasing process e.g. dynamic packaging (air+hotel, air+hotel+car, etc.) for leisure destinations. Even in pre-Internet years, approximately 25% of all hotel bookings in the U.S. came via the indirect channel (travel agents, tour operators, and wholesalers).

So what should the OTA fair share be? Now, 16 years after the advent of the Internet distribution channel, the most cost-efficient distribution and marketing channel ever, the OTA contribution should not be higher than 25% from all Internet bookings. What we should not be seeing is the current industry average of 40% OTA contribution.

On the contrary, due to dramatic changes in travel consumer behavior, and the inherent demand to deal with the “manufacturer” of hotel and travel products (i.e. travel suppliers like hotels, airlines, car rental companies, etc.), we should be witnessing a decline in the indirect channel contribution.

Just imagine the cost savings if 5%, 10%, 15%, 20% or more bookings are shifted from the indirect to the direct online channel!

Here are some additional findings by HeBS Digital, based on the latest eTRAK benchmark report, surveys and industry data from PhoCusWright, ARC and HeBS Digital’s own research.

The Shift from Offline/Traditional Channel to Online Channel is Permanent:

• 52.3% of overall CRS bookings for the top 30 hotel brands come from the online channel, which is an increase of nearly 10% compared to 2008 when online channel contribution was 47.6%.
• As a reminder, in 2006 the online channel share was 37.6% (eTRAK Report).
• For the industry as a whole, over 45% of all hotel bookings in 2011 (leisure, unmanaged and managed corporate travel) will be via the Internet (direct + indirect online channels) (HeBS Digital Research).

GDS Channel Share is in Steady Decline:

• GDS Travel Agent contribution to the total CRS bookings of the top 30 hotel brands declined to 22.1% in 2010 from 27.3% in 2008 (eTRAK).
• In retrospect, back in 2006, GDS CRS reservations constituted 31.3% of total CRS bookings for the top 30 brands (eTRAK, industry data).
• Travel Agency Share from Total Travel Market in the U.S. dropped from 41% in 2006 to less than 33% in 2010 (PhoCusWright).
• U.S. Travel Agency Locations have been decreasing at an average rate of 4% every year and their number has declined from over 35,000 in 1995 to less than 14,603 in March 2011 (ARC, HeBS Digital).

The Voice Channel Contribution is Flat at Best:

• In 2010, voice channel contribution to the total CRS reservations of the top 30 hotel brands amounted to 25.6% of total brand CRS bookings (eTRAK).
• A significant portion of the voice channel bookings are actually bookings directly referred to from the direct online channel and the mobile channel.
• Despite this boost from the direct online and mobile channels, the Voice Channel has been in relative decline for 7^th consecutive year (HeBS). Back in 2006, the voice reservations constituted 31.3% of total CRS bookings for the top 30 brands (eTRAK).

The Mobile Channel is a Reality!

Over the past two years, the mobile channel has become an important travel planning and transaction channel in the U.S. and worldwide. Hotel guests and travel consumers in general are already mobile-ready, and hoteliers and travel suppliers have to respond adequately to this growing demand for mobile travel services.

HeBS’ own research and other industry sources show that in 2010 between 1.5% – 2.5% of visitors to hotel websites came from consumers accessing the hotel site via mobile devices. Last year travel suppliers and OTAs reported a 3-5 times increase in mobile bookings and Google reported 3,000% increase in hotel mobile searches compared to 2009.

By 2014, mobile Internet users will surpass the number of desktop Internet users. The most important statistic though is the number of smartphone users. Smartphones are changing how we do business in hospitality, how we market, how we service customers. There are nearly 75 million smartphone users in the U.S. alone; their number will exceed 100 million by 2014.

In 2011, independent or franchised hotels and resorts, as well as small and mid-size hotel chains and multi-property hotel companies, should focus on building and enhancing their mobile websites. The main focus should be:

• Creating mobile-friendly textual and visual content that presents the hotel product well.

• Enhancing the mobile user-experience via well-developed mobile site navigation, a mobile booking engine widget, mobile calendar of events, etc.

• Increasing website “discoverability” via mobile SEO and mobile SEM (e.g. Google mobile AdWords) and online media initiatives.

• Making the mobile website more interactive via mobile-social media initiatives, interactive sweepstakes and contests.

• Soliciting sign-ups to the mobile opt-in list via the traditional hotel website and the mobile website, via hotel email marketing campaigns and various sweepstakes and contests, such as interactive scavenger hunts, QR Code promotions, etc.
• Tracking conversions and user behavior via mobile analytics (e.g. Omniture) and special tracking phone functionality.

The Bottom Line for Hoteliers:  Focus on the Direct Online Channel

Hoteliers do not have many options when considering other non-OTA distribution channels. As mentioned above, the GDS Travel Agent and Voice Channels are in steady decline over the past years. In our view, the only viable option to drastically reduce reliance on the OTA channel is for the industry to embrace the Direct Online Channel.

There is no doubt that hoteliers need to invest in the direct online channel. Hoteliers need a robust direct online channel strategy accompanied by adequate marketing funds to be able to take advantage of the steady growth in the Internet channel and the shift from offline to online bookings in hospitality due to declining GDS and voice channels. Hoteliers must carefully employ ROI-centric initiatives including website redesign, website optimization and SEO, SEM, email marketing, online media and sponsorships, mobile marketing and proven social media initiatives.

Furthermore, due to the fact that today’s travel consumers live in a perpetual “digital information cloud,” hoteliers need to employ multi-channel marketing and distribution strategies. Multi-channel marketing has already become the norm and is the foundation for a smart direct online channel strategy. In this environment, the hotel website, SEM campaigns, email marketing, social media presence, mobile, etc. have a symbiotic relationship. Unleashing a marketing promotional campaign simultaneously across all available marketing channels produces a compounded effect and far greater returns than each individual marketing format.

Click here to read the blog article on HOTELS Magazine website.

Silver Legacy Resort Casino's "You're the Star" Giveaway

This interactive sweepstakes, designed, marketed and written by HeBS, allows participants to enter once a day for 59 days to win an exclusive VIP package with two nights in a luxury suite, a bottle of wine, dinner for two at Sterling’s Seafood Steakhouse, a spa treatment and $100 in Casino Freeplay. Five lucky grand prize winners will also enjoy access to over six unique restaurants, 85,000 square feet of 24-hour gaming, newly remodeled rooms, an award-winning health spa, entertainment and nightlife.

Contestants can enter to win the “You’re the Star” Giveaway every day between February 10th, 2011 and April 10th, 2011 to win. To enter to win the Grand Prize, entrants must become a fan of Silver Legacy on Facebook and submit a picture on our wall showing your star-status. The five entries with the most “likes” at the close of the sweepstakes wins.

The contest also features a forward-to-a-friend functionality which awards a $250 cash card prize to the person who refers the most friends to enter the sweepstakes via the website.

Silver Legacy Resort Casino’s sweepstakes will encourage daily visits to the site, grow its opt-in email list, and promote the hotel as a premier Reno casino resort. Multi-channel marketing efforts to promote the sweepstakes include email marketing, Facebook & Twitter, strategic linking, online newswires, and the forward-to-a-friend functionality.

At Silver Legacy Resort Casino, guests will experience an escape from the ordinary with a comfortable atmosphere surrounded by non-stop casino action, nightlife and entertainment. Onsite amenities include spacious accommodations, six unique restaurants, top-name entertainment, 24-hour gaming excitement, an award-winning spa and much more.  

Click here to enter the Silver Legacy Resort Casino “You’re the Star” Giveaway!

While 2010 was not quite the tough year the industry feared it would be, hoteliers still grappled with a number of challenging issues: a slowly recovering economy, the ever-changing world of social media and the mobile Web, mobile-obsessed consumers and customer review enthusiasts, and significant revenue leakage from hotels to OTAs in the form of abnormally high merchant commissions. These challenges led to a fundamental shift in hotel Internet marketing tactics, including the need for multichannel marketing, engaging the new breed of on-the-go hyper-interactive travel consumers, and a smarter approach to analytics to determine what really works for hoteliers with limited marketing dollars available.

The hurdles presented by 2010 encouraged hotel Internet marketers to simply be smarter so they might achieve greater online successes in 2011.

The outlook for the industry in 2011 is the most optimistic it has been in years. PKF Hospitality Research predicts REVPAR to grow by 7.8%, a 3.4% increase in lodging demand and a 4.6% rise in ADR. In all of 2010, online travel distribution continued to dominate the hotel distribution space, and HeBS predicts this will continue throughout 2011.

How can hoteliers take advantage of increased travel demand this year? What smarter hotel Internet marketing formats should they focus their budgets on? Which new technologies and marketing formats and strategies will most efficiently and cost-effectively reach the on-the-go, hyper-interactive traveler?

The 2011 Top Ten New Year’s Internet Marketing Strategy Resolutions, presented by Hospitality eBusiness Strategies for the eleventh year in a row, offers some answers to these questions, as well as a sneak peek into what should be on the forefront of hoteliers’ minds next year.

Here are the Top Ten Internet Marketing Resolutions your hotel company should consider adopting in 2011:

1. I will adapt a new marketing approach around the Customer Engagement Channel and develop campaigns that fully align marketing efforts with the behavior of the hyper-interactive travel consumer.

Situation:

Today’s travel consumer is exposed to and engaged by so many snippets of information coming from all directions in a fast-paced, real-time 24/7 environment, that they live in a perpetual “hyper-interactive information cloud.” Consumers no longer keep track of where exactly they have been exposed to information or content, they no longer care what format the information or content they have been exposed to is in (email, tweet, Facebook post, SEM campaign, etc.), and they no longer differentiate between media channels and content formats (i.e. they have become channel- and format-agnostic). In other words, the convergence of marketing/media channels + the new hyper-interactive travel consumer = the emergence of one single Customer Engagement Channel.

Action Steps:

The Customer Engagement Channel demands a completely new approach to distribution and marketing.  Hoteliers must find a way to convince consumers that the channel is theirs, that they are in full control of the content they receive and how they receive it.

What are some of the ways hoteliers can engage in this two-way conversation with current and potential guests? Provide multiple options on the hotel website for how consumers can hear from you (email, mobile, Facebook, Twitter, etc.). If they unsubscribe from one marketing format, give them the option to choose to hear from you in another way. Also, invest in eCRM in order to send more personalized marketing messages, keep your marketing plan dynamic (if people aren’t responding well to a campaign, move on quickly), stimulate website visitors constantly with fresh content, and implement contests and promotions on your website and through social media. Additionally, in 2011 it will be important to invest in technology needed for centralized content delivery. A good CMS can dynamically push content from the website Content Management System (CMS) to social media, the mobile site, email, Web 2.0 functionality on the site, etc. More on this below.

2. I understand that 2011 is going to be the ‘Year of Video’ and will continue to invest in videos for my hotel website, mobile website and other online marketing channels and efforts. Virtual tours are long out, and videos are definitely in.

Situation:

While online video was an important part of the hotelier’s strategy in 2010, this year it is even more essential that video marketing be in the hotelier’s arsenal. Videos excel at selling your hotel product and engaging consumers better than any other medium.  Also important in 2011: consumers will be watching video even more while on the go, on their iPhones, Android devices, tablets, etc.

Action Steps:

Develop hotel videos presenting hotel services and amenities to your different customer segments, post them on the hotel website and YouTube, and send them out via MMS messaging. Due to the shortened attention span of today’s traveler plus mobile distribution restrictions, best practices require not a single 30-minute video, but shorter 30- to 60- second videos illustrating different aspects of the hotel product: weddings, spa, entertainment, etc. Consider the impact this would have: a guest is preparing for a stay at your property, and receives a short video on his or her phone via MMS of the latest entertainment option at the hotel (comedy show, music show, etc.) or a video of dining at the restaurant, or of the spa services. This, followed by an exclusive offer, will increase the likelihood of ancillary revenues while on property.

Additionally, advertise your videos on YouTube (an easy and cost-effective marketing tactic), and make sure your videos can easily be found on your hotel’s website, its Facebook page and from your email newsletters.

3. I will no longer operate in a “marketing silo.” I should not launch or run any marketing initiatives in silos (i.e. SEM, SEO, social media, mobile marketing, etc.), and I understand I will lose serious revenue opportunities and even market share if I send non-symbiotic or conflicting marketing messages about my hotel across various channels.

Situation:

Many hoteliers use separate arrangements, departments or agencies – some in-house, some outside – to manage the hotel’s SEO, SEM, email marketing, social media, mobile marketing, etc. A silo marketing approach goes against the mere nature of the new breed of consumers hoteliers are trying to reach, and often results in different, confusing, even contradicting messages on different channels. For example, you may run a contest on your Facebook page but not mention it anywhere on your website or in your SEM, text and email campaigns. This will result in lower levels of participation as well as confusion as to the legitimacy of the contest.

Action Steps:

Hoteliers need to work in a multichannel marketing environment – the antidote to the silo approach – with centralized content creation and delivery. In this environment, the hotel website, SEM campaigns, email marketing, social media presence, mobile, etc. have a symbiotic relationship. Your website content and marketing campaigns should be managed centrally and distributed via multiple platforms so that similar content across all channels engages consumers at multiple touch points.

4. I will continue to launch multichannel marketing campaigns and invest in technology needed to better execute these types of multi-platform and multi-format campaigns. I know that I need to reach my current and future guests via multiple touch-points, and that there is technology available today that can help me do this more efficiently.

Situation:

In last year’s Top Ten Internet Marketing Resolutions, HeBS accurately predicted that multichannel marketing would be the norm in 2010. Many marketing initiatives, on their own, cannot generate the high revenues that multichannel campaigns can produce. Hyper-interactive travel consumers’ need to receive and share fresh/relevant information and comment on experiences has blurred the boundaries between various distribution and marketing channels. These channel convergences exacerbate not only the need for multichannel marketing and distribution strategies, but also for centralized marketing content creation and multichannel distribution.

Action Steps:

Invest in technology that allows for smart and centralized content delivery. As mentioned above, your website CMS should enable you to create a special offer or new package that not only posts this new promotion on the Special Offers page and Featured Special promo tile on the hotel website, but also pushes this promotion to your social media profiles and populates your mobile website. Hoteliers must also consistently provide website visitors with fresh, engaging content such as contests and promotions concurrently on your website, SEM campaigns, email newsletters, mobile marketing campaigns, and through social media.

5. I will make room in the budget for smart investments in 2011 – and not rely on outdated business approaches or short term solutions.

Situation:

Many hoteliers are still investing in 1990 business approaches or quick fixes. Outdated CMS technology that does not allow for centralized content delivery, mobile websites that do not work across multiple devices (Blackberry, iPhone, Android), flash-heavy websites and websites that read like static online brochures are unacceptable in 2011. These investments may save you money in the short run, but in the long run can spell disaster for your business.

Action Steps:

This year, invest intelligently in technology and marketing approaches that enable customer engagement across all Internet marketing formats. Any investment by hoteliers should go through a litmus test:

a) Does this investment help me generate more engaging content?

b) Am I engaging the hyper-interactive travel consumer with this campaign?

c) Have I created tools that enable the hyper-interactive traveler to share this campaign and/or their experience on my hotel website?

6. I know that I may no longer delay serious time and efforts in mobile marketing & social media. It is not acceptable to provide my website visitors via their mobile device the desktop version of my website. I also know that if I do not make a significant time investment in social media that my competitors are going to leave me far behind. This year, I will work hard to integrate mobile and social marketing into my overall digital marketing strategy.

Situation:

In October of 2010, Google reported that year-over-year mobile searches for hotels had increased by a staggering 7,000%. Industry experts project that the mobile Web will surpass the traditional web in size by 2013, and HeBS’ own research and other industry sources show that between 1% – 1.5% of visitors to hotel websites already come from consumers accessing the hotel site via mobile devices.

It is also now evident that social media is not going anywhere – in 2010, Facebook’s traffic surpassed that of Google’s. Facebook users uploaded more than 2.7 million photos, shared 1 million links and “liked” 7.6 million pages every 20 minutes in 2010 (Mashable, Facebook). So how can hoteliers combine these two powerful marketing initiatives and integrate mobile into their social media strategy in 2011?

Action Steps:

People are utilizing the mobile channel to conduct searches as well as to share content, interact with friends, and browse the web. This year, consider these ideas to integrate mobile into your social media strategy: build your mobile list by featuring a mobile widget on a customized Facebook tab and on your website; run a mobile promotion on Facebook and Twitter to build your mobile list by prompting users to text a keyword to a short code to be entered to win a prize; cross-promote your mobile initiatives on your Facebook customized tab, in Facebook wall posts, and in Twitter tweets; and use mobile to increase visibility of your social media messages (asking people to ‘text to follow’ – Twitter allows non-account holders to follow specific accounts through SMS messaging).

7. I understand that the time has come to upgrade my hotel website, which has become the main face of my hotel to the rest of the world.  I understand that my hotel website should offer the best visual and rich media content about the property on the Web and should become the most potent customer engagement tool via Web 2.0 optimizations and functionality.

Situation:

Over the past two years, many hoteliers who desperately needed website redesigns simply put Band-Aids on their existing sites to save precious budget dollars. Today’s hotel website has become the main revenue driver that carries the burden and responsibility of generating the bulk of bookings for the property. The hotel website is the first, (and in many cases) the only, and unfortunately for many hoteliers, the last point of contact with the travel consumer. The property website is the backbone of the hotel multichannel marketing mix and the main “engagement tool” with today’s hyper-interactive travel consumer.

In 2011, this approach needs to be rethought. The hotel website is the backbone of your Internet marketing strategy – the most important tool in your arsenal. Your outdated website allows your competitors to steal your market share.

Action Steps:

There have been so many changes in the past 24 months that it would be virtually impossible to have kept up with all of them – the emergence of the hyper-interactive traveler, social media, mobile marketing, Web 2.0 functionalities, and more. If your hotel website is over two years old, it’s time for a redesign.  If your website is over a year old, keep it current with search engine optimization (SEO) strategies, a Web 2.0 optimization (interactive elements on your website) and ensuring you are fully addressing all your customer segments in your copy and navigation.

Make the hotel website redesign reflect 2011 industry’s best practices. A site redesign is a 90-120 day project (start planning now). Our experience shows that any website optimizations, enhancements or site re-designs pay for themselves within 3-4 months.

8. I will continue to make the Direct Online Channel the foundation of my hotel Internet marketing strategy and stop ‘leaking’ revenues to the OTAs. I know I need to reduce my reliance on the OTA channel and establish direct relationships with my guests. This will result in significant incremental revenues, increased loyalty and long-term competitive advantages.

Situation:

Revenue “leaked” from the hotel industry to the OTAs in the form of abnormally high merchant commissions of 25% and higher will have reached $5.4 billion in 2010. Hotel reservations are de facto financing the OTAs’ operations and allowing the OTAs to obtain billions of dollars of abnormally high merchant (wholesale) commissions and reap huge profits on Wall Street.

Action Steps:

The goal for the industry should be as follows:

• Major hotel brands: OTA contribution (including agency, merchant and opaque model) should be kept below 15%.
• Average for the hospitality industry: OTA contribution (including agency, merchant and opaque model) should be kept below 25% (the level the indirect channel has traditionally had for many years, even before the Internet).

Hoteliers should maintain strict rate parity across all channels, create unique product offerings on their own website, and engage guests directly through social media, mobile marketing, and Web 2.0 functionalities on the hotel website. Additionally, every single Internet marketing initiative (PPC, SEO, email marketing, etc.) should be planned and launched with the goal in mind of producing revenues directly on the hotel website.

9. I will no longer suffer through ‘information overload’ and will use smart analytics to make smart business decisions. From Adobe Online Marketing Suite powered by Omniture to DART, every report that I analyze must answer this important question: How can I use this data to improve my business and generate more revenue?

Situation:

Understanding business issues and decision-making are often made more difficult for hoteliers by the overwhelming amount of reports that are constantly made available to them.  Also, many hoteliers are only focused on website analytics and are not taking advantage of new tools available to them such as offline conversion tracking (i.e. call tracking).

Action Steps:

Start requesting reports and analyzing them with specific questions and goals in mind. Also, start utilizing analytical tools to measure your offline efforts/channel contribution.  By constructing private landing pages for print offers, enabling call tracking (especially to help you measure what percent of business is coming from the mobile channel), QR codes, and short codes that must be texted to redeem specials, hoteliers can get the bigger picture of what works and what does not work. In 2011, move beyond just using website analytical tools.

10. I will not be intimidated by the complexity of it all. I understand that with each passing day the whole digital space is becoming more and more convoluted with new media formats and marketing channels, with new “make-believe” and real revenue opportunities. I will make sure to stay on top of these dynamic developments by partnering with the best hospitality experts in Internet/digital marketing to a) learn it all, and b) work jointly on my hotel’s Internet, social and mobile marketing.

Situation:

Until recently, having a new hotel website and launching a few Internet marketing campaigns such as email and paid search were considered sufficient by many hoteliers. Today the above falls into the “It’s elementary, Watson” category, and constitutes only the initial step of a comprehensive “digital exposure” for your hotel. In the past two years a number of very important developments occurred that profoundly changed inventory distribution and marketing in hospitality: social media, mobile Web, cross-channel marketing, and the emergence of the hyper-interactive travel consumer. In 2011, hoteliers need to do much, much more to engage the new breed of hyper-interactive travel consumers in this new multichannel 24/7 environment: from social and mobile marketing, to Web 2.0 and interactive promotions and applications on the hotel website, and multichannel marketing to tie all of this together.

Action Steps:

Consider partnering with a hotel Internet/digital marketing firm with a proven track record in the industry. Partner with hospitality experts in Internet/digital marketing and direct online channel strategies who can help you acquire new core competencies and adopt best industry practices. Partner with those who can help you and your hotel stay competitive, preserve and increase market share, beat the industry averages and generate the highest direct online channel revenues and ROIs. Hire experts who will work with you in complete transparency and that are ROI-centric, yet innovative and will keep you in the know of the latest trends, including social media and mobile marketing.

Most importantly, this partner should make your hotel’s digital presence your hotel’s most productive and efficient revenue generating channel in 2011 and beyond.

Crown Plaza Syracuse Website

The Crowne Plaza Syracuse offers luxury hotel rooms and suites, meeting and event space, dining and a distinct downtown location for business and leisure travelers.

HeBS’ award-winning team designed the visually-appealing Crowne Plaza Syracuse website to be user-friendly and search engine-friendly while providing a sophisticated design specific to the property. With a modern and inviting look, the new website features vibrant imagery showcasing the hotel’s downtown location close to campus, a high-resolution visual gallery, Share this Site navigation with links to all social media profiles, a Specials Offers tile, a Meetings & Events RFP, and a Stay Connect email offers sign-up form.

Some of the various features of the new website include:

• Online reservations functionality
• Website optimized for premier placement in search engines
• Consistent tiered navigation
• RFP for meetings and events
• Share this Site navigation with links to all social media profiles
• Interactive mapping and hotel directions using Google Maps API
• Unique visual content with a high-resolution photo gallery
• Special offers tile

Currently, HeBS is working on ongoing paid search campaigns, Google local listings and TripAdvisor marketing for Crowne Plaza Syracuse.

Please click here to visit the Crowne Plaza Syracuse.

http://comfortsuitestampaeast.com/.

Comfort Suites Tampa East Website

HeBS applied industry’s best practices to develop an engaging and search-engine friendly vanity site to position the Comfort Suites Tampa Fairgrounds – Casino as the leading hotel for business and leisure travel in the Tampa area.

The Comfort Suites Tampa Fairgrounds-Casino is a new suite hotel with spacious suites, expansive meeting space and a business center.

HeBS’ award-winning team designed the visually-appealing Comfort Suites Tampa Fairgrounds – Casino website to meet Choice Hotels’ standards while providing a unique look specific to the property. With a fresh and modern look, the new website features stunning visual content, easy-to-use tiered navigation, a high-resolution photo gallery, a booker-friendly reservation widget, calendar of events tile, featured specials tile and an online sign-up for the hotel newsletter.

The Comfort Suites Tampa Fairgrounds-Casino will certainly benefit from its new vanity site in the form of incremental revenues to what the brand website can provide, new inquiries on group travel and increased exposure in organic search.

Some of the various features of this new website include:

• Stunning design with clean look and feel
• Unique visual content with high-resolution photo gallery
• Well-constructed multi-tiered navigation
• RFP for groups and meetings
• Website optimized for premier placement in the search engines
• Interactive mapping and hotel directions using Google Maps API
• Calendar of events and featured specials tiles
• Email offers sign up

Currently, HeBS is providing ongoing website maintenance and updates, marketing consulting, reporting and analytics on the website’s performance.

Please click here to visit the Comfort Suites Tampa Fairgrounds – Casino website!

Since the beginning of the current economic downturn, we have argued that in these difficult times, when travel supply outweighed travel demand by far, the online channel was the only distribution channel that could generate incremental revenues in hospitality.

In the first half of 2010, what was the good news in the distribution channel in hospitality?

Online travel distribution continued to dominate the hotel distribution space and proved to be the only consistently growing channel even during the recession:

• In Q2 2010, Internet bookings for the top 30 hotel brands increased by 1.7% over the same period of 2009 and reached 52.4% of the total brand CRS bookings (eTRAK Report).
• Share of GDS travel agent reservations dipped to one of its lowest points of only 21.8% of total brand CRS reservations. Clearly, there was a shift from the traditional, intermediary-dependent GDS channel  to the online channel.

What was the bad news in hotel distribution?

Typical of economic times, when travel supply outweighs demand, travelers are shopping around and hoteliers are more susceptible to discounting and working with the online travel agencies (OTAs). Hoteliers lost market share to the OTAs – the top 30 hotel brands did that to the tune of 7.8 basis points – in just two short years since Q2 2008. Consider the following:

• In Q2 2010, only 67% of the online bookings for the top 30 hotel brands came from the direct online channel (i.e., the major hotel brands own websites: Marriott.com, Hilton.com, etc.), while 33% came from the indirect online channel (the OTAs), according to an eTRAK Report.
• In comparison, in Q2 2009, 70.1% of all CRS online bookings came from the brand website, while 29.9% came from the OTAs (eTRAK).
• There is a significant increase of OTA contribution, compared to Q2 2008, when 74.8% of all CRS online bookings came from the brand website and only 25.4% of the online bookings came from the indirect online channel (OTAs)

Why did it happen? During the recession, many hoteliers surrendered to the temptations of the indirect channel, resulting in a significant shift from the direct online channel to the indirect online channel (OTAs). Many hotel companies, including some major hotel brands, have been accommodating the OTAs with bigger discounts, unique promotions (24-hour sales) and, thus, jeopardizing their direct online channel and destroying years-worth of achievements such as rate parity, best rate guarantees and more.

As a result of this shift from direct online channel to the OTA channel, including the 7.8% loss in market share to the OTAs experienced by the top 30 hotel brands, revenue leaked from hotels to the OTAs in the form of abnormally high merchant commissions will reach $5.4 billion in 2010 alone. Read more in my recent article Déjà Vu: The Billion Dollar ‘Leakage’ Continues to Drain the Hospitality Industry.

Here are some of HeBS’ findings for Q2 of 2010, based on the latest eTRAK benchmark report, surveys and industry data from PhoCusWright, ARC and HeBS’ own research.

The shift from offline/traditional channel to online channel is permanent:

• 52.4% of overall CRS bookings for the top 30 hotel brands come from the online channel, which is an increase of 1.7% vs. Q2 2009 when online channel contribution was 50.7%.
• As a reminder in Q2 2008 online channel share was 47.4% (eTRAK Report).
• 45% of hotel bookings in 2010 will be via the Internet (direct + indirect online channels) (HeBS).

GDS channel share is in steady decline:

• GDS travel agent contribution to the total CRS bookings of the top 30 hotel brands declined to 21.8% in Q2 2010 from 22.7% in Q2 2009. This contribution was 27.6% back in Q2 2008 (eTRAK).
• In retrospect, back in 2006, GDS CRS reservations constituted 31.3% of total CRS bookings for the top 30 brands (eTRAK, industry data).
• Travel agency share from the total travel market in the U.S. dropped from 41% in 2006 to 33% in 2009 (PhoCusWright).
• U.S. travel agency locations have been decreasing at an average rate of 4% every year and their number has declined from over 35,000 in 1995 to less than 15,405 in June 2010 (ARC, HeBS).

The voice channel contribution Is decreasing:

• In Q2 2010, voice channel contribution to the total CRS reservations of the top 30 hotel brands declined by 3% compared to Q2 2009 and amounted to 25.7% of total brand CRS bookings (eTRAK).
• The voice channel is in decline for the sixth consecutive year (HeBS). Back in 2006, the voice reservations constituted 31.3% of total CRS bookings for the top 30 brands (eTRAK).

The bottom line for hoteliers: focus on the direct online channel

Hoteliers do not have many options when considering other non-OTA distribution channels. In our view, the only viable option to drastically reduce reliance on the OTA channel is for the industry to embrace the direct online channel.

Many hoteliers claim they cannot afford to market themselves via the Internet and that is why they resort to the OTAs since their services are “free.” Many industry case studies, including HeBS’ own, clearly show that the OTA channel not only is not “free,” but is in average 10 times more expensive than the direct online channel. This confirms why focusing on the direct online channel provides meaningful savings that go straight to the bottom line.

In economic downturns, a comprehensive direct online channel strategy can help hoteliers continue to generate much needed incremental revenues and out-smart their competition.

Hoteliers need a robust direct online channel strategy, accompanied by adequate marketing funds to be able to take advantage of the steady growth in the Internet channel and shift from offline to online bookings in hospitality due to declining GDS and voice channels. Hoteliers must carefully employ ROI-centric initiatives, including website redesign, website Web 2.0 optimization and SEO, search engine marketing, social marketing, mobile marketing, email marketing and proven online display advertising initiatives.