Faculty & Research

Hospitality Leadership Through Learning

Gradigio's 109 Internet Marketing Ideas for Hotels in 2009

Published: 2009-01-28 09:34:17

As we enter a new year, hotel management has more options than ever for promoting their properties online. For those that succeed, the rewards are clear: more direct sales revenue, and less 3rd-party commission fees.

2009 brings a new set of challenges and opportunities for attracting guests, speaking to their needs, and delivering on promises. While reports on the economy are filled with doom-and-gloom, the positive news is that there are many new free and low-cost tools available to hoteliers for attracting guests and retaining their loyalty.

As comparison shopping increases, more and more customers are searching for the best value for their money. A hotel with a tailored brand identity can avoid price wars by offering greater perceived value. Listed below are some ideas we've compiled for harnessing the power of new media platforms. Using a combination of these tools can help convey your hotel's distinctive values on the internet.

Website Ideas

Buy valuable domain names in this less competitive market
Remove your intro "splash" page
Have a clean and simple web design
Use Website.Grader.com to ensure technical quality
Build easy navigation
Ensure instant brand identification
Make contact forms short and simple
Create different sections for each target guest persona
Develop content that speaks to the needs of each guest category
Use Google Optimizer for split testing
Add live chat support
Add a virtual video host
Use video instead of text where possible (show, don't tell)
Offer in-depth destination information
Show pictures of attractions near your hotel with Panoramio
Embed a Google map directly on your website
Use Google maps to provide step-by-step directions to your hotel
Post directions to your hotel in pictures
Syndicate content as RSS
Let visitors write and send eCards (email postcards)
Publish visitor comments
Publish video reviews from satisfied guests
Include positive social media rankings (eg, #1 in San Francisco on TripAdvisor)
Add social bookmarking services Digg and Delicious to important pages
Use Mofuse.com to make your site mobile-friendly
Create a public Google Calendar to show upcoming events
Promote your opt-in email list for special offers
Realize that nobody cares about your website - they care about their experience

Organic Search Marketing (SEO) Ideas

Be aware that the top 3 web search results get 79% of the clicks (88% for top 5)
Focus on dominating local search
Create local keyword lists by pairing geocentric keywords (Seattle) with industry keywords (boutique hotel)
Focus on no more than 2-3 keywords for each page
Create unique titles for each page (with your brand name at the end)
Make sure your keywords in prominent places throughout the page
Optimize for questions people ask
Optimize for words people actually use, not what you want them to use
Make your blog search friendly
Appear in Google Maps's local business listings
Use GetListed.org to determine your local search visibility
Focus on building a web presence, not just a web site
View your guests as content co-authors
Use Quarkbase to understand your web presence
Use Google Trends for websites
Avoid page redirects or "doorway pages"
Understand that search optimization provides the highest ROI of any tactic

Paid Search Marketing (PPC) Ideas

Determine your objective first: ROI, overall growth, or market research
Use professional keyword research tools
Use property features as keywords
Include industry and long tail keywords
Do keyword competitive analysis to find opportunities
Experiment with different match types (broad, phrase, exact)
Use negative keywords
Grab attention with your ad copy
Include one-line quotes from satisfied guests
Use Dynamic Keyword Insertion (DKI) to include search phrases
Highlight special seasonal offers and update regularly
Disqualify unlikely guests
Create many ad variations for each ad group
Split test ad copy variations
Use unique reservation landing pages
Adjust keyword bidding strategies
Use seasonality data
Try geo-targeting
Experiment with ad placements (on travel websites)
Target specific demographics
Set up weekly statistics reporting
Track channel spillover (eg, phone sales driven by web searches)

Social Media Marketing Ideas

Listen to what people are already saying about you
Monitor your brand name with Google Alerts
Be aware of what people are saying about your competitors
Use Google Trends to find what's hot
Start a destination blog
Start a hotel blog
Have your staff start blogs
Understand the different types of blog posts
Use Feedburner for RSS syndication
Offer an email alternative to RSS
Make blog posts richer with Zemanta
Encourage distribution with ShareThis
Build your blog community with MyBlogLog
Realize that effective PR takes place in social media
Pitch travel bloggers
Focus your social media outreach using target personas
Start tweeting
Create a Facebook page
Get listed in WikiTravel
Get listed in TripAdvisor
Get listed in Yelp
Encourage guests to register with Yelp & Tripadvisor at check in
Ask for TripAdvisor hotel reviews when your guests check out
Ask for Yelp reviews at the end of all in-house satisfaction surveys
When a guest compliments your hotel, ask them to give you a social media review
Print a social media review request on the back of your business cards
Start a Flickr photostream
Start a Flickr group
Start a YouTube channel
Shoot a video of your hotel, and post it to Google Video
Think like a publisher, because we're all media companies now

Measurement and Analytics Ideas

Install Google Analytics for free (if you haven't already)
Understand how Analytics can help with search optimization
Use Compete.com to understand your site traffic (and your competitors)
Track referral source types
Create new toll-free numbers to track different web promotions
Know which websites refer the highest quality traffic
Develop meaningful metrics for digital marketing
Track social media satisfaction percentage
Track number of social media mentions
Remember: attention is the new currency
Your goal is 100% customer engagement

Hotel Marketing Strategies Blog
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