Expert: Patrick McCarthy, Internet Marketing Manager, Blue Magnet Interactive Marketing & Media “In my experience at Blue Magnet, the two most effective ways of making a branded hotel stand out from a crowd are through social media and standalone websites – also known as local websites. Social media really allows hotels to develop and convey [...]
What are three key characteristics of today’s consumer?
Expert: Richard E. Last, Digital Retail Program Coordinator, College of Merchandising, Hospitality and Tourism, University of North Texas “Three characteristics of today’s consumers: One, the consumer is very value driven. You can see just in the rise of usage of things like daily deals, private sales and show rooms. The idea of doing comparisons through [...]
Best Practices for Monitoring, Responding and Encouraging Reviews on TripAdvisor
Expert: Karen Plumb, Commercial Director at TripAdvisor Reviews are hugely influential for people making travel decisions; 86 per cent of travel consumers are influenced by reviews. Hoteliers are encouraged to engage in customer reviews to connect with travel consumers and enforce positive comments. Karen Plumb, Commercial Director at TripAdvisor shares her perspective on how you [...]
Marketing Strategies that Help You Avoid Discounting
Expert: Glenn Haussman, Editor-In-Chief, Hotel Interactive and Adjunct Professor, NYU Discounting. Hoteliers do it way too quickly and frequently. But there are ways to avoid discounting when occupancy is down. In this episode with Glenn Haussman, Editor-In-Chief, Hotel Interactive and Adjunct Professor at New York University, you will learn tips on how to: Stop discounting [...]
Travel Consumers are Changing, So Should Your Marketing Strategy
Expert: Glenn Haussman, Editor-In-Chief, Hotel Interactive and Adjunct Professor, NYU Changes in travel shopper behavior are driving hoteliers to revisit their marketing strategies. Watch this episode with Glenn Haussman as he explores: How have online travel shoppers changed in the past year What online travel shoppers are looking for today How hoteliers can adapt their [...]
Visual Merchandising 101
Online travel shoppers are looking for rich visual experiences. The question hoteliers should be asking themselves is: how can we give online travel shoppers what they want and inspire them to book with us? In this episode, Edward Perry, Senior Director of E-Commerce at WORLDHOTELS offers recommendations on how hoteliers can improve their visual merchandising [...]
Increasing the Relevance of Your Hotel’s Content Using Personas
Expert: Robert Cole the Founder of RockCheetah In this episode, Robert Cole the Founder of RockCheetah explains that personas differ depending on the reason for the trip and what the traveler hopes to accomplish. For example, the points-junkie who always uses a certain channel to plan business trips may behave completely different when planning a [...]
The Traveler’s Road to Decision
Expert: Jeff Higley, Vice President, Digital Media & Communications HotelNewsNow.com / Smith Travel Research When searching for accommodations online, the traveler’s road to decision often involves research and comparison on a number of travel websites and electronic channels. Some travel shoppers prefer to use third-party sites over brand.com or the hotel’s own website to find [...]
The New Luxury – Merchandise, Don’t Sell
Expert: Bonnie Knutson, Professor at Michigan State University School of Hospitality Business In her second episode on The New Luxury, Bonnie Knutson, Professor at Michigan State University School of Hospitality Business talks about the importance of merchandising an experience in a way that makes it easy for travel shoppers to visualize themselves at your hotel. [...]