7 Top Travel Marketing Posts: Hospitality Marketing Link Digest

Happy Mother’s Day, Big Thinkers! Hope you’re taking some time to enjoy your family today. I won’t bore you with a bunch of setup, but instead will jump straight to this great round-up of 7 top travel marketing posts, part of the Hospitality Marketing Link Digest series. Enjoy:

1. SiteMinder looks at the incredibly important topic of content marketing for hotels and how to get started telling your hotel’s story, which is an absolutely must-read as you go forward this year.
2. Speaking of content marketing, you’ve got to remember that for travel marketers, content is still king.
3. Mobile Commerce Daily recapped a presentation from Anne Murray, Southwest Airline’s senior director of marketing communications, at Forrester’s Marketing 2016 Forum. The big takeaway: Brand trust comes from proving yourself to consumers. So, so true.
4. Effective content marketing and building brand trust play huge roles as part of the four key elements of modern hospitality marketing we took a look at just a couple of weeks ago. Be sure to review the whole set when you get a moment.
5. Kevin May at Tnooz reports that conversion rates for travel on mobile even smaller than desktop. Given that smartphone bookings represent over 15% of the total, the issue isn’t that guests won’t book on mobile; it’s that booking on mobile remains unfriendly and overly complicated. Filling in multiple fields on a small screen with one hand while also trying to hang on to your credit card is next to impossible. Most hotels will tell you they’ve seen an increase in voice reservations that’s almost entirely tied to guests choosing to call instead of attempting to book on mobile directly. You want to drive mobile bookings for your property? Work with your booking engine provider to make paying with mobile a “one-click” experience. It’s no secret that I’m bullish on mobile payments and believe that they’ll rule in time. The concern remains that, once again, OTA’s will beat travel marketers to the punch — and will reap the rewards for doing so.
6. In case you’ve missed any of our Hospitality Marketing Link Digests, you’ll definitely want to check out these 8 excellent hotel e-commerce insights and this set of 7 special hospitality marketing posts from the past week.
7. And, finally, don’t miss this collection of 6 special hospitality perspectives: the top travel marketing posts of April, 2016. Really good stuff to get you through the week and month ahead.

If you’re looking to learn even more about how changing guest behavior shapes hospitality marketing, e-commerce, and distribution, be sure an register to receive a special report I’ve produced in conjunction with hotel marketing firm Vizergy, “Digital Hotel Marketing in a Multiscreen World.” While it’s targeted specifically at hotel and resort marketers, the lessons apply to just about any business. You can get your free copy of the report here.

You might also want to take a moment to review the slides from my recent seminar, “Digital Marketing Directions 2016: The Key Trends Driving Your Hotel Marketing Next Year” here:

And here are the slides from the “Maximizing Data to Put Personalization to Work for Your Property” presentation listed above for your review too:

Finally, you will definitely want to check out some of our past coverage of the mobile, local, social web and how to make it work for your hotel, including:

• Is Social a Waste of Time for Hotel Marketers?
• 5 Fantastic Insights Into 2016 Travel Marketing Trends: Hospitality Marketing Link Digest
• 6 Key Hotel E-commerce Tips: A Cheat Sheet to Drive Direct Business
• 5 Hospitality Marketing Trends You’ll Want to Keep in Mind: Hospitality Marketing Link Digest
• Expedia’s Accelerator Program: A Wolf in Wolf’s Clothing
• For Travel Marketers, Content is Still King
• Trends in Hospitality Digital Marketing for 2016
• 8 Great Posts About 2016’s Top Trends: Hospitality Marketing Link Digest
• 5 Key Facts About Mobile, Millennials, and Hotel Marketing
• How Safe Are Independent Hotels from Airbnb?