The 5 Most Shared Travel Marketing Posts This Week: Hospitality Marketing Link Digest

You might not know this, but the content in each week’s link digest—both these Hospitality Marketing Link Digests and the original E-commerce Link Digest series—comes from you. You see, I post various headlines on my Twitter feed each week, then simply round-up the articles that received the most retweets and favorites over the last seven days to put together these link digests. So, thank you; when I say “I couldn’t do this without you,” I really mean it.

Now, without further ado, here are the 5 most shared travel marketing posts this week. Enjoy:

1. By far, the most popular Tweet of the week was this Tnooz article, “Qunar marks shift from meta to OTA, from PC to mobile” with my accompanying comment, “And the world will follow”. Tnooz also noted that the main event is now Priceline versus Expedia. That’s close to how I see it. I think it’s going to be Priceline vs. Expedia vs. Google (and maybe Apple). I’ll have more on this in this week’s Travel Tuesday post. But keep your eyes on the whole “meta vs. OTA vs. search” trend, because it will undoubtedly shape travel distribution and marketing for the next 3-5 years.
2. On that same point, some past Travel Tuesday posts continue to gain lots of shares and favorites among your fellow Big Thinkers, with this look at why Apple might choose Yelp as its go-to search engine and this huge list of lessons learned at HSMAI’s Digital Marketing Strategy Conference getting lots of shares in the social sphere. Both touch heavily on the topics above and are worth another look.
3. Hotel News Now has a great infographic showing consumers’ mobile booking habits. Very cool.
4. While we’re on the topic of mobile, Search Engine Land recaps Google’s advice to site owners ahead of its mobile-friendly algorithm change. Virtually required reading. And definitely take a few minutes to check out this tool that will tell you whether your pages are mobile-friendly or not.
5. Finally, this week’s Travel Tuesday post, which collected “5 Key Facts About Mobile, Millennials, and Hotel Marketing,” which was itself inspired by this Tnooz post noting, among America’s Millennials who travel, half have spouses and children. All the moves by OTA’s, search engines, and metasearch are being driven by the changing guest, which includes the very mobile Millennial set in a really big way. Ignore this trend at your peril.



And there you have it, folks. The 5 most shared travel marketing posts this week. Be sure to check back all week for even more great coverage of the mobile, Millennial e-commerce and travel marketing space.

And if you’re looking for even more of the best hospitality marketing advice and insights then don’t miss these 5 Fantastic Hotel Marketing Posts You Won’t Want to Miss This Week”“7 Hot Hotel Marketing Insights,” and these “6 Totally Brilliant Travel Marketing Posts,” from our hospitality marketing link digests (part of the ongoing E-commerce Link Digest series).

Want to learn even more about how customers changing behavior shapes e-commerce and marketing? 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 webinar, “Digital Marketing Directions 2015: Three Key Trends Driving Your Hotel Marketing Next Year” here:

Finally, you might also enjoy some of our past coverage of the social, local, mobile web and what it means for your business, including:

• Holy Crap! Mobile’s Even Bigger Than You Thought
• How to Use Emotion and Storytelling in Digital Marketing
• 4 Lessons You Need to Know from Google’s Affluent Traveler Report
• What’s the State of Hotel Reputation Management?
• 10 Essential Lessons Learned From 2014 HSMAI’s Digital Marketing Strategy Conference
• What in the World are Priceline and TripAdvisor Up To?
• It’s Time You Take Mobile Seriously. Here’s Why
• What Expedia’s Leaders Can Teach You About Digital Strategy
• The 4 Rules of Social Marketing for Hotel Marketers