5 Quick Hospitality Marketing Hits: Hospitality Marketing Link Digest

It’s a quiet weekend around here, Big Thinkers, and probably where you are too. I hope you’re having a restful day, enjoying some time with family and friends. As you take a moment to relax and reflect, here are 5 quick hospitality marketing hits to get you ready for the week ahead. Enjoy!

1. We lead off with a warning: don’t get swept away by search, meta, and OTA shifts, which looks at what’s happening in the overall distribution space and how to avoid getting caught up a race to the bottom.
2. On that same point, Compete says that hotel suppliers remain dominant online despite OTA growth. Some of that’s cyclical—suppliers tend to do well in stronger economies when guests aren’t as price sensitive. But, hopefully, it also signals increased efforts by hotels to manage the guest experience.
3. Data represents a key component in managing that guest experience. But what do you do if you don’t have data? Well, SAS looks at how you can offer personalization without a guest profile. Great read.
4. Mobile Commerce Daily notes that TripAdvisor users are 3x more likely to have other travel mobile apps. That’s a big reason why managing your ratings and reviews represents the single most effective marketing activity for most hotels.
5. Finally, the LA Times looks at how hotel giants target tech-savvy millennial travelers. I’d argue that’s an incredibly important move on the part of those hotel giants… as well as not so giant hotel companies. In fact, I argued precisely just that in this recent round-up of 5 key facts about mobile, Millennials, and hotel marketing. You’re definitely going to want to check this one out.

I hope you enjoyed those 5 quick hospitality marketing hits and that you have a great rest of the weekend.

If you’re looking for even more of the best hospitality marketing advice and insights then don’t miss “The 5 Most Shared Travel Marketing Posts This Week,” these “5 Fantastic Hotel Marketing Posts You Won’t Want to Miss This Week,” and these “7 Hot Hotel Marketing Insights,” all 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