Hotel Marketing Trends for the Year Ahead: Hospitality Marketing Link Digest

Time for another Hospitality Marketing Link Digest, Big Thinkers, (part of my regular E-commerce Link Digest series), this time rounding-up notable hotel marketing trends for the year ahead. On with the links:

1. Tnooz details Google’s 2014 travel study, noting that mobile users’ app use is slowing down. I’ll have more on this in the next week or so, but it’s a trend worth paying serious attention to. It also complements this Tnooz article on how business travelers seek certainty via mobile, particularly now that mobile screen sizes keep getting bigger. And it certainly underscores why mobile marketing matters for hotels in 2015.
2. Mobile payments represent an increasingly important component for mobile marketing and e-commerce in the hospitality and travel space. And new research detailed by Business Travel News show that half of travelers ‘definitely’ would use mobile payments. Seems like something you might want to pay attention to, no?
3. Tnooz has 7 wishes from hotels for the coming year by EyeForTravel’s Pamela Whitby. I’ll detail my own predictions and wish list for 2015 next month, but Pamela’s list works as a start. Good reading.
4. Yet another Tnooz article says that by 2020, guests will book ‘one-click travel via devices that aren’t even invented yet. My gut says we’re looking more like 7-10 years, but given the rapid changes in form factors we’ve seen (Google Glass wasn’t even invented 5 years ago, nor were the Apple Watch or Android Wear platforms), it may be possible.
5. nSight Research reveals U.S. hotel “search to book” window for October. As you might imagine, it’s still shrinking a bit. Which leads to…
6. This Yahoo News interview with Hotel Tonight’s Jared Simon about ending the ‘poisonous relationship’ between hotels and online travel sites. Simon believes that, at some point, they might be able to offer hotels a platform for their inventory even as far out as 12 months, without requiring the same commitments as OTA’s. That would be cool. I’d also keep an eye on Google’s plans for hotel distribution. In either case, 12-24 months down the road, I doubt we’re looking at the same distribution environment we see today.

In case you missed it the other day, FitSmall Business interviewed a great group of hospitality experts (I was honored to be among them), about how to market a hotel. And, of course, you might enjoy past Hospitality Marketing Link Digests such as these entries on how hotel distribution is heating up and rising mobile bookings, big data, and more.

You may also want to review the tips in my recent presentation Digital Marketing Directions: Three Trends Shaping 2014 Hospitality Internet Marketing. I’ve presented this talk to a number of hospitality and travel-related organizations and you might find it valuable for your business, too:

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 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