The Smart Hotelier’s Guide to 2017 Digital Marketing Budget Planning

table of contents:
C H A P T E R 1 : I N D U S T R Y O U T L O O K
C H A P T E R 2 : T O P I N D U S T R Y T R E N D S
C H A P T E R 3 : C R E AT I N G T H E B U D G E T: A C T I O N P L A N
C H A P T E R 4 : B R E A K I N G D O W N T H E B U D G E T: T O P R E C O M M E N D AT I O N S
C H A P T E R 5 : 2 0 1 7 B U D G E T S N A P S H O T

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1 . T H E 2 0 1 7 H O S P I TA L I T Y I N D U S T R Y O U T L O O K
D E M A N D S I N C R E A S E I N D I R E C T B O O K I N G S
The hotel digital technology and marketing budget: the roadmap that guides your property’s digital strategy throughout
the year, puts your hotel website in front of potential guests, and today, is paramount to the existence of your hotel. With
so many moving pieces in a hotel’s digital budget, from the property website, to reservation-driving technology, to smart
data marketing, it’s important to create a strong plan of action that is realistic and aligned with your business goals.
Until recently the hospitality industry enjoyed very healthy demand increases, primarily due to lower supply. According
to STR Global, next year supply growth is predicted to equal and in many metropolitan areas to significantly surpass
demand growth, which means hoteliers will have fewer opportunities to “mechanically” raise ADRs. Add to that
increasing competition from alternative accommodation providers such as Airbnb, HomeAway, etc. who satisfy an
increasing portion of the demand, and the outlook becomes quite bleak, indeed. The hotelier’s only chance to improve
the bottom line is to lower distribution costs. In other words, they need to steer a bigger share of bookings toward the
direct channel.
INDUSTRYOUTLOOK
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INDUSTRYOUTLOOK W H Y A B O O K D I R E C T S T R AT E G Y I S K E Y T O I M P R O V I N G T H E B O T T O M L I N E A N D L O W E R I N G
D I S T R I B U T I O N C O S T S
According to Morgan Stanley Research, the global hotel industry saw
revenues of $570 billion last year and of that amount, brands took
home about $11 billion for branding fees. OTAs, on the other hand,
collected $16 billion in commissions. Hoteliers are not optimizing their
distribution channel mix, and are continuously over dependent on the
OTAs. This year, OTA revenues are projected to surpass hotel
brand.com revenue even for the top hotel brands, unlike the other main
travel sectors like the airlines, car rental and cruise lines, where OTAs
are losing market share to direct bookings (PhoCusWright). How are we
letting this happen in our industry?
There is a fatal flaw in how our industry accounts for distribution costs.
A flaw that is continually and drastically cutting into the hotelier’s
profits. The average direct booking acquisition cost for a HeBS Digital
client is 4.5%. Compared to OTA commissions of 18-25%, the difference
in terms of how an OTA booking cuts into bottom line profits is
substantial. However, hoteliers often turn a blind eye to this difference
in distribution costs because the cost of a direct booking is not treated
in the same manner as an OTA booking. OTA distribution costs are
accounted for in the property’s financial statement as COGS (Cost of Goods Sold) and not in the same way as a property direct
booking which comes out of the sales and marketing budget.
What percentage of your hotel reservations
are coming through your direct channel, the
hotel website? How can increasing your direct
bookings add to your hotel’s bottom line?
We recommend that hoteliers calculate their
potential revenue increases from shifting OTA
bookings to brand.com before creating the
2017 Digital Marketing Budget.
How much would
you add to your
bottom line by
shifting 25% of OTA
bookings to your
website?
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TOPINDUSTRYTRENDS
2 . K E Y FA C TO R S A F F E C T I N G O U R I N D U S T R Y TO D AY
A N D T H R O U G H O U T 2 0 1 7
What are the key factors hoteliers need to take into consideration when planning their digital technology and marketing budget?
1 . D I R E C T B O O K I N G S H AV E N E V E R B E E N M O R E C R U C I A L T O G R O W I N G R E V E N U E :
Many hoteliers, due to a lack of resources and overall bandwidth, overlook the need to really focus efforts on generating direct
bookings. Most hotel properties do not designate clear responsibilities or an action plan on how they are going to achieve this,
and they continue to operate at the status quo. A ‘Direct is Always Better Strategy’ requires a top-down approach, with people on
property that own the website and are incentivized to shift bookings away from the OTAs.
2 . R EAC HI N G CON S UMERS ACROSS DEVICES ESSENTIAL FOR WHEN THE ‘BOOK IT’ MOMENT OCCURS:
In Q1 2016, 40% of travel visits in the U.S. were on mobile, and 60% of travel destination information searches came from
mobile (Google). HeBS Digital’s own portfolio data showed that revenues on non-desktop devices increased 70% year-over-year
when comparing 2014 to 2015. Booking a hotel is never a one-way street, and reaching potential guests across their travel
planning journey requires a multichannel marketing approach that offers a great user experience on whatever device they
choose to use.
With occupancy and demand predicted to be equal
next year, ‘Book Direct’ strategies are more important
than ever. With flat occupancy, the only way to increase
revenues is to shift from more expensive distribution
channels, like the OTAs, to cheaper distribution
channels i.e. direct bookings.
Learn more about implementing a direct-first strategy
by downloading the “Direct is Always Better Strategy”
Checklist.
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TOPINDUSTRYTRENDS Center your website and marketing efforts
around a strategy that reaches the right
consumer, at the right time, on the right device.
This includes a responsive website that offers the
optimum user experience on desktop, tablet and
mobile, as well as a robust marketing strategy
with initiatives that complement each other
including SEM, SEO, email marketing, Smart Data
Marketing (using First-Party Data, Dynamic Rate
Marketing, Programmatic, etc.), online media
advertising, social media, and more.
Hoteliers should be personalizing their
website content – promotions, visuals,
and marketing copy to each user’s
location, demographics, and purchase
intent. One of the most effective ways to
really speak to your key feeder markets
and customer segments (and own your
guests) is to customize the content on
your website to fit their interests and
preferences.
3. PERSONA LI Z ATI ON EXPECTED; INCREASES ENGAGEMENT AND CONVERSIONS:
Personalization is not only proven to increase bookings and other key performance indicators; consumers expect content to
be personalized to them. A recent survey by eMarketer showed that 85% of Internet users expect personalization, and 75% of
consumers get frustrated when it’s clear that companies are not personalizing content (Janrain).
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TOPINDUSTRYTRENDS 4. STOR YT ELLI N G TH ROU GH CONTENT MARKETING NEEDED TO CUT THROUGH THE NOIS E:
Design all of your marketing messaging, as much as possible, around storytelling as opposed to taking a used-car salesman’s
“push” approach. Today’s consumers need to understand the story behind your product or property, and need to be engaged to
associate with your story and be able to picture themselves at your property. They trust this type of marketing (and don’t even
see it as marketing/advertising) much more so than glaringly salesy promotions and statements. Today’s consumers demand a
personalized and highly value-rich marketing approach. They need to be engaged with and by your hotel before booking their
stay. This can be achieved through content marketing.
Make sure to stay authentic to your brand in your storytelling; craft your
content to appeal to the type of people that tend to stay at your property, yet
also find ways to engage key customer segments you would like to increase.
Find and nurture brand ambassadors, as there is no doubt that some of your
guests love to share their experiences - you just need to find them. Your social
media profiles, loyalty and frequent guest recognition programs can also help
cultivate brand ambassadors.
Finally, increase the relevancy of your content with Smart Personalization. We
have so much information about our website visitors at our fingertips. Where
are they coming from? Have they been to our website before, and are they
familiar with our brand? Are they interested in taking a trip with their family, or
are they trying to plan a wedding? Content can and should be tailored to meet
the interests of your website visitors as much as possible.
Read more content marketing strategy tips in “The Smart Hotelier’s Action Plan
to Digital Content Marketing.”
A Smart Data Marketing Strategy is the Foundation to Driving Direct Bookings
Engaging, acquiring and retaining past and future hotel guests takes a 360° approach to marketing. This requires the balanced
utilization of both “owned data” (CRM Data such as past guest data, website analytical data, etc.) and then layering real-time
travel planning insights and Intent Data on top to target in-market users during the travel planning process to your property’s
destination. Only this balanced approach ensures you will be making the most of past, present and future guest data.
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TOPINDUSTRYTRENDS Also incorporated into a Smart Data Marketing strategy is the use of Programmatic and Dynamic Rate Marketing (DRM).
Which traveler is more “precious” to your bottom line today? Someone who stayed at your property a year ago and is not
traveling to your destination any time soon, or someone who at this very moment is researching a trip to your hotel’s
destination (i.e. is in-market)? For an independent property, 15-25% of their guests, on average, are repeat guests. First-time
guests make up the rest, from 75-85%.
You won’t own the guest just by having the data, it’s all about how the data is utilized in your digital marketing campaigns.
Balancing both CRM/Owned data and Intent Data is the key to Smart Data Marketing and driving direct bookings.
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CREATINGTHEBUDGET
3 . A C T I O N P L A N F O R C R E AT I N G Y O U R 2 0 1 7
D I G I TA L M A R K E T I N G B U D G E T
The digital channel is the most cost-effective, highest revenue
generating channel for hoteliers. Even so, many hoteliers
significantly underspend in terms of digital technology, marketing,
and website revenue optimization consulting services.
Hoteliers should spend a minimum of 4-6% of their total room
revenue on advertising/marketing efforts, of which at least 75%
should be spent on digital marketing. As an example, independent
hotels in the HeBS Digital portfolio spent, on average, $500-$650/
room/this year on their digital marketing budget. The formula
works: the average direct distribution cost (cost of sale) for these
properties is 4.5% and ROI on digital marketing initiatives is 2200%.
Before creating each client’s 2017 budget recommendation, at HeBS
Digital we analyze 2016 performance and discuss whether overall
goals and objectives have changed at all. This analysis is important in terms of building off of last year’s successes and thinking
about how they will influence the upcoming year’s budget planning and recommendations.
We recommend organizing your overall budget into these three categories:
1.Year-Round Direct Response Marketing: this section of the budget is comprised of evergreen, high revenue-generating
initiatives that increase direct room bookings such as SEM, SEO, GDN (Google Display Network), Smart Data Marketing,
including programmatic and dynamic rate marketing initiatives, email marketing, online media and retargeting, and website
conversion enhancements such as Reservation Abandonment Applications and personalization on the hotel website.
2. Seasonal Targeted Marketing Campaigns: with one cohesive theme, these campaigns are focused on seasonal
occupancy needs, filling rooms around special events/holidays, and reaching key customer segments like leisure
travelers, business travelers, meeting and event planners, etc.
3. Assets, Strategy Operations: this part of the budget is the backbone of any hotelier’s digital technology and digital
marketing strategy; without properly investing in these line items, any marketing initiative launched will not succeed.
This includes Website Revenue Optimization Consulting, a responsive website, Content Management System technology,
analytics, and cloud hosting/CDN.
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BREAKINGDOWNTHEBUDGET
4 . B R E A K I N G D O W N T H E B U D G E T:
B E S T P R A C T I C E S R E C O M M E N D AT I O N S
F O R TO P I N I T I AT I V E S
I. YEAR-ROUND DIRECT RESPONSE MARKETING
These initiatives, when executed properly, are proven to generate high returns and direct bookings for hoteliers.
1. S EA RCH EN GI N E OPTIMIZATION (SEO)
More than one-third of hotel website revenue is generated as a result of organic search engine referrals. This makes
a proactive SEO strategy important: if you do not have a proactive strategy that adjusts to the latest search engine
algorithm updates, then rankings will fall and revenues will suffer. Often, hoteliers fall into the trap of seeing search
engine rankings fall and not correlating that with stagnant website content, an unfriendly website on mobile,
outdated local listings, lack of a link management strategy, and even a SEO strategy that is managed in a silo
(without thought of how SEM campaigns come into play, for instance).
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BREAKINGDOWNTHEBUDGET Keep the following top of mind for 2017:
• Destination content is critical for search engine rankings: especially with the introduction of Google Destinations,
content must go beyond typical ‘hotel website copy’ and include area attractions and position the property as the
hero of the destination.
• Google considers ‘mobile-friendliness’ important: this past May, Google released yet another update that
underscored the importance of providing a great user experience for people on their mobile devices. A passing
grade can mean higher rankings on search engine results pages.
• Analytics is key for improving and monitoring SEO efforts: a good analytical tool will inform your SEO strategy.
It can help narrow the focus on content creation (a good tool will tell you what type of content to create to
increase your rankings for important keywords), show you what your competitors are doing, help you monitor
your inbound links, and more. We recommend BrightEdge, the world’s leading SEO management and ranking
optimization platform.
• Local listing citations must be updated and maintained: keep all local listings up to date and eliminate
inconsistencies, delete duplicate listings, and optimize listings with updated photography and hotel descriptions.
• SEO must not function in a silo: in order for SEM campaigns to perform well, your Quality Scores need to be high.
Quality scores are affected by the quality of the ad, keywords, and landing pages. SEO and SEM strategies must be
kept in close alignment to drive optimal returns and direct bookings.
What else should you be doing now and throughout 2017? Read ‘How to Jumpstart Your Hotel’s Direct Bookings
through SEO.’
CASE STUDY: See how one multi-property hotel brand boosted their organic revenues by over 40% year-over-year.
Recommended share of the budget: 6%
2. S EARCH EN GI N E MARKETING (SEM)
SEM includes all of the paid advertising formats on the search engines, from paid search on Google,Yahoo, Bing, to
Gmail Ads, and YouTube TrueView Ads.
This year saw some dramatic changes in the SEM landscape. In February, Google dropped the right-rail ad,
decreasing paid search real estate on the home page by 36%. The number of text ads on a given search engine
results page dropped from 11 to 7, and 3 of those 7 text ads are what we like to say “hidden in a dark corner” – way
at the bottom of the SERP.
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With more than 25% of
direct online revenues a
direct result of SEM/paid
search marketing efforts for
HeBS Digital clients, staying
on top of major changes like
the right-rail ad drop and
keeping SEM campaigns
up to date with the latest
targeting methods are
essential to continuously
seeing high returns from
this initiative.
Keep the following top of mind for 2017:
• Stay on top of developments such as Google’s Expanded Text Ads and Price Extensions: early studies show
Expanded Text Ads greatly outperformed the standard ads’ CTR by 47% (Google). Price extensions give hoteliers
the ability to promote all room levels, helping ensure you are addressing each customer’s needs.
• Take advantage of new ways to reach qualified potential guests: increase your audience and reach highly qualified
potential guests using ‘Similar Audiences.’ Going beyond remarketing, this method is now available for paid search
ads (previously was available for the Google Display Network only) and identifies people that are similar to past
bookers and most likely to be interested in your hotel.
• Tailor ads to the mobile user: mobile-centric hotel search themes like ‘near me’ and ‘last minute’ are essential to
the success of mobile paid search campaigns. With 74% of mobile bookings being made on the same day as check-
in, this is the type of language that speaks directly to them.
• Tell your story with YouTube TrueView Ads: marketers only pay when their video ad is actually watched,
guaranteeing you are only paying for an engaged audience.
• Go beyond the SERPs and reach people in their inbox: Gmail Ads reach people right in their inbox and can include
booking widgets and even RFP forms.
BREAKINGDOWNTHEBUDGET
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BREAKINGDOWNTHEBUDGET 3. GOOGLE DI S PLAY NETWORK (GDN)
The Google Display Network (GDN) is the largest display network in
the world, and the number one provider of display across the screens.
Google Display ads effectively communicate across all devices and
media platforms, and offer a combination of placement, contextual
and audience targeting tools.
• Use the GDN as part of a bigger picture marketing strategy: utilize
the GDN as part of your multichannel marketing strategy, which
will help ensure you are reaching people throughout their travel
planning journey
• Remarket wisely: are you serving a banner ad to someone who
was exploring your family travel packages? Serve them a banner
with a family package and family-focused imagery. Promoting your
restaurant? If someone was on the dining section of your website,
offer them a free appetizer for making a reservation.
• Display ad creative should focus on achieving set goals: are you trying to drive direct bookings? Make sure to
include a strong call to action focused on a promotion or best rate guarantee. Increase meeting and event RFPs?
Focus on imagery that shows off your event space and include a short description of the most popular amenities.
CASE STUDY: Read about how a luxury hotel generated 962% return by reaching people at the right place, at the
right time using the Google Display Network.
4. S M ART DATA M ARKETING (DYNAMIC RATE MARKETING PROGRAMMATIC ADVERTISING)
Smart Data Marketing is key to reaching your qualified potential guests at the right time in their travel planning
journey. We discussed how Smart Data Marketing should be the foundation of the hotelier’s marketing strategy, and
for this line item in the budget we will focus on Smart Data Marketing in terms of Dynamic Rate Marketing on the
top travel ad networks and in programmatic advertising.
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• Use past guest data in the planning phase of your
marketing campaigns: this type of data helps define
your key customer segments and set campaign
objectives.Your CRM data can also help you build
customer personas, helping ensure you can build
lookalike audiences and demographics.
• Dynamic Rate Marketing (DRM) increases conversions:
by serving the exact room rate for the dates of
stay your user is planning to travel for, you will
dramatically increase direct bookings because you are
quickly giving the user the exact information they are
looking for.
• Partner with top travel ad networks that utilize in-market targeting (Intent Data): specialized travel ad networks
use first-party data to serve ads to people researching travel to your destination. This type of targeting should be
used throughout all of your digital marketing initiatives.
• Focus on programmatic partners that combine intent to travel with data quantifiers: quantifiers such as ‘moment
scoring’ help hoteliers reach the right guest at the right time by assigning a score to a user which helps determine
the likelihood of that user converting. These models learn on the fly and campaigns are consistently optimized in
the moment.
5. M ETA S EARCH MARKETING
Metasearch marketing in hospitality is online advertising that requires real-time room availability and pricing
feed. Through metasearch marketing on Google TripAdvisor, hoteliers level the playing field with OTAs and give
people the chance to book directly with the hotel. The metasearch marketing landscape has become increasingly
complicated and competitive, with some of the metasearch players increasingly behaving like quasi-OTAs.
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• Proceed with caution: focus on Google Hotel Ads
and TripAdvisor meta search, and experiment with
“meta only” rates to position your property above
and beyond the OTAs. Be mindful of increased
competitiveness in the space from OTAs. The
“Instant Book” programs by both Google Hotel Ads
and TripAdvisor have made this channel more
competitive and less profitable.
• Metasearch is not a “set and forget” initiative: it
requires daily spend and bid management, reaction
to what other advertisers are doing, and monitoring of budget spend and rate parity, which is abused by the OTAs.
6. EM AI L M ARK ETI NG
Over 60% of emails today are opened
via a mobile device. Our research
shows that as much as 75% of
bookings originating from email
marketing campaigns happen via
the voice channel and therefore are
not easily trackable and assignable
to your email campaigns for most
hoteliers.
Living in a multi-device world means
that people are connected to their email at all times. If done and tracked correctly, email marketing is a low cost,
effective digital marketing initiative that generates average returns of 800-1200% (HeBS Digital clients). A smart email
strategy focuses on putting timely marketing messages that will be of interest to the consumer right in their inbox.
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• Responsive email templates optimized for mobile devices are key: fifty-nine percent of total email opens occurred
on mobile phones or tablets in 2016, an increase from 56 percent in 2015 (Experian).
• Keep your email designs interesting: include elements such as animated images and countdown clocks, and
consistently update photography.
• Introduce Smart Room Rates in your emails: feature real-time rates and availability for the period that is being
promoted, and the rate should dynamically update every time it is changed in the property PMS/CRS.
• A/B Testing improves conversions in the long run: Different variations of email marketing messages – promotions
and subject lines for example – can make a huge difference in revenues.
7. WEBS I TE CON VERSION ENHANCEMENTS (RESERVATION ABANDONMENT APPLICATIONS,
S M ART PERS ON ALIZATION, ETC.)
In this multi-channel, multi-device world we live in, travel consumers initiate 17 touch-points before making a hotel
booking (Google research). Make sure this touch point – the visit to your property website - is the last touch point
that converts the travel consumer into your hotel guest.
Website conversion enhancements like Reservation Abandonment Applications, Instant Rewards and Smart
Personalization boost conversions on the website, upsell property amenities and services, and make it easy and
compelling for website visitors to book direct.
Reservation Abandonment Applications: Conversion rates on hotel websites are below 2%. Over 98% of website visitors
abandon the website, unexposed to your hotel rates and special offers and without completing a reservation. This is
a tremendous waste of precious marketing dollars and a missed opportunity to improve the bottom line. These two
tactics help secure the booking:
o Reservation Abandonment Email: an email sent if the guest abandons the booking process, which includes a
custom marketing message, one-to-one promotion or incentive, and link back to the abandoned booking engine.
o Reservation Abandonment Lightbox Displays: Serve a lightbox display with a “Come Back” or “Book Direct”
promotion/perk and marketing message to website visitors who abandon the reservation process or are
inactive on the website.
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BREAKINGDOWNTHEBUDGET Smart Personalization: Dynamically personalize website content (text, special offers, and images) targeted to users
based on their demographics, geo location, website behavior, past booking history, guest preferences, reward
program affiliation or customer segment. Serve dynamic personalized content through your:
o Opening Slides
o Marketing Messages
o Promo Tiles
o Entirely new customized pages
o Entirely different website design
Instant Reward Programs: Engage your website visitors and
incentivize them to become part of your exclusive offers
and promotions private club. Utilize this functionality
to create a “fenced audience” thus circumventing your
rate parity provisions with the OTAs.
Smart Room Rates: Featuring the real-time rate on your hotel website builds confidence in visitors that the property
offers a rate within their budget during the research and planning phase and decreases the chance that they will
book via another channel such as an OTA.
II. SEASONAL TARGETED MARKETING CAMPAIGNS
The seasonal and targeted marketing campaigns portion of the budget is focused on increasing occupancy during
need periods, tackling group cancelations and ad hoc needs, reaching key customer segments and target markets,
and capitalizing on driving bookings during events and holidays.
Multichannel marketing campaigns, with an Interactive Marketing Application as the focal point, are the most
effective way to conduct cohesive seasonal and targeted marketing campaigns, build stickiness and traction across
channels and dramatically increase revenue. Initiatives such as contests, sweepstakes and limited time offer (LTO)
promotions will generate buzz for any multichannel campaign. This type of initiative will also increase traffic to the
site, encourage repeat visits, increase time spent on the hotel website, and ultimately increase bookings overall.
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BREAKINGDOWNTHEBUDGET This portion of the budget should stay flexible throughout the year. Many
initiatives in the year-round budget may overlap here, however they will
be organized into a multichannel campaign that promotes one campaign
theme throughout multiple channels.
Here are some common hotel needs that can be solved with multichannel
campaigns:
• SUMMER WEEKDAY NEED: The hotel experiences low midweek
occupancy
• TARGET SEGMENT: Leisure Travelers, Retirees
• POTENTIAL THEME: A Mid-Week Summer’s Dream or The Cure for a
Case of the Mondays
• THE CAMPAIGN: Promote a special package to encourage travelers to
stay during the week or Sunday nights.
• WEEKEND NEED: The hotel experiences low weekend occupancy
• TARGET SEGMENT: Leisure Travelers,Young Professionals
• POTENTIAL THEME: “Pay-Day Getaway” or “Work Hard. Play Hard.”
• THE CAMPAIGN: Encourage Leisure Travelers and Young Professionals to book a weekend getaway.
How should you build a seasonal and targeted marketing campaign? We recommend a four-step process:
1. Build Customer Personas: Determine the target audience and deep dive into their online behavior in order
to reach more qualified audiences via lookalike audience targeting. Make sure to also analyze data of who has
converted in past campaigns and on what channels to truly build accurate personas and ensure you are reaching
the right audience and demographics.
2. Map the Path to Purchase: Based on marketing insights, map the path to purchase and determine key micro
moments to reach customers at each touchpoint throughout the travel planning process.
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BREAKINGDOWNTHEBUDGET 3. Develop Campaign Messaging: Brainstorm and promote a cohesive campaign theme that will resonate with the
audience and align with the brand voice.
4. Determine Campaign Initiatives: Utilize multi-channel, cross-device initiatives in tandem and determine initiative
timing to reach and engage audiences across multiple touchpoints. This can include engaging landing pages and
Interactive Applications, owned media (email marketing), Google Display Network and Smart Data Marketing (i.e.
top travel ad networks), SEM, Gmail Ads,YouTube Trueview, and Social Media (paid and organic).
In the Top Five Secrets to Building a Successful Hotel Multichannel Marketing Campaign, we cover some
fundamental tips on how to engage today’s multi-device, multichannel travel consumer and reach returns of
upwards of 6,470%.
III. DIGITAL ASSETS, CONSULTING, STRATEGY OPERATIONS
The foundation of any hotelier’s digital technology and digital marketing strategy, without properly investing in
these line items, marketing initiatives will not reach their full potential in terms of increasing direct bookings.
1. THE PROPERTY WEBSITE CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (CMS) TECHNOLOGY PLATFORM
Your website needs to be equal parts beautiful and functional. Many hoteliers focus mainly on the front end, the
visual experience. This is part of the overall equation but equally important is the technology behind the website
because ultimately, the website has to
generate revenues.
Invest in a Content Management System
(CMS) with revenue-driving technology that
offers at minimum:
• Responsive design for all screens
• Complete content control (visual,
promotional, textual)
• Dynamic content personalization
(Smart Personalization Engine)
• One-to-one marketing capabilities
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BREAKINGDOWNTHEBUDGET • Enhanced Merchandising Platform to convert lookers into bookers, allowing your hotel to “sell on value” as
opposed to “selling on rate”
• Multiple look-and-feel designs and themes to showcase a property product (ex. weddings, spa, dining, etc.) or
to automatically change the design from day to night, season to season
• Full compliance with the latest SEO best practices, including Schema.org implementation support
• Reservation abandonment applications to win back abandoned hotel bookings
• Multi-language capabilities, featuring unlimited foreign languages
• Automated time-based content publishing: the ability to assign “publish” and “un-publish” times and dates to
content pages
• Guest Appreciation/Loyalty/Reward Program to engage and reward past guests and acquire new guests,
with two way interface with ORACLE/MICROS OCIS (Opera Customer Information System) or CRM technology
platforms (Ex. Digital Alchemy CRM, Serenata CRM, etc.)
• Groups Pages capabilities: ability to create unlimited private group landing pages, tie pages with a specific
group block code and stay date restrictions
• Custom technology created for multi-property and brand hotel companies
• There must be science behind the beauty: a pretty picture alone does not generate revenues. The
website must be powered by a sophisticated, hospitality industry-focused Content Management System
Technology Platform (like the smartCMS®
) that should allow you to create unlimited landing pages, upload
new photography, videos, and content, feature promotions, allow for 1-1 marketing, merchandising, and
personalization.
• Responsive websites needed to accommodate user behavior on the three-screens: The property website should
offer an engaging and visual experience for the website visitor on the desktop, tablet and mobile device.
• Incorporate a robust Merchandising Platform to “sell on value” as opposed to “sell on rate”: covert lookers into
bookers by communicating the unique features of the property (hotel services, meeting event space, latest
promotions and special offers, local attractions, and more) rather than focusing on the rate alone.
CASE STUDY: Read how direct revenues increased by 46% for luxury Santa Fe Hotel after launching a new, award-
winning responsive website.
2. WEBSITE REVENUE OPTIMIZATION CONSULTING SERVICES
A property that strives to have a high revenue-generating website and digital marketing strategy that drives direct
online bookings needs a great hotel digital marketing partner behind it.
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BREAKINGDOWNTHEBUDGET Utilizing the full range of digital technology and marketing tools, your digital marketing partner should work closely
and proactively with you to understand and address the property’s business needs (occupancy, seasonality, ad hoc
needs, group cancellations, need to push rate and increase ADRs, etc.) as well as target your key customer segments
(meeting group planners, corporate transient business, leisure and family travelers, weekend travel, SMERFs,
weddings and social events).
Choose a partner that has
both digital technology and
digital marketing capabilities
under one roof and that
will help you keep up with
the rapid development and
marketing opportunities
available in the industry
today.You should not settle
for anything less than the
best, a partner that will lead
your property in achieving
maximum revenue from the
property website/direct online
channel and lowering your
overall distribution costs.
• Partner with a firm that will work closely with you this year to:
o Experience at least a 25% increase in your direct bookings
o Create and launch your digital marketing budgets campaigns
o Address your specific property occupancy needs
o Increase bookings from key customer segments and target markets
o Keep on top of your comp set, market parity, rate parity, and more
o Consistently and proactively propose new revenue opportunities
o Keep you updated on best practices and the performance of your website and digital marketing campaigns
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BREAKINGDOWNTHEBUDGET 3. SOCIAL MEDIA PROFILE OPTIMIZATION/TECHNOLOGY
Social media for hotels has become increasingly important as a way to build a brand and increase engagement with
guests between stays.
Social media is an important digital marketing channel that continues to expand and evolve. As social media usage
grows and new platforms and features emerge, your social media strategy must constantly evolve and seamlessly
integrate into the overall marketing mix.
• Customize your brand presence
and optimize your social media
profiles: designing custom,
branded imagery and building
interactive applications drives
brand awareness and can result
in more website traffic, leads, and
bookings.
• Stand out from the noise: In order
to stand out and expand reach, hoteliers must “pay to play” in the social media space with advertising.
4. WEBSITE TECHNOLOGY PLATFORM MUST-HAVES
Investing in technology on the hotel website can help significantly improve user experience and increase revenues
by really helping to better communicate the
value of your product.
• Enhance your website and increase
direct bookings by adding a:
o Rooms Showcase Module to display
accommodations in an eye-catching
format and boost upsells.
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23
BREAKINGDOWNTHEBUDGET o Smart Booking Widget to provide a user-friendly and conversion-focused reservations process.
o Guest Portal to provide an alternative version of your website to visitors on property, offering relevant
information (such as things to do nearby) and upsell on-property amenities such as dining and spa.
o Guest Appreciation/Loyalty Module to engage and retain past guests, attract and convert new guests.
Recommended share of the budget: 4%-6%
5. WEBSITE HOSTING, ANALYTICS OPERATIONS
Behind the scenes yet items that cannot be overlooked are website hosting and analytics. Without a fast, secure
cloud hosting solution your marketing dollars will be wasted if your website is compromised, slow to load or goes
down. A strong analytical tool is necessary to learn what is working, how to build off successes, and continuously
improve performance.
• Secure and fast cloud hosting, along with a Content Distribution Network (CDN) is key: Both dramatically
increase download
speeds, improve user experience and conversions, and improve search engine rankings that are increasingly
dependent on fast download speeds.
• Analyze successes and optimize
for future revenue growth: make
sure you are using a tool that
gives you quick insights into the
performance of the website and
all digital marketing campaigns.
Insights that you can
turn into actions that improve
results.
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24
2017BUDGETSNAPSHOT
5. SNAPSHOT OF THE 2016 DIGITAL MARKETING BUDGET
*BASED ON A HYPOTHET I CAL DI GI TAL MAR K E T I N G B U DGE T OF $150,000
SECTION OF THE BUDGET MINIMUM %
MONTHLY SPEND
Direct Response Digital Marketing Campaigns Initiatives
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) 6%
Search Engine Marketing (SEM)– Paid Search on Google Bing; Gmail Ads; YouTube Trueview Ads 19%
Google Display Network (GDN) 8%
Smart Data Marketing– Dynamic Rate Marketing (DRM) Programmatic Advertising 13%
Metasearch Marketing 2%
Email Marketing eCRM 3%
Website Conversion Enhancements– Reservation Abandonment Application Suite, Smart
Personalization Engine, Instant Rewards, Smart Room Rates
8%
TOTAL 59%
Seasonal Targeted Marketing Campaigns
Focus on seasonal occupancy needs, targeted customer segments like family travel, and events/
holidays
16%
Digital Assets, Consulting, Strategy Operations
Property Website Redesign Content Management System Technology (CMS) (total cost amortized
over 24 months)
9%
Website Revenue Optimization Consulting 8%
Social Media Profile Optimization/Technology 2%
Website Technology Platform Must-Haves– Restaurant or Spa Parallax Site; Guest Portal; Smart
Booking Widget; What’s Nearby/Points of Interest, Guest Portal, Blog, etc.
4%
Website Hosting, Analytics Operations 2%
TOTAL 25%
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25
ABOUT THE AUTHORS AND HEBS DIGITAL:
Max Starkov is President CEO and Mariana Safer is SVP, Marketing at HeBS
Digital. HeBS Digital helps hoteliers drastically increase direct bookings and lower
overall distribution costs by deploying industry best-of-breed digital technology,
consulting and marketing (www.HeBSDigital.com).
HeBS Digital has pioneered many of the “best practices” in hotel digital marketing
and website revenue optimization, as well as a range of industry-first digital
technology applications. The firm has won more than 350 prestigious industry
awards for its digital technology, website design and marketing services, including
numerous Adrian Awards, Stevie Award in the American Business Awards, W3
Awards, WebAwards, Magellan Awards, Summit International Awards, Interactive
Media Awards, and IAC Awards.
A diverse client portfolio of top-tier major hotel brands, luxury and boutique
hotel brands, resorts and casinos, hotel management companies, franchisees and
independents, and CVBs are benefiting from HeBS Digital’s direct online channel
strategy and digital marketing expertise. Contact HeBS Digital’s consultants at
(212) 752-8186 or success@hebsdigital.com.
C O N C L U S I O N
The hospitality economy is facing a very challenging 2017. Supply will equalize demand growth in many geographies across the globe.
This means hoteliers have very few options to secure bottom line growth, options which mainly include lowering distribution costs by
drastically increasing direct bookings and taking market share from the “sleepy” competition.
Since 2001, HeBS Digital has talked about how important it is to increase direct bookings and lessen dependency on the OTAs. Our industry
has reached the point where developing a ‘Book Direct’ strategy has never been more important. So what does this mean for your digital
marketing strategy in 2017? On every page of your website, throughout every digital marketing initiative, and for every dollar that you
invest on digital technology we recommend asking yourself: will this help me increase bookings on the hotel website? Will this digital
initiative drive bookings in the most cost-efficient way possible? These simple questions provide the foundation for increasing year over
year revenue, and ultimately, building a strong 2017 digital strategy.
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The Smart Hotelier’s Guide to 2017 Digital Marketing Budget Planning

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