Hospitality Marketing: Going Mobile in the Digital Age

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By Rebecca Gardon, Account Executive 

Hotel management consultant Robert A. Rauch of R.A. Rauch & Associates recently hosted his second annual Hotel Forecast and Digital Marketing Conference with additional presentation by e-marketer Adam Brownstein. Brownstein is co-founder of buuteeq, a firm that provides a digital marketing system for hotels. Both presentations offered great food for thought for hospitality marketers.

In his opening, Rauch boldly stated that the information age is over and that we have entered a “digital tsunami age.” He explained that the hospitality landscape is evolving quickly as customers increasingly turn to online and mobile platforms for all forms of communication, sharing, planning and booking. But, now more than ever, the digital landscape is also driving all aspects of customer service and engagement, before, during and after a trip.

Brownstein later noted that while mobile traffic makes up 15 percent of current hotel website traffic volumes, smartphone activity has tripled in the last year alone. Approximately 30 percent of website traffic and 65 percent of same-day hotel reservations now come via mobile phones. He also noted that 57 percent of mobile users will not recommend a hotel with a bad mobile site.

What makes a good mobile site? In a nutshell, it should automatically deliver a tailored experience. A few ways to accomplish this include:

• Resizing and compressing images and enlarging text
• Displaying contact information prominently
• Linking seamlessly to maps
• Not using outdated flash technology
• Using a mobile optimized booking engine
• Running mobile-only promotions to target on-the-go travelers with last-minute deals

But having a mobile site is only one piece of the puzzle. Both Rauch and Brownstein agreed that in today’s instantaneous speed of ingesting information, a hotel’s main site and mobile site also should:

• Not skimp on high-quality photos! Photos sell a hotel even before marketing copy, with nearly 73 percent of users clicking on photos of rooms after visiting the homepage. 
• Keep things simple. As soon as a guest decides a site requires too much focus, effort, or time to find what they need, they will likely move on with without booking a room.

More advice for hoteliers included making sure their brand is on social media, and providing guests the opportunity to book through every applicable platform, such as the hotel’s Facebook page. Rauch also recommended that hotels integrate their TripAdvisor feed on their website. His reasoning? TripAdvisor is a great driver of bookings but also a leak. When potential guests are forced to leave a hotel’s site to read reviews of the property, they end up also reading the competitions’. Lastly, while TripAdvisor is still the leading trusted source of travel reviews, Rauch said to keep an eye on Google. The relentless competitor has made strong forays in hospitality and therefore hotels should at the very least have a presence on Google+ and Google Places.

The lessons imparted by Rauch and Brownstein can be applied to just about any business. Is yours effectively capturing today’s digital generation?

Are your employee communications as productive as your employees?

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With fewer employees doing more of the work, the economy has really put the squeeze on workers during the last 12 to 18 months. For those fortunate enough to be considered in the employed rather than the unemployed category, they’ve stepped up, done more with less, and the statistics show it. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, productivity has increased more in the last year than it has in the last 48 years. Read that again: the productivity of American workers has increased so dramatically over the last 12 months that 1962 was the last time the workforce saw such an increase. Specifically, from the first quarter of 2009 to the first quarter of 2010, productivity increased 6.3 percent.

Can this rate continue? Or is this a cause-effect relationship that will be a mere blip on the radar a year from now? Is your business prepared to make this a long-term trend? Businesses today don’t need sprinters, they need marathoners. It is foolish for employers to do nothing and expect that this trend will continue. It is more important than ever to have a strategic employee communications program in place. Whether your company consists of 5 or 50,000 – employees must feel connected, engaged.

If they are not already, have your corporate communications team work closely with human resources. Make sure employees are getting the need to know information as well as the nice to know.

At (W)right On, we’re leading internal communications programs for small businesses as well as for large, international businesses with tens of thousands of employees in hundreds of locations spread across the world. Don’t let language barriers, multiple time zones or diverse cultures be excuses. If you’re a small business, don’t just assume employees feel connected. Make the effort to communicate, it builds employee morale which will help keep productivity on the upswing.

Paraphrasing our favorite character from "The Office," Dwight Schrute. "Would I ever leave this company? Look, I’m all about loyalty. In fact, I feel like part of what I’m being paid for here is my loyalty. But if there were somewhere else that valued loyalty more highly, I’m going wherever they value loyalty the most."

What's the secret to social media conversation?

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"How are you?" "How's it going?" "What's new?" Most of our conversations begin with such questions. But not so on social media sites. The traditional conversation is reversed on sites like Twitter, Facebook, and Foursquare with the users posting statements. Comments and the occasional question will often follow. But is that really effective communication?

Here are some examples from my Twitter stream recently. They're typical social media ‘blurts:’

Blog Blurt: "How my Blog Landed Me a Book Deal: http://bit.ly/....”

Location Blurt: “I'm at Crunch Fitness (330 Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn).”

Peeve Blurt: “Pet peeve #1: People who talk on the phone in bathroom. Stop it. Not only is it inconsiderate to your neighbors, but it's kinda gross.”

Quote Blurt: "'Like farmers we need to learn that we cannot sow and reap the same day.’ – Unknown” (Editor: gag.)

Each of these is meant to be a conversation starter. But, do they invite a conversation?

If the woman who Tweeted the inspirational quote above had uttered it in the supermarket as I passed, I’d give her shopping cart a very wide berth. If I met the blogger who Tweeted his blog title at a networking event and his first words were ‘my blog landed me a book deal,’ I’d offer my congratulations and move on.

For me, what makes starting a Twitter or Facebook conversation a little less socially awkward is falling back on a conversation classic: the question.

Blog Query: “How’d You Like your Blog to Land you a Book Deal?: http://bit.ly...”

Location Query: “Who else is at Crunch Fitness (330 Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn)?”

Peeve Query: “Pet peeve #1: People who talk on the phone in the bathroom. It’s not just inconsiderate but don’t you think it’s kinda gross?”

Quote Query: “Need a lift? Like farmers we need to learn that we cannot sow and reap the same day. – Unknown” (Editor: still gag.)

Yestereday, I Tweeted the following question: “Who else finds inspirational quotes on Twitter a nice but annoying idea?” I had responses from eight Twitter followers. I enjoyed engaging with them because each response brought slightly different perspectives, felt like a conversation, and kept the social media experience fresh for me. Without such responses and interaction, I can understand why people abandon Twitter at such high rates and that's why I'm sharing this social media secret today. (By the way, thank you @slightlyserious, @cantondog, @evolutionfiles, @keithbooe, @sdtips, @cjsettles, @nicmcc, and @scerruti for the feedback on inspiration quotes.)

For businesses using Twitter, querying your followers instead of blurting your press release headlines, special events or promotions will also make the experience more rewarding. When you get responses, (a) you know people are reading and (b) that they're connecting with your content.

Sure you can use sites like Hootsuite and Bit.ly to track clickthroughs on your hyperlinks, but that only works if you've got a hyperlink or if you are more concerned with clickthroughs than conversations and engagement.

So, if you’re new to Twitter or have a Facebook account that has grown stale, think about the difference between a blurt and a question. And try querying your followers to get real, meaningful connections and results.

P.S. When you get answers or feedback, respond and acknowledge it if you want to reward that behavior.