This document discusses online marketing strategies for hotels in 2009. It covers the topics of the world of Web 2.0, ways to implement Web 2.0 including website development, search engine optimization, paid search marketing, social media, measurement and analytics, and next steps. Specific recommendations are provided around optimizing the hotel website, search engine marketing, paid advertising, engaging with social media platforms, tracking metrics, and continual improvement of online strategies.
2. Presentation Guidelines
World of Web 2.0
Ways to Implement Web 2.0
Website
Organic Search Marketing(SEO)
Paid Search Marketing(PPC)
Social Media
Measurement & Analytics
Next Steps
LARA YOUNG
3. World of Web 2.0
Ways to Implement Web 2.0
Website
Organic Search Marketing(SEO)
Paid Search Marketing(PPC)
Social Media
Measurement & Analytics
Next Steps
LARA YOUNG
5. World of Web 2.0
Share of all search queries at the leading 5 engines, January – December 2008
Search Query Share
Google led the way again in 2008, capturing 68% market share of
116 billion search queries made last year, up 8 vs 07
3% 1%
7% 68%
60%
Dec-07 Dec-08
21%
68%
2008 LARA YOUNG
6. World of Web 2.0
Share of all search queries at the leading 5 engines, January – December 2008
Searchers and Engine Loyalty
Google had the most searchers, and the highest rate of loyalty
Average Loyalty 64% 25% 12% 14% 12%
160,000,000 80%
140,000,000 70%
120,000,000 60%
Searchers
100,000,000 50%
80,000,000 40%
60,000,000 30%
40,000,000 20%
20,000,000 10%
- 0%
J F M A M J J A S O N D J F M A M J J A S O N D J F M A M J J A S O N D J F M A M J J A S O N D J F M A M J J A S O N D
Yahoo MSN Ask AOL
LARA YOUNG
Searchers Engine Loyalty
7. World of Web 2.0
Broadly speaking, the top 1,000 media sites fall into two categories
LARA YOUNG
8. World of Web 2.0
Share of all page views at the Top 1,000 Media sites, December 2007 – 2008
Page View Share
Social Media took the lion‟s share of the 2.1 trillion page views made at the top
1k media sites last year
Publisher Media
15%
Social Media 85%
LARA YOUNG
9. World of Web 2.0
Share of all page views at the Top 1,000 Media sites, December 2007 – 2008
Share of Time Spent
Social Media also took 79% of the 9 billion hours spent at the top 1k media
sites last year
Publisher Media
21%
79%
Social Media
LARA YOUNG
10. World of Web 2.0
Share of all page views at the Top 1,000 Media sites, December 2007 – 2008
Trended Page Views and Time Spent
Social Media grew Pages Views enormously at the expense of Time Spent
Year-over-Year ∆
(December 2007 vs. 2008)
57% 81% 33%
800 300
700
250
600
200
500
Page Views
Hours
400 150
300
100
200
50
100
- -
May-…
Apr-08
Feb-08
Sep-08
Jun-08
Jul-08
Mar-08
Dec-07
Dec-08
Oct-08
Aug-08
Jan-08
Nov-08
Publishers Social Media
LARA YOUNG
11. Outlook for Web 2.0 2009
Look for Google momentum to continue growth in query
volume and market share in 2009
Watch out for Microsoft to as they invest in improving queries per
searcher and searcher loyalty
Possible Yahoo partnership with Microsoft would create a real rival to
Google, with a combined 30% query share and strong base of loyalists
Look for visitors and reach at Publisher and Social Media
sites to level in 2009, but engagement to skyrocket
Expect Social Media to harmonize page views and time spent, striking
a balance between user engagement
Brand should collaborate with Social Media functionality to enhance
the influence in Social Media networking
LARA YOUNG
12. World of Web 2.0
Ways to Implement Web 2.0
Website
Organic Search Marketing(SEO)
Paid Search Marketing(PPC)
Social Media
Measurement & Analytics
Next Steps
LARA YOUNG
14. Website
What hotel Has Done Well:
Own great domain names
Have a clean & simple web design
Build easy navigation
Post directions to hotel in pictures
Ensure instant brand identification
Make contact forms short & simple
Use Google Optimizer for best results
Add a virtual host
Syndicate content as RSS
LARA YOUNG
15. Website -Con‟d
What hotel Should Continue to Work On:
Use video instead of text (where possible)
Use Google maps to provide step-by-step directions to hotel
Offer in-depth destination information
Show pictures of attractions near hotel with Panoramio
Let visitors write and send eCards (email postcards)
Include positive social media rankings (ex: #XX in Beijing on TripAdvisor)
Use social bookmarking to track & share changes to competitors‟ websites
Create a public e-Calendar to show upcoming events
Add live chat support
Publish videos of satisfied guests
LARA YOUNG
16. Organic Search Marketing(SEO)……
Make system……
User-friendliness
Search engine-friendliness
Travel booker-friendliness
Interactive relationship-friendliness
Which will……
Boost conversion rates
Improve search engine rankings
Increase website traffic
LARA YOUNG
17. Organic Search Marketing(SEO)
What hotel BJ Has Done Well:
Focus on dominating global/local search
Create local keyword lists by pairing geocentric keywords (BJ)
with industry keywords (luxury hotel)
Hotel website has the right keywords in the right place
LARA YOUNG
18. Organic Search Marketing(SEO)-Con’d
What hotel BJ Should Continue to Work On:
Optimize for REAL questions people ask
Make hotel blog search friendly
Appear in Google Maps„ local business listings
* Establish a web presence, not just a web site
* Understand hotel website presence in real time
* Use Google Trends for websites
* Will be exemplified or detailed on the following slides
LARA YOUNG
19. Organic Search Marketing(SEO)-Con’d
Details of:
Establish a web presence, not just a web site
Create and update blog
Integrate social bookmarking services into hotel blog
Comment on other relevant blogs with a link to hotel‟s site in the signature
Take pictures of hotel facilities and post them to hot photo-sharing websites
Shoot video of hotel and post it to video sites such as YouTube and Google
Video
Get listed in user-written travel guides such as WikiTravel
Join discussions about hotel local area in social networks such as
VirtualTourist
Create Google Alerts to track what‟s being said about hotel online
LARA YOUNG
23. Paid Search Marketing(PPC)……
There have been some dramatic changes in the way
search engines behave recently. No more results page
with only paid listing and organic results.
Today, you can find in the results page links, videos,
pictures or local business results...
You need to be there.
LARA YOUNG
24. Paid Search Marketing(PPC)
Urgent Work:
Use property features as keywords
Do keyword competitive analysis to find opportunities
Experiment with different match types (broad, phrase, exact)
Grab attention with ad copy
Use Dynamic Keyword Insertion (DKI) to include search phrases
Use unique reservation landing page
Use seasonality data
* Determine objective first (ROI, growth, market research, etc)
* Include industry & long tail keywords
* Try geo-targeting
* Will be exemplified or detailed on the following slides
LARA YOUNG
26. Paid Search Marketing(PPC)
Details of:
Include industry & long tail keywords
As part of our search marketing work, we always build a large list of
keywords. Typically, these will fall into 1 of 3 categories:
Broad, obvious ones (”Beijing hotel”)
Longer, more targeted phrases (”Best Beijing luxury hotel”)(“Best
convenient traffic Beijing hotel”)
Other, less related keywords (such as names of competing hotels
or other travel-related terms)
But why not try these: “Beijing Trip Tips” or
“Beijing Business Travel Ideas”?
LARA YOUNG
28. Paid Search Marketing(PPC)-Con‟d
Long-Term Work:
Use professional keyword research tools
Create many ad variations for each ad group
Split test ad copy variations
Adjust keyword bidding strategies
Highlight special seasonal offers & update regularly
Experiment with ad placements (on travel websites)
Target specific demographics
Set up weekly statistics reporting
LARA YOUNG
29. Social Media……
Social Media can work partly as Online PR
Word of Mouth has always been the most important
lead generator for Tourism Businesses.
LARA YOUNG
31. Social Media
Effective PR takes place in social media nowdays:
Monitor hotel brand name with Google Alerts
Use Google Trends to find what‟s hot
Offer an email alternative to RSS
Get listed in WikiTravel/ TripAdvisor/ Yelp/ VirtualTourist…
* Listen to what people are already saying about hotel
* Blog building and update
* Encourage distribution with ShareThis
* Focus hotel social media outreach on best groups
* Considerate twitter
* Create a Facebook page
* Will be exemplified or detailed on the following slides
LARA YOUNG
32. Social Media-Con‟d
Encourage guests to register with Yelp & Tripadvisor at check in
Ask for TripAdvisor hotel reviews when guests check out
Ask for Yelp reviews at the end of all in-house satisfaction surveys
When a guest compliments hotel, ask them to post a social media review
Print a social media review request on the back of hotel business cards
Start a Flickr photostream
Start a Flickr group
Start a YouTube channel
Shoot a video of hotel, and post it to Google Video
LARA YOUNG
34. Social Media
Details of:
Blog building and update
Blog Types: Blog Topics:
Hotel Strategic
Brand Experiential
CEO/Manager blogs Analytical
Destination blogs Crisis
Trivial
Interview
Announcement
LARA YOUNG
36. Social Media
Details of:
Focus hotel social media outreach on best groups
The travel planners
The media creators
The bloggers
The social media power user
The journalists
LARA YOUNG
37. Social Media
Details of:
Considerate twitter
Twitter Concept: “What are you doing now”
But it is useful as a One-To-Many broadcasting tool.
Ideas for using Twitter in the hospitality industry:
Use Twitter Search to see what people are saying about hotel,
competitors, area, and industry
Like most of social media, Twitter isn‟t just about pushing what you
have to sell. Try to be genuine to followers.
Share ideas and links to interesting stuff we find.
Ask followers for advice on new ideas.
Break news on Twitter, especially if it affects web presence
View Twitter as a way to build customer relationships, and show the
human side of hotel.
LARA YOUNG
38. Social Media
Example of:
Create a Facebook page
Case Study of Wanda Sofitel
BillBoard
Page
LARA YOUNG
39. Social Media
Example of:
Create a Facebook page
Case Study of Wanda Sofitel
Basic
Information
Page
LARA YOUNG
40. Social Media
Example of:
Create a Facebook page - Case Study of Wanda Sofitel
Pictures
Sharing
Page
LARA YOUNG
41. Social Media
Example of:
Create a Facebook page - Case Study of Wanda Sofitel
Seasonal Promotion on facebook
LARA YOUNG
42. Social Media
Example of:
Create a Facebook page - Case Study of Wanda Sofitel
Seasonal Promotion on facebook
LARA YOUNG
43. Social Media
Example of:
Create a Facebook page - Case Study of Wanda Sofitel
Direct-response overview
Probably-Will-Go: 68
Conformed Participator: 33
TBC: 193
LARA YOUNG
44. Social Media
Bonus: 9 Social Networking Travel Sites Can’t Afford To Miss
LARA YOUNG
45. World of Web 2.0
Ways to Implement Web 2.0
Website
Organic Search Marketing(SEO)
Paid Search Marketing(PPC)
Social Media
Measurement & Analytics
Next Steps
LARA YOUNG
46. Measurement & Analytics……
post-impression and post-click
Track the
activity of each campaign and tract
conversions(bookings, room nights, revenues) from every
campaign.
To be ROI centric. Implement the latest website
analytics + campaign tracking technology to track ROI
and adjust marketing spend instantaneously based on
ROIs.
LARA YOUNG
47. Measurement & Analytics
For Sales Figures:
Implement Google Analytics
* Understand how Analytics can help with search optimization
Develop meaningful metrics for digital marketing
For Brand/Production Awareness:
Know which websites refer the highest quality traffic
Track number of social media mentions
Track social media satisfaction percentage
* Will be exemplified or detailed on the following slides
LARA YOUNG
48. Measurement & Analytics
Details of:
Understand how Analytics can help with search optimization
Search traffic
How much traffic are search engines sending, growth rates and
conversions
Keywords
Which terms are bringing the most traffic and affecting conversions
Content performance
Which content items are performing the best and search traffic growth.
LARA YOUNG
49. Next Steps:
BRAND HOTEL 2.0
ACTION NOW
LARA YOUNG