A direct relation between reviews and revenues can be deduced from the following-
At the SATTE 2014, a lot of my friends from the hospitality industry had one very prominent question, of which they’ve been seeking an answer for long – How to have a breakthrough digital marketing strategy. I understand why questions and apprehensions surrounding social media galore. For many of you, it is a new avenue and the one you’re not too familiar with. I will now give you a sort of talisman – the things you should keep in mind while drafting your online marketing tactics.
- Start with identifying your website’s goals, the target audience, their location and accessibility. Are they using laptops, tablets, smartphones etc.? I cannot begin to explain how important it is today for your hotel website to touch base with Mcommerce. Make it mobile friendly!
- Plan how far you want to take your online branding in 12 to 36 months from now. Chalk out your hotel’s USP and understand how it can be made to stand out in the over-crowded digital world.
- Look at your competitors as a source of inspiration. What are they doing that you’ve ignored so far? Or what do you have that they don’t?
Audit your website so that it reaches out to an entire gamut of audience. Then, follow these five technical aspects which can help you plan your online marketing tactics better.
1. Your Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) tools serve as the highest paying online marketing tactic. It is what drives organic reach on your social media pages and maximum traffic conversion on your website. However, the trick is to target your user and not the search engine because it’s not just about the traffic. It’s about targeted traffic. Ask these questions to yourself and your team:
- What groups do you want to target through your website?
- What is their location?
- What devices do they use?
- What is their primary objective of being online?
- Do you have what your audience seeks?
- Does your content match their keyword searches?
2. This brings me to my next point – the content marketing initiatives. Your main aim should be to engage and educate your customers and make their experiences wholesome. When your customer has a good experience on your website, they have double the chances of visiting again. There’s no point in having great SEO if your website content is poor.
The first step in your process of optimization is to make your on-page content (descriptions and blogs) search engine friendly. This includes your website domain name as well as meta tags, keywords, site navigation and the site design. Use off-page methods to increase traffic to your website according to its rank and visibility element on search engines.
3. Guest posts are another great way to generate traffic. As a social media expert, my guest columns are sought for a number of websites. So, as a guest blogger, there is always some space given to my biography and company, which ultimately leads the reader back to my website. But besides that, talking about your hotel and it’s website within the content of such articles adds more SEO value. I, for instance, usually provide a link to one of my previous posts or discussions on my website. This also helps in a scenario where your biography is not posted and still the reader is directed to my website/blog. So, it’s a win-win.
4. Map an outline of your hotel and see how well your website is connected digitally to your social media pages. For instance, are your Twitter, Facebook and Instagram accounts synced with your website? Do you have a YouTube video channel? And do all these connect back to your website? Website integration with your social media channels plays an important part in determining your online traffic.
Having said that, how do you ensure that enough traffic is heading to your website from these platforms?
- Engage people with posts of ongoing events and offers with links to the website.
- Educating your existing followers with engaging videos and informative webinars. Understand the influence of these delivery channels and how they help to boost traffic to your website.
- Attracting new customers with regular content on social media pages and e-newsletters.
- Use promotional marketing as a tool to generate more leads to your website.
BLURB: Did you know that on an average, Facebook ads generate a greater ROI as compared to a TV commercial? People are 66 per cent more likely to invest in you through your Facebook Ad.
5. Familiarise yourself with Google Webmaster tool Google Analytics and Google Search queries to analyse what are the most frequently searched topics and keywords. Then, use this as a basis of your online marketing strategy. Develop SEO and content that caters to these queries and keywords.
It is important that you look at your online marketing tactics as a holistic approach. After all, the world is going digital and if you don’t join the movement now, my friend, you shall be left behind.
