Internet, today, has entered our houses, offices & public spaces and you may find a person, without any surprise, carrying devices like a smart phone, a tablet, a laptop and a camera, all capable of taking you on to the information highway. Each of us is connected to the virtual world almost all the time and we have come to be dependent on the web for most of our needs, including travel planning, booking and sharing of experiences post the vacations or holidays. Hotels across the world have taken strides in the virtual world to bag a bigger share of the online bookings pie and the rage is finally taking Indian hospitality and travel industry by a storm.
The following 10 things hotels should keep in mind before taking the leap-
WEBSITE: It is not enough to look pretty and neat. The website should have functional value and the user interface should be easy and smooth. If your website puts a user off, no matter how apt your hotel is for the travelers, the chances of a booking are minimal.
SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION: If you have the above point all sorted out, the next challenge is to become “visible”. Analyze your target audience and optimize the website for search engines
SEARCH ENGINE MARKETING: For short term objectives like a promotional offer or short term discounts, ensure there is section in the website which can be promoted through Google’s PPC or display network.
OTAs: Like them or not, there’s untapped revenue to be farmed from OTAs. The commissions notwithstanding, the ROI on alliances with OTAs is very attractive. Use channel partners and an integrated approach to sync all your bookings and have a flexible and dynamic inventory allocation
MEDIA BUYING: If point 1 & 2 are correctly followed, you already know your target audience. They may not always be looking for travel options so find out what do they generally do online. For 5 Star hotels catering to business travelers, news websites are the best place to buy media space.
SOCIAL MEDIA: What about 1 billion strong Facebook users who stay glued to the social network all day long? No matter how you filter your target audience, a major chunk of it is on social platforms and they spend considerably more time there than on any other website or search engines. If you are not there, you do not exist for this billion strong community.
REPUTATION: Your online reputation, today, is as important as your offline reputations, if not more. Present your brand to the online community in the same light as you have been for years offline. Listen to your guests and prospective guests, respond to them and build a reputation that truly represents you.
DATABASE: As you get experienced in the online world, prepare to build a strong database of users. From information fed by guests during booking to signing-up for your newsletters, people provide their contact details to you through various means. Manage this data and then use it to reach out to them. Keep in touch, always.
RESOURCES: Build a strong team of professionals to manage your digital activities. Remember, online marketing is not an “add-on”, it is a separate revenue stream in itself. Do not relegate the responsibilities of website maintenance, development, SEO , SEM, social media, online reputation and others to professionals who think of this as an “added” and, often, unimportant part of their actual job. A digital marketing manager is a MUST for every hotel today
INTEGRATE: Bring all your online presence to one place and accessible from each platform. Have social media links on the site, have site link on social media channels, have all social platforms integrated on Facebook, newsletter signees on to Facebook, Facebook fans in the newsletter mailing list and so on. If your audience shifts from one platform to another, they should know you are available there as well.
