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How to Drive Hotel Customers to Book Direct [Slides]
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Transcript of How to Drive Hotel Customers to Book Direct [Slides]
©2012 Revinate, Inc. | April 8, 2023©2012 Revinate, Inc. | April 8, 2023
Driving Direct Bookings
Presented by: Ashley Chavez, Revinate
Victoria Flood, Avenue Partners
©2012 Revinate, Inc. | April 8, 2023©2012 Revinate, Inc. | April 8, 2023
Guest: Victoria Flood
• Background with Deloitte Consulting
• Social media educator
• Joined the Starwood Hotels Hawaii marketing team in 2004
• Consults with independent hotels and ownership groups
• Teaches MBA level marketing
• Blogs about social media strategy blended with core business discipline
©2012 Revinate, Inc. | April 8, 2023©2012 Revinate, Inc. | April 8, 2023
Revinate and the OTA Relationship
• Linkages between social platforms and travel are increasing
©2012 Revinate, Inc. | April 8, 2023©2012 Revinate, Inc. | April 8, 2023
Hospitality and Social Media Realities
• 88% of customers consult reviews before booking
• Influence of reviews is astounding
• Here, one reviewer influenced over 7,000 potential customers
©2012 Revinate, Inc. | April 8, 2023©2012 Revinate, Inc. | April 8, 2023
Hospitality and Social Media Realities
• Influence of branding is shifting and declining
• Branding will only take a hotel so far
• Quality at the property level supersedes brand reputation
• OTAs feature trusted review content– Customers to
turn to them first
©2012 Revinate, Inc. | April 8, 2023©2012 Revinate, Inc. | April 8, 2023
Social Media and OTAs
According to Businessweek (2012):
• 118M people will search for travel via the Internet this year
• 57M people useFacebook accounts to log onto TripAdvisor
• Facebook linked 15.2M users to hotel pages in 2010 (35% increase from 2009)
• 88% of users read reviews before moving to booking
©2012 Revinate, Inc. | April 8, 2023©2012 Revinate, Inc. | April 8, 2023
OTAs and Your Hotel
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Quick Poll
What percentage of bookings at your hotel come from OTAs?
• 10 to 30%• 30 to 50%• 50 to 70%• 70% plus
©2012 Revinate, Inc. | April 8, 2023©2012 Revinate, Inc. | April 8, 2023
Transformational Influences
• Hotels are depending heavily on OTAs• OTAs are marketing like never before• Customers are abandoning brand
allegiances for review monitoring• Word-of-Mouth marketing is the most
powerful influencer • Leisure vs. Business Travel–OTA role is different
©2012 Revinate, Inc. | April 8, 2023©2012 Revinate, Inc. | April 8, 2023
Steps of OTA Use(Leisure Travel)
1. OTAs function as a Yellow Pages2. Initial browsing, leads to determinations
of availability and price3. Travel decision is made – When and where4. OTA visits now involve more review,
quality and price attention5. Often customers comparison shop
between direct and OTA channels 6. Booking is made
©2012 Revinate, Inc. | April 8, 2023©2012 Revinate, Inc. | April 8, 2023
Value of OTAs
• Often hotels that are not on OTAs are not considered• Designed with shopping in mind – Buying
criteria are well organized• Valuable booking channel for hotels who
compete on price, location, and other tangible factors• A viable marketing vehicle for both direct
and indirect sales – Billboard Effect
©2012 Revinate, Inc. | April 8, 2023©2012 Revinate, Inc. | April 8, 2023
Maximizing the Billboard Effect
Chris Anderson of Cornell’s School of Hotel Administration finds:• 20% lift in direct bookings when
properties were listed on Expedia
• ADR increased by 2 – 3% when inventory managed
• OTA listings should be viewed as a marketing vehicle as much as a distribution channel
©2012 Revinate, Inc. | April 8, 2023©2012 Revinate, Inc. | April 8, 2023
Cost of OTAs
• Cost for OTAs is on average $40 to $120 per booking industry wide
• Cost for booking on your own site is on average $2 to $6 per booking industry wide
L2 Digital IQ: Hotels Report 2012
Hotels paid $2.5B in addition commission to OTAs in 2010.
©2012 Revinate, Inc. | April 8, 2023©2012 Revinate, Inc. | April 8, 2023
Online BookingGrowing Role of OTA’s (US)
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Online BookingLesser Role of OTA’s (Europe)
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How to Optimize for Direct Bookings
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Optimizing for Direct Bookings
• Purchase Business Listings on major OTAs– ROI averages between $6 and $20 per
dollar spent–Helpful in the
mobile segment
©2012 Revinate, Inc. | April 8, 2023©2012 Revinate, Inc. | April 8, 2023
Optimizing for Direct Bookings
• Hyperlinked review sites• Concentrate on SEO to capture
browsers • Mention social channels
in review responses• Real time personalized marketing
from OTA search data
©2012 Revinate, Inc. | April 8, 2023©2012 Revinate, Inc. | April 8, 2023
Superior Property Sites
Captivate customers on brand sites with:
• Powerful web presence
• Engaging social interactions
• Trustworthy reviews
• Destination information
• Packages and benefits to direct booking
• Social media integration
©2012 Revinate, Inc. | April 8, 2023©2012 Revinate, Inc. | April 8, 2023
Benefits of Social Media Integration
• Shopper can pin your hotel to their travel planning board
• Customer “likes” you to gain a friends rate or last minute deal before booking
• Customer follows you on Twitter to learn about the atmosphere, clientele and mood at your hotel
• Make booking easy from social channels and give them incentives to book direct
©2012 Revinate, Inc. | April 8, 2023©2012 Revinate, Inc. | April 8, 2023
Examples
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Prevalence of Social Booking
• 64% of hotels offer either full or partial Facebook booking• 12% funnel to
brand pages• Booking engines
on yielded a 50% increase in traffic
L2 April 2012
©2012 Revinate, Inc. | April 8, 2023©2012 Revinate, Inc. | April 8, 2023
Providing OTA-like Functionality
OTA Functionality• User reviews
• Easy navigation
• Streamlined booking
Plus Added Value• Destination information
• Itineraries and travel tips
• Booking direct benefits
©2012 Revinate, Inc. | April 8, 2023©2012 Revinate, Inc. | April 8, 2023
Reviews Through Social Buzz
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Travel Tips and Activities
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Itinerary ExampleLive Like a Local
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Mobile and Direct Bookings
• Same Day Bookings are the new walk-in business• L2 Reports 70% of booking via mobile
are for the same day• Google reports that mobile bookings
have grown 3000% (2010 to 2011)
©2012 Revinate, Inc. | April 8, 2023©2012 Revinate, Inc. | April 8, 2023
Focus on Mobile
• Ensure direct links are possible from OTAs – 2nd browser windows are rare• Consider voice search issues• Mobile booking applications – make
seamless without downloading extensive apps• Consider last minute deals via social
channels
©2012 Revinate, Inc. | April 8, 2023©2012 Revinate, Inc. | April 8, 2023
Rate Parity and Channels
• Best Rate Guarantees are abundant in direct channels• Many OTAs have the same low rates as
direct• Make sure RMS is optimized for your
direct site and OTAs• Reservation staff often suggests OTAs
for booking
©2012 Revinate, Inc. | April 8, 2023©2012 Revinate, Inc. | April 8, 2023
Offer Something Unique
• Unique upgrade options• Free parking• Special treatment and loyalty
incentives• Packages• Booking direct bonuses
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Example
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Streamline the Booking Process
• Test over all platforms, browsers and devices• Booking links from all pages and social
channels• Intuitive design • Consider mirroring the OTAs• Keep engaging during booking steps
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Managing your OTA Relationships
• Maximize your profile– Images are key–Manage reviews– Business listings– Training reservation staff
Success on an OTA translates to Direct Booking Success
©2012 Revinate, Inc. | April 8, 2023©2012 Revinate, Inc. | April 8, 2023
Increasing Your Bottom Line
• Consider limiting inventory on non-direct channels• Invest part of your commissions
budget in online marketing to benefit direct sales• Driving social media engagement will
intensify your relationships with customers and get them to book direct
©2012 Revinate, Inc. | April 8, 2023©2012 Revinate, Inc. | April 8, 2023
Increasing Your Bottom Line
Take a top down approach:• Limit non-direct inventory a little each
month or quarter• Allocate budget to other marketing such as
real time personalized marketing, SEO, social media marketing, or others
• Train reservation staff to understand commissions
• Create incentives to book direct and market those
Social Media focus can drive direct sales.
©2012 Revinate, Inc. | April 8, 2023©2012 Revinate, Inc. | April 8, 2023
Managing OTA Relationships
• View OTAs as a Marketing Alliance Partner• Benefits outweigh costs• Direct bookings allow you to own the
customer relationship end-to-end• Consider profitability over volume in
revenue management decisions• Consider economic shifts as you assess
your relationships with OTAs
©2012 Revinate, Inc. | April 8, 2023©2012 Revinate, Inc. | April 8, 2023
Thank you for joining us!
For more info about Revinate:• [email protected]• Blog.revinate.com• @revinate
For more info about Victoria:• [email protected]
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