2014 Marketing Trends What's Hot & What's Losing Steam Help Forecast & Prepare yourself for a great 2014 by using these key marketing tools to improve your online awareness & image.

1. 2014 Marketing Trends
• 2014 Social Media Landscape
• Quarterly Planning
• Marketing Campaign Plans for 2014
• Google+

2. 2014 Social Media Landscape
What’s trending in 2014
 During the past few years, the explosive growth of online social media sites like
Facebook, Google+, YouTube, Twitter and LinkedIn has resulted in billions of
people becoming registered users.
 They will be mandatory tools in 2014!
 Some social marketing trends will change, while others may remain the same or
change their policies to stay in the running in this highly competitive field.
 It is predicted that social media marketers will have to watch out for Google+ in
2014
 Google+ is growing and growing fast. Other social media networking sites are also
innovating, particularly those which are video/image based.
 Facebook is expected to keep targeting mobile devices and giving advertisers
chances to target their advertisements in a better way.
 Whichever way the other social media networks go, in 2014 almost all marketers
will realize that it’s absolutely essential to spend money and time on social media
endeavors.

3. 2014 Social Media Landscape
 Business vs. Leisure
 The challenge that ensues is how to communicate or promote to the road warrior when the very definition of
this road warrior is evolving due to mobile professional devices and the evolution of travel technologies.
 This is where savvy online marketers, mobile and social media practitioners can gain a
competitive edge.
 Many successful hotels use social media to enhance the customer experience prior,
during and after the stay in their establishment.
 In this evolving context, younger business travelers are showing different behaviors
than their predecessors, according to a recent survey conducted by Expedia with 8,500
travelers in 24 countries.
 Among some of the highlights:
 18-30 year olds take more leisure trips (4.2 mean) than those 31-45 (2.9 mean) and 46-65
(3.2 mean).
 In North America, 54% of 18-30 year olds bring a significant other on a business trip,
versus 36% of 31-45 and 16% of 46-65.
 Globally, 42% of 18-30 year olds say they would spend more of the company’s money on
high-end meals, compared to 26% of 31-45.
 Not surprisingly, the study also found that younger business travelers are much more
vocal on review sites such as TripAdvisor or Yelp, not necessarily because they are
more outspoken but perhaps more simply because this always-on generation was
brought up with sharing platforms as part of their daily life

4. 2014 Marketing Trends
 What direction are you going in 2014?
 Revisit Marketing & Action Plans: Should be time-sensitive & assigned to someone
 Everything is gauged by Revenue, Room Nights & Occupancy
 Certain Plans require $$ so plan ahead & make sure you’re making the right investment at
the right time.
 Results-Driven: ‘We will book ‘x-amount’ of Group RN’s by……….
 Choose a path & EXECUTE: Pick 3-5 social media sites to start with & establish goals
 # of ‘likes’, reviews & connections are all good places to start
 Importance of Quarterly Planning
 Should have a quarterly plan with multiple campaigns running simultaneously
 Certain social media links are more popular during specific times of the year.
 Fall/Winter: More time to ‘surf the web’ & just browse.
 Good time to run contests & attract more attention to your business for the
future. Get your name out there by running ‘giveaways’ & prizes.
 Spring/Summer: More ‘to the point’ & traveler-minded (families, groups)
 Your sites & pages should be ‘in shape’ & ready to book!

5. Planning & Actions: Organization & Time Management are VITAL!
 Campaigns can target different goals
 Group, Leisure, Corporate or Medical
 Target different Market Segments during the same time of year (if you can)
 Run a SEO Campaign targeting Leisure while running online specials for Sporting Groups
 Adding more followers
 You can never have TOO MANY FOLLOWERS! It only increases your chances for business.
 It’s a “Referral Tunnel” (Spreads FAST)
 You only get about 10% business from leads
 It can both ways though (good/bad)
 Must monitor all reviews/comments about your business at all times.
 Call to action (CTA): Defined as a banner, button, or some type of graphic or text on a website
meant to prompt a user to click it and continue down a conversion funnel.
 It is an essential part of inbound marketing as well as permission marketing in that it actively
strives to convert a user into a lead and later into a customer.
 The main goal of a CTA is a click, or a scan in the case of a QR code, and its success can be
measured via a conversion rate formula that calculates the number of clicks over the times the
CTA was seen.
2014 Marketing Trends

6. 2014 Marketing Trends
 Marketing Management
 Single Source Management vs. on your own: Worth the time or the cost?
 Does your hotel have someone assigned to your marketing & promotions?
 Question: Is it worth your time to try & keep up or is it a better idea to have
someone else do it & pay them?
 Advantages of a Marketing Company
 Identify your networking needs, and find a solution that is customized for your enterprise.
 Social networking for most manufacturers may prove useful, if they focus on connecting
with the right prospects and sharing high-value content with them in order to prompt a
website visit.
 Strategic Planning: They do the ‘thinking’ & planning for you
 How to Attract Traffic: Guest Demographic Trends, Market Trends & Needs
 Social Media: Can handle & monitor all of your 3rd Party sites
 Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Find the best ways to make your hotel more attractive
 Online Advertising: Recommendations for effective online advertising
 Building Your Website: Must have a website that you can track all important information
 E-Commerce Solutions for Consumers & Distributors
 Measuring Results

7. LinkedIn
 LinkedIn Great for Pros
 There’s no social media site that’s as good for business professionals as LinkedIn.
 The site has some 238 million users, and is being increasingly used worldwide.
 LinkedIn’s Influencers Program is gearing up to be another social networking site
and also a great source of content creation for professionals.
 http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20130806143440-658789-the-brilliance-of-the-
linkedin-influencers-program
 In 2014, it will be even better to be ‘linked in’ so that you are not ‘left out!’

11. LinkedIn
 B2B Marketers

12. Google+
 Google+ Will Dominate
 What makes Google+ so special and an essential place to do your social marketing?
 Google+ has a social platform that is only second behind Facebook in terms of monthly visitors.
 Google+ is good for both the social network and the vital search engine optimization of an online
business.
 Google+ uses social signals to provide an exclusive experience to every single user.
 If you take Google Authorship into account it becomes clear that Google+ will be the foremost
social media site in 2014.
 Google+ Necessary for B2B Marketers
 A content marketing authority states that more B2B marketers are using social media networks to
endorse their content today than they did last year.
 B2B Marketer’s favorite platform is Google+ -- 55 percent of marketers are using Google+ for their
B2B marketing efforts. And with Google+ predicted to grow greatly in 2014 it will become an even
more essential tool for content and social sharing.
 Google Authorship and Google Author Rank will be the major trends in SEO in 2014.

13. Google+
 Importance of Google+ Account
 Google+ is a tool that associates web-content directly with its owner/business.
 It is the second-largest social networking site in the world after Facebook.
 540 million monthly active users are part of the Identity service side, by interacting
socially with Google+'s enhanced properties, like Gmail, +1 button, and YouTube
comments.
 300 million monthly active users are part of the Social Networking side by interacting
with the Google+ social networking stream itself
 Personal Page:
 Very similar to LinkedIn, Facebook & other social media platforms
 Upload important information & images about yourself.
 ‘Google Yourself’ and see what information & images come up first.
 Business Page:
 Upload most recent, professional images of your property
 Same as personal page, you don’t need a lot of information but you do need some!

14. Google+: Gmail Options

15. Google+: Gmail Options

16. Google+: Personal Page

17. Google+: Personal Page
Information
Business Page

18. Google+: Business Page

19. Google Search Results