The document discusses best practices for hospitality e-marketing, focusing on website design elements like visual appeal, demand generator content, navigation, flexibility, and scalability. It also covers e-marketing strategies like search engine optimization, social media, mobile marketing, and measurement and analytics. The seven-step travel process of inspiration, research, planning, booking, validating, and sharing is examined in the context of how websites can support each step of the customer journey.

1. Hospitality E-Marketing
Travel E-business By: Eric Frankum

2. Hospitality E-Marketing
• Website Design
• E-marketing Strategies
• Search Engine Optimization
• Online Channels
• Future trends
I. Social media
II. Mobile marketing
III. Other
• Measurement and Analytics

3. Hospitality E-Marketing
Online channels are where hoteliers need to focus their efforts.
More than 1 billion people use the internet every day and 91% of US
online buyers state that researching online makes them feel more
confident about their purchases.1
The internet offers the simplest way for consumers to find and compare
hotels. It also produces the best marketing return-on-investment.

4. Website Design Basics
Visual Appeal
Demand Generator Content
Navigation
Flexibility
Scalability
5 Important Elements

5. Visual Appeal
Develop and distribute visual content that tells your hotel’s story
Storytelling uses product experiences to take people on an emotional
journey appealing to their wants and needs for something more
personal and connected. It grabs their attention and pulls them in.2
Storytelling touches on three key steps during the travel process: (1)
Inspiration, (2) Research, and (3) Planning.3
The best way to convey your hotel’s story is to provide online photos,
virtual tours, and videos in a way that will:
• Inspire visitors
• Give a vivid mental image of your product
• Create a lasting impression

6. Visual Appeal
1) Inspire Visitors
At an early stage of the travel process, consumers are seeking
high order emotional benefits and inspiration. That means story
telling, vivid mental imagery and romance.4
The best way to inspire travel shoppers is with content. If they
don’t see anything that catches their interest and makes them
feel inspired, they’re not booking your hotel.
Target your content to appeal to your guest segments
Know who your current guests are, what they value and how
your hotel makes their trips successful.
For example, if you’re a luxury golf resort frequented primarily
by retirees, written content and photos describing the golf
courses, spa services and other relevant amenities on leisure
travel and destination websites may be effective options for
reaching this audience

7. Visual Appeal
Deliver Inspiration
Leveraging web services, content & applications from
variety of sources provide a rich, immersive and
informative experience

8. Visual Appeal
2) Give a vivid mental image
High- quality, large high-definition
images, zoom, virtual tours with 360 degree spin and
videos emulate the experience of actually being in the
hotel.
“38% of US online leisure
 Providing visually-rich experiences and the travelers surveyed avoid
opportunity to examine details more closely staying at hotels because
online, helps communicate value and increase they don’t see photos, video
confidence in hesitant and wary consumers. or written content that would
make them feel comfortable”6
It is important to help tourist imagine what a -Forrester Research
destination will be like. Travelers tend to be interested
in content elements such as pictures, graphics and
maps that convey a “sense of place.” 5
When travel shoppers can picture themselves at your
hotel and feel comfortable, that’s when your story is
most effective.

9. Give a vivid mental image:
By delivering the optimal visual experience,
hotels can differentiate themselves and
increase conversions. 7

10. Visual Appeal
3) Create a lasting impression
Travel shoppers will look at your hotel and compare it against your
competition, so you need to know who you’re up against in order to
increase sales from your online efforts. Evaluating your hotel against your
online competition will reveal ways to improve your position in the
marketplace. Start by focusing on the one or two hotels that are your
primary competitors and ask yourself:
• Why are we competing with them?
• What content do they have available to travel shoppers?
• What are their strengths and weaknesses?
When producing content, ensure that what makes you unique and the
reasons why travelers want to sty at your hotel are the central focus8

11. Visual Appeal
Create a lasting impression
Austin uses a consistent “live
music” theme throughout its
website. Talking virtual people
are present to grab the
attention of the viewer as seen
in figure (9).

12. Demand Generator Content
Develop a content strategy
There are three important sources of information essential to
developing a content strategy:
1) a clear brand position (the single-minded idea that sets your destination
apart from your competition)
1) an offerings list (an inventory of everything your destination or resort
has to offer), and
1) a keyword list (all the words and phrases that consumers are using to
search for destinations and offerings similar to those you have to
offer)10
Today, consumers want to be sure that the hotel of their choice includes the right location and
area attractions based on their needs for each unique visit. Therefore, it is vital that every
website include information about local attractions, area business and events. This information
is used in the customer’s buying decisions, as well as improving the opportunity to show up in
more searches under more key phrases11

13. Demand Generator Content
Before making a hotel
decision, consumers
need to be able to
explore the property and
delve into more detail
(textual and http://www.nycgo.com/
visual), more closely.12

14. Navigation
The website and the design must be user friendly and provide
basic and credible information. 6
Research found that customers ranked “rapid information” and
“user-friendly system” as most important to potential customers
and e-buyers.13
Tools needed to do this are:
I. Navigation Toolbar
I. Secondary Navigation Toolbar
II. Calendar of Events and Event Listings
I. Special Deals & Offers
I. Interactive Maps
I. Trip Planning Elements

15. Website Design Basics
Navigation
Best Practices: www.snow.com

16. Website Design Basics
Navigation
www.snow.com/

17. Website Design Basics
Navigation
A proper navigation toolbar gives the
capability to target articles, pictures, and
information geared towards those specific
needs and showcase why destination is
uniquely attractive based on those needs.
Visitors will often decide whether to stay or
leave a website on what they see without
scrolling. So, its important that you include
key content in the window that is viewable
before people have to scroll.14
www.snow.com/

18. Website Design Basics
Flexibility
The website platform must be flexible Platforms that cannot quickly adapt to the
enough to keep up with the most modern rapid changes, such as proper viewing and
programming techniques allowing hoteliers to the rapid influx of new browsers such as
keep up with the rapid changes of technology. Chrome, IE9, Safari and mobile systems, will
15
quickly outdate a hotel website.
Integrate new map technology

19. Website Design Basics
Flexibility
Example: New Map Technology
User generated review &
recommendations connected to map:
Pair 360 view map with
regular map to help traveler
or tourist find direction and
location of specific places Link websites to surrounding
not for touring purposes businesses and integrate user-
generated content, reviews, and
recommendations into the map.
This strategy can help target
Staycationers, and gain the
support of local businesses by
drawing local consumers looking
for places to eat, stay, and visit on
their staycation.
360 View Map

20. Website Design Basics
Scalability
Facebook, Blogs, T
witter: be prepared
to support the
future and adapt to
the growing needs
of the changing
market place

21. Website Design Basics
Inspiration
Sharing Research
The
Seven-
Step Travel
Process
Travel Planning
Booking Validating
Figure by Robert Cole
7 Step Travel Process

22. Seven-step travel process
Inspiration
With a an empathetic understanding of your customers needs, you
can determine what combination of external experience components
you need to deliver, in order to trigger a delightful experience.
Use digital media and rich content to try, to replicate the “experience
of the brand so that the customer will momentarily "get the feeling" and
through this be persuaded to buy the product or service.16
Engage visitors, be unique, authentic and fun

23. Seven-step travel process
Research
YouTube is now the number two search engine.17 This is a testament to
the type of content that users are searching for
A study by Forrester Research revealed that for 56% of travelers, hotel
videos have a positive impact on booking decisions, for 45% traveler-
written reviews on third- party sites have a positive impact on booking
decisions and for 44% pictures taken by travelers posted online have a
positive impact on booking decisions.18
http://www.littlepalmisland.com/LittlePalmIsland_movie.aspx

24. Seven-step travel process
Research
EXPERIENTIL MARKETING
The hotel needs to understand that it is one part of a
broader set of events, activities, context and
interactions that are going to contribute to the overall Transportat
ion
experience of the guest of which the hotel is going to
be judged; and in which people are then going to say
this is the type of hotel where I want to be at and tell
my friends about.
Hotel
The way to differentiate your hotel, is by really
understanding what the experience is your travel Guest
guests are looking for.
Event
One of the best ways to prepare yourself is to look at
your hotel less as the product itself is or the services
you have, but for a moment walk a mile in the brain
of your guest and understand what the experiences
are they are looking for at your hotel18

25. Seven-step travel process
Research
There are 3 different types of videos:
•Professionally-shot videos that promote your hotel and
the
surrounding area. Attempting to shoot promotional videos
yourself and placing them out of context risks making your
hotel appear low-budget.
•Hotel produced video clips about special
promotions, events
taking place at your hotel, nearby dining and shopping, or
interviews with guests produced using a digital
camera, video camera or flip camera.
•Guest produced videos and photos are inevitably going to
be
posted online. But, not all guest videos are created for the
purpose of a review or will be detrimental to your hotel’s
image20
•Virtual tours allow guests to explore your hotel’s features

26. Video Optimization Research
1. Optimize with key words 3. Implement a linking strategy
1. Distribute video on video 4. Encourage viewers to share
sharing sites your videos21

27. Seven-step travel process
Planning
• The planning process transforms the vast information collected
in the research phase into a travel plan
• Third part itinerary planning tools should be used to in assisting
Travelers
• Hospitality websites must provide more than property-specific
or brand information-must incorporate destination & event
content
• Web services enable integration and seamless updating of
external content & access to content aggregation from multiple
sources22

28. Seven-step travel process
Planning Tools
Joie de Vivre hotels are in
the business of selling hotel
rooms, but on their website
they market the experience
of California – this is much
more valuable to the
customer.
.
http://www.jdvhotels.com/

29. Seven-step travel process
Planning Tools: http://www.australia.com

30. Seven-step travel process
Booking
Booking Applications Monetize the Marketing Strategy
•Driving conversion remains the most critical priority for most
sites
•The presentation and navigation of the booking process has
not changed substantially over the past 5 years and remains
textually based.
•Upgrade opportunities and effective presentation of value
added promotions at the point of sale are key tools to aid
conversion.23

31. Seven-step travel process
Booking
Intercontinental Hotels Integrates its search and
reservations feature across the lower prominence
but does not distract viewers from the images
displayed above

32. Seven-step travel process
Validating
Guest consult their networks for answers
Thee Categories of Influence
Networks
This is where your Social
Media strategy pays off Weak The World
Ties
by developing a strong
vocal group of relevant
The New Social
supporters Network
Best
Friends
Strong The Net Generation: A Strategic
Ties Investigation (08)

33. Twitter

34. •
Ideal Scenario:
Hotel fully engaged with guest, understanding of itinerary, knowledge
of guest interests, tool to communicate in real time
Provide guest with relevant value, authentic travel experience

35. Mobile holds the key to
engagement…
Guest travel experience
•Use guest room portal, SMS messaging &
Smartphone applications to provide real-time
push, pull and trigger based communication
•Upgrade/ cross-sell/ value-added/ co-op
promotional opportunities
•Utilization of guest room broadband/
entertainment platform as conduct for guest
traveling life- home life integration23

36. Seven-step travel process
Sharing
The consumer owns your Brand
•Travel experiences will be shared
regardless of property
participation. Valuable opportunity
to reinforce positives & resolve
any issues
•Sites like Flickr, Facebook and
YouTube are great platforms for
giving your hotel a personality and
sharing information and
experiences with consumers.
Having a presence on these sites
is also good for your online
visibility, especially with Google
now displaying photo and video
content in its search results
pages . 24

37. Online Travel Agents
•Think of OTAs as marketing vehicles versus reservation engines.
•By not having content, let alone listings on OTAs, hoteliers are preventing
themselves from selling more hotel rooms at higher rates through other
channels, including their own.
•A study conducted by Cornell University in partnership with Expedia and JHM
Hotels in fall 2009 found that while listed on Expedia, hotels received a 7.5 –
26% lift in bookings on other channels (call center, brand.com, other sites) and
were able to attain higher rates (approx. 2-3%) on those channels.
•This is why ensuring that your hotel is well-merchandised
on all digital channels and marketing vehicles is an effective way to sell
hotel rooms online.
•By distributing visual content to thousands of sites and linking to it from
your social media accounts, hotels can not only improve their positions
in search results and drive more traffic but also increase the likelihood of
converting that traffic and increasing reservations. 25

38. Social Media
Commit to Social Media
Commit to social media, it’s not just a fad
Social media has become a part of everyday life.
Over 44% of all Internet users are active on
social media sites.
Social media has helped the internet evolve into
a public, interactive, communication tool used by
consumers to voice their opinions and share
their experiences – and they do it whether you’re
involved in the conversation or not.
But it’s better to be involved. Put in the time to
engage in the conversation about your hotel
online. Your view from the hotel is just as
important as your guest’s perspectives.26

39. Visual merchandising
A successful online strategy should be focused on both driving traffic to
websites, but also converting it when they arrive. SEO, PPC and many
Social Media activities are primarily focused on driving traffic and
creating awareness online, while visual merchandising is what helps
convert traffic and close the sale.

40. Multiple-languages
Make your content available in multiple languages
A new report recently released by the China Internet
Network Information Center reveals that online travel
booking in 2009 increased 77.9 percent, a growth rate that
exceeds online shopping (45.9 percent), online banking
(62.3 percent) and e-mail (29 percent).
Also, the number of Internet users has increased by 86
millions compared with the end of 2008.
Attract international travelers through the following search
engines:
Google (US), Baidu (China), Yandex (Russia), Naver (Korea)

41. Website Design Basics
Characteristics of Services
Intangibility
Inseparabili
Intangibilit
ty
y
Services
Variability Services Inseparability
Variabilit
y
Perish ability How does the Internet help to
manage services?

42. Website Design Basics
How does the Internet help to manage services?
I. Tangibilizing the service products
• Virtual tours & Photos
http://www.vegas.com/resorts/virtual/index.html
• User-generated contents
• Videos
I. Managing perceived risk
•Building strong brand image
http://www.wynnlasvegas.com
• Providing more clear picture for the experience

44. E-Marketing
Strategies

45. E-marketing Strategy
 E-marketing strategy = channel strategy
• “Customer communications and product distribution are supported by a combination of
digital and traditional channels at different points in the buying cycle” (Chaffey et al., 2009
• Internet marketing is most effective when it is integrated with other communications
channels
• Multichannel Marketing
 Typical E-Mktg Objectives (Sultan & Rohm, 2004)
• Cost reduction and value chain efficiencies (Reduce service call)
• Revenue generation (Direct sales)
• Channel partnership (Partnering with distributors)
• Communication and branding

46. E-marketing Strategy
Benefits of online marketing
• Sell : Grow sales
Wider distribution, Wider product range than in-store
• Speak: Get closer to customers
Two-way dialogue: forums, surveys, chat rooms
• Serve: Add value
Providing extra benefits online, inform new product
• Save: Save costs
Online communication: reduce staff, print & postage costs
• Sizzle: Extend the brand online
Improving branding: providing new offers, new
experiences

47. E-marketing Strategy
Situation Analysis
• Assessing the current contribution of the Internet to the
organisation
• Customer research
• Resource analysis
• Stage models of the internet marketing capability
• Competitor analysis
• Intermediary analysis
• Assessing opportunities and threats (SWOT analysis)

48. E-marketing Strategy
Situation Analysis:
Current contribution of the Internet
• Business effectiveness
Cost-benefit analysis
• Marketing effectiveness
Qualified inquiries, sales, online market share, brand
enhancement, customer service
• Internet effectiveness
Unique visitors, repeat visits, duration, subscription
rates, conversion rates, churn rates etc.

49. E-marketing Strategy
Online Consumer Analysis & Segments
Assess customer demand
• Access to Internet
• Proportion of customers influenced by internet channel
• Proportion of customers who buy direct online
• => Secondary research or Primary research
Identify different target segments
Understand target consumers.
• online media consumption
• buying behavior
• type of content & experience they will be looking for

50. E-marketing Strategy
Situation Analysis:
Customer research
o Online consumerbehavior models
o Customer demographic/psychographic characteristics
o Website usage style and level
• Personas: A thumbnail description of typical website users
Demographic, psychographic, webographic characteristics
Primary persona: a representation of the typical site user
• Customer scenarios (user journeys): Alternative tasks or
outcomes required by a visitor to a website. Typically
accomplished in a series of stages of different tasks involving
different information needs or experiences.

51. E-marketing Strategy
SWOT Analysis
Strengths Weaknesses
• Existing brand • Brand perception
• Existing customer base • Intermediary use
• Existing distribution • Technology/skills
• Cross-channel support
• Churn rate
Opportunities Threats
• Cross-selling • Customer choice (price)
• New markets • New competitors
• New services • New competitive products
• Alliances/co-branding • Channel conflicts
• Social network

52. E-marketing Strategy
Decisions for strategy development
 Decision 1: Market and product development strategies
 Decision 2: Business and revenue model strategies
 Decision 3: Target marketing strategies
 Decision 4: Positioning and differentiation strategy (Mktg mix)
 Decision 5: Multichannel distribution strategy
 Decision 6: Multichannel communication strategy
 Decision 7: Online communications mix and budget
 Decision 8: Organizational capabilities (7S framwork)

53. Search Engine
Optimization

54. SEO Tips Inbound Links
• Page Title
• Start with keyword research. • Clean URL
• Headers & Content
• Description
• Customize your SEO plan to
your property and clientele
Outbound Links
• Premium links that relate to
• Emphasizing the unique
your site’s content and are
attributes of your property will hosted on reputable sites
differentiate you from the
competition •These links show search
engines that your site is
reputable and relevant.
• Create a sitemap and use data
to make decisions, including Local search for SEO:
leveraging sources such as • Claim your listings on the search
Google webmaster tools. engines and beyond
(Yelp, CitySearch, etc.)
• Be consistent, use the same address
• Promote content on other sites and phone number across the web.
• Monitor and manage you and your
competitor’s reputation

55. Search Engine Optimization
1. Local/Maps Search Results. Google
will often show local results (see below
example) when geographic modifiers, like
city or state are used in searches. To
increase your odds of showing up at the
top of local results, you’ll want to claim
and optimize your listings in the Google
Local Business Center.

56. Search Engine Optimization
2. Image Results. By
optimizing your images,
you can increase the
odds that you’ll show up
in Google’s Image results
(shown to the right)

57. Search Engine Optimization
3. Adwords /Pay Per
Clicks. If you have your
Google Merchant Center
account set up, and are
running paid ads through
Google Adwords, you can
opt to show your name in
the paid results
(highlighted in yellw.) It’s a
great way to stand out
from the text ads.
4. However, organic
search results (shown
to the right) receive
more traffic and 75%
more clicks (HubSpot)

58. Search Engine Optimization
5. Video Results. Videos are a great
way to draw more visitors into your
site. So make sure to optimize your
videos and make it easy for search
engines to show them (as seen in
the example below.)

59. Major Online Marketing Domains
Domains
• B2C (business to consumer); B2B (business to business)
• C2C (consumer to consumer); C2B (consumer to
business)
tab Source: Kotler et al., 2010

60. Multichannel buying models
Intermediaries Analysis
• Online intermediaries
o Search engines: Google (US), Baidu (China), Yandex (Russia), Naver
(Korea)
o Potential online media and distribution partners
• Online Travel Agencies (Expedia, travelocity)
• Mainstream news media sites or portals (Times, Google news etc.)
• Price comparison sites (Farecompare, Sidestep, Kayak)
• Social media sites (Bloggers)

61. Producer + Consumer = Prosumer
Co-creation
• First introduced in 1980 by futurist
Alvin Toffler in his book The Third OfferMeTrip is an online site that allows
Wave customers to imagine their ideal vacations by
describing their desires in terms of location,
• Mass Customization or activities, length of stay and place. A network of
approved travel agents can react by offering
Personalization of Products – Active
customized trip itineraries around the
Role of Customers customer’s parameters.

62. Long Tail
A frequency distribution suggesting the relative variation in popularity of items
selected by consumers
The growing trend will
continue to be an increase
in the amount of looks
over books

63. Online Channel Structure
Individual Hotel
Social OTA’s
Networks
Channel
Management
Revenue
Management Search
Engines
PMS
• Chain/Franchise
• Central Reservations
• Global Distribution System
• Website (Brand.com)
• Third Party CRS
Consumer
Channel Management

64. e-Customer Relationship Management
(e-CRM) Approaches
•Using the website for customer development
•Applying e-mail marketing
•Data mining to improve targeting
•Online personalization or mass customization facilities
•Recommender systems
•Online customer service facilities
•FAQ, Chat support etc.
• Social Media

65. 1. eMarketer, The Future of Online Retail Doesn’t Look…Too Bad, June 24, 2009, http://
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Revenue and ROI” HSMAI.com
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(2009) http://prezi.com/qct23lpz19yw/web-20-technologies-in-the-hospitality-industry/
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(2009) http://prezi.com/qct23lpz19yw/web-20-technologies-in-the-hospitality-industry/
Figure on slide seven: http://www.morganshotelgroup.com/#/home/
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Research, Inc., February 2009.
7. Boni, Paolo. “Online Merchandising: The Secret to Selling the Hotel Experience
Online” www.vfmleonardo.com
Figure on slide nine: www.experiencewa.com/
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Online” www.vfmleonardo.com
Figure on slide Eleven: http://www.austintexas.org/
9. Collins, Robert. New Marketing Labs, “In Search of Storytellers” (2010)
10. http://www.createwanderlust.com/destination-website-design
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