HOTELS

Scott van Hartesvelt

Focus On Online Branding
April 16, 2008

Does this sound familiar? An upscale hotel or resort spends weeks and sometimes even months creating with painstaking detail a direct mail piece. Copy is written and re-written, photo selection is labored over and unique attributes are debated. Any marketing or advertising expert worth their salt would say something like, “Controlling your brand is critical to its long-term integrity. We must work hard to ensure that every execution, be it a radio spot or a direct mail piece, meets our pre-defined graphic and brand standards.”

True. You didn’t spend all that money on that curvy logo or typeface with a name nobody can pronounce just to have it bastardized with poor creative executions. Consistency is critical, which brings us back to the group working for weeks on a direct mail piece targeting maybe 30,000 consumers. All involved are focused on making sure the piece is perfect, demonstrating the hotel’s unique compelling advantages. In the meantime, the property’s listing and description on Expedia hasn’t been touched since just after Al Gore invented the Internet. How many people are exposed to your property via Expedia every day? According to ComScore Media Matrix, Expedia Inc. sites attract 54 million travel visitors every month. If your high-priced agency knew how many people were exposed to your property every day through these third-party sites, do you think they would pay better attention?

If you are working with third-party channels such as Expedia, I believe it is healthy to think of them as powerful marketing vehicles. Just as you wouldn’t allow a grainy version of your logo to go out on a direct mail piece, you shouldn’t be content with poor quality graphics, photography or descriptions on these channels.

According to Smith Travel Research, 75% of people who buy travel online look at Expedia Inc.’s sites at least once. This simple fact justifies the marketing perspective we are proposing. Focus on the quality of your listings to improve your ability to capture and compel eyeballs from third-party sites. For many hotels, these sites are the number one source of exposure to new customers. Make a great first impression!

Most sites have separate content divisions dedicated exclusively to working with properties on their listings. Reach out to your market managers and engage their content teams. Make sure they have your newest and most compelling photos, check your amenity listing for accuracy and rewrite the description of your suites to be more compelling. You will be surprised how much difference small aesthetic changes can make. And the next time your advertising agency lectures you on brand integrity, educate them on a what it means to have a truly well-rounded presentation in the travel industry.

Posted by Scott van Hartesvelt on April 16, 2008 | Comments (4)