eMarketing Muse
eMarketing guru Scott van Hartesvelt, president of gCommerce Solutions, talks about strategies for marketing hotels online.
The Expedia Marketplace
Reading the numerous articles and responses from the industry regarding the Choice/Expedia feud, I believe many hoteliers are missing the point. Some have said the Expedia commission is not consistent with what other travel agents charge (10%). Others have argued that Expedia doesn’t have to clean a room or spend money operationally; it controls room inventory and pocket ...... Read More
Comments (6)Appealing To Families
This past Saturday my wife, Monica, gave birth to our first child, Laila Maria van Hartesvelt. I have spent the past few days staring into the eyes of my little one, and thinking about her future—days filled with joy over the little nuances of her smiles, nights filled with anxiety over how best to raise her. During these restless nights, several things have occurred to me that perta ...... Read More
Comments (0)Mobile Marketing
Mobile marketing is a hot topic today, and for good reason. Hotels are already reaping major results by reaching consumers through their mobile devices. More on that subject in future posts. Today let’s talk about the future. With so much focus on the problems of today, it’s fun sometimes to think about what life will be like not so far down the road. QR Code.&# ...... Read More
Comments (4)Social Media Revolution
The following link takes you to a great video on the “Social Media Revolution.” The video starts with a question; “Is Social Media a Fad? Or Is It the Biggest Shift Since the Industrial Revolution?” The next four minutes contain some pretty amazing numbers regarding the emergence of social media. Use this video to convince skeptics that social media is here to stay! ...... Read More
Comments (2)A Letter To Bing
Dear Bing, First off, thanks so much for agreeing to meet me in this public place with plenty of witnesses, er, people around. You’re a super search engine, really, you are. Some of your applications have enormous potential for improvement over MSN Live Search. I want to be very honest with you, though. Other apps don’t work at all, plain and simple. I really wan ...... Read More
Comments (2)A Whiskey Tale
Over the past several months, many of us marketing types have been thinking about the impact hotels’ pricing and merchandising practices are having on their long-term brand positioning. The economy has forced drastic action. Rates have been slashed, services have been cut and add-on fees have emerged. Equally drastic has been the lack of vision that some have demonstrated. Lesson ...... Read More
Comments (8)Grab Yourself Some Bing
Seventeen days after its launch, you probably have heard something about Bing. With a US$100 million marketing campaign behind it, which includes commercials and paid ads on Google, Bing.com is generating some major buzz. What is Bing? Microsoft has re-launched and re-branded their search engine, MSN Live Search, as a ‘decision engine’ under the new name of Bing. According to a ...... Read More
Comments (9)Twitter Musings
This will be a short post as I am most interested in hearing what you have to say. Twitter has been all over the news lately and probably for good reason. Twitter is yet another blockbuster social media site very few businesses have the slightest clue how to actually use. PR firms, interactive marketing firms and forward-thinking GMs are dipping their toes in the water, developing a small followi ...... Read More
Comments (3)Tracking Competition
I have spent most of the past month on the road working with existing clients who are all hoping to drive revenue in the very competitive current economic climate. Social media was a big topic of conversation due to the current buzz about strong rates of return. Pricing and packaging strategies were on the top of everyone’s minds, as was how to leverage merchandising options through O ...... Read More
Comments (0)Mobile-Friendly Web Sites
In my previous post, I spoke about fishing where the fish are. I recently found a fascinating article on AdAge with some statistics that brought a smile to my face. In the midst of these difficult economic times, there appears to be a hospitality marketing initiative that is actually picking up steam! AdAge quotes the following statistics regarding brand “Mobile Hotel Bookings”: o&# ...... Read More
Comments (8)Fishing Where The Fish Are
At gCommerce, we have been busy evaluating the changes in consumer booking behavior through the Internet. This should be no surprise, but the overall behavior of consumers online is in a state of flux. I like to quantify online marketing and revenue management initiatives in terms of demand pools. In my experience, these demand pools hold especially true when dealing with a transi ...... Read More
Comments (8)The Keyword Debate
Search engine marketing is still a misunderstood science in the hospitality industry. The environment changes frequently and due to the technical nature of the work, many hoteliers are unable to effectively manage their search engine marketing partners. The idea of search engine marketing is to ensure that your Web site displays on the leading search engine when a user searches for a specific ...... Read More
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