9. I will focus on determining the effectiveness and ROI of my digital marketing campaigns and make smarter use of analytics technology to determine true ROI and campaign effectiveness, as well as test, test, test to achieve better results.
Situation:
Is social media a hotel distribution channel? Is the mobile Web generating bookings? Do we still have to engage in the "old-fashioned" email marketing, which many hoteliers have branded "ineffective"? What are the ROAS (return on ad spend) from my search engine marketing (SEM)?
The explosion of social media and mobile marketing, along with channel convergence and multi-channel marketing, has made it more imperative for hoteliers to track the effectiveness of hotel digital marketing initiatives and optimize returns from their limited budget resources. The available analytical technology tools today offer cost-effective yet powerful ways to track the results. They allow us to track conversions from the hotel website and all digital advertising campaigns such as SEM, banner advertising and re-targeting. Call analytics allows us to track the effectiveness of the voice channel, as well as the mobile Web and print ads.
In addition, we can retarget and behaviorally target website visitors and have more access than we have ever had to consumer's browsing and purchasing habits. So why do we work so hard to get consumers to our website, yet fail to make the same effort in making sure our website meets the needs of these visitors? Making small tweaks to a hotel website may often result in significant increases in conversions.
Action Plan:
Invest in analytics technology in 2012 if you haven't already! Having a full understanding of which initiatives work and which don't will offset the cost of the investment.
For your website, utilize a web analytics tool like Adobe SiteCatalyst, powered by Omniture, the most advanced web analytics technology today, used by many major hotel brands and OTAs alike. For your paid search campaigns use Adobe SearchCenter, powered by Omniture, a sophisticated real-time paid search campaign management tool.
For your banner advertising and re-targeting campaigns, use a banner delivery and tracking tool like DART to track post-impressions and post-click activity and conversions and gain a deep understanding and knowledge of your banner campaigns' returns.
Did you know that 7 of 10 hotel bookings from mobile devices actually happen via the voice channel? Track the contribution of mobile website and mobile marketing initiatives, as well as voice reservations from your desktop website, via call analytics to determine the true effectiveness of these media. Using call analytics and QR Codes in your offline print advertising has become the norm.
As discussed above, social media is not a distribution channel and social marketing initiatives should be reviewed with "sober eyes" and within the context of their impact on the multi-channel marketing strategy of the hotel. Instead of focusing on bookings and revenue when measuring results from social media, consider the quality and quantity of "customer engagements" such as "Likes", initiated conversations, comments and questions on Facebook and @replies, and retweets on Twitter, as well as the impact of social marketing initiatives on customer service, customer relationship, buzz- and brand-building for the hotel, as well driving relevant, engaged traffic to the property website.
Invest in a tool like Adobe® Test&Target™, powered by Adobe Omniture®, to test multiple versions of a webpage to separate targeted populations. Track each version for key revenue metrics and visitor behavior in order to compare results. Suggested test projects include: testing locations of the booking engine widget on four different sections of a home page; rearranging the display of promotional tiles for greater usage and visibility; testing different marketing messages on the home page hero space; and comparing a rollover drop down navigation vs. static navigation on the main navigation. Dedicating some time and resources to tests such as these will give you insight into how best to structure the elements of your website for the highest conversion rates.
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