Marketing Trends for Hotels in 2014

In our previous post, you read about a few marketing trends anticipated for hotels in 2014. Read on to know more exciting trends predicted for this year.

Google Carousel for Hotels

Carousel is a scroll with images under the Google search bar. It has already been implemented in Europe and the United States. Google is putting up a fight in the tourism market. You must be in Google Places, Google Maps, Hotel Finder and also in Carousel, of course.

KEY FACTS

– 42.7% of travelers start their plans in Google

– 24% – Google believes that this is the increase in direct bookings that hotels will have in 2014

– 68% is the growth in mobile bookings, according to Google

– 180% bookings from tablets are going to increase, according to Google

Responsive Multiscreen

Travelers search on their personal computers, smartphones and tablets, depending on the time of the day. Therefore hotel websites must be prepared to work on all kind of screens, fast and smoothly.

Marketing on Social Media

Social Media is not just Facebook, neither is it all about constituting direct sales channels. Social Media is about making the most of these networks and using them as direct communication and one-one with potential guests and visitors. It requires planning publications, developing attractive content and achieving high levels of engagement.

KEY FACTS

– 7 hours a day is the time some people get to be on social networks

– 8% of the people are already willing to book directly from Facebook

– 90% of the OTAs have their version on FB

Loyalty and CRM

Reward those who book rooms from your website, those who contribute with reviews on TripAdvisor, and those who return to your hotel. Develop loyalty strategies; to define your guests’ profile, to know their preferences, discover what they like and what they do not about your hotel.

More and More Analytics

Analyzing visitors’ behavior on the hotel website allows you to optimize the information, make the content more attractive and understand the keys of conversion. It is not about having a web presence but to manage it properly!

Google Plus

Google Plus is consolidating as a wide social network that interacts with Google Maps and Google Now. You should also be there!

Geo Targeting

Applications that take into account the location of the traveler and allow you to attract them with direct promotions when they are nearby (credit deshawn). This is of utmost importance to increase last minute bookings.

Optimized Speed

It has been always important to have a flexible website that loads fast. Now it also seems that search engines like Google will rank better the pages that load faster.

This post is contributed by Patricia Etchehun, General Manager of Axent. Read more about her on www.axent.com.ar. She is reachable at info@axent.com.ar or 54 11 4773 7264.