Hotel Marketing Blog
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Posted on Jun 15th 2012 by Bryan Marsh
Landing pages have become an essential component of every business's online marketing strategy, and your resort is no exception....
Posted on Jun 13th 2012 by Bryan Marsh
Appearing in local search results is pretty essential to the success of your resort's internet marketing campaign. While there's been lots written about the importance of Google Place pages and local web content when it comes to boosting your local search...
Posted on Jun 12th 2012 by Fatima Hodzic
In plain English, SEO is generally a number of techniques or processes used to optimise a website and give it the best chance to be seen in search engines like Google or Bing....
Posted on Jun 8th 2012 by Bryan Marsh
From online vouchers to emailed discount codes, the benefits of using discounts in your online marketing campaign should not be overlooked. Here's a look at how you can use this tactic to drive traffic to your resort's website, as well as a few of the pot...
Posted on Jun 7th 2012 by Bryan Marsh
Facebook is currently testing a new feature called 'Offers' for ecommerce businesses which will allow companies to display coupons prominently within ads, Sponsored Stories and user's news feeds. The development could mean big things for your resort's soc...
Posted on Jun 7th 2012 by Lee Tester
eTourism Online has a range of very powerful tools that can help you create, manage and sell your special promotions. To follow are just a few examples of what can be achieved with eTourism Online. Have you ever wanted to reward repeat guests with a d...
Posted on Jun 5th 2012 by Bryan Marsh
A referral is the natural result of excellent customer service and surpassed expectations. Since people don't give referrals unless they are deserved, a referral is not a foregone conclusion unless you start every decision you make about running your reso...
Posted on Jun 4th 2012 by Jodie Dunlop
In the iLaunch Content Management System, we try to make newsletter campaigns as powerful and painless as possible. iLaunch allows you to build your contact database in a number of ways and then provide you a comprehensive campaign builder for selecting,...
Posted on Jun 1st 2012 by Bryan Marsh
Established in January 2012, RoomKey.com is designed to give travellers the security of booking their trips directly through a hotel-owned website. The site is a collaborative venture by Hilton, Intercontinental Hotels Group, Choice Hotels, Wyndham, Marri...
Posted on May 31st 2012 by Bryan Marsh
What would you do on a whirlwind trip to Paris? London? Rome? Yahoo! has just released TimeTraveller, a new app to help you make the most out of your time in a new city, no matter how few hours you have to spare....
Posted on May 24th 2012 by Bryan Marsh
In an attempt to understand the travel planning behaviour of its customers, Orbitz have discovered a surprising fact: Mac users are 40% more likely to book a 4 or 5 star hotel than their PC using counterparts. The findings are being used along with a moun...
Posted on May 23rd 2012 by Bryan Marsh
Twitter just announced that it will be sending its users an email every week, presenting tweets and stories shared by their Twitter contacts over the last seven days. The new service will highlight who shared the feature stories and you'll be able to clic...
Posted on May 23rd 2012 by Lee Tester
After receiving a number of queries in regards to how or what eTourism does with your private data, including email lists, I thought I would write this blog post to let you all know what eTourism's policy is in regards to this.eTourism DOES NOT engage in...
Posted on May 21st 2012 by Jodie Dunlop
Blogging is a popular way for businesses to communicate updates such as upcoming events, special deals, and timely information with their clients. It's also a fantastic way to increase your visibility in search engines such as Google and Bing because the...
Posted on May 18th 2012 by Bryan Marsh
One of the criticisms leveled at Facebook's mobile apps in the past has been that the social network giant simply has too many features to cram into one mobile experience. Facebook began to address this issue with the launch of Facebook Messenger, and n...
Posted on May 17th 2012 by Bryan Marsh
As discussed in a recent post on our hotel marketing blog, Pinterest has caught the attention of marketers and is already beginning to make waves in the travel industry. It goes without saying that there are some huge potential benefits to having your res...
Posted on May 16th 2012 by Lee Tester
A common area that gets overlooked in eTourism Online is our room package descriptions. Too often we will see simply '3 Night Stay' which gives the potential customer no real information about what they are getting.When someone is looking to stay at a...
Posted on May 15th 2012 by Bryan Marsh
Travel firms all over the world have had to keep pace with rapid changes within the industry over the past few years. Many of these new challenges are common to all markets but there are specific differences in individual market development levels and con...
Posted on May 15th 2012 by Bryan Marsh
New social media site Pinterest has been creating a buzz in the marketing world recently, and it looks as though the travel industry is beginning to jump onboard....
Posted on May 15th 2012 by Bryan Marsh
Facebook has made it ok for brands to chat to their online fans as if they were old friends, but new research from the social media site itself has suggested that this conversational strategy falls short when it comes to true customer engagement....
Posted on May 14th 2012 by Bryan Marsh
Writing recently in Google's AdSense blog, app expert Tuyen Nguyen weighed up the pros and cons of mobile sites and apps. Although many view apps as the natural step-up from mobile sites, there are some questions to consider when selecting the best platfo...
Posted on May 11th 2012 by Bryan Marsh
The arrival of mobile technology has changed the travel industry forever, allowing consumers to select flights, book tickets and even check-in just by tapping a few buttons on their Smart-phones....
Posted on Apr 12th 2012 by Bryan Marsh
Pinterest is the latest social media network taking the world by storm, and if you haven't checked it out yet, well, you should....
Posted on Apr 12th 2012 by Bryan Marsh
Google have recently revealed "Project Glass," augmented reality glasses which will allow wearers to access the web on a screen no bigger than a postage stamp attached to a pair of specs....
Posted on Apr 10th 2012 by Bryan Marsh
The results of a new survey suggest European hoteliers remain dubious of the value of discount websites such as Groupon and Living Social when it comes to driving room bookings....
Posted on Apr 4th 2012 by Bryan Marsh
Recent research released by Google has demonstrated that even when a brand ranks highly in organic search, they can effectively double their number of clicks by investing in an accompanying advert....
Posted on Mar 26th 2012 by Lee Tester
Your Terms and Conditions are a major part of the booking process, however more often than not; they aren't given the time and attention needed to be useful. They are one of the key factors when handling a situation such as a cancellation, a change of min...
Posted on Mar 16th 2012 by Bryan Marsh
The resort booking distribution process seems to get more complicated every day, and with so many platforms to keep an eye on, it's more important than ever to understand which elements of your marketing campaign are working for you, and which aren't....
Posted on Mar 15th 2012 by Bryan Marsh
The introduction of private messaging for brands has made customer care on Facebook more personal, but as Christopher Heine at ClickZ recently discussed, there are both pros and cons to the new system....
Posted on Mar 14th 2012 by Lee Tester
TripAdvisor is one of the worlds largest independent guest review websites offering trusted advice from real travellers. Operating in 30 countries worldwide, TripAdvisor publicly displays over 60 million reviews and opinions on accommodation and more arou...
Posted on Mar 9th 2012 by Bryan Marsh
Facebook has revolutionised digital marketing, allowing brands of all types and sizes to personally engage with their customers on an unprecedented level. The introduction of Facebook Premium looks set to give yet another boost to the social network's mar...
Posted on Mar 8th 2012 by Bryan Marsh
Most Resorts understand that data collection is important to the success of their Internet marketing campaign, but getting to grips with the information you collect and using it in a timely and productive manner is not always straight forward....
Posted on Mar 7th 2012 by Bryan Marsh
The 'Like' has long been the standard measure of success in social media marketing, but a recent Compete study has urged travel companies to adopt a broader approach to determine the true value of their Facebook campaign....
Posted on Mar 7th 2012 by Bryan Marsh
Search Engine Optimisation is rapidly evolving, and many digital marketers are struggling to keep up....
Posted on Mar 7th 2012 by Lee Tester
Of course, we would love if our guests never changed their minds, but the reality is they do! So how do we handle the amendments and cancellations in eTourism Online when this happens?First and foremost we need to know about it! This is particularly impor...
Posted on Mar 6th 2012 by Bryan Marsh
Only Months after the launch of TripAdvisor's new hotel ratings system it has been pulled. The reason we believe is due to negative feedback from the hospitality industry with TripAdvisor admitting it has "some work to do"....
Posted on Mar 6th 2012 by Bryan Marsh
Are you running out of tweet ideas? Josiah Mackenzie at ReviewPro has turned the spotlight on the accounts of some of the most successful Tweeters in the hospitality industry to put together a rundown of the ten most effective kind of tweets for hotels....
Posted on Mar 6th 2012 by Bryan Marsh
Last Wednesday, Facebook launched a bunch of new features around Timeline for Pages, giving Page administrators the ability to upgrade to the Timeline redesign now or wait until forced in 30 days. There are a number of changes that will affect your hotel'...
Posted on Mar 1st 2012 by Bryan Marsh
When it comes to blogging, it's surprising how reluctant some hoteliers can be to get on board. Maybe you think your hotel doesn't really need a blog, or that maintaining a regular blog would just be too time-consuming....
Posted on Mar 1st 2012 by Lee Tester
We often get asked about our eTourism Online request feature and how this works so I thought it would be a good idea to write this blog post about it.Have you ever had a time when you only had a couple of rooms left and you wanted to put them online but c...
Posted on Feb 28th 2012 by Bryan Marsh
After years of speculation about when and how mobile would impact travel, the mobile platform is now influencing every stage of the travel life cycle. Mobile is truly a global phenomenon: Smartphone usage now exceeds 50% in the U.S. and Europe,...
Posted on Feb 15th 2012 by Bryan Marsh
Google have recently introduced "Search Plus Your World," a new personalised search results page that incorporates social content from your Google Plus network with standard search results. The new layout displays results which have been recommended or gi...
Posted on Feb 14th 2012 by Bryan Marsh
The launch of Google Plus last year was a bit of a washout. While some people were impressed by the exclusive nature of the new invite-only social media platform, many more dismissed it as just another unsuccessful attempt by the Internet giant to jump on...
Posted on Feb 14th 2012 by Bryan Marsh
As Google begins to roll out its new personalised search results page, basic search and social media look set to overlap. Not everybody however, is happy about the increasingly personal direction in which search results are heading....
Posted on Feb 13th 2012 by Bryan Marsh
Experts have cast a critical eye over a recently published Distribution Channel Analysis study produced by the American Hotel & Lodging Association and STR. The 214 page report is the most extensive examination to date of the use of distribution channels...
Posted on Feb 10th 2012 by Ritesh Gupta
With TripAdvisor becoming less dominant/ reliable, brands are beginning to regain some lost influence and the correct management of both mobile and mapping technology will be key to increasing any brand's online reputation, says James Harrower, search mar...
Posted on Feb 10th 2012 by Bryan Marsh
Marketing experts have found that consumers using tablets are more likely to buy online than smartphone users....
Posted on Feb 9th 2012 by Bryan Marsh
A recent survey of online travellers has revealed that when it comes to using social networks as a marketing tool, travel companies are getting left behind....
Posted on Feb 6th 2012 by Bryan Marsh
TripAdvisor have announced the launch of an analytics tool to help hotels stay on top of their internet marketing game. The new Management Dashboard service provides a detailed breakdown of individual property's performance and reputation on TripAdvisor,...
Posted on Feb 1st 2012 by Dennis Schaal
If you want to reach mobile consumers who'll actually buy travel online, should your company put resources into iOS apps or is Android the better way to go?...
Posted on Dec 7th 2011 by Bryan Marsh
There's no question that mobile devices have become a staple in everyday living around the world. With the number of Smartphones and other mobile devices being used on the rise, there comes a corresponding growth in mobile Internet browsing....
Posted on Dec 2nd 2011 by Janice Diner @ Clikz
Travel and shopping are probably two of the most social activities we do with friends and loved ones. The hyper-interactive travel consumer is a new breed of engaged and informed traveler. They talk about travel before they travel, while they travel, and...
Posted on Dec 1st 2011 by Ryan Kim @ Gigaom.com
Android users who download the latest version of Google Maps from Android Market will now be able to locate themselves inside airports, malls and big department stores that partner with Google and share their floor plans. Google Maps will offer the famili...
Posted on Dec 1st 2011 by Ronnie @ Evision
The fact that Google favors brands in search results means independent and flagged hotels need to be more proactive about staying on top of their online marketing. Fortunately, the avenues discussed in this article are excellent ways you can remain compet...
Posted on Nov 14th 2011 by Pamela Vaughan
That's right. Sometimes truly great content flops. And to be honest, it's a big disappointment (and a damn shame). The silver lining is, there's usually a pretty good explanation for why that particular piece of content failed to spread, and understanding...
Posted on Nov 11th 2011 by Bryan Marsh
Today we're excited to announce the release of our Mobile Interface on the eTourism Content Management System. The eTourism Development Team have been hard at work building an interface that is feature rich but simple to use. This new feature has been rol...
Posted on Nov 11th 2011 by Bryan Marsh
Google has just released the new Think Insights with Google from beta, that sports a new playful look, helpful tools, more studies, the latest trends and exciting videos....
Posted on Nov 11th 2011 by Doug Kennedy
Today's callers have evolved faster than most hotel sales training programs. Hotel reservation agents are fielding a much broader spectrum of sales scenarios than ever before, from callers ranging from ultra-informed to misinformed, having taken virtual t...
Posted on Nov 9th 2011 by Bryan Marsh
Google has announced Google+ Pages for your Resort or Hotel. These pages have been specifically created for businesses on Google+. We'll show you how to create your very own Google+ Page....
Posted on Oct 19th 2011 by Melanie Nayer
Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills became the first Four Seasons in the world to launch ICE technology in their guestrooms and suites, allowing guests to digitally connect with all areas of the hotel....
Posted on Oct 18th 2011 by Josh Constine
Facebook has yet to release a plugin that websites can install to ask for subscribers to Facebook profiles. Here's how to create your own, using the social network's badge creator....
Posted on Sep 14th 2011 by http://mumbrella.com.au/
Facebook has opened up its Places check-in service to brands with its first four Australian partners announced back in August....
Posted on Sep 13th 2011 by EyeForTravel
Facebook is revamping its location-based check-in product also know as Places. Starting last Friday, you may have noticed that the "X check-ins" verbiage has been removed from Places Pages and merged Facebook Pages and has been replaced with "X were here"...
Posted on Jun 1st 2011 by Bryan Marsh
Twitter has just made it a whole lot easier to increase your following. Today, Twitter announced it has introduced its new, official Follow Button....
Posted on May 18th 2011 by Bryan Marsh
Tutorial on how to create a Facebook Fan page for your Hotel or Resort....
Posted on Apr 14th 2011 by Bryan Marsh
According to research released last Thursday by ForeSee Results, fewer than 1% of website visits, on average, come directly from a social media URL. While only 1% of site visitors come from a social media URL, 18% of site visitors report being influenced...
Posted on Apr 5th 2011 by Bryan Marsh
Last week Google announced the +1 button, it's latest push into social search, nearly a year after Facebook launched Like buttons. The Google +1 button allows you to "+1" the search results and advertisements that you like. Soon you will also be able to a...
Posted on Mar 23rd 2011 by Bryan Marsh
Today we're going to demonstrate how to activate Facebook Insights for your hotels website. To do this you will need to have a Facebook Fan page setup for your Hotel, be the administrator of this Hotel Facebook Page and have access to your websites conten...
Posted on Mar 17th 2011 by Bryan Marsh
Today I would like to demonstrate how blogging can increase the search ranking of certain pages within your website. One of the features of your resort might be that it has a unique location for example it is situated within walking distance from the loca...
Posted on Mar 16th 2011 by Bryan Marsh
Limelight Networks reports that just over 50% of bandwidth usage in the US is online video. That's a 107% growth in video bandwidth over last year, what an incredible statistic. Today very few Australian resorts and serviced apartments are using online vi...
Posted on Mar 9th 2011 by Bryan Marsh
Facebook's like functionality has just been revamped to now publish a full news feed instead of just a one-line Recent Activity story. Previously the Like button would only publish the name of the page being Liked to the Recent Activity section of your pr...
Posted on Mar 1st 2011 by Bryan Marsh
Room77 is a search engine for hotel rooms with over 425,000 hotel rooms in 16 cites in the US and UK. The developer have built profiles of thousands of hotel rooms detailing information on the room location, bed types, size, proximity to the elevator plus...
Posted on Feb 28th 2011 by Bryan Marsh
Are you struggling to work out how your Hotel's Twitter account will deliver bottom-line value? Ever wondered which hotels have mastered their Twitter strategy creating enormous value for their property? Why not learn from the most successful Hotel's best...
Posted on Feb 18th 2011 by eTourism
Earlier this week, the social networking giant also allowed marketers to advertise their stories or blogs on their page. This means that accommodation managers can easily manage their marketing strategies through these fan pages....
Posted on Feb 17th 2011 by eTourism
Hotels such as YOTEL can benefit from partial automation up to a fully automated service. This way hotles can adjust conditions to accommodate guests' individual preferences....
Posted on Feb 16th 2011 by eTourism
Website analytics tools can be used to spot potential growth, determine needed improvements for efficiency, draw attention to potential website problems, and point out what went wrong....
Posted on Feb 15th 2011 by eTourism
Now, hoteliers are fully aware of the benefits that the Internet can bring to their business. Well-informed of the far reaching importance of the web, they are motivated to create more awareness of their industry, on top of getting more bookings online....
Posted on Feb 10th 2011 by eTourism
RSS (or "Really Simple Syndication") simplifies importing information from portals, weblogs and news sites. It also simplifies the way you stay informed and helps you take control of overloaded email in-boxes....
Posted on Feb 5th 2011 by eTourism
In today's highly competitive resort industry, any add-on in sales or service you have over your competitors can make the difference. A standout feature for an accommodations' website is to have the ability to chat with a live person through a website - v...
Posted on Feb 4th 2011 by eTourism
You can create the most personal and influential marketing message but it won't help your hotel if it never reaches your customer. The best thing about mobile devices, such as smartphones, tablets and feature phones is that they are linked to a particular...
Posted on Feb 3rd 2011 by eTourism
In this digital age it's important that hoteliers respond to the new needs of guests and offer them the convenience to select and reserve a room, access and change bookings and view hotel photos and information while away from their computers....
Posted on Jan 31st 2011 by eTourism
So if you have Facebook fans who aren't Twitter users, you can post your resorts' updates on your Facebook wall for your fans to see. When you do this, you can automatically post your Twitter updates straight to your Facebook wall....
Posted on Jan 30th 2011 by eTourism
The online community is very powerful that it can drive change - both for the better and for the worse. When your online network grows and your relationships with them expand, they turn into loyal brand advocates and guardians....
Posted on Jan 29th 2011 by eTourism
So how do these resort managers make the most out of Facebook Fan pages? Resort owners who advertise their business online can learn a lot from 7 easy steps that website owners should know...
Posted on Jan 28th 2011 by eTourism
One common question that many resort managers share is how to evaluate their SEO effectiveness. To date, it can be difficult to gauge if your SEO is performing or not, let alone, fully grasp the requirements of an effective online advertising strategy....
Posted on Jan 25th 2011 by eTourism
The seven truths of email - the most powerful tool for marketing, branding, direct response, and building customer relationships - can be used to evaluate your tools and resources. Electronic mail (e-mail) provides the hospitality industry a flexible and...
Posted on Jan 13th 2011 by Bryan Marsh
Without a steady stream of traffic to your blog, there's little opportunity to engage your audience and convert readers to raving fans. So it might just be one of the biggest questions of all time: How can my resort's website get more traffic?...
Posted on Nov 24th 2010 by eTourism
Marketing experts always emphasise the need to regularly create fresh and original content that it's easy to overlook the potential of previously published or posted content....
Posted on Nov 24th 2010 by eTourism
Email marketing has always been an effective way to reach out to existing and prospective guests. It's organic, as these people voluntarily signed up to receive your news and updates. So how do you grow the number of people who have given you permission...
Posted on Nov 24th 2010 by eTourism
Incentives are a great way to keep loyal clients as well as acquire new ones. You can reward your former and prospective guests in different channels such as social media sites or on your direct website using eTourism Online's coupon code functionali...
Posted on Nov 22nd 2010 by eTourism
Are there important events at your resort that you just need to share with the world? Perhaps your resort is sponsoring a fashion show or want to show your prospective guests how close your resort is from the beach, then Livestream for Facebook is the...
Posted on Nov 22nd 2010 by eTourism
It's been weeks since Google rolled out Instant Previews"a feature that allows users to preview the results right on the search engine results page by displaying a screenshot with the click of a magnifying glass....
Posted on Nov 11th 2010 by eTourism
Google pushes the boundaries in search even further by creating a speedier and more useful user experience with its new feature, Instant Previews...
Posted on Nov 10th 2010 by eTourism
Christmas holidays are coming up so it's time to brush up on your Internet marketing strategies if you want increased bookings before the year ends....
Posted on Nov 10th 2010 by eTourism
Time and time again, online marketing experts stress the value of a well-optimised website and content. If you're struggling with SEO, here are 5 ways on how you can optimise better....
Posted on Nov 9th 2010 by eTourism
Twitter has allowed users in the U.S. to tweet their location via its Places feature for a while now, but recent developments show that Places may be taking it a step further by letting businesses "claim" a location or place....
Posted on Nov 8th 2010 by eTourism
In the Facebook press conference last Thursday, the social networking site announced that it is making updates to its mobile apps " specifically when it comes to Facebook Places....
Posted on Nov 4th 2010 by eTourism
Google Places, formerly known as Google Maps or Google Local is Google's new way of giving more localised results....
Posted on Nov 4th 2010 by eTourism
Social media has proven to be a great tool for resorts to reach out to a wider audience online. But not surprisingly, this marketing tool also has its way of extending its reach offline....
Posted on Nov 3rd 2010 by eTourism
After Promoted Accounts last month, Twitter will now be expanding its ad platform to the individual streams of its users with Promoted Tweets....