Social Media and Marketing

Revenue managers admit that as an industry, hoteliers still need to understand consumers’ online behaviour especially with the advent of web 2.0 and integrate customer analytics in order to develop relevant pricing for each customer segment.

Published: 15 Sep 2009

Revenue managers admit that as an industry, hoteliers still need to understand consumers’ online behaviour especially with the advent of web 2.0 and integrate customer analytics in order to develop relevant pricing for each customer segment.

There is a scope for improvement in areas like capturing what the consumer is really looking for (both during pre-arrival / search stage and during stay), understanding true demand and buying behaviour, and evaluating property spend by each customer segment and channel to understand their full value.

Hoteliers also acknowledge that in today’s environment, online travel intermediaries, especially the OTAs, help their brands in reaching out to brand agnostic consumers who are shopping for a vacation.

In addition to valuing online sales channels as partners in the trade, hotels are increasingly trying to learn more and use these channels more, says Jesper Palmqvist, director eCommerce - EMEA and APAC, Wyndham Hotel Group.

Accentuating on the same, Palmqvist says, “For instance, we’re seeing a bigger interest than ever in the integration of new technical solutions on our brand websites.”

When it comes to segmenting the market on the basis of customer behaviour especially online, considering variables likes purchasing patterns, purpose of visit and propensity to pay, Palmqvist said things are looking up.

“Data and tracking capabilities are improving from a central standpoint. But full gain would be only realised when these are combined with external data streams that can weigh in deeper and more detailed information. The key players in customer segmentation analysis today provide advanced enough solutions and would currently offer enough data for a supplier to digest and action upon,” said Palmqvist, who is scheduled to speak at Sales and Marketing in Travel Europe Summit 2009 to be held in Prague (October 13-14) this year.

Prioritising marketing initiatives

Online media channels have definitely gained prominence, especially for sales generation, over the years . The marketing spend for online channels may have increased but the overall planning and integration of channels, too, has become more challenging.

From planning perspective, still any company should first set its strategic goals and objectives and then based on that, analyse their businesses and invest in those most relevant to the objectives laid out by the company, keeping in mind ROI, risk profile and budget. Further, whatever programmes are implemented should be constantly measured and monitored to ensure that the expected results are being achieved and objectives met.

Recently, in an interview with EyeforTravel.com, transavia’s VP e-Commerce, Niki van Wijk, shared that understanding your position in a market is your most important starting point.

Further on prioritising marketing initiatives, she said, “If you understand per market what it takes to build your brand successfully, to create a loyal base of customers and to optimise your sales, you will be able to define your communication strategy. This requires insights from your consumers, and therefore research, customer feedback and metrics are important.”

Palmqvist says any big-size outfit will always benefit from a “glocal” approach and leverage both - global spread of brands with a holistic approach and at the same time pushing local and regional initiatives.

“This would apply both for bull and bear markets. The messaging might be different and sometimes is driven by market as a whole, but long-term consistency would shape prioritisation,” he says.

Resources

Fully integrated marketing with brand, conversion, retention with a solid media mix should always be the goal.

Palmqvist says the seemingly more fragmented landscape today with for example increased varieties in channels and ease of long-tail has created a more hands-on environment that requires quicker feet. “One key aspect it to have people working on this that understand marketing, revenue management and overall distribution as a whole. It creates more demand for skilled and diversified staff,” he says.

While today’s economy is challenging, it’s not changing the acquisition and retention plans dramatically. The combined impact of both traditional media and digital media are extremely important.

In tough economic situations, where budgets are limited and spending is curbed, it is more efficient to retain rather than acquire customers.

Experts say customer acquisition should be focused as close to the point of purchase as possible, to ensure that whatever product offered is as relevant to a potential new consumer as it can possibly be, thus increasing the probability of acquiring that customer. Overall, for the travel industry, online channels seem to be the most efficient, considering the percentage of consumers researching travel online and overall booking coming via the online medium.

Sales and Marketing in Travel Europe Summit 2009

Jesper Palmqvist is scheduled to speak at Sales and Marketing in Travel Europe Summit 2009 to be held in Prague (October 13-14) this year.

For more information, click here:
http://events.eyefortravel.com/sales-and-marketing/conference/online-mar...

or contact:

Gina Baillie
gina@eyefortravel.com