Restaurant industry sales in 2013 will total more than $660.5 billion, a 3.8 percent increase from 2012 (National Restaurant Association). As restaurant-industry sales continue to climb yearly, it is crucial that a restaurant maintain an online presence in order to communicate with current diners, attract new customers, and build loyalty among patrons.

According to AIS Media, 89 percent of diners research restaurants online before visiting in person. A study conducted by Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration found that approximately 50 percent of respondents stated they make restaurant reservations online, and about 40 percent of those completed the reservation on the restaurant’s own website.

In other words, the restaurant website, its online presence and corresponding digital marketing efforts have become the main point of contact with would-be patrons. And yet, many restaurateurs who willingly spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on décor and furnishings suddenly become cost-conscientious when the restaurant website is concerned. They also completely ignore digital marketing to prospective patrons. Many restaurateurs are mistakenly led to believe that not investing in their restaurant website redesign or optimization will save money. Wrong! Not investing in your website will lead to serious damage to the restaurant’s bottom line. The restaurant website – its design, content, SEO, functionality and interactivity – should be the logical first step for any restaurant marketer.

Outlined below are ten website functionality and action steps for successful website design and the marketing of your restaurant website.

1. Invest in Your Restaurant Website: First and foremost, your restaurant website must be “in excellent health” in order to comply with 2013 best practices and new website technology requirements.

A restaurant website should evoke the atmosphere of the establishment before the guest steps foot in the restaurant. Matching the website’s style and scheme with that of the restaurant ensures diners come in with proper expectations. Also, when creating an online presence for a restaurant, it is important to understand the unique attributes that make restaurant websites effective and user-friendly.

Restaurateurs need to upgrade their website technology to the next generation of Content Management System (CMS) to enable management of desktop, mobile and tablet website content within the framework of Responsive Design on Server Side (RESS) and via a single dashboard. For example, HeBS Digital’s CMS Premium is one such fully RESS-enabled content management system.

Today’s restaurant website needs fresh content, rich media and current promotions. Post Restaurant Specials and Upcoming Events: In addition to viewing the restaurant’s menu and location, a potential diner should easily be able to locate restaurant specials and upcoming events. Happy Hours, Trivia Nights and special dinner menus are great potential draws for individuals deciding on a restaurant.
The restaurant’s daily and weekly specials and promotions need to be marketed across the three screens – desktop, mobile and tablet – and social media profiles.

2. Invest in Your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Strategy: Being well positioned in organic search engine rankings is vital to capturing new and returning visitors to the website. According to Forrester Research, potential diners predominately click on the first four listings. It is extremely important to rank high in organic search for the keywords most relevant for the restaurant. Best practices state a restaurant’s goal should be to appear in searches with geographic terms. For example, ‘Times Square restaurant’ or ‘Times Square Italian restaurant’.

The ongoing Google Panda algorithm updates have made many old restaurant websites completely obsolete and have generally raised the bar for new restaurant websites, demanding a new type of website technology and architecture, faster download speeds, and website copy that is not only deep and relevant, but also fresh, unique and engaging.

All of the fresh content in the form of descriptive copy, photos, specials, promotions, events and happenings, updated menus, wine lists, cocktails, photos, etc. is an essential requirement of the latest Google “Freshness” algorithm update, which punishes websites with stale content.

Restaurants should claim and optimize their local listings, including Google + Local, Yahoo! Local and Bing Local. In addition, a restaurant should claim its listings on Yelp, Urbanspoon, Citysearch and other local dining and business directories.

3. Clearly Place Restaurant Location, Hours and Menus: Although the ability to make a reservation is important, the main focus of a restaurant website should be the restaurant’s location, hours and menus. Making this information highly visible to visitors is key.

Clearly place restaurant location, hours and menus.

4. Add a Reservation Widget: In order to capture the 40 percent of diners who make reservations online via a restaurant’s own website, implement a reservation widget that is easily accessible on the restaurant’s homepage. A variety of reservation services – including OpenTable, RezBook, SeatMe, UReserv and more – are available.

Add a reservation widget.

5. Showcase Professional Photography: By displaying professional photographs of the décor and dishes, a website allows potential guests to get a taste for the restaurant. This allows visitors to experience the restaurant’s ambiance and explore the cuisine. Professional photography ensures dishes will be presented in an appealing fashion. Additionally, food photography is a great way to generate buzz and create social engagement.

Showcase professional photography.

6. Incorporate Reviews on the Website: According to an AngelSmith study, 22.8 percent of diners looking for a new restaurant consult consumer generated website reviews on sites such as Yelp, Zagat and Urbanspoon. These sites provide great platforms for diners to post restaurant reviews, but these sites can potentially result in a potential guest being led away from your restaurant profile to that of a competitor. To avoid this risk, include user-generated reviews on the restaurant website. In addition to providing valuable information for potential guests, updating this content regularly will trigger search engines to crawl the website and improve its organic search ranking.

Incorporate reviews on the website.

7. Add a Blog to Your Website: In addition to keeping diners up-to-date with the latest restaurant specials, a blog provides the opportunity to display current news and happenings. This is a great place to highlight the following:

• New menus
• Awards
• Signature dishes and recipes
• Special events
• Staff Profiles

A blog also helps to boost a website’s organic ranking through Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Google’s ongoing Panda and Freshness updates dictate that a website should showcase unique, engaging and continually updated content. That said, once a blog is established on the website, it is important to keep it updated with new and interesting content. A stale and stagnant blog could deter potential diners.

Add a blog to your website.

8. Engage on Social Media: Dining out at a restaurant is a social experience. Therefore, social media is an excellent platform to create buzz and generate interaction while connecting with guests.

• Build a Local Following: Since a majority of restaurant-goers are locals, it is important for restaurants to reach out to individuals that can easily convert to restaurant diners.
• Post Photos: In addition to posting professional photos of the cuisine and restaurant’s dining room, guests should be encouraged to post their own photos of their experience at the restaurant. As a general rule, Facebook posts that include photos receive a higher amount of interaction than those posted without images.
• Offer Specials: Offering social media-only specials motivates current and potential guests to interact with the restaurant via Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms. By updating the special offers frequently, guests will be encouraged to continually engage across the various channels.
• Host Contests: Similar to offering specials, hosting a contest and awarding prizes is a great way to actively engage users. Restaurants should encourage guests to post reviews or upload pictures in order to receive rewards.
• Stay Active: Although new social media platforms are emerging all the time (e.g. Foursquare, FoodSpotting, etc.), it is important to pick a manageable amount of channels in which to become involved. Similar to a blog, once a restaurant establishes a Facebook page or Twitter account, it is essential to stay active and update frequently. A stale account could turn off potential guests.
• Link to the Website: Most importantly, after creating buzz and interaction, it is crucial to direct potential diners from Facebook, Twitter, etc. to the restaurant’s website.

Engage on social media.

9. Build loyalty with SMS Marketing: SMS Marketing is a relatively inexpensive way to reach a very targeted and qualified market. Mobile phones are a highly personal form of communication and individuals only give their numbers to a restaurant or brand to which they are loyal. Accordingly, SMS marketing tends to lead to very high conversion rates. Below are a few tips to follow when planning an SMS marketing campaign:

• Give a Reason to Sign Up: Encourage customers to sign up by promoting various mobile-only offers, deals and discounts. Alternatively, a restaurant could offer a reward (e.g. a free glass of wine) for opting into the mobile list.
• Time Your Texts: Since diners generally have their mobile phones on them or near them at all times, it is important to time the text message around the information being presented. For example, if promoting a lunch special the text message should be sent around 10am, or when individuals would be planning their lunches.
• Send Exciting Information: Send information that will encourage potential diners to visit the restaurant such as coupons for 50 percent off an entrée with the purchase of a full-price dinner.

10. Launch a mobile site: In addition to capturing potential diners searching via desktops, it is necessary to launch a mobile website in order to attain individuals via this platform. Mobile usage is increasing exponentially and in Q1 2013 nearly 40% of website visitors across HeBS Digital’s client portfolio came from mobile and tablet devices, an increase of 133% compared to Q1 2012. Is your restaurant website mobile- and tablet-ready? For restaurants specifically, mobile search is particularly important. According to Google, during Valentine’s Day weekend, 64 percent of consumers searched for restaurants from their mobile phone.

When launching a mobile site it is essential to follow the same best practices as your desktop site, including clearly placing the restaurant’s location, hours and menus. According to Google’s Mobile Search Moments study, 45 percent of searcher’s are ‘goal-oriented’. It is therefore important for a user to be able to complete a reservation on the site via a reservation widget or click-to-call phone number.

As overall restaurant sales and online reservations continue to increase year-over-year, it is vital for a restaurant to have an optimized and user-friendly desktop and mobile website following the industry best practices outlined above. Once the restaurant’s website is live, it is critical to market it. Since potential diners interact with a variety of different channels and devices (desktop computer, mobile phones, social media, tablet devices, etc.) on a daily basis, utilizing all available digital marketing tools will yield greater results. By creating a presence on these multiple channels, a potential guest will have a greater chance of being exposed to the restaurant and deciding to visit.

To get started, partner with an agency that is experienced in restaurant website design and digital marketing. For more information, click here.

About the Author and HeBS Digital

Emily Ditman is an Account Supervisor at HeBS Digital, the hospitality industry’s leading full-service digital technology and marketing firm (www.HeBSDigital.com).

HeBS Digital has pioneered many of the best practices in hospitality digital technology and marketing, and direct online channel best practices and strategies. The firm has won over 250 prestigious industry awards for its digital marketing and website design services, including numerous Adrian Awards, Davey Awards, W3 Awards, WebAwards, Magellan Awards, Summit International Awards, Interactive Media Awards, IAC Awards, and others.

A diverse client portfolio of hospitality clients: from restaurants to major hotel brands, luxury and boutique hotel chains, resorts and casinos, hotel management companies, franchisees and independents, and CVBs are benefiting from HeBS Digital’s direct online channel strategy and digital marketing expertise. Contact HeBS Digital’s consultants at (212) 752-8186 or success@hebsdigital.com.

The American Business Awards are the nation’s premier business awards program. All organizations operating in the U.S.A. are eligible to submit nominations – public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small. The American Business Awards will be presented at two awards events: the ABA’s traditional banquet on Monday, June 17 – in Chicago for the first time, after 10 years in New York; and the new product & technology awards event on Monday, September 16 in San Francisco.

The explosion of the mobile and tablet channels presented a major challenge to hotel marketers: creating and managing digital content throughout three distinct distribution channels – desktop, mobile and tablet – as well as publishing the hotel’s latest special offers and promotions on the hotel’s various social media profiles. HeBS Digital’s proprietary CMS technology – the CMS Premium – was designed to do just that and help hoteliers maximize presence and revenue from the “three screens.”

The HeBS Digital CMS Premium serves as much more than a content management system. It acts as a digital marketing content solution, giving busy hoteliers a way to simply and successfully utilize their hotel website to generate bookings and boost revenues. It also serves as a centralized digital content depository, conveniently corralling all the resources on which hoteliers rely in one easy-to-access location.

The CMS Premium is the most advanced CMS in the hospitality industry today. Notable features include:

• Innovative architecture facilitating fast download speeds
• Full compliance with the Google Panda and Freshness SEO updates
• Ability to change the look-and-feel design of the hotel website with a click of a button
• Dynamic content personalization
• A suite of reservation conversion features
• Support of responsive design on the server side (RESS)

“Winning this prestigious award is a testament to HeBS Digital’s ingenuity. I am immensely proud of HeBS Digital’s team of programmers, developers and designers who worked together to develop the industry’s leading CMS technology,” said Max Starkov, President & CEO of HeBS Digital. “Our experts are well-educated in the digital needs and wants of the hospitality industry, as well as in the latest trends in responsive design on the server side (RESS) and search engines’ requirements for website architecture. With the HeBS Digital CMS Premium, the hotelier has a firm grip on the reins of their site – no special content management skills or HTML knowledge required!”

For more information about HeBS Digital’s CMS technology for single hotel, resort or casino properties (CMS Premium) and hotel chains, brands and multi-property companies (CMS Enterprise) please visit the company website www.hebsdigital.com.

About HeBS Digital:

Founded in 2001, HeBS Digital is the industry’s leading digital technology, full-service hotel digital marketing, website design and direct online channel consulting firm based in New York City (www.HeBSDigital.com).

HeBS Digital has pioneered many of the best practices in hotel digital marketing, social and mobile marketing, and direct online channel distribution. The firm has won over 250 prestigious industry awards for its digital marketing and website design services, including numerous Adrian Awards, Davey Awards, W3 Awards, WebAwards, Magellan Awards, Summit International Awards, Interactive Media Awards, and IAC Awards.

A diverse client portfolio of top tier major hotel brands, luxury and boutique hotel brands, resorts and casinos, hotel management companies, franchisees and independents, and CVBs are profiting from HeBS Digital’s hospitality digital marketing expertise. Contact HeBS Digital’s consultants at (212) 752-8186 or success@hebsdigital.com.

About the Stevie Awards
Stevie Awards are conferred in four programs: The American Business Awards^SM, The International Business Awards, the Stevie® Awards for Women in Business, and the Stevie® Awards for Sales & Customer Service.  A fifth program, the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, will debut this year.  Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide. Learn more about the Stevie® Awards at www.StevieAwards.com.

Editorial Contact:

Mariana Mechoso Safer
HeBS Digital
Phone: 212-752-8186
Email: mariana@hebsdigital.com
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When Google rolled out its Panda algorithm update in February 2011, it upended search engine results pages (SERPs) in a major way, affecting 12 percent of all results. The algorithm adjustment essentially penalized low-quality sites and rewarded sites with engaging, high-quality content. Since the initial rollout of Panda, the search engine giant has introduced a number of updates and changes – as of late April 2013, the company has produced 25 Panda updates and a host of other updates, dubbed Penguin.

Because Google is always changing its algorithms in minor ways, the threat of another Penguin or Panda update might not seem like much to worry about. But Google is currently busy preparing a major Penguin update that will have a major impact on SERPs, according to SearchEngineWatch.

The Impending Penguin Update: What is It?

The second coming of Google Penguin – Penguin 2.0 – will address bad link-building and linking practices, penalizing sites that use unsavory techniques to help improve visibility within the SERPs. Google’s team will evaluate a huge amount of data to learn more about “bad” – or non-organic – links, combing through the mountains of data on the Internet to locate the spots where bad links live.

Once Google locates these suspicious links, it will devalue them and remove their PageRank, thus negating whatever positive impact they had on search results. The links that stand out to Google as bad either come from locations on the Internet that Google deems untrustworthy or in places with high “link velocity” – the rate at which a site acquires inbound links.

What Does This Mean for Hoteliers?

Hoteliers should exercise caution in their link acquisition strategies and adopt a policy of quality over quantity. In the pre-Penguin landscape, search engines rewarded the pursuit of large quantities of less-than-relevant links. Post-Penguin 1.0 – and especially in the lead-up to Penguin 2.0 – it behooves hoteliers and digital marketers to be more selective about the inbound links they choose to pursue.

The days of search engine optimization (SEO) as the Wild West are long gone. Google values websites that provide relevant information about in-demand topics and provide added value for Internet users. Conversely, search engines punish sites that chase after large numbers of links with little regard for quality or context. Given these facts, it is important that hoteliers take care in assembling a link building action plan.

• Perform a Link Audit – It’s crucial to know where your links are coming from, which of those links are beneficial, and which could be dragging your site’s SEO performance down. Enlisting a hotel digital marketing firm to perform a full link audit can give you a great idea of your site’s strengths and weaknesses in regards to its inbound link portfolio.

• Manage Links Through Webmaster Tools – The easiest way to ensure your link portfolio remains clear of any low-quality links is to use Google’s Webmaster Tools. Through this interface, you can view all the links pointing to your site, sorting the quality links you attained through targeted strategy and the less valuable or negative links that latched onto your site without your knowledge. Partnering with a full-service digital marketing agency is the best way to harness the power of Google Webmaster Tools.

• Maintain a Blog on the Hotel Website – Building and maintaining a blog on the hotel website is an efficient and easy way to provide a unique value proposition to website visitors, potential guests and prospective linking websites. The key to utilizing a hotel blog as a potent inbound marketing tool is to post regular updates on upcoming events, happenings on-property, renovation updates and anything else that might attract the interest of other blogs or online publications.

• Build (Relevant) Links – Executing a robust linking strategy is the best way to build a strong support system of links. Effective link-building starts small and branches outward. Engage local sites that produce quality content and are of exceptional relevance to your site first to build a solid base of trustworthy links, while at the same time ensuring the hotel website is listed by and linked to from a variety of online directories and local listings services.

• Create Quality Website Content – Working proactively to stock your site with quality content is the easiest way to attract links from veritable sources. Regularly publishing pages written by professional copywriters can work wonders, attracting the attention of influential sites that have the power to boost SEO through inbound linking.

Conclusion

It is much easier to be proactive than reactive when it comes to SEO – rebuilding lost rankings can take a considerable amount of time and effort. Work with a digital marketing partner that can recommend proper preparations for important algorithm updates to keep your site from being penalized.

Sample Link Audit & Action Plan

To prepare for Penguin 2.0, hoteliers should request comprehensive link audit and tailored action plan for removing any potentially harmful links. This package includes:

• Full list of inbound links to the website
• Identification of any potentially harmful links
• Removal of any potentially harmful links through Google Webmaster Tools

Cost: $295

About the Author and HeBS Digital

Asher Fusco is a Senior Copy + SEO Specialist at HeBS Digital, the hospitality industry’s leading full-service digital technology and marketing firm, based in New York City.

HeBS Digital has pioneered many of the best practices in hotel digital technology and marketing, and direct online channel best practices and strategies. The firm has won more than 250 prestigious industry awards for its digital marketing and website design services, including numerous Adrian Awards, Davey Awards, W3 Awards, WebAwards, Magellan Awards, Summit International Awards, Interactive Media Awards, IAC Awards, etc.

A diverse client portfolio of top-tier major hotel brands, luxury and boutique hotel brands, resorts and casinos, hotel management companies, franchisees and independents, and CVBs are benefiting from HeBS Digital’s direct online channel strategy and digital marketing expertise. Contact HeBS Digital’s consultants at (212) 752-8186 or success@hebsdigital.com.

Background

Last year, HeBS Digital proclaimed that 2013 would be the Year of the Three Screens in Hospitality – desktop, mobile and tablet – and advised hoteliers to get ready for the “three screen explosion” and work hard to deliver a customized and user-friendly experience across these three screens.

The explosion of the mobile and social media channels and the emergence of the new tablet channel have created not only new user behavior but also new information needs in each device category, requiring hoteliers to create and manage digital content across three distinct distribution and marketing channels (desktop, mobile, tablet). 

Internet users exhibit different behavioral patterns when using the desktop, mobile and tablet devices; each device category address different needs at different times of the day and week. What works for a user researching and booking on a desktop website does not work for a smartphone user who is reading content on-the-go and needs a mobile enabled booking engine. Similarly, a tablet user expects a highly visual experience and a website built to accommodate touchscreen navigation and browsing via swiping.

At the same time, there is a noticeable shift from the “traditional” desktop to the smaller screens. Adoption rate of new and “cool” smartphone and tablet devices is skyrocketing. In Q1 2013 worldwide, there were fewer shipments of desktops compared to either smartphones or tablets. Smartphone penetration in the U.S. already exceeds 44%. Tablet penetration is above 15% (Google Insights).

For 2013 Google has projected that hotel queries from tablets will increase this year by more than 180%, while queries from mobile devices will jump by 68% and desktop searches will decline for the first time on a full-year basis, by 4%.

Additionally, users searching Google utilize:

• Desktop during the day (office)
• Mobile during lunch break + happy hour
• Tablet later in the evening when lounging – the tablet is a “lounging” device (Google Data)

Industry experts have projected staggering growth rates in leisure and unmanaged business travel bookings via the mobile channel: from $753 million in 2011 to $2,155 million in 2013 (PhoCusWright), and have advised hoteliers repeatedly to embrace the mobile channel.

And yet, a careful analysis of industry statistics and projections as well as HeBS Digital’s concrete booking data, broken down by device category, reveals a very interesting picture that not all hoteliers fully understand: The majority of “mobile” bookings, room nights and revenue are generated by tablet devices such as the iPad, Samsung Galaxy and Google Nexus, not by “pure” mobile devices like the iPhone and Android- and Windows Mobile-based smartphones.

The Three Screens in Hospitality in Q1 2013

The results from Q1 2013 are in, and they show a seismic shift from desktop to mobile and tablet devices. Across HeBS Digital’s hotel client portfolio, consisting of thousands of hotel properties, we saw a major shift from desktop to tablet and mobile in every data category.

Sources of Traffic and Revenue by Device Category:

Sources of Traffic and Revenue by Device Category

The most notable developments in Q1 2013:

• Website traffic by device category: nearly 40% of web visitors and 28% of page views were generated from non-desktop devices (mobile and tablet)
• Over 10% of bookings, roomnights and revenue came from tablets and mobile devices
• Tablets generated 281% more roomnights and 505% more revenue than “pure” mobile devices
• iPad outperformed all other tablet devices and was responsible for more than 88% of traffic and nearly 90% of tablet revenue

Mobile devices represent a very interesting phenomenon: Nearly 24% of website visitors came from mobile devices, but these mobile visitors generated only 3.17% of the bookings. Why?

In my view, there are several reasons:

• Many mobile users start their research and information gathering via their smartphones, and later continue via their desktops/laptops at the office or at home. Forrester reports that smartphones are the most common starting place for online activities:
  • Search for information: 65% of users start on a smartphone; 65% of them continue the process on a desktop, 4% on a tablet
  • Browse the Internet: 63% of users start on a smartphone; 58% of them continue the process on a desktop, 5% on a tablet
  • Shopping online: 65% of users start on a smartphone; 61% of them continue the process on a desktop, 4% on a tablet
• Many hoteliers lack a mobile-friendly website presence or have an “impossible to use” booking engine
• Most hoteliers do not track voice bookings that came from the mobile website: an average of 1 in 7 mobile website bookings comes via the reservation phone listed on the mobile site

A recent survey by ResearchNow found that the most frequent causes of an unsatisfactory travel experience with smartphones were:

• 44% – Slow load times
• 36% – Complicated search and selection
• 30% – Poor navigation
• 8%  - Not designed or optimized for mobile.

How did the “three screens” results from Q1 2013 compare to the results from Q1 2012? We see a significant – even dramatic – shift from the desktop to the tablet and mobile channels within one short year:

Q1 2013 vs. Q1 2012 Percentage Increase/Decrease by Device Category:

Q1 2013 vs. Q1 2012 Percentage Increase/Decrease by Device Category

The most notable year-over-year developments in Q1 2013 were:

• Website visitors to desktop websites declined by more than a quarter, while more than doubling via mobile and tablet devices.
• Desktop pageviews declined by nearly 15% while increasing by nearly 74% via tablet and 84% via mobile devices.
• Bookings and roomnights from tablets exhibited the biggest growth and more than doubled; revenue increased by nearly 95%.
• Revenue from mobile devices also exhibited steady growth of nearly 58% as travel consumers are becoming more comfortable transacting via their smartphones and as smartphone penetration reaches an all-time high of 44% in the U.S.
• Revenue from desktop devices is on the decline, year-over-year, by more than 5%.

Tablets were the biggest winner over the past year. Tablet penetration already exceeds 15% in the U.S. In Q1 2013 tablet shipments worldwide soared 142% year-over-year to 49.2 million. The latest data from NPD DisplaySearch calls for the tablet market to surpass PC notebooks in 2013. Tablets are expected to reach shipments of 240 million units this year, while 207 million PC notebooks will be shipped.

SEM (Paid Search)

How do the three screens affect paid search? The lack of understanding among advertisers of the fundamental shift from desktop to tablet and mobile (smartphone) devices is the reason why the allocation of paid search ad spending across devices is not keeping up with which devices actually generate clicks. Kenshoo found that in Q1 2013, the tablet and smartphone accounted for nearly 20% of paid search clicks, but these devices only garnered about 14% of search spending:

We believe the trend of shifting SEM clicks from desktop to tablet and mobile devices will only accelerate in the upcoming months as the proliferation of smartphone and tablet devices continues worldwide.

What Should Hoteliers Do About the Three Screens?

Begin by treating the desktop, mobile and tablet as three separate channels. Internet users exhibit different behavioral patterns when browsing the Internet and the desktop website, mobile and tablet devices, as they address different needs at different times of the day and week. It is obvious why specialized content is needed for each device:

• Desktop users need as much information as possible, including a minimum of 25-50 content pages per property and another 50-100 specialized marketing and landing pages featuring special packages, promotions, and events. Desktop users also place high value on visual galleries with photos and videos.
• Mobile (smartphone) users require a 10-15 page mobile-enabled website with slimmed-down content with an emphasis on maps and directions, an easy-to-use mobile booking engine, and a click-to-call property reservation number. As mentioned, more than half of the U.S. population is still using feature phones, which are not sophisticated enough to display full desktop websites. The vast majority of people of age 65+ do not use smartphones today, and these are exactly the baby boomers you would want as your property guests.
• Tablet users require deep, visually enhanced content about the property and its destination. A well-structured, highly visual hotel tablet-optimized website can generate conversion rates several times higher than those of mobile devices.

Second, all three device web presences could operate within the framework of Responsive Design on Server Side (RESS) and be managed via a single dashboard in the property content management system. For example, HeBS Digital’s CMS Premium is a fully RESS enabled content management system.

Third, all three channels must be integrated within the hotel’s multi-channel marketing strategy, including SEM (paid search). Use analytics such as Adobe Omniture SiteCatalyst and Google Analytics to determine contributions from and the dynamics of each of the three channels.

Partner with a digital technology and marketing firm that knows the ins and outs of marketing and distribution via the three screens and responsive design on the server side. A firm that goes above and beyond to deliver incremental revenues from all three screens – desktop, tablet and mobile – while achieving high ROI in each channel, and helps hoteliers transform their Internet presence in each of the three screens.

About the Author and HeBS Digital

Max Starkov is President & CEO of HeBS Digital, the hospitality industry’s leading full-service digital marketing and direct online channel strategy firm based in New York City (www.HeBSdigital.com).

HeBS Digital has pioneered many of the best practices in hotel Internet marketing, social and mobile marketing, and direct online channel distribution. The firm has won over 250 prestigious industry awards for its digital marketing and website design services, including numerous Adrian Awards, Davey Awards, W3 Awards, WebAwards, Magellan Awards, Summit International Awards, Interactive Media Awards, IAC Awards, etc.

A diverse client portfolio of top-tier major hotel brands, luxury and boutique hotel brands, resorts and casinos, hotel management companies, franchisees and independents, and CVBs are benefiting from HeBS Digital’s direct online channel strategy and digital marketing expertise. Contact HeBS Digital’s consultants at (212) 752-8186 or success@hebsdigital.com.

Since its launch in early 2010, Pinterest has experienced tremendous growth. Now with over 30 million unique monthly visitors, the internet’s virtual pin board has become the third largest social networking site behind Facebook and Twitter. Given its high traffic volume and creative potential, many travel and hospitality brands have made the foray into making Pinterest a part of their online marketing strategies. With the launch of new features and tools such as business accounts, Pinterest Web Analytics, and a site redesign, Pinterest has also evolved to become a more efficient and effective marketing tool for hoteliers.

In order to leverage these new developments, hoteliers must understand what the changes are and how they benefit both brands and travel consumers. Only then can they start taking full advantage of Pinterest as a component of the overall digital marketing strategy. Read on to learn about the recent changes and find out how to use this social network to reach more potential guests and generate leads.

1. Pinterest Business Accounts: Late last year, Pinterest started allowing brands to create business accounts or convert existing user accounts. While personal pages and business pages look the same, this new option is an improvement as businesses can now set up their account with their business name instead of a first and last name. All hoteliers should complete this process to access other features and tools developed for businesses.

2. Pinterest Website Verification: In addition to linking to the hotel website, hoteliers can also verify their website with Pinterest. By doing so, the full website URL will be displayed on the business’ profile page and in search results with a check mark next to it. This feature further creates an official brand presence and encourages users to click and visit the website. You can verify your website by uploading an HTML file created by Pinterest to your web server or adding a meta tag from Pinterest to your website.

3. Pinterest Buttons and Widgets: To encourage your site visitors to view and engage with your Pinterest profile, implement the Pin It and Follow button to your website. More recently, Pinterest added Profile and Board widgets which you can embed on your site to display 30 of your latest pins or pins from a specific board. For example, hoteliers can create a pin board highlighting local attractions and embed a Board widget showcasing this pin board on the “Area Attractions” page.

4. Pinterest Web Analytics: Free and user-friendly, Pinterest’s analytics tool allows hoteliers to gain insight into how much engagement they receive on Pinterest, which content users find most interesting, and how many website referrals came from Pinterest. Metrics provided include pins, repins, impressions, reach, and clicks. Now hoteliers can determine, for instance, if more site visitors are pinning photos of their spa amenities or wedding venues, and provide more rich imagery targeting their customer segment’s interests.Pinterest Web Analytics currently only provide information about your content and only for sites that are verified. Furthermore, the available data only goes back as far as November 2012 when site verification was introduced or from the date you verify your website. Therefore, it is essential to verify your site on Pinterest as soon as possible and encourage users to pin images from your site. Also, in order to access Pinterest Web Analytics, users must switch to the new look.

5. Pinterest’s New Look: While the latest redesign retains the same general layout, pins are now larger and the navigation pane is now located in the upper left-hand corner of the site. The biggest change comes with the new close-up view of individual pins. When users click to view a pin, they will also see pins from the same pin board and pins sourced from the same website. Below, users will be served pins from other users who also pinned the image. This new feature makes it easier to find new related content. For example, a user looking at a pin of a dish offered at your restaurant can now see at a glance:

• pins of other dishes featured within the same pin board
• other hotel images that users pinned from your website
• images pinned by users who were also interested in the dish

Pinterest’s new redesign places content discovery at the forefront of a more streamlined user experience. Not only does this keep users engaged, but it increases the chances that they will see and engage with your content.

How can hoteliers leverage Pinterest’s new features and tools?

• Optimize your profile. Create a Pinterest business account or convert your existing user account if you haven’t already done so. Also, set the hotel logo as your profile picture, compose a compelling and keyword-optimized profile description, and link your Pinterest account with your Facebook and Twitter accounts. Remember to complete the website verification process as well. These steps will help you create a more official Pinterest presence while building brand awareness and driving traffic to your owned media.
•  Promote your presence. Add the Pin It button to each of your website’s pages and implement the Follow button to encourage site visitors to pin your images and view your Pinterest profile for informative, creative, and inspiring content. Consider adding the Profile or Board widget to give visitors a sneak peek and further incentivize engagement that promotes viral awareness among other potential guests. Furthermore, promote your Pinterest content through other social media and marketing channels when appropriate.
•  Do your research. Use Pinterest Web Analytics for valuable insight such as what type of content is most popular and which days of the week your content receives the most engagement. In addition, utilize the “related pins” portion of the new close-up view to gain a better understanding of your target audience’s interests, and adjust your content strategy accordingly.
•  Provide value and drive engagement. With Pinterest, the goal is to curate useful, share-worthy content that contributes to the growth of your online community and ultimately generates business leads. When creating themed pin boards and Pinterest contests, keep in mind what value it will provide for your target audience. For example, if your hotel is a popular venue for summer weddings, create a pin board highlighting wedding décor ideas inspired by summer. Always optimize your pin boards and pins with relevant keywords and a link to a related page on your website. Not only will this deliver SEO benefits, but it will also help your customer segments discover your content on Pinterest and your hotel website.

From the launch of business accounts to analytics and a site redesign, there is no doubt that Pinterest is making strides towards enhancing its value for users and brands alike. As this emerging platform continues to grow and evolve to provide a better user experience and greater marketing potential, hoteliers should leverage new developments while staying aware of new paid media opportunities. Today, Pinterest is much more than a virtual pin board. It’s a creative outlet, a recommendation tool, and a strategic customer segment research and engagement platform that can help set a hotel apart from its competitors when strategically integrated into the online marketing mix.

About the Author and HeBS Digital

Victoria Hsia is Interactive Media Marketing Specialist at HeBS Digital, the hospitality industry’s leading full-service digital technology and marketing firm based in New York City (www.HeBSdigital.com).

HeBS Digital has pioneered many of the best practices in hotel digital technology and marketing, and direct online channel best practices and strategies. The firm has won over 250 prestigious industry awards for its digital marketing and website design services, including numerous Adrian Awards, Davey Awards, W3 Awards, WebAwards, Magellan Awards, Summit International Awards, Interactive Media Awards, IAC Awards, etc.

A diverse client portfolio of top-tier major hotel brands, luxury and boutique hotel brands, resorts and casinos, hotel management companies, franchisees and independents, and CVBs are benefiting from HeBS Digital’s direct online channel strategy and digital marketing expertise. Contact HeBS Digital’s consultants at (212) 752-8186 or success@hebsdigital.com.

Tablet users require deep, visually enhanced content about the property and its destination. A well-structured, highly visual hotel tablet-optimized website can generate conversion rates several times higher than those of mobile devices. During the panel, Starkov will provide attendees with a concrete action plan on how to generate revenue by catering to travel consumers on tablet devices.

“We are excited to have Max join this year’s conference agenda because of the high level of expertise he is bringing to the panel” said Tim Gunstone, EyeforTravel’s Managing Director. “I am looking forward to Max sharing the latest trends and best practices regarding tablet website design and digital marketing, as these are hot topics on which hoteliers and travel marketers need concrete advice on how to handle today.”

Starkov will discuss these exciting topics:

• Tablet usage in Europe is on the up – and they are not just being used by the luxury travel consumer.  As new, more affordable devices enter the market, understand how the tablet is influencing the way your customer accesses your brand.

• Tablet user demographics, along with detailed information on how tablets are being used throughout the stages of the travel buying cycle.

According to Starkov, President & CEO of HeBS Digital, “The ongoing shift from desktop to mobile and tablet devices has created a sense of urgency to improve the hotel’s presence on these devices. In Q1 2013, compared to Q1 2012, tablet revenue almost doubled (+95%) across HeBS Digital’s hotel client portfolio. Hoteliers need to cater to travel consumers that are researching and booking travel on tablet devices, and I am looking forward to providing attendees with guidance on exactly how to do that.”

While tablet users require touch-screen navigation required by tablet devices along with high-res photography and a highly visual presentation of the property, what do desktop and mobile users need? How do you address the three-screen challenge? Starkov addresses these questions and more in the article “Three devices, three screens: why one site cannot fit all.”

NOTE: Exclusive to HeBS Digital clients, partners and HeBS Digital Report subscribers – use discount code TDS15 to receive 15% off usual rates to attend EyeforTravel’s Travel Distribution Summit! You can access secure registration here: https://secure.eyefortravel.com/travel-distribution-summit-europe/register.php.

For a full outline of the conference, including a complete list of speakers, visit the conference’s website.

About HeBS Digital:

Founded in 2001, HeBS Digital is the industry’s leading full-service hotel digital marketing, website design and direct online channel strategy firm based in New York City (www.hebsdigital.com). HeBS Digital has pioneered many of the “best practices” in hotel digital marketing, social and mobile marketing, and direct online channel distribution.

The firm has won over 250 prestigious industry awards for its digital marketing and website design services, including numerous Adrian Awards, Davey Awards, W3 Awards, WebAwards, Magellan Awards, Summit International Awards, Interactive Media Awards, and IAC Awards.

A diverse client portfolio of top tier major hotel brands, luxury and boutique hotel brands, resorts and casinos, hotel management companies, franchisees and independents, and CVBs are profiting from HeBS Digital’s hospitality digital marketing expertise. Contact HeBS Digital’s consultants at (212) 752-8186 or success@hebsdigital.com.

Editorial Contact:

Mariana Mechoso Safer
HeBS Digital
Phone: 702-463-1857
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There are a number of digital marketing initiatives that generate direct bookings, incremental revenues and high ROIs to the direct online channel such as SEO, SEM, email marketing and online media. Over the past few years several new revenue-generating digital marketing initiatives have emerged that, until recently, were only available to OTAs and major hotel brands. Requiring sophisticated CRS access, advertising middleware technology, and out-of-range minimum monthly spends, these initiatives have traditionally been inaccessible to independent properties, smaller and mid-size hotel and resort brands, and casinos.

One such revenue-generating opportunity is the Google Hotel Price Ads (HPA) program, comprised of sponsored price listings that appear throughout the Google universe: from Google Hotel Finder to Google+ Local (formerly Google Places), Google Maps, and the traditional search engine results pages (SERPs). These ads feature drop-down pricing menus that allow users to comparison shop by price; each listing features four vendors and their nightly rate.  Every click on an ad in the pricing menu results in a lead-generating fee paid by the advertiser in the form of CPC (cost-per-click), which varies based on how much the advertiser is willing to pay for the lead.

Google HPA works only if there is:

• A real-time inventory availability and pricing feed structured specifically to Google HPA requirements
• A dedicated advertising budget
• Advertising middleware to:
  • Structure and translate the inventory availability and feed into “Google speak”
  • Manage daily and monthly budgets per property, campaigns and bids
  • Track conversions
  • Provide alerts and reporting

Google HPA is not a distribution channel, nor is it a “set and forget” initiative – it requires daily bid and ad spend management and optimization. It is part of a new digital advertising trend in the industry: convergence of hotel online distribution and hotel online marketing. This convergence requires hoteliers to have access to a sophisticated advertising middleware.

The HeBS Digital CPC Gateway is one such advertising middleware available to hoteliers today. Google’s availability and pricing feed is less than five percent of the complexity of this new “hybrid” advertising model. The most complex part is the advertising middleware needed to manage ad spend and budget on a daily and monthly and on a per property basis; real-time CPC bid management; campaign monitoring and ongoing optimizations; reporting and billing on property level.

In addition to Google HPA, this new CPC ad format is being used by Kayak.com, the new TripAdvisor Meta Search, Trivago, etc.

Google HPA was originally tested with and available only to OTAs, giving them an unfair advantage over the hotels. Later many major hotel brands joined the program, though, due to technology deficiencies and lack of sophisticated advertising middleware, the major brands are being outsmarted by the OTAs. In over 60%-70% of cases their ads are not being shown on the pricing menus (HeBS Digital Research).

Hotel price ads are served primarily at the local content and search level, where the hotel property business profile resides (Google+ Local, Google Maps, etc.). According to top Google executives, “the HPA was conceptualized for independent hotels and for property-level marketing efforts;” however, independent hotels have been largely excluded from the Google HPA program until now.

The Good News:  Google HPA is Now Available to Any Independent Hotel, Resort, and Casino

For the past 18 months, HeBS Digital has worked with Google’s engineers to develop the CPC Gateway, designed to level the playing field between OTAs and hoteliers. The proprietary CPC Gateway connects hoteliers’ inventory and pricing to Google’s system, enabling any hotel or group of hotels to become part of the Google HPA program at an affordable monthly rate. Participation in the Google HPA program brings in much-needed incremental revenue through the direct online channel and shifts bookings from the OTAs to the hotel website.

How does it work? Properties set up a monthly ad budget of as low as $250 per month and pay a click fee (CPC) for any direct lead. The bids vary from as low as $.20 to as high as $5 based on the competition in the hotel’s destination.  To date, we have observed an average CPC of $1-$2.

Once an advertiser is selected from the drop-down pricing menu, the user is directed to the hotel’s booking engine/CRS to complete the booking. HeBS Digital’s marketing team uses the proprietary CPC Gateway to manage the property’s daily and monthly budget and to optimize the property bids and campaigns in real-time.

Each pricing ad menu contains four spots organized by rate, lowest to highest. As long as two advertisers are offering the same price, bidding can increase their position. However, a lower price would typically be displayed above a higher rate, providing additional incentive for hotels to always operate in strict rate parity with the OTAs. For example, if two advertisers have the same rate of $100/night, their position will be determined by the higher bid. If one advertiser is offering a rate of $90/night and the other is offering $100/night, the advertiser offering $90 will be listed above the other advertiser.

Case Study: Is the Google HPA Program a Viable Revenue-Generating Ad Format?

Our experience over the past 18 months clearly indicates that the Google HPA program is a must-have for any independent hotel, resort or casino as part of the property’s comprehensive multi-channel digital marketing efforts to shift share from the OTAs to the hotel website.

In the case study below, we have reviewed the results for a number of 4- and 5-star properties that have been part of the Google HPA program. These hotel clients, located across the country, were among the first to take advantage of this new CPC ad format and increase their presence throughout the Google network. Here is a snapshot of the Google HPA cost, revenue and return-on-ad-spend (ROAS):

True ROAS takes into account the savings the property enjoyed by not having to pay commission to the OTAs. Remember, any direct booking for your hotel via the Google HPA program is one less booking from the OTAs.

Across the HeBS Digital hotel portfolio, participating hotels typically generate an average ROAS of 900% to 1200%. In addition, our analysis shows that participation in the Google HPA program generates on average 3 times more conversions than a traditional lead from Google paid search (AdWords).

Conclusion

Luckily for independent hotels, resorts and casinos, smaller and mid-size hotel brands, there are new digital technology solutions that allow hoteliers to participate in a suite of important revenue-generating programs such as the Google HPA program. In our view, Google’s HPA program is a must-have digital marketing initiative for any property that provides incremental revenue at a very acceptable ROAS. Hoteliers should budget for this new marketing opportunity to generate direct bookings and protect their hotel’s presence on Google from being hijacked by the OTAs.

Partner with our digital technology and marketing firm to see how you can get started with the Google HPA program. HeBS Digital goes above and beyond to deliver ROI on every dollar and focuses on new initiatives such as Google HPA that generate incremental revenue and shifts market share from the OTAs to the hotel website.

About the Authors and HeBS Digital

Sue Wiker and Sara O’Brien are managers at HeBS Digital, the hospitality industry’s leading full-service digital technology and marketing firm based in New York City (www.HeBSdigital.com).

HeBS Digital has pioneered many of the best practices in hotel digital technology and marketing, and direct online channel best practices and strategies. The firm has won over 250 prestigious industry awards for its digital marketing and website design services, including numerous Adrian Awards, Davey Awards, W3 Awards, WebAwards, Magellan Awards, Summit International Awards, Interactive Media Awards, IAC Awards, etc.

A diverse client portfolio of top-tier major hotel brands, luxury and boutique hotel brands, resorts and casinos, hotel management companies, franchisees and independents, and CVBs are benefiting from HeBS Digital’s direct online channel strategy and digital marketing expertise. Contact HeBS Digital’s consultants at (212) 752-8186 or success@hebsdigital.com.

Last year, Expedia introduced the Expedia Traveler Preference (ETP) Program to the U.S. market, a classic “agency” distribution model and a stark departure from the traditional OTA merchant model. With ETP, travel consumers book on Expedia and pay when they arrive at the hotel. The hotel then pays Expedia the contracted commission.

The ETP is the U.S. reincarnation of a similar program Expedia has been running in Europe for at least three years: The Expedia Easy Manage Program, which has more than 15,000 participating European hotels. Expedia was forced to introduce this program to the U.S. to better compete with Booking.com’s agency model after the aggressive introduction of Booking.com to the U.S. market, and as a result of tremendous pressure by the major hotel brands.

Independent hotels are particularly OTA-dependent. On average, more than 42% of roomnights for independent hotels are reserved via the online channel. Unfortunately, only 24% of these roomnights come via the hotel website, while more than 76% percent are made through OTAs (STR, HSMAI Foundation).

The industry has detested the OTA merchant model since its very beginning back in 1995 (remember HotelDiscounts.com, the precursor to Hotels.com?). Though the adoption of the agency model, including the ETP Program, is a very positive development for the industry and a step towards a more palatable agency model becoming the dominant format of the OTA/hotelier relationship, hoteliers have an uphill battle in front of them in terms of decreasing their dependency on the OTA channel.

2013 Will Be the Year of Realizing the Extent of the Pain Caused by the OTAs

This year, painful commission checks due to Expedia’s ETP agency model have started flying out the door, and hoteliers are seeing for the first time the true financial ramifications of their dependency on the OTA channel. In the past, operating under the merchant model, Expedia deducted its hefty merchant commission (average of 25% for independent hotels) and hoteliers received the net from any OTA booked revenue. These net OTA revenues lowered the overall ADRs at the property but did not appear as an expense item in the property P&L.

Under the new ETP agency model, hotels are now cutting highly-visible commission checks which are classified as distribution costs in the same manner as third-party booking engine fees, GDS fees and traditional travel agency commissions.

Think about this. For a typical boutique hotel in a major metro area with 150 rooms, an ADR of $150 and occupancy of 70%, the number of OTA bookings could exceed 6,200 per year, and the commission checks to the OTAs could easily exceed $500,000 per year. This cash outflow affects the bottom line in a very negative way.

Just compare the above scenario to the savings that come from the direct online channel, i.e., bookings via the hotel website. At an average cost of $11.85 per booking (the average cost per booking across HeBS Digital’s hotel client portfolio), these same 6,200 bookings would cost $73,470 – a direct contribution to the property’s bottom line of $426,530.

The industry is feeling the pain from OTA dependency now more than ever and hotel owners, managers and franchisees are urgently trying to devise ways to lessen their exposure to the OTA channel.

 Now more than ever, the main focus and priority for any hotelier should be to sell as much inventory via the hotel website as possible. The hotel website is the most cost-effective distribution channel that also preserves rate parity and price erosion.

How Can Hoteliers Shift Share From the OTAs to the Property Website?

Here at HeBS Digital, we have been helping hoteliers drive revenues through the direct online channel since the firm’s inception in 2001, and educating hoteliers on how to use the OTAs only as part of a balanced distribution strategy. Here are several strategies and action steps to help achieve OTA independence, which we define in two distinct categories: Business-Level and Digital Technology + Marketing-Level initiatives

1. Business-Level Initiatives

Maintain Market Parity

Though not a widely used industry term, “market parity” refers to not only maintaining adequate market rate compared to the property’s comp set – not above or below the comp set’s ADRs for any given time period – it also means matching and even doing a better job than the competition as far as value-ad, innovative and appealing promotions, packages and special offers are concerned.

Hoteliers must be more innovative with their special offers and come up with value-added promotions that bundle the “naked” hotel rate with F&B credits, parking garage credits, event and entertainment tickets, etc. The point here is to create unique and enticing offers, packages and promotions for the hotel website and market those via the direct online channel in a multi-channel campaign fashion. Over time, this approach will convince travel consumers that the hotel website is the one and only source of intriguing and meaningful hotel offers and it will become the preferred choice for booking the hotel.

Example: If a competitor offers a $150 weekend rate, along with a “$1 Breakfast Promotion” at this rate, merely matching the $150 rate isn’t good enough. Your rate does not provide the same value as the competition. Or if your rates are comparable to your competitor’s as per the latest business intelligence report, but your competitor has a “Stay 2 Nights, Get the Third Night Free” promotion, then your offer is still not good enough.

The availability of appealing packages and promotions on the hotel website and the marketing of these offers via every single “tool” in the property’s marketing toolbox are part of best practices in hotel distribution. There’s no doubt that great offers, intriguing packages and special promotions increase the number of rooms sold. A hotel will see an immediate increase in direct bookings if there are more appealing offers and better promotions compared to previous periods.

Any hotel promotion or special offer should be marketed via a comprehensive multi-channel marketing approach that includes the desktop, mobile and tablet websites, email marketing, SEO, SEM, social media, and online media.

Maintain Strict Rate Parity

A principle once considered elementary now merits a reminder: All hotels must maintain their best available rates and last-room availability on their own websites, including desktop, mobile and tablet websites!

Unfortunately, this is not the case, even in 2013. In the U.S. for the period February-April 2013:

• 67%-88% of 3-star hotels were cheaper on OTA sites
• 65-98% of 4-star hotels were cheaper on OTA sites
• 60%-79% of 5-star hotels were cheaper on OTA sites

(RateGain)

A thorough rate parity strategy, including a Best Rate Guarantee (BRG) and easy-to-use BRG Claim Form, will encourage consumers to book direct. Many travel consumer surveys categorically show that the vast majority of travelers prefer to book and deal with the hotel directly, provided that rates and ease-of-booking are comparable between the hotel website and the OTAs. In addition, travelers know that all special requests (such as ADA rooms, higher floor, ocean view, etc.) must be confirmed by the hotel.

Hoteliers, remind your friends (not your competitors): All publically available rates, including 24-hour sales with OTAs and flash sales, must be available on the hotel website within its online booking engine. The mobile channel is not exempt, and must be treated as an official rate parity gatekeeper.

For example, if the hotel needs help from the OTAs and decides to have a 24-hour sale on Expedia, the property should simultaneously launch a multi-channel digital marketing campaign promoting the same 24-hour sale via the direct online channel, including:

• Promo slide on the Home Page promoting the 24-hour sale
• Landing page with SEO content about the 24-hour sale
• Travel consumer deal alert via online newswire services
• Paid search (SEM) campaign on Google, Bing, Yahoo
• TripAdvisor CPC and Business Listing Offer Campaign
• Email marketing to the hotel’s opt-in list
• Social media postings on the property’s Facebook, Twitter and Google+ profiles
• Online media campaign (Google Display Network, TripAdvisor Banner Advertising, Adara Media, etc.)

Use the OTA channel carefully, and only within need periods: weekends, group cancelations, low season, etc., and not as a replacement for or an alternative to the direct online channel. Any sale or promotion via an OTA should be used only as a last resource and should be equally promoted via the hotel website and supported with marketing initiatives (SEM, email, mobile, social).

It is worth a reminder here that participating in daily deal/flash sales sites like Living Social and Expedia Getaways, or offering last-minute discounts via HotelTonight.com or the OTAs, is against best practices.

Allocate Sufficient Marketing Funds

The age-old question of how much should be allocated to the property’s sales and marketing efforts has always been a point of contention between owners and managers. The optimum levels vary vastly between branded and independent hotels. We have heard questions ranging from “Why would we spend money at all?” coming primarily from branded properties to “Why spend marketing dollars now after we re-designed our property website?” asked by some independent and branded properties alike.

Last year, branded hotels received 38.7% of roomnights via the online channel. Nearly 68% of those came from brand.com sites, while 32% came from the OTAs (TravelClick NADR, 2013). Compared to independent hotels, the direct online channel contribution was significantly larger. Why is there such a significant difference between branded and independent properties?

• Branded hotels benefit from decades of investments in brand-building efforts by the major hotel brands.
• More than 50% of guests at Marriott, Hilton, and Starwood properties are members of the respective brand loyalty program.
• The major brands are spending millions of dollars in brand-related marketing campaigns: from online media to TV and print.
• All the major brands are running performance-based SEM and CPC campaigns (i.e. 8.5%-11% commissions paid by the branded properties to the major brands): Google, Bing/Yahoo, TripAdvisor CPC, Google Hotel Finder, Kayak.com CPC, etc.
• All of the above is not “free” advertising for the branded property: it comes from the hefty franchisees fees (9%-12%) as well as additional marketing and loyalty program fees + commissions for the performance-based campaigns.

Think about what percentage of room revenue goes to all of the above? 10%? 12%? 14%?

So why are independent hotels overly exposed on the OTA channel? Why do 76% of roomnights booked online in this sector come from the OTAs and only 24% from the properties’ own websites? Here are just a few reasons why:

• Independents do not enjoy brand recognition at the level branded properties do.
• Independents do not have appealing and meaningful loyalty programs.
• Independents are “afraid” to invest in the online channel: from websites to digital marketing technologies to online media spend.

How much should independents spend on sales and marketing initiatives? Unlike the retail industry, where unwritten laws mandate 10%-12% from retail sales must go to sales and marketing, such rules do not exist in the hospitality industry. Different hotel management companies and resort operators have developed their own formulas, varying from 4% to as high as 8% of room revenue.

In my view, independents should allocate a minimum of 4%-6% of room revenue for the property’s marketing + advertising budget. Here is a very simple approach already used by some hotel management companies and resort operators to defend budgets in front of ownership:

1. Calculate all of the fees you would pay per year if you were a branded hotel (let’s assume 10% from room revenue).
2. Calculate all of the OTA commissions you would pay per year.
3. Calculate the marketing + advertising budget based on 4% to 6% from room revenue per year.
4. Compare items 1 and 2 from above to the proposed marketing + advertising budget.
5. Adjust as needed.

What about branded hotels? Branded and franchised hotels that are over-reliant on their brands’ online marketing efforts are missing serious incremental online revenues from local, state and regional initiatives. For example, HeBS Digital has a number of very proactive franchised hotel clients which are consistently enjoying higher revenues from their vanity websites than from Brand.com sites. Branded hotels should allocate sufficient funds in the property budget to take advantage of initiatives the major brands are not good at or not focused enough on: leisure travel, weekend travel, family travel, small and midsize corporate meetings, SMERFs and in-state and regional group travel, social events and weddings.

As to what percentage of the overall sales and marketing budget should be spent online, the answer is very simple: Spend where the vast majority of your potential customers are – online. Starwood announced last year they would be spending 75% of their marketing and advertising on digital marketing initiatives.

Launch a Property-Wide “Book Direct” Action Plan

Any dramatic shift in market share from the OTAs to the hotel website cannot succeed without a) developing and implementing a property-level direct online channel action plan, and b) educating your property staff and then embracing this “Book Direct” action plan.

Here are a few courses of action our clients have had success utilizing:

a)      On the Hotel Website:

• Adopt a Best Rate Guarantee on the hotel website.
• Adopt a “Book Direct with Confidence” marketing message on the property website and create a promo tile and content landing pages, including “Why Book on our Website?,” “Best Rate Guarantee,” “Privacy Policy and Site Security on our Website,” and so on.
• Create a well-presented and appealing Reward Program and promote via the property website. Even the smallest property should have a frequent stay reward program or guest appreciation program in place. This program should reward guests for their loyalty with complimentary Wi-Fi, room upgrades or free breakfast.
• Feature the Best Rate Guarantee and “Guest Appreciation Program” message in all print advertising, brochures and email marketing initiatives.

b)      At the property:

• Front Desk: there should be a highly visible decal at the hotel front desk promoting booking via the brand website, the Best Rate Guarantee and the Reward Program.
• “Thank you for staying with us” letter from the GM: Upon check-in, all guests with reservations from OTAs should be handed a letter from the GM of the hotel, recommending the guest book their next stay on the property website and offering a 10% “customer appreciation” discount if they do so (via a special rate code).
• “Hope to See You Soon” card: Upon check out, guests with reservations from the OTAs should be handed a card from the GM, thanking them for their stay at the hotel and recommending they book their next stay on the property website.
• Create an email list of all guests with OTA reservations. On a monthly basis the property should send out a custom email promoting the property’s latest special offers and packages, events and happenings, as well as offering a “Book Direct” discount for booking the next stay via the hotel website.

Employee education is extremely important for a “Book Direct” action plan to succeed. Every hotel employee should be encouraged to visit and become familiar with the various incentives offered by the property for booking directly via the hotel website. Each employee should know the ins and outs of the property’s Best Rate Guarantee, Reward Program, or Guest Appreciation Program.

2. Digital Technology + Marketing Initiatives

Upgrade Your Website to 2013 Standards:

Many hoteliers are mistakenly led to believe that not investing in their property’s website re-design or optimization will save money. Wrong! Not investing in your website will cause you to lose money and severely damage the hotel’s bottom line.

First and foremost, your website must be “in good health” in order to comply with 2013 best practices and website technology requirements. The ongoing Google Panda algorithm updates have made many old hotel websites completely obsolete and have generally raised the bar for new hotel websites, demanding a new type of website technology and architecture, faster download speeds, and website copy that is not only deep and relevant, but also unique and engaging.

In 12 short months, the ongoing shift from desktop to mobile and tablet devices has created a sense of urgency to improve the hotel’s presence on these devices. In Q1 2013, compared to Q1 2012, website revenue from mobile devices increased by 58%, while tablet revenue almost doubled (+95%) across HeBS Digital’s hotel client portfolio. During the same period, desktop website revenue dipped by 5.1%.

Remember, the majority of “mobile” bookings, room nights and revenue are generated by tablet devices such as the iPad, Samsung Galaxy and Google Nexus; not by “pure” mobile devices like the iPhone, Android and Windows Mobile-based smartphones. Across HeBS Digital’s hotel client portfolio, tablets generate 200% more room nights and 430% more revenue than “pure” mobile devices.

Google expects significant increases in hotel related searches from mobile and tablet devices in 2013:

Begin by treating the desktop, mobile and tablet as three separate channels. Internet users exhibit different behavioral patterns when browsing the Internet and the desktop website, mobile and tablet devices address different needs at different times of the day and week. It is obvious why specialized content is needed for each device:

• Desktop users need as much information as possible, including a minimum of 25-50 content pages per property and another 50-100 specialized marketing and landing pages featuring special packages, promotions, and events. Desktop users also place high value on visual galleries with photos and videos.  

• The on-the-go mobile user requires short, slimmed-down content with an emphasis on maps and directions, an easy to use mobile booking engine, and a click-to-call property reservation number. 

• Tablet users require deep, visually enhanced content about the property and its destination. A well-structured, highly visual hotel tablet-optimized website can generate conversion rates several times higher than those of mobile devices.

Second, hoteliers need to upgrade their property website technology to the next generation of Content Management System (CMS) to enable:

• Management of desktop, mobile and tablet website content (copy, photos, special offers, events and happenings) via a centralized dashboard.
• Responsive Design on the Server Side (RESS), which employs device-specific modifications to CSS and Java Script to present a customized desktop, mobile and tablet “front end” of the website, while utilizing the content from the central CMS on the back end.

Third, all three channels must be integrated within the hotel’s multi-channel marketing strategy. Use analytics such as Adobe Omniture SiteCatalyst and Google Analytics to determine contributions from and the dynamics of each of the three channels.

Launch Multi-Channel Digital Marketing Campaigns

In digital marketing, the whole is always bigger than the sum of its parts. Any hotel promotion or package or special offer must be promoted via a multi-channel marketing campaign using all digital marketing tools in the direct online channel “toolbox.”

We live in a multi-channel marketing environment. We are dealing with increasingly hyper-interactive travel consumers who switch channels on an hourly basis (desktop during the day; mobile device during lunch break and after work hours; a tablet when lounging in front of the TV in the evening).

Multi-channel marketing campaigns are the most effective way to address the property’s business needs, increase reach, and boost bookings and revenue for a need period due to seasonality or group cancelations, weekend vs. weekday occupancy issues, as well as needs related to any key customer segment: meeting planners, wedding planners, leisure travel, corporate travelers, etc.

Multi-channel marketing is the foundation for a smart direct online channel strategy. In this environment, the hotel website, SEM campaigns, email marketing, social media presence, mobile, etc. have a symbiotic relationship. For example, if you launch a website promotion, you should also send an email to the hotel’s opt-in list, announce it on Twitter and Facebook, launch a paid search campaign and publish a blog posting via the hotel blog.

Case Study:

A “Black Friday” Multi-Channel Campaign for a Resort Company.

Every year HeBS Digital works with a resort client to launch a Black Friday campaign to generate interest and stimulate bookings in what is traditionally the slowest booking period of the year. We build an interactive microsite and a contest to be the centerpiece of the Black Friday campaign, and launch a multi-channel campaign to reach consumers at every touch point.

Results:

• Overall ROI: 1,606%
• Increase in Revenue YOY: 66%
• New Email Subscribers: 936
• New Mobile Numbers: 189
• New Facebook Fans: 738
• New Twitter Followers: 64
• New Google +1’s: 52
• New Pinterest Followers: 36 

Conclusion

The agency model adopted by Expedia and other OTAs plus the aggressive introduction to the U.S. market of Booking.com and its agency model, made the hospitality industry’s overdependence on the OTA channel painfully visible.  It is time for the industry to fight back and shift share from the OTAs to the direct online channel i.e. to the hotel website. Not investing in your direct online channel will severely damage the hotel’s bottom line.

There are several strategies and action steps to help the hotel achieve OTA independence, which we define in two distinct categories:

• Business- Level Initiatives, including the need to maintain strict market parity and rate parity, adopting a rigorous “Book Direct” Action Plan at the property, as well as allocating sufficient marketing funds, and…
• Digital Technology + Marketing-Level initiatives, including investments in digital content, website design and CMS technology, as well as launching multi-channel digital marketing campaigns to tackle occupancy and business needs.

Partner with a digital marketing firm that tackles its clients’ challenges and celebrates successes as if they were their own. A firm that goes above and beyond to deliver ROI on every dollar, focuses on initiatives that drive ROI, and helps hoteliers transform their Internet presence into their hotel’s most effective distribution channel. 

About the Author and HeBS Digital

Max Starkov is President & CEO of HeBS Digital, the hospitality industry’s leading full-service digital marketing and direct online channel strategy firm based in New York City (www.HeBSdigital.com).

HeBS Digital has pioneered many of the best practices in hotel Internet marketing, social and mobile marketing, and direct online channel distribution. The firm has won over 250 prestigious industry awards for its digital marketing and website design services, including numerous Adrian Awards, Davey Awards, W3 Awards, WebAwards, Magellan Awards, Summit International Awards, Interactive Media Awards, IAC Awards, etc.

A diverse client portfolio of top-tier major hotel brands, luxury and boutique hotel brands, resorts and casinos, hotel management companies, franchisees and independents, and CVBs are benefiting from HeBS Digital’s direct online channel strategy and digital marketing expertise. Contact HeBS Digital’s consultants at (212) 752-8186 or success@hebsdigital.com.

HeBS Digital, the industry leader in hotel digital marketing services, website design and direct online channel strategies, was the proud recipient of four Internet Advertising Competition (IAC) awards. The agency took home awards for “Best Hotel and Lodging Interactive Application,” “Best Hotel and Lodging Online Ad,” “Best Hotel and Lodging Email Message,” and “Outstanding Website.”

HeBS Digital received the following IAC Awards, including three ‘Best of Industry’ awards:

BEST HOTEL AND LODGING INTERACTIVE APPLICATION
Shell Vacations Black Friday Travel Sale

BEST HOTEL AND LODGING ONLINE AD
Lake Lanier Family Getaway Banners

BEST HOTEL AND LODGING EMAIL MESSAGE
Yotel New York Holiday Emailer

OUTSTANDING WEBSITE
Loews Hotels Cyber Monday Sale

“HeBS Digital knows how to create multichannel marketing campaigns that simply work,” said Max Starkov, President & CEO of HeBS Digital. “We do this by utilizing our proprietary digital technologies, in-house creative talent, and by planning campaigns that are ROI-centric, focus on driving direct bookings, and target our clients’ concrete business needs and goals. Each of these award entries has something in common – they produced incremental revenues and record-breaking ROIs.”

“Having partnered with HeBS Digital for many years, we have come to trust their recommendations when it comes to our website and digital marketing campaigns” said Stephanie Orr, Director of Sales & Marketing at Lake Lanier Islands Resort. “HeBS Digital knows how important families are to our resort, and they built an entire campaign around targeting this market. The banner ads were a big part of this campaign – and we can see that they are really working!”

The Internet Advertising Competition (IAC) Awards are presented by the Web Marketing Association to honor excellence in online advertising, to recognize the individuals and organizations responsible, and to showcase award-winning Internet advertising. Ninety-six industries are represented in nine online formats, which includes: social media, online advertising, video, mobile, email, and newsletter awards.

The Internet Advertising Competition (IAC) Awards are presented by the Web Marketing Association to honor excellence in online advertising, to recognize the individuals and organizations responsible, and to showcase award-winning Internet advertising. Ninety-six industries are represented in nine online formats, which includes: social media, online advertising, video, mobile, email, and newsletter awards.

About HeBS Digital:

Founded in 2001, HeBS Digital is the industry’s leading full-service hotel digital marketing, website design and direct online channel strategy firm based in New York City (www.hebsdigital.com).

HeBS Digital has pioneered many of the “best practices” in hotel digital marketing, social and mobile marketing, and direct online channel distribution. The firm has won over 250 prestigious industry awards for its digital marketing and website design services, including numerous Adrian Awards, Davey Awards, W3 Awards, WebAwards, Magellan Awards, Summit International Awards, Interactive Media Awards, and IAC Awards.

A diverse client portfolio of top tier major hotel brands, luxury and boutique hotel brands, resorts and casinos, hotel management companies, franchisees and independents, and CVBs are profiting from HeBS Digital’s hospitality digital marketing expertise. Contact HeBS Digital’s consultants at (212) 752-8186 or success@hebsdigital.com.

About International Advertising Competition:

The International Advertising Competition (IAC) awards companies and individuals for outstanding work in online media. Each year the IAC receives thousands of submissions in over 96 industries, all competing for recognition in nine categories. The contest is run by the Web Marketing Association (WMA) and was founded in 1999 after the WMA identified a need for celebrating achievement in online media. Learn more at www.iacaward.org.

Editorial Contact:

Mariana Mechoso Safer
HeBS Digital
Phone: 212-752-8186
Email: mariana@hebsdigital.com
Web: http://www.hebsdigital.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/hebsdigital
Twitter: https://twitter.com/HeBS_NYC
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/hebs-digital

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