Television, Ccharmon. Flickr.

We’re living at a time when technology is advancing in giant steps, in which changes in technology services available to users are measured not in years but in months.

The appearance of personal computers and subsequent growth of smartphones have overshadowed a device that has been present in our lives for many years – the television. Rather than fall into oblivion like some old-fashioned gadget, it has had to reinvent itself in the guise of Smart TV, a concept that is expected to take hold in 2013.

Smart TV is a new concept in television that seeks to join what’s good about television with what’s good about the Internet, reinforcing the idea with the social networks as the central player. The idea is to strengthen social television, an area that definitely interests the hotel sector for the opportunities that it opens up in television publicity, especially since a connection already exists with an even wider number of people – television consumers.

This kind of electronic device is experiencing a constant increase in sales; in fact, Smart TV users have grown to 11% in countries like the U.S. and U.K., and in the U.S. 45% of consumers are expected have a Smart TV by the end of 2013.

The reasons behind the consumer’s decision to opt for this product can be seen in the following points, where we will see why it can be a successful avenue for hotel marketing.

1. Multidisciplinary medium. One cannot only see hotel publicity on television, but the user can also interact, looking closely at offers and commenting on them in the social networks…
2. Distribution. We can realize individualized campaigns for our hotel brand, including the creation of apps for specific hotels, thereby opening endless alternatives.
3. Unites the social and digital experience. The publicity that appears on television can include a “call to action” for our destination, a really promising situation since we can take advantage of the client’s moment of “emotion” to offer our product, leading to a reservation ratio that can be really high.
4. Our success will depend on the client’s experience. As we have frequently commented, success in the social world is based on the online reputation we are able to create with our community. If our clients make positive comments, our hotel will clearly benefit.
5. Multidisciplinary. Smart TV opens up many possibilities thanks to the possibility of interaction in the moment. It will simplify the client’s life and bring us a greater number of reservations.

As we have previously mentioned, this kind of television is oriented towards the concept of social TV.  If the hotel sector has already seen the influence that the social networks can have on the hotel sector’s reputation and image, it is easy imagine what this mix of platforms can mean for the television-consuming public.

Old Super 8 Video Camera

The marketing of our hotels has broad parameters of action. Our client proposals can be more or less comprehensive depending on the resources we use.  The BlogTRW brings to you some of the possibilities that hotel directors have to spread the word about their services, giving clients the opportunity to decide for themselves.

The drive is always to look for the cutting-edge and the latest methods to achieve a degree of differentiation and excellence that will result in improved results. Hotel technology opens a new world of marketing, as we have seen since the appearance of the Internet and the evolution of the hotel market up until the panorama we find ourselves in today.

Tools like the social networks translate into a series of new possibilities to exploit in order to grow our reservation totals, to which one has add the boost from mobile Web as a fundamental marketing tool. Still, we can confirm that technology gives us greater benefits that we need to know how to exploit.

Image is the basis for business in our age, which demands the use of graphic resources for hotel promotion, creating more attention-grabbing offers that can lure a user’s attention and convert him into a new client. In addition, new advances allow for the creation of new applications like Voovio, in which the client experiences a digital tour through the hotel installation involving very high-quality images. These examples make clear the importance of the image within marketing, in which video cannot be missing as a hotel marketing tool.

Let’s compare two hotel Web pages: One of them, along with information and comments, adds a broad range of graphic reporting featuring videos, while the other only provides basic definitions on the hotel. The answer is clear as to which way the user will go, opting for the offering that seems more attractive, thanks to the help of video to achieve that goal. To support that contention, we can see the following figures provided by PhocusWright.

• 67% of online clients who see virtual tours are more predisposed to make a reservation.
• 89% of users who see a video of a hotel’s installations make a reservation.
• 115% of users are more likely to make a reservation upon seeing a virtual tour or video.

Therefore, it is more than clear that the use of video as a marketing draw result in impressive reservation numbers, a fundamental reason for proceeding with the project. If you are interested in investing in this kind of took, we pass on a series of suggestions to follow for creating a good video marketing strategy.

1. Hosting. Choose a video platform that is best for you. YouTube is the most know and effective, but your project requires other kinds of platforms.
2. Quality reproduction. Verify that your creations can be seen correctly.
3. Text. A good video marketing strategy is always accompanied by a text that adds value and captures the user’s attention.
4. Call to action. Don’t simply put the basic facts on display, but work to create something that appeals to the user with the objective of getting new reservations.
5. Allow sharing. Make it easy to share your creations with more users; the more people who see our videos, the more possibilities we have of gaining new reservations.

Technology, Bgdl. Flickr.

The BlogTRW always tries to bring you the latest developments in our sector. This includes articles related to all the advances currently taking place in which technology is playing a fundamental part.

We’ve already mentioned on previous occasions that hotel technology is absolutely necessary these days for business development, and deserve a study that looks at the latest developments and how they can mainly affect our business. In this regard, the developments of mobile technologies have recently taken center state in the business growth of hotels. If we can offer our clients a comfortable and user-friendly service through the mobile Web, we will find ourselves in a privileged position in the commercialization our products.

However, any gamble brings its risk and this is what we want to talk about today. The use of hotel technologies to improve our business involves risk that we have to be aware of. The infographic below, done by Hypertech Solutions, provides us with a series of guidelines to keep in mind when we jump into the use of technology to improve our hotel business.

The challenges of the hotel industry: Among the challenges of the hotel industry, we find online distribution as the primary objective, an area in which Innwise can contribute its experience to help improve these kinds of tasks. In addition, we see other areas than help achieve excellence in the hotel industry, such as personalization and geolocation, thereby providing the client a much more direct service.

Nevertheless, in the infographic below we can see the problems to overcome in different areas within the functioning of a hotel, with respect to Booking, Merchandising, Acquisition Costs, Sales and other important subjects for the hotelier.

Cobweb, Patrick Fust. Flickr.

As we’ve been commenting in recent months on the BlogTRW, the social networks are one of the tools with the greatest growth recently in the hotel sector. The hotel sector is not the only one benefitting from the use of these consumer-business links, but there is no question that their use has achieved a kind of closer contact that was hard to find previously.

The result is a hotel business closer at hand in which users can leave their comments, opinions and have a say over improving the services that we offer.  For that reason, we have to always be alert to studies done about these tools, since they can give us an idea of developments in the sector, of opportunities that have appeared or possibly run their course.

Recently, IAB and Elogia published a fourth study about the behavior of Internet users in the social networks. This study sought to know if there had been a slowdown in the social networks; the motives for joining a network and the source of users for the newly emerging social networks like Instagram and Pinterest. It is worth pointing out the following:

• The penetration of social networks is reaching maturity.  Nearly 8 of 10 Internet users between 18 and 55 use social networks.
• The main reason for which a user starts to follow or become a fan of a brand is because he likes it. The reason why he continues to do so is because he considers its content relevant.
• Social commerce in Spanish is a market yet to be conquered, given that 14% of users have made a purchase through the social networks, of whom 74% did so on Facebook.

The most interesting published brand content to users is job offers (52%), internships (44%), promotions and offers (44%), product information (34%), contests (34%) and contact information for customer service (31%).

The Station Hotel, Ell Brown. Flickr.

In many cases the selection of a hotel is fundamental task for the tourist. The lodging where one stays during one’s vacation, business trips or any other circumstance always involves a situation that has to be dealt with and studied by the client. Consequently, hotel businesses always have to put forward the best service and rank among those companies with the best reputation among clients. This will give us a distinction that can be used to improve our results.

Various statistics are often used to demonstrate consumer habits when it comes to their buying choices. This is not the fist time that the BlogTRW has tried to pass on information relating to the hotel sector, with the intention that the data provided might be used in decisions to improve our presence there.

For that reason we are making use of data from studies that have been done, using the previous year as a basis for comparing what are client habits with respect to hotels.

One of the key aspects is, What do clients take into consideration when it comes choosing one or another hotel?  In answer to that, we turn to a study by MarketMetrix.com, in which they did a thorough job involving a broad sample of clients from America, Asia and Europe. The principal conclusion that can be drawn for this report is that the fundamental reason for which a hotel is selected is its location. Therefore, our clients will search for information in the Internet about hotels situated in specific places. This is an element to keep in mind when it comes our SEO positioning.

On the other hand, one needs to also keep in mind the price category, which users consider very important in order to make a decision about a hotel, in addition to previous experiences.

In conclusion, our hotels must be focused on these three factors to attract users to our offering and thereby achieve improved results.

B2B Content Marketing. Infographics.

It’s not the first time we spoken about content marketing at the BlogTRW, where we’ve always dealt with it as highly recommended practice to be able to position our hotel brand in the best places in search engines.  It can lead us to attracting a large number of users interested in the publications we offer, and serve as “virtual bait” to hook anonymous users and convert them into potential clients. Through a good client-loyalty strategy we can turn an average Internet user into a loyal client of our brand.

Therefore, online marketing strategies are very valuable for hotel brands. In most cases, a corporate blog is recommended, in which we can out our impressions of developments in the sector, putting us in a privileged position with respect to our competitors. In this way we have the chance to offer knowledge and in exchange the broader public will pay attention. But while the theory is typically considered a valid one by the hotelier, most are unable to put it in practice.  That’s a situation that does not help the business grow, leaving unexploited an opportunity that can be very beneficial to our interests.

With this in mind, we want to offer an interesting infographic from The Column Five, in which one can find specific data that can be relevant to our business, based on businesses that succeed in executing a content marketing strategy and those that do not. What follows are some of the most important pieces of information that can be drawn from this infographic.

• Of those surveyed, 36% said their online marketing strategy is effective. This is a really low result, given that launching a strategy like this would have to be done in a way that yields a high impact on users.
• In the majority of cases, the small companies are the ones that risk employing an online content marketing strategy, which means that small hotels can jump in and achieve success.
• The content we create is distributed through a small number of social channels: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Google Plus.

Hotel Reviews, Pinterest.

One of the elements that does the most to give credibility to our hotel is a review of our service. In many instances we fear that our clients will use this opportunity to do damage, but what we don’t realize is that it means a clear opportunity to make our business grow. If we can encourage opinions about our hotel, its credibility will increase considerably.

We have already commented in previous articles about the importance of a hotel’s presence on high-profile Web pages like Tripadvisor for people doing online searches. This is based on the score a hotel receives on these pages, which serves as a measure of what is happening in the hotel market. But above all, the distinguishing factor is that the scores are provided by people in the same situation who actually lived the experience, whose comments are made in the first person based on the consumer point of view rather than that of the business, which could be suspected of setting scores to further its own interests.

Consequently, we need to always encourage comments about our services in order to achieve greater visibility as well as the necessary prominence and credibility. To that end, we should follow the following guidelines.

1. Ask questions of your users.
2. Make the process easy for users.
3. If the decision is yours, place reviews where other users can see them in order to encourage a reservation.
4. Request client opinions via email.
5. Publish both good and bad reviews to increase your credibility.
6. Encourage participation.
7. Make use of reviews to strengthen the user experience.
8. Never lose the chance to get a review.
9. Ask questions on the social networks.
10. Turn each comment into an opportunity to improve.

But specialized Web pages are not the only place where we can find client comments in favor or not of the services provided by a business. In recent years, a channel has appeared that encourages this kind of participation: we’re talking about the social channels, platforms in which users can make comments with the advantage that they are recommending places to their closest relations. This works in our favor, since family recommendations are the most common avenue route towards making reservations.

This situation leads us to another task that we have mentioned quite often on previous occasions and which is fundamental for the hotelier: online reputation management. Innwise has positioned itself firmly in this area, relying on Trustyou’s competitive experience in the field.  This is essential in order to take care of our brand with respect to the comments that might be made.

Online Reputation. Pinterest.

This is a year for online reputation management. At the BlogTRW, we greeted 2013 with an infographic focused on using online reputation in the new year.  These practices are becoming increasingly important for companies due to the increased visibility of the Internet. If we take into account that a large number of reservations are done online, it is easy to see that the care and positive image we give to our users will improve chances of having a considerable number of sales.

In order optimize our business presence it is a good idea to follow a series of guidelines that are important to keep in mind for the evolution of our brand.

Basically, it is always better to provide an appropriate answer to comments than to ignore them, so we should be as close as possible to our clients and be proactive with their participation. Only in this way will we demonstrate that we are taking care of our public.

On the other hand, it is also essential to have a prepared script to follow in responding to our clients. We cannot have holes in the answer we give since our image will be affected by it. As a result, it’s important for our message to be as clear as possible. We can follow a series of guidelines to improve online reputation this year, thereby improving our online presence.

1. Brand management. The brand is one of the most important elements within online reputation, if not the most important. Taking care of our business brand is crucial for our hotel to be better represented in the online world.
2. Stand out in searches. One has to do a good job positioning the brand. This will allow us a greater presence and yield benefits in our favor.
3. Create positive news. This will improve our online reputation, since positive news is always attractive to our clientele.
4. Take advantage of social networks. Social media tools can work in our favor if we can make the most of them.  That’s because an online reputation that’s distant from the social networks will lose contact with users, and will not be really effective.
5. Self-assessment. Occasionally it’s worth doing an adequate study of our online presence in order to monitor how our clients see us.

Tech Tips, Pinterest.

Do we know how to manage and focus our online marketing project? Where should we focus our strategy on mobile devices? And/or do we know from which device do more of our clients make their reservations? We will ponder hese and other questions in today’s post, thanks to an interesting article published in TecnoHotel – “Mobile Marketing: Tablets and Smartphones,” where we will find the trends and best practices for these devices focused on the hotel sector.

The use of these devices is setting records. According to eMarketer, the rate of visits from tablets and smartphones is reaching levels 14 times greater than those of the tabletop PC. During 2012, we commented in this blog as to what the trends for these devices would be in 2013 and how a strategy in this arena should be oriented. The first thing the hotelier should know is that each device is unique: different screen resolution, different loading speed, different uses, etc. With smartphones the screens are smaller, demanding that we be brief and simple. To the contrary, the tablet’s larger screen lends itself to video, making it necessary to optimize our videos on this device.

Consequently, we need to differentiate the best tactics based on each device. For example, if we are trying to develop an app, we should know that it will appear differently on each. It’s possible to use the same for both, but in that case we could overlook the different use each has. For the client who wants to reserve a stay from his smartphone, we need to develop an application designed with the speed required by this kind of reservation. In the case of the tablet, the client usually searches from home with a high-speed WiFi connection, which means we should concentrate on an app focused on content.

In the case of search engine optimization (SEO), the strategy should be different since it involves different lists of keywords. With respect to smartphones we have to analyze keywords for searches along the way, given the time and location of use for this device. With tablets used in a place with WiFi and in a more relaxed moment, the client will search for more specific keywords or long tail keywords.

With all these guidelines, we want to say that we have to get the most out of each device in relation to its use. In the contrary case, we can end up creating a poor experience for the user and a loss of marketing opportunities. For example, the client trying to make a reservation from his tablet will not need a call button to call the hotel but he will appreciate the content that takes advantage of the format and possibilities of the tablet.

Master Key, Artchang. Flickr.

The selection of keywords is one of the most important and difficult choices we have to make when setting up our content marketing strategy, and need to keep in mind that this is not an easy or satisfying task.

But what’s especially difficult is that many of the tools available are confusing and hardly intuitive when it comes to investigating keywords for positioning your hotel.

How do we keep focused on our objective of making the selection?

Your objective is to identify the subjects that matter most to your targeted public, then to look for the exact language they use when they search for information.  Following the three steps below, we can banish the confusion that surrounds the process of a keywords search:

1. Choose possible keywords: ask yourself, what keywords did I try to position in the past and which ones would you like to position in the years ahead?  Remember that when it comes to hotel positioning keywords are important not only to make the most out of search engines but also especially for your content strategy. It is very important to know what language your targeted public uses to describe its searches. Ask yourself another question: what do you think your potential clients look for when they do an information search in your sector?
   Rely on the social networks. What words and phrases are used in social media like Facebook, Twitter and Google+ when our public talks about its problems with family and friends?
2. Determine and popularity and strength of each of your keywords: using tools like Google Adwords, validate the popularity of your keywords.
   How many times do people use each of the terms you have chosen compared with other search terms? We have to try to note keywords that attract a large number of monthly searches.
   Next thing is to look at the strength we are dealing with in each of the keywords. How many web sites are specifically positioning your keyword? Are there large numbers of people trying to position this term? If it’s yes, we will have more problems for positioning this keyword well.
   The perfect keyword for positioning your hotel is that which has many searches (very popular) and few people trying to position it (less competition).
3. Look for other related keywords: when you begin the process of investigating keywords, the tools themselves will give us a list of related keywords to consider.  This selection is based on principles of a semantic search, helping you think of new keywords that may not have occurred to you in your initial brainstorming.
   Look at the list of suggested keywords, choose some to explore further, then put them through the same steps you did for strength and popularity.
   Use this process to deepen your investigation, but don’t get sidetracked and stay focused on the search for popularity and those keywords and phrases that have less of competition.