Our digital marketing panel:
• Tom Dibble: CEO, Screen Pilot
• Rob McCutcheon: managing director,Astracasting
Hotel-industry.co.uk: So the industry is changing fast! What emerging trends can you identify in digital marketing?
• McCutcheon: I think that the massive expenditure on apps by all the leading brands in virtually every market is a key issue. This has led to hotel suppliers of ambient media struggling to justify how they offer ROI to a hotel marketing manager – who, in turn must justify the spend to the financial director. Therefore, I think we’ll see more screen media operators winding up their operations. The trend looks set to continue unless the various media operators look at partnering with value-added services that can increase ROI with physical downloads of offers and vouchers.
• Dibble: Cheaper smart-phones will translate into higher device saturation in the consumer market. Better phones, faster data speeds means more people surfing on their phones with enhanced browsing experiences. However, just because these consumers are using their mobiles to do more stuff, m-commerce (mobile commerce) in the travel industry will be finely segmented to locations and brands that support the profile of the m-commerce traveller. I think the rise of social media is particularly interesting. For example, our Facebook marketing strategies differ greatly to that of paid search tactics. Knowing how to engage and interact using each channel to market is key. Search is a tactic for when you want to gain engagement from someone who already knows they want to travel. Social media on the other hand is a tactic that can align a hotel with an intent that doesn’t currently exist or by peer recommendation of a guest’s experience at a property or brand.
Hotel-industry.co.uk: Why is it important for hoteliers to partner with third party companies like yours to improve their digital marketing?
McCutcheon: Third party technology companies will only survive by adapting to change and keeping ahead of the changes in market forces. Hoteliers are busy people who need to concentrate on running their businesses. The hotelier should let the third party take the strain as a trusted partner and work with them on developing new ideas and pilot schemes to prove ROI for new mediums as-and-when they arrive.
Dibble: We live and breathe in the digital world. It’s the essence of who we are. For Screen Pilot, our mission statement for the hospitality industry is to drive awareness and direct distribution revenues. We shift hundreds of thousands in revenues away from in-direct channels, online travel agents and other intermediaries by delivering qualified traffic directly to the property website. Just because you don’t have multi-million pound marketing budgets does not mean you can’t compete online. Our clients are proof you can.
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