The Hotel Marketing Mix

It is common to talk about the Marketing Mix and the range of hotel marketing actions, but in reality it is not common to see examples of the Hotel Marketing Mix. With a view to creating or reinforcing a hotel marketing campaign, below I outline some key aspects that deserve attention. Logically, the aggressiveness of the marketing campaign depends on the budget allocated to it.

1. PPC campaigns, also known as Pay-Per-Click campaigns, are an effective way to generate traffic. However, in a market as competitive as the hotel industry, they can be very expensive if not managed properly. On the other hand, they are a good method for achieving short-term results, compared with the time required to obtain initial results through traffic generated by organic searches or natural search rankings.
2. SEO, or search engine optimisation for organic traffic, will depend on the mix of channels or segments the hotel wishes to rank for, as well as on the degree of optimisation of the hotel website; in other words, how well the site is adapted to be detected, indexed and organised to serve our interests. Ranking in natural search engine results can be a lengthy process, sometimes without short-term results, although it is true that results and rankings endure over time and improve as we manage our website effectively. Achieving strong rankings is essential given the level of competition in the hotel industry. It is estimated that around 50% of Internet users use search engines to search for and book hotel accommodation. Not having a search engine positioning strategy means giving up a direct distribution channel and having to depend permanently, within this channel, on online intermediaries such as merchants to generate business from the Internet.
3. Product aggregators such as Kayak, Mobissimo and others are gaining a large audience. However, although these platforms emerged as major opportunities for direct hotel distribution, reality and data reveal the other side of the story. Forty per cent of search results on Kayak lead to online intermediary websites, while only 20% lead to the pages of a direct supplier.
4. Email marketing and CRM are components that many hoteliers overlook, above all because they are unaware of the value of email marketing and the results that, when done well, it can deliver in the short, medium and long term.
5. Online advertising, but above all, targeted advertising. It is worth investigating which websites are positioned within the same segment as your hotel and running direct campaigns on those sites.

It would be worthwhile to analyse which of these actions each hotel is carrying out. If not, we are surely not taking advantage of the benefits the Internet puts within our reach for optimal hotel distribution.