Today on the Fuel Hotel Marketing Podcast we are going to cover how to make the most of your marketing efforts by setting up a schedule of continual proofing to guarantee your hotel’s site is ready to convert guests to its fullest.  How you ask? Simple, by ensuring your systems actually work as designed, track as they should, and trigger followups as expected.
If you like what you hear, please leave a comment below, share it with your friends, and also leave a review.
========================
SHOW NOTES
STAT OF THE WEEK 
None this week
========================
In this episode we are going over what you need to proof (and more aptly… reproof) on a monthly basis.
<h3>#1: Does Your Booking Engine Actually Work?</h3>
Do we really have to say this?  Unfortunately we do. We find it far too common that the booking process at an independent hotel is way too cumbersome.  In fact, most hotels do not pay much, if any, attention to the of the minutiae of the booking and check out process. However, our data proves that this is a tragic mistake.  We suggest going through the entire booking process, with a real credit card, at least once per month. It’s even better to bring an outsider in and watch them complete the process.  Is your shopping and checkout process the best it can be?
<h3>#2: Are Your Rates Beating The OTAs?</h3>
Okay, you should be testing this one more than once a month.  However it is imperative that you are constantly checking to make sure your daily unrestricted rate is always the best option for customers.  You do not, ever, want a guest to find a better rate for your property via the OTAs. How can you do this?
<ol>
<li>Simply search several OTAs for several dates and make sure that your revenue team is always putting their best foot, and rate, forward.</li>
<li>Use one of several monitoring tools, such as TripTease, to monitor all rates and update your direct rate to be the best.</li>
</ol>
TripTease data shows that hotels are being beaten by the OTAs 27% of the time.  If this is you, it means you are actively discouraging your guest from booking with you directly.
This should be an ongoing process of testing and optimization for your revenue team.  For you, you should be personally checking at least once per month to make sure you’re not missing a single booking to an OTA.
<h3>#3: Do Your Forms Do What You Expect?</h3>
It is so important to proof your conversion events on an ongoing basis.  Very often a site update or software change can turn what was once a conversion in to a dead end.  When reviewing a new client’s existing site that more often than not one or more forms do not work as expected.  In some cases the form will submit but the notification does not go anywhere. In other cases the form can not be submitted at all.
In the case of form testing, it is important to go through the entire process with a fresh set of eyes and submit as if you were a customer.  This means using real content, a real email, and testing that everything works as it should.
Oddly enough, the most common form we see issues with is the actual contact us form.  In many cases it’s the forgotten form that’s relegated to a single link in the footer. That’s followed closely by the email signup, which often times doesn’t add the email to the proper mailing list.
<h3>#4: Are Your Email Triggers… Triggering? </h3>
Your email triggers are often closely related to your forms and you should be testing these monthly to guarantee your guests are getting the messages they should.  While you are checking your forms, your booking engine, and the rest of your marketing, look out for the following:
<ul>
<li>Thank you emails triggering, and triggering quickly</li>
<li>Do you have any drip campaigns for guest history, booking anniversary, etc?</li>
<li>Are all form notifications to the staff going out as they should and to the best person on your staff to respond to guests?</li>
</ul>
<h3>#5: Is Your Content Still Relevant?</h3>
Managing content on a site is not a set it and forget it process and even your evergreen content can start looking a bit dated if you don’t make updates.  We recommend going through your site on a monthly basis to update and remove content. A good checklist would include:
<ul>
<li>Check any events calendars to ensure they are up to date</li>
<li>Review all posted special offers</li>
<li>Review photography for dated clothing or where items are no longer at the property</li>
<li>Review your news and articles and update as needed</li>
<li>Make sure you main promotions are still accurate</li>
<li>Review your automated email content</li>
</ul>
<h3>#6: Is Your Mobile Experience What Your Guests Demand?</h3>
We’ve past the mobile tipping point years ago, and many would say nearly passing the second mobile tipping point.  But if you are like most hoteliers, you are only looking at your site on the giant monitor on your office desk. Unlike you, your guests are making their buying decision on the screen that’s in their pocket.
Once you are finished proofing all the five items we have already covered, start over and test them again on your phone as well.  You are very likely to find that what works great on your big monitor either doesn’t work at all, or is very difficult on a phone.
<h3>BONUS:</h3>
Some other things you should be constantly re-evaluating:
<ul>
<li>Google Ads ad copy and negative keyword list</li>
<li>ADA compliance scans</li>
<li>Analytics campaign tracking &#8211; RELATED: <a title="Permalink to Common Pitfalls of Google Analytics Campaign Tracking" href="https://admin.travelboommarketing.com/blog/common-pitfalls-google-analytics-campaign-tracking/" rel="bookmark">Common Pitfalls of Google Analytics Campaign Tracking </a></li>
<li>Google Search Console SEO errors and recommendations</li>
<li>Privacy and cookie policies</li>
</ul>
<h3></h3>
<h3>In Conclusion:</h3>
Your site and marketing is a living and breathing organism that needs regular check-ups to confirm everything is working well.  And if you follow this checklist on a monthly basis you can be sure the money you are investing in marketing has a chance of converting when they get to your site.
<h3>Listener Question: Marc on Twitter asks:</h3>
Hey @FuelTravel, been looking around on information on how much occupancy and ADR decrease/increase during a hotel renovation and have not found anything useful from the Revenue Managers point of view.
Robert Cole’s Answer:
Tough question.  No tangible data studies that I am familiar with. Don’t most revenue managers just trust their Ouija boards to come up with the right pricing strategy anyway…?
Seriously, I think it&#8217;s highly situational depending on the extent and disruption of the renovation.
Long ago, I know a property in Maui had a problem with trying to raise rates to reduce demand so they could refresh a floor at a time. It didn&#8217;t work. People kept paying the higher rates, which made it harder to justify closing off the inventory.
They finally bit the bullet after about three years as the hotel was visibly tired and expensive &#8211; this was pre-TripAdvisor, so wouldn&#8217;t have taken as long today to reach that decision.
I often see retail discounts in the 25% realm for relatively extensive renovations that are prominently disclosed on the website. That said, some properties will also dump inventory on opaque websites at radical discounts, which can be risky from a review/satisfaction perspective.
========================
<h2>In The Newsaroos:     </h2>
Hotel Marketing Changed Its Design And It Really Grinds My Gears: 
<a href="http://www.hotelmarketing.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">http://www.hotelmarketing.com/</a>
Are We On The Verge Of A Price Parity Nightmare: 
<a href="https://www.triptease.com/blog/booking-basic-parity-wholesale/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://www.triptease.com/blog/booking-basic-parity-wholesale/</a>
========================
Submit your questions and topic ideas on Twitter to <a href="http://www.twitter.com/fueltravel" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">@_travelboom</a>.

Fuel Hotel Marketing Podcast: Episode 103 – 6 Hotel Website Audits That Will Save You From Losing Money

In this episode, we take a look at the good, the bad, and the ugly in terms of how hotels are responding to their online reviews. We discuss best practices and give advice on how to avoid the pitfalls by leaving emotion out of it and by considering that you’re not just responding to the single individual, but to every potential future guest.
If you like what you hear, please leave a comment below, share it with your friends, and also leave a review.
========================
SHOW NOTES
STAT OF THE WEEK 
None this week
Here are some examples reviews with varying responses:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g255068-d256687-r177603885-Stamford_Plaza_Brisbane-Brisbane_Brisbane_Region_Queensland.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Stamford Plaza Brisbane</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g54359-d1163912-r523573879-Hilton_Garden_Inn_Myrtle_Beach_Coastal_Grand_Mall-Myrtle_Beach_South_Carolina.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hilton Garden Inn Myrtle Beach/Coastal Grand Mall</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g214506-d625953-r290474588-Hotel_Doolin-Doolin_The_Burren_County_Clare.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hotel Doolin</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g644267-d640364-r361149994-Grand_Hotel_Paradiso-Passo_del_Tonale_Province_of_Trento_Trentino_Alto_Adige.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Grand Hotel Paradiso</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g54578-d74150-r141763825-The_Hickok_House_Hotel-Deadwood_South_Dakota.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Hickok House Hotel</a></li>
</ul>
Here are some general guidelines that you should follow when writing a response to a negative review:
<ol>
<li>Don&#8217;t take it personally </li>
<li>Don’t make the guest feel unwanted</li>
<li>Understand the guest and address their concerns</li>
<li>Show empathy and be apologetic</li>
<li>Show that their review made an impact </li>
</ol>
========================
<h2>In The Newsaroos:     </h2>
Marriott &#8211; Expedia Rate Negotiations Targeting 10% 
<a href="https://www.phocuswire.com/marriott-expedia-commission-negotiations" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://www.phocuswire.com/marriott-expedia-commission-negotiations</a>
New hotel booking platform offers cryptocurrency rebates for travelers 
<a href="https://www.phocuswire.com/BTU-Hotel-blockchain-booking-platform?utm_source=eNL&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=Daily" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://www.phocuswire.com/BTU-Hotel-blockchain-booking-platform?utm_source=eNL&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=Daily</a>
========================
Submit your questions and topic ideas on Twitter to <a href="http://www.twitter.com/fueltravel" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">@_travelboom</a>.

Fuel Hotel Marketing Podcast: Episode 102 – How to Respond to Bad Hotel Reviews

In this episode, we take a look at the good, the bad, and the ugly in terms of how hotels are responding to their online reviews. We discuss best practices and give advice on how to avoid the pitfalls by leaving emotion out of it and by considering that you’re not just responding to the single individual, but to every potential future guest.
If you like what you hear, please leave a comment below, share it with your friends, and also leave a review.
========================
SHOW NOTES
STAT OF THE WEEK None this week
Here are some examples reviews with varying responses:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g255068-d256687-r177603885-Stamford_Plaza_Brisbane-Brisbane_Brisbane_Region_Queensland.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Stamford Plaza Brisbane</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g54359-d1163912-r523573879-Hilton_Garden_Inn_Myrtle_Beach_Coastal_Grand_Mall-Myrtle_Beach_South_Carolina.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hilton Garden Inn Myrtle Beach/Coastal Grand Mall</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g214506-d625953-r290474588-Hotel_Doolin-Doolin_The_Burren_County_Clare.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hotel Doolin</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g644267-d640364-r361149994-Grand_Hotel_Paradiso-Passo_del_Tonale_Province_of_Trento_Trentino_Alto_Adige.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Grand Hotel Paradiso</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g54578-d74150-r141763825-The_Hickok_House_Hotel-Deadwood_South_Dakota.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Hickok House Hotel</a></li>
</ul>
Here are some general guidelines that you should follow when writing a response to a negative review:
<ol>
<li>Don&#8217;t take it personally </li>
<li>Don’t make the guest feel unwanted</li>
<li>Understand the guest and address their concerns</li>
<li>Show empathy and be apologetic</li>
<li>Show that their review made an impact </li>
</ol>
========================
<h2>In The Newsaroos:     </h2>
Marriott &#8211; Expedia Rate Negotiations Targeting 10% <a href="https://www.phocuswire.com/marriott-expedia-commission-negotiations" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://www.phocuswire.com/marriott-expedia-commission-negotiations</a>
New hotel booking platform offers cryptocurrency rebates for travelers <a href="https://www.phocuswire.com/BTU-Hotel-blockchain-booking-platform?utm_source=eNL&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=Daily" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://www.phocuswire.com/BTU-Hotel-blockchain-booking-platform?utm_source=eNL&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=Daily</a>
========================
Submit your questions and topic ideas on Twitter to <a href="http://www.twitter.com/fueltravel" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">@_travelboom</a>.

Conversion rate is yet another metric that is most useful to look at in the context of other dimensions. Today we are specifically talking about it in terms of landing pages. Since conversion rate is relative to your market, instead of giving specific ranges for each entry point, we’ll rank these pages in terms of likeliness to convert vs. not, based on the likely source of traffic.
If you like what you hear, please leave a comment below, share it with your friends, and also leave a review.
========================
SHOW NOTES
STAT OF THE WEEK 
According to an email from Visual Website Optimizer, 100,000+ tests were launched in 2018. There were 13,400+ winning tests.
This episode came as a recommendation from Grayson McNeill via our website.
<ol>
<li style="list-style-type: none;">
<ol>
<li style="list-style-type: none;">
<ol>
<li>
<h3>Booking Engine</h3>
<ul>
<li>More than likely through email or PPC</li>
<li>Could be SEO if your engine is on the same domain</li>
<li>Consumer is already familiar with your brand</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ol>
</li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li style="list-style-type: none;">
<ol>
<li>
<h3>Specials page</h3>
<ul>
<li>Through email, PPC or organic search</li>
<li>Consumer most likely familiar with your brand</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ol>
</li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li style="list-style-type: none;">
<ol>
<li>
<h3>Rooms (overview and specific)</h3>
<ul>
<li>Through generic or brand organic search, email, PPC</li>
<li>Consumer may or may not be familiar with your brand</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ol>
</li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li style="list-style-type: none;">
<ol>
<li>
<h2>Home page</h2>
<ul>
<li>Either through brand organic search, email, PPC, TripAdvisor business listing, social, or any other paid channel</li>
<li>Consumer is already familiar with your brand</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ol>
</li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li style="list-style-type: none;">
<ol>
<li>
<h3>Amenities (overview and specific)</h3>
<ul>
<li>Through generic or brand organic search, email, PPC</li>
<li>Consumer may or may not be familiar with your brand</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ol>
</li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li style="list-style-type: none;">
<ol>
<li>
<h3>Blog Post</h3>
<ul>
<li>From social, email or natural search</li>
<li>If from natural search, likely a very specific long-tail keyword</li>
<li>Depending on the topic, more than likely not familiar with the brand and looking for specific information on that topic</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ol>
</li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li style="list-style-type: none;">
<ol>
<li>
<h3>Area Info</h3>
<ul>
<li>Natural search &#8211; very generic</li>
<li>Likely not familiar with brand</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ol>
</li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li style="list-style-type: none;">
<ol>
<li>
<h3>Webcam</h3>
<ul>
<li>From natural search, webcam feeder site or social</li>
<li>Unless from social, likely not familiar with brand and extremely unlikely to convert</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ol>
</li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li style="list-style-type: none;">
<ol>
<li>
<h3>Groups (general page, not a specific special for a group)</h3>
<ul>
<li>From natural search, PPC, social, email</li>
<li>Consumer may or may not be familiar with your brand depending on the source</li>
<li>KPI on this is more likely a form submission for a quote for weddings, meetings, etc.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ol>
</li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li>
<h3>Calendar of Events/Specific Events Pages</h3>
<ul>
<li>From natural search, social or PPC for high-profile specific event</li>
<li>Consumer not likely to be familiar with brand</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ol>
</li>
</ol>
Great! What Now?
First &#8211; think of every page of your website as a landing page. Just because a page doesn’t get a lot of traffic, doesn’t mean you should ignore it. Every page should be thought about in terms of who might be visiting and the best next action that is desired. Is that really a booking? Could it be an email signup or a form submission?
Next &#8211; take the time to segment your pages by source. As we’ve discussed, some traffic is within your control, like PPC or social, but other sources like natural search, are not. You should not expect a defined PPC campaign to a specific room page to convert the same way a boosted Facebook post or natural search query does.
Lastly &#8211; ABT!!
========================
<h2>In The Newsaroos:     </h2>
Will Marriott data breach herald the death of personalization? 
<a href="https://www.phocuswire.com/Marriott-data-breach-personalization-death" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://www.phocuswire.com/Marriott-data-breach-personalization-death</a>
========================
Submit your questions and topic ideas on Twitter to <a href="http://www.twitter.com/fueltravel" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">@_travelboom</a>.

Fuel Hotel Marketing Podcast: Episode 101 – Top 10 Hotel Website Entry Points Based on Conversion Rate

In the 100th episode of the Fuel Hotel Marketing Podcast, the Fueligans throw the gauntlet to our faithful listeners and pose the challenge, &#8220;Ask Me Anything&#8221;. Tune in to find out whether the inevitable curve-balls were tackled with the typical brilliance that can only come from this podcast.
If you like what you hear, please leave a comment below, share it with your friends, and also leave a review.
========================
SHOW NOTES
Some of the questions we tackle in this episode:
<ol>
<li>Selim, @msimre (Twitter): What is your take on: <a href="https://www.phocuswire.com/End-of-hotel-metasearch" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://www.phocuswire.com/End-of-hotel-metasearch</a></li>
<li>Catherine from Panama City Beach &#8211; I manage 9 properties with one single portal website. Do I need individual property websites for each of my resorts?</li>
<li>Missy (Facebook): How can a new property with no track record decide how much to invest in marketing in its first year of operation?</li>
<li>Missy (Facebook): We’ve recently opened a fully eco sustainable property, generating all of our own energy, gathering and using all rain and waste water and saving 300,000 litres of water with ALL composting toilets&#8230;yeuch? NO &#8211; incredible to use, and not smell! I’d love to hear your views on whether or not clients REALLY care about the sustainable tourism and how can it be used for marketing advantage?</li>
<li>Amit Arora @Amit_0717 (Twitter): @fuelTravel episode 100 AMA &#8211; what are your download numbers?? 🙂</li>
<li>Pam Welliver @mrswelliver (Twitter): How do you measure ROI on FB advertising?</li>
<li>Scott via email: 
Hi All, I enjoy the show and the all the great insight you offer.My question: we are an independent, boutique-y hotel on an island, adjacent to and easily accessible by two major population centers.We’re also the dominant property in the area. I’m wondering what you suggest as best practices in order to capitalize on our marketing efforts. Do we focus on promoting our property and letting guests put together their own travel/activity arrangements, or spend more effort creating alliances and packages w/ local providers in order to ease the travel burden and/or activity-planning requirements? Further, is there any reasonable value in advertising ourselves into these larger markets via Adwords or FB marketing?
Finally, I wonder if you would clarify the different component pieces of Google’s hotel marketing (GHA etc), as I’m not sure which are purely in the realm of the booking engine, and which are directly accessible by the property (or are they only accessible for the property via the booking engine…)</li>
<li>Mauricio Schuler (Digital Marketing Consultant at H&amp;Hotels Group) via Linkedin: What are your thoughts on clickcease for hotels? I mean, if each hotel in our group has about 1,600 searches per month at $1.07 cpc and according to stats I-dont-really-know-where-from a fifth of those are clicked by bots, we would be saving some money. However, our web developer says Google already has strategies in place to fight bots. 
What are your thoughts on this? 
What would be a search volume worthy of such a protection? Do they really work?</li>
<li>Stephanie M 
If my hotel is in a pretty unknown part of Italy (that is not traditionally touristy), what are the most important things I can do to promote the region in conjunction with my hotel (to tourists outside of Italy)? There is little support from the Region itself for tourism, so I feel like I have to do it on my own. Also, what are your favourite blogs, books and websites to learn more about hotel marketing? (Other than your blog which is awesome!)</li>
<li>Meisha Bochicchio via Twitter: What are some of your top predictions for 2019? Any major industry changes or shifts?</li>
<li>Meisha Bochicchio via Twitter: What are the top vanity metrics that you see hotel managers &amp; owners getting hung up on, and what should they be focusing on instead?</li>
<li>Loren Grey via Twitter: Question for the group<a href="https://twitter.com/FuelTravel/"> @FuelTravel</a><a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23hotelmarketing"> #hotelmarketing</a> how do you actually calculate lifetime value of a guest?</li>
<li>Bryce via YouTube: What does the team think about the proliferation of Black Friday/Cyber Monday in the travel industry</li>
<li>Robert Cole via Youtube: Would you rather fight one horse-sized duck or 100 duck-sized horses?</li>
</ol>
Submit your questions and topic ideas on Twitter to <a href="http://www.twitter.com/fueltravel" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">@_travelboom</a>.

Fuel Hotel Marketing Podcast: Episode 100 – LIVE Ask Me Anything

In a recent blog article, Fuel’s own Pete DiMaio outlined 6 changes that Google has made over the past year that should scare the Dickens out of hotel marketers. The good news is that your Fueligan friends are here with another episode of the Fuel Hotel Marketing Podcast to break down these changes, tell you what they mean, and give you a game plan on how to adjust your marketing strategy and not get stuck in the ‘Upside Down’.
If you like what you hear, please leave a comment below, share it with your friends, and also leave a review.
========================
SHOW NOTES
<a href="//www.fueltravel.com/blog/google-hotel-marketing-demogorgon/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">VIEW THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE HERE: 
www.fueltravel.com/blog/google-hotel-marketing-demogorgon/</a>
Stats of the Week
<ul>
<li>Gmail has 1.4 billion users</li>
<li>TripAdvisor has just over 300 million registered users and 455 million annual site visitors.</li>
<li>Google drives over 90% of organic search traffic to hotel websites</li>
</ul>
Here are the key changes that have occured over the course of the past year:
<ul>
<li>Battlefront #1: Google Continues to Improve the Hotel Listing Experience</li>
<li>Battlefront #2: Improved Hotel Searching and Filtering</li>
<li>Battlefront #3: Hotel Price Insights</li>
<li>Battlefront #4: Booking Direct On Google</li>
<li>Battlefront #5: Google Steadily Improving Hotel-Centric Advertising Opportunities</li>
<li>Battlefront #6: Google Trips App Continues To Improve</li>
<li>Battlefront #7: TripAdvisor Is Really Screwing Up</li>
</ul>
Conclusion and Key Takeaways
The Hotel Marketing Demogorgon is starting to take shape and a hotelier will be well-served to keep an eye on this beast and be ready to take advantage of the market shakeups that are coming in its wake.  Expect TripAdvisor and the OTAs to create programs to retain their market share. Hoteliers should also be prepared to capitalize on the upcoming changes with these recommendations:
<ul>
<li>Make sure your Google My Business listing is optimized and you are taking full advantage of this platform.</li>
<li>Work with your agency to make sure you are pushing your traditional PPC to its limits.</li>
<li>Review your GHA campaign and make sure you are fully utilizing the platform.</li>
<li>Google is lagging behind TripAdvisor in reviews, but not by much.  Have a plan to grow your Google reviews.</li>
<li>Review your budget for 2019 and make sure you are positioning your efforts to take advantage of Google’s push into the hotel space.</li>
</ul>
***UPCOMING 100th EPISODE LIVE SHOW***
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 30th 2018 at 1:15 pm ET, The Fuel Hotel Marketing Podcast will be broadcasting a live “Ask Me Anything”  video show on Facebook and YouTube. Tube in live to or submit your questions to @_travelboom on Twitter or email them to info@travelboommarketing.com.
======================== 
In The Newsaroos
Google Testing a New Hotel Search Experience on Desktop 
<a href="https://www.koddi.com/google-testing-new-hotel-search-experience-on-desktop/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://www.koddi.com/google-testing-new-hotel-search-experience-on-desktop/</a>
Book on Google Stands Out More Forcefully in Hotels Redesign 
<a href="https://skift.com/2018/10/31/book-on-google-stands-out-more-forcefully-in-hotels-redesign/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://skift.com/2018/10/31/book-on-google-stands-out-more-forcefully-in-hotels-redesign/</a>
========================
<div></div>
Submit your questions and topic ideas on Twitter to <a href="http://www.twitter.com/fueltravel" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">@_travelboom</a>.

Fuel Hotel Marketing Podcast: Episode 99 – Google Is Building A Hotel Marketing Demogorgon

Email marketing is still the most effective way to drive direct booking business (if done correctly). The trouble is that a lot of hoteliers resort to spamming their list with nothing but discounts. The key to a successful email strategy is to play the long game. Don’t sacrifice long-term success for instant gratification. In this episode, we look at some recently released data from our friends at Revinate and give you the Fueligan spin on their findings.
If you like what you hear, please leave a comment below, share it with your friends, and also leave a review.
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SHOW NOTES
Download Revinate&#8217;s Study: 
<a href="https://www.revinate.com/benchmark/marketing/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://www.revinate.com/benchmark/marketing/</a>
STAT OF THE WEEK: 
55% of consumers prefer to get permission-based promotional messages from hospitality brands via email, vs. direct mail, text, phone or social media.
Email Effectiveness:
<ol>
<li>Measureable: Open rate, click-through rate, booking conversion rate and revenue</li>
<li>Data-Driven: If well integrated, marketers can use data from the PMS to optimize their content and timing of messages</li>
<li>High ROI: 55% of Revinate customers see an ROI of 10x or more</li>
</ol>
Segmentation Matters:
Correctly used, database segmentation helps marketers send the right message to the right audience.
<ol>
<li>Best if connected to PMS data to segment on booking behavior</li>
<li>Demographic attributes</li>
<li>Geographic attributes</li>
</ol>
Examples of segments: guests that live within x mile radius, weekend guests, loyal guests
Segmented email campaigns had a 20% higher open rate, 70% higher click-through rate, and 73% higher revenue per recipient than non-segmented campaigns.
One Time vs. Automated Campaigns:
Open rates for one-time campaigns averaged 17%, while automated pre-arrival messages averaged 62%. Automated non-transactional messages like birthdays, “we miss you” or OTA winbacks were mid to upper 20s.
<ul>
<li>Study shows highest open rates for pre-arrival messages had “room upgrade” in the subject line.</li>
</ul>
Upsells and Upgrades:
<ol>
<li>98% of upsell revenue was made through pre-arrival campaigns</li>
<li>Breakfast offers drive the majority of upsell revenue, followed by advanced parking. Other offers are early check-in, late check-out, and airport transportation</li>
</ol>
When to Send:
Different campaign types can generate different booking windows.
<ol>
<li>Newsletters were evenly distributed amongst most windows</li>
<li>Birthday messages had 48% of bookings 0-6 days out</li>
<li>Room offers were well distributed, but were most popular within 0-6 days (36% of bookings)</li>
<li>We miss you offers were booked 40% in 0-6 days</li>
<li>Announcement/events had 39% booked within 0-6 days
<ol>
<li>Have to assume these were heavily promoted close in to event</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li>OTA Winback weighed heavily in the 0-6 day window, with 52% of bookings.
<ol>
<li>Assume these were promoting “come soon” deals</li>
</ol>
</li>
<li>Pre-arrival: the highest converting upsell messages are sent 0-4 days prior to check-in: 0-1 day had a 9.2% conversion rate, and 2-4 days had a 10.8% CR</li>
</ol>
Mobile:
33% of email opened on a phone, 35% on a webmail client (could this also be on a phone?)
Must optimize for mobile experience with ease of scrolling and CTA
ROI:
55% of marketers saw an ROI of 10x or more from email marketing
Also &#8211; 45% saw less than 10x
Wrap-Up
How do your stats compare to these? Testing subject lines, offers, type of message, etc. to get the most bang for your buck. If done well, email marketing should be one of the most cost effective forms of advertising you can do.
Shameless Plug
If you’re interested in improving your email marketing, Fuel has been hard at work revamping our Fuel Mail eCRM product. We’re proud to announce the all new AI-driven version of the product will be rolling out to existing clients in early November and we will be taking on new clients in December. Some of the key features of this revolutionary guest communication  system include:
<ul>
<li>Intelligent Profiling 
The system combines everything from message engagement, website behavior, and 
PMS profile information for a Single Customer View of each guest, allowing for true 1:1 
Marketing.</li>
<li>Intelligent Segmentation 
State-of -the-art machine learning algorithms and Fuel’s data scientists combine forces to provide automatic segmentation recommendations.</li>
<li>Intelligent Targeting 
Leveraging predictive analytics, the platform analyzes aggregated guest 
research and booking behavior patterns to automatically determine each guest’s 
potential value, sentiment, and propensity to book, allowing for targeted drip campaigns 
that were previously impossible</li>
<li>Predictive Engage Time Optimization 
Based on historical data, each guest will receive the message at the precise time and 
channel that is most effective for the individual through a sending model based on full 
cross channel engagement.</li>
<li>Predictive Channel-of-Choice 
Deliver the campaign on each individual customer’s channel of choice, such as email, 
push, and SMS, plus real-time integrations with the Facebook Ad Network and the Google Ads platform for the automatic syndication of targeted advertising campaigns.</li>
</ul>
If you’re interested in taking your email marketing to the next level, send us an email to <a href="mailto:info@travelboommarketing.com">info@travelboommarketing.com</a>.
***UPCOMING 100th EPISODE LIVE SHOW***
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 30th 2018 at 1:15 pm ET, The Fuel Hotel Marketing Podcast will be broadcasting a live “Ask Me Anything”  video show on Facebook and YouTube. Tube in live to or submit your questions to @_travelboom on Twitter or email them to info@travelboommarketing.com.
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In The Newsaroos
Skift: Marriott’s New Reservations System Could Be Its Secret Weapon in Direct Booking Wars 
<a href="https://skift.com/2018/10/15/video-marriotts-new-reservations-system-could-be-its-secret-weapon-in-direct-booking-wars/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://skift.com/2018/10/15/video-marriotts-new-reservations-system-could-be-its-secret-weapon-in-direct-booking-wars/</a>
Google Produced 92% Of US Organic Search Visits in Q3 2018 
<a href="https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-produced-92-of-us-organic-search-visits-in-q3-2018-report/275005/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-produced-92-of-us-organic-search-visits-in-q3-2018-report/275005/</a>
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Follow Us on Twitter:
@_travelboom 
@stuartbutler 
@makavanagh 
@pdimaio 
@pforiska
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Submit your questions and topic ideas on Twitter to <a href="http://www.twitter.com/fueltravel" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">@_travelboom</a>.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Hotel Marketing Podcast

Fuel Hotel Marketing Podcast: Episode 103 – 6 Hotel Website Audits That Will Save You From Losing Money

Fuel Hotel Marketing Podcast: Episode 103 – 6 Hotel Website Audits That Will Save You From Losing Money

Fuel Hotel Marketing Podcast: Episode 102 – How to Respond to Bad Hotel Reviews

Fuel Hotel Marketing Podcast: Episode 102 – How to Respond to Bad Hotel Reviews

Fuel Hotel Marketing Podcast: Episode 101 – Top 10 Hotel Website Entry Points Based on Conversion Rate

Fuel Hotel Marketing Podcast: Episode 101 – Top 10 Hotel Website Entry Points Based on Conversion Rate

Fuel Hotel Marketing Podcast: Episode 100 – LIVE Ask Me Anything

Fuel Hotel Marketing Podcast: Episode 100 – LIVE Ask Me Anything

Fuel Hotel Marketing Podcast: Episode 99 – Google Is Building A Hotel Marketing Demogorgon

Fuel Hotel Marketing Podcast: Episode 99 – Google Is Building A Hotel Marketing Demogorgon

Fuel Hotel Marketing Podcast: Episode 98 – Takeaways From Revinate’s 2018 Global Hotel Email Marketing Report

Fuel Hotel Marketing Podcast: Episode 98 – Takeaways From Revinate’s 2018 Global Hotel Email Marketing Report

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