Hotel Marketing Podcast

The premise is pretty straightforward, OTAs don’t have to be the cornerstone of your booking strategy. Sure there’s a place, but not at the expense of a direct booking. Today we will dig into one of our favorite topics, the OTAs… More specifically how you can leverage the OTAs to drive direct bookings over the long term. DOWNLOAD THE LATEST STUDY: https://www.travelboommarketing.com/LeisureTravel SHOW NOTES AND MORE! https://www.TravelBoomMarketing.com/podcast

In today’s episode of the Hotel Marketing Podcast, we cover budget season. It’s already on everyone’s mind and most hoteliers have already started putting the figures together. However, if you’re simply regurgitating your 2021 or 2022 budget with a few updates, you’re going to be missing the mark. DOWNLOAD THE LATEST STUDY: https://www.travelboommarketing.com/LeisureTravel SHOW NOTES AND MORE! https://www.TravelBoomMarketing.com/podcast

Welcome to the TravelBoom Short Fuze! This is a bite size episode of the Hotel Marketing Podcast that gives you the data to make smarter decisions. Today’s episode we cover James Carvelle’s famous quote, “It’s the economy stupid.” James was talking about the 1992 presidential election, but his words ring true for those in the travel space today. Here’s the situation. In our latest edition of the Leisure Travel Trends Study one fact stood out above all others. Only 13.5% of travelers consier COVID to be a major influence on their travel plans. Thats right, 86% don’t really care. This is great right, we can all go on our merry way and get back to where we were before. Not so fast, because just as we slayed one boogyman, another one rises to take it’s place. What’s that new boogyman? It’s the economy stupid! Every metric measured on the study points to consumers being nervous and changing their travel behavior due to rising costs and a less secure economy. DOWNLOAD THE STUDY: https://www.travelboommarketing.com/LeisureTravel SHOW NOTES AND MORE! https://www.TravelBoomMarketing.com/podcast

The new 2022 Leisure Travel Trends Study reveals concerning insights into how travelers are changing their planning and vacation trends in response to rising costs. Hoteliers should pay close attention and adjust their marketing strategies to attract the changing needs of today's travelers. DOWNLOAD THE STUDY: https://www.travelboommarketing.com/LeisureTravel SHOW NOTES AND MORE! https://www.TravelBoomMarketing.com/podcast

Leisure travel studies have recently proven that over one third of all booked vacations might be cancel due to rising costs. In today's episode we cover three psychological strategies to save your hotel's bookings as well as several specific tactics you can put in place today. SHOW NOTES AND MORE! https://www.TravelBoomMarketing.com/podcast

Join Pete DiMaio, Stuart Butler, and Alex Husner as they discuss Donald Miller's #1 best seller, Building a Storybrand on this edition of the Hotel Marketing Podcast. In this episode the cast shares the secrets from the book on how your hotel can create a compelling story to make your guest the hero of their vacation. SHOW NOTES AND MORE! https://www.TravelBoomMarketing.com/podcast

As a hotel, the thought of establishing a social media presence from the ground up can be daunting. Even for seasoned social media professionals, concocting creative and engaging social content can seem exhausting. Well, fret no more. Our team of hotel marketing experts collaborated with some of our top hotel social media clients to compile a complete list of social media post ideas for hotels. SHOW NOTES AND MORE! https://www.TravelBoomMarketing.com/podcast

Your local profile and rankings are a critical step to ensuring your hotel is maximizing your potential impression share to guests. We have a comprehensive article with the 12 things every hotel should do at https://www.travelboommarketing.com/blog/local-seo-for-hotels/ and today we are going to look at five of the items on the list. SHOW NOTES AND MORE! https://www.TravelBoomMarketing.com/podcast

Well, today we have somewhat of a somber edition. TravelBoom just wrapped up a customer sentiment study and received over 2,000 responses regarding how rising prices are, and will continue, to impact leisure travel. The data is a little bit concerning and you'll want to take your time with this episode. The full research can be found at https://travelboommarketing.com/risingprices. SHOW NOTES AND MORE! https://www.TravelBoomMarketing.com/podcast

Today on the Hotel Marketing Podcast we’re going to be talking about an interesting question? Do humans add value to the travel experience? If you look at the surging growth of vacation rentals, where human contact is minimal, the answer is yes. However if you ask hotel guests, a friendly staff is one of the most valuable attributes of a property. SHOW NOTES AND MORE! https://www.TravelBoomMarketing.com/podcast

On today’s episode of the Hotel Marketing Podcast we’re going back to the root of everything and work on our fundamentals. Just like with sports, if you find yourself struggling or are just getting started, mastering the fundamentals is the key to winning. In the case of a hotel’s digital marketing strategy, the 1st thing you need to do is actually have one. Ground zero, starting with nothing, at the bottom, with only opportunities ahead of us. This is where Emily Dailey and the team at First Hospitality really shine, taking a property from the ground up through to success. SHOW NOTES AND MORE! https://www.TravelBoomMarketing.com/podcast

In this episode of the Hotel Marketing Podcast we dive deeply into a topic we have not yet covered on the show, the importance of great creative. It is critical to make sure the creative design and message you put forth matches your brand and is consistent across all your channels. We'll be diving deep into the creative process with our guest Nick McNeill, Interactive Director at the Brandon Agency. Nick will be walking us through why creative matters and how your investment in creative can lead to greater occupancy & revenue. SHOW NOTES AND MORE! https://www.TravelBoomMarketing.com/podcast

In this episode of the Hotel Marketing Podcast we are joined with two incredibly special guests, Alex Husner and Annie Holcombe of the Alex & Annie Podcast. These are the two real women of vacation rentals and they’re here to teach me a thing or five about what hoteliers have been missing when it comes to travel marketing. We talk all the time about breaking down the silos between marketing and operations, but what about the silos between the accommodation choices today’s travelers have in the market. Well, that’s exactly what’s going to be happening today. In part one of this two-part series Alex and Annie are going to share the secrets they’ve learned in over 35 years of vacation rental marketing and how hoteliers would be wise to adopt a few new tricks. Check out the Alex & Annie Podcast at https://www.alexandanniepodcast.com/ SHOW NOTES AND MORE! https://www.TravelBoomMarketing.com/podcast

Photography is one of the very most important elements of a hotel site to help drive conversion, other than the obvious booking engine, clear calls to action, and a great rate strategy. Photography is also just like any other physical asset your property manages. From the alarm clocks in the room to the chairs in the conference center. From the staff uniforms to the linens. It all has a shelf-life and, just like your physical assets, you should be planning for when you need to update your photography. In today’s episode we’re looking at one of our most recent articles, Hotel Photography: The Asset You Are Not Assessing (https://www.travelboommarketing.com/blog/hotel-photography-the-asset-you-arent-assessing/ ) SHOW NOTES AND MORE! https://www.TravelBoomMarketing.com/podcast

Apple’s iOS 14.5 update is a big update that impacts web marketers across all spectrums. The new privacy settings, which have over half of iPhone users opting out of tracking, is going to cause some significant changes in how we market, and remarket. Facebook marketing is going to be impacted specifically. If you haven’t been running Facebook ads lately or experimenting for yourself, you may not have an idea how the update has actually affected website remarketing audiences. On today’s episode we dig into our latest article on how to win Facebook marketing for hotels post iOS14.5 we’re going to dive in and learn the real story. SHOW NOTES AND MORE! https://www.TravelBoomMarketing.com/podcast

Join us on today's podcast to look back at the top episodes from 2021. If you missed these episodes, now's the perfect time to catch up and hit the highlights SHOW NOTES AND MORE! https://www.TravelBoomMarketing.com/podcast

2021 Has been a rollercoaster year and many hoteliers have seen incredible success. Today we discuss what we're thankful for, what we see coming in 2022, and the specific things you need to do to make your hotel perform next year. SHOW NOTES AND MORE! https://www.TravelBoomMarketing.com/podcast

Expedia has just released their 2022 Travel Trends report, and the data is quite interesting. Today, we’re going to be reviewing the the top-line findings of the study and looking at specific ways independent hoteliers can apply Expedia’s findings to drive more direct bookings. SHOW NOTES AND MORE! https://www.TravelBoomMarketing.com/podcast

Today we’re looking at how you can improve your hotel’s conversion rate through A/B testing. We’re covering the basics from a more detailed article written at https://www.travelboommarketing.com/blog/improving-conversion-rates-with-ab-testing/ To put it simply, A/B testing is comparing two versions of a single variable. On a hotel’s website there are countless variables that can be tested to improve user experience and increase conversion rates for email captures, rfp submissions, transactions and any other task you are trying to get your website visitors to complete. Let’s look at some factors you need to consider when setting up tests, as well as some example tests you should run on your hotel’s website. SHOW NOTES AND MORE! https://www.TravelBoomMarketing.com/podcast

Today we’re digging into what is on a lot of hoteliers' minds, 2022 and the big projects you’re planning for in the upcoming year. One of those bigger capital expenses many are planning on is a new website. Well, if that’s you, you’ve brought your ears to the right place since we’re going to be discussing how to choose the right CMS for your hotel website. SHOW NOTES AND MORE! https://www.TravelBoomMarketing.com/podcast

OTT stands for “over-the-top” and is essentially television commercials served specifically through streaming services on connected devices. It’s called over-the-top because of advertiser’s ability to go over-the-top of the traditional gatekeepers of this medium which have historically been cable TV providers. Does this make sense for hotels? You bet it does... and here's why. SHOW NOTES AND MORE! https://www.TravelBoomMarketing.com/podcast

n today's episode we are going to review the article, "The Definitive Guide To Black Friday For Hoteliers" and focus on the specific way hotels and resorts of all sizes can take advantage of the shopping momentum effect of Black Friday to drive bookings and set the stage for an aggressive rate management strategy in 2022. https://www.travelboommarketing.com/blog/the-definitive-guide-to-black-friday-for-hoteliers/ SHOW NOTES AND MORE! https://www.TravelBoomMarketing.com/podcast

Today on episode 203 of the Hotel Marketing Podcast we are going to dive into the 10 steps any hotelier can take to create kick ass content and ensure it ranks as highly as it can in the SERP. At least that’s what our potty-mouthed marketing specialist named the article that we’ll be covering today. You can enjoy the full length article at https://www.travelboommarketing.com/blog/create-kickass-website-content/. SHOW NOTES AND MORE! https://www.TravelBoomMarketing.com/podcast

In this episode of the Hotel Marketing Podcast, we welcome special guest Bruce Jordan, of Hotel Guest Management and the host of YouTube's Hotel Guest Management Do's and Don'ts. Today we are covering the five ways operations and marketing can work together to align a hotel for success. SHOW NOTES AND MORE! https://www.TravelBoomMarketing.com/podcast

In this episode of the Hotel Marketing Podcast the team reviews some interesting in the 13th and 14th editions of the Covid-19 Traveler Sentiment Studies. Hint: age and and your communications make a BIG difference. SHOW NOTES AND MORE! https://www.TravelBoomMarketing.com/podcast

In today’s special 200th episode of the Hotel Marketing Podcast we welcome back both Stuart Butler and Melissa Kavanagh to the stage as we answer recent listener questions. Join us on a trip down memory lane as well as the expert opinions on the most pressing issues for today’s hoteliers. SHOW NOTES AND MORE! https://www.TravelBoomMarketing.com/podcast

Marketers are the worst when it comes to using an effective marketing tool in a smart way. And of all the tools at a marketers disposal, email is the one that gets the most abuse. Like the saying “There’s no such thing as a free lunch,” there’s no such thing as a free email. In today's episode we walk hoteliers though the three pitfalls of email marketing and what you can do to avoid certain doom! Enjoy the full article at https://www.travelboommarketing.com/your-emails-are-failing-your-hotel-guests-here-is-how-you-fix-it/ SHOW NOTES AND MORE! https://www.TravelBoomMarketing.com/podcast

Is your hotel experiencing high occupancy? Congratulations! Pat yourself on the back, pour yourself a drink and get back to work. Today we are going to dive into how hoteliers can make the most of great occupancy numbers to push their marketing efforts to the next level. Enjoy the full article at https://www.travelboommarketing.com/blog/marketing-strategies-for-hotels-with-high-occupancy/ and keep listening to find out how to lock in fantastic growth for years to come when you apply these 8 strategies. SHOW NOTES AND MORE! https://www.TravelBoomMarketing.com/podcast

Expedia Group just released their Traveler Value Index, which looks at traveler behavior changes in our post-COVID world. We don't agree with everything Expedia has to say and today we will dig into what's real and what's conjecture. SHOW NOTES AND MORE! https://www.TravelBoomMarketing.com/podcast

Have you recently asked yourself “Do I need to revamp my hotel website?” With so many components to website design and development, the thought of starting over can be exhausting. In today's episode we are going to show you why it may be time and why you MUST plan for redesigns if you expect to stay competitive in today's hotel world. SHOW NOTES AND MORE! https://www.TravelBoomMarketing.com/podcast

Ryan Beachum of HelloVacay.com is joining us on the Hotel Marketing Podcast today to share his years of experience launching and managing companies as well as using the power of persuasion to improve BOTH revenue and customer satisfaction. While this is critical from a sales and startup role, it also is something every Hotelier should be building into the journey a guest experiences pre, during, and post stay. SHOW NOTES AND MORE! https://www.TravelBoomMarketing.com/podcast Enjoy a free year of HelloVacay at HelloVacay.com/freeyear/ (and tell them TravelBoom sent ya!)

Clarity, Microsoft’s revolutionary user behavior analytics tool, made a big splash several months ago as a way you can gain great insight into how your customers engage with your site. However, since launch we have heard very little about the platform. This doesn’t mean forget about it, it just means that there’s been a LOT going on in the world since it was first launched in October 2020. Today we are going to discuss why you don’t want to forget about Clarity, secrets you don’t know about the platform, where it differs from Google Analytics, and how you can use it to drive revenue. SHOW NOTES AND MORE! https://www.TravelBoomMarketing.com/podcast

Testing is one of the most important aspects of running a successful PPC campaign. Even if your campaigns are meeting your advertising goals, if you are not testing, you’re likely losing bookings and revenue to OTAs and competitors. In today's podcast we dissect an article with all the details of PPC ad testing by sharing three tests that can (and should) be run by every hotelier. SHOW NOTES AND MORE! https://www.TravelBoomMarketing.com/podcast

Are you ignoring a major segment of your audience, and a vast majority of the true decision makers who hold your future in their hands? If you’re a resort destination, family-friendly, or offer kid-friendly amenities you may very well be giving the cold shoulder to your most important consumer. While parents may choose when to vacation, the kids hold the key to where that vacation will take place. Engaging with kids to help them nudge the parents is easy, particularly when you remember one golden rule: Kids are actually little people, and like to be treated as such. If you’re a family property and if kids are an important part of your market segment there are countless ways you can differentiate yourself to stand out to the youngest of your guests. These five tips will help you connect and win with your youngest guests. SHOW NOTES AND MORE! https://www.TravelBoomMarketing.com/podcast

Many hoteliers have relegated display ads as something that doesn’t work or is of dubious impact on putting heads in beds. We’re here today to say you need to reconsider the errors of that thought process. In fact, the importance of upper-funnel, demand generation campaigns can not be overlooked. Consider our earlier article, This is the Hunter Hotelier strategy. We recommend that our clients consider display campaigns to capitalize on prospective guests that are actively looking for their property but also create the demand that gets those searchers into the funnel. Display ads can be shown on both hotel-specific platforms (OTAs & Travel Sites) and non-hotel-specific platforms (Airline websites, GPS Navigation apps, Social Platforms (Facebook, Pinterest, etc.) In today’s podcast we are going to cover just a few considerations in building a successful display demand generation campaign for a hotel SHOW NOTES AND MORE! https://www.TravelBoomMarketing.com/podcast

Big, big changes are afoot here at Fuel… or should I say big Booming changes. Today the podcast becomes the TravelBoom Marketing Podcast to complement our new company. Plus, SHOW NOTES AND MORE! https://www.TravelBoomMarketing.com/podcast

Email is quite likely your number one converting tool in your marketing toolbox. If it’s not, you’ve got some work to do to hone your email collection, targeting, and messaging strategies. Even if your email is already converting well, there is always room for improvement. Today we’re going to review three email tests you can run right now as well as look at real world improvements. SHOW NOTES AND MORE! https://www.fueltravel.com/podcast

Google Ads has released their new Auto-Apply Beta that allows you to choose “optimizations” that Google can do for you automatically. On the surface this would seem like it would help streamline PPC efforts and utilize Google’s machine learning to apply changes that would improve your campaigns. In reality, many of the automatic optimizations could actually hurt your campaigns. We’ll take a look at some of the items Google wants to Auto-Apply for you and explain why you should maintain control. Bidding & Budgets Keywords & Targeting - Add Negative Keywords - Add Phrase or Broad Match Versions of Your Keywords - Expand Your Reach With Google Search Partners - Add New Keywords - Remove Conflicting Negative Keywords - Remove Redundant Keywords - Remove Non-Serving Keywords - Create Dynamic Search Ads - Use Targeting Expansion Ads & Extensions - Use Optimized Ad Rotation - Add Responsive Search Ads Bonus: Turn Off Auto-Generated Ads SHOW NOTES AND MORE! https://www.fueltravel.com/podcast

Don't wait until the end of the month to look at your hotel's analytics! If you do, you will be missing out on exactly what consumers are looking for right now. Hoteliers have got to be nimble and able to adjust to the demand of consumers in almost real-time. SHOW NOTES: https://www.fueltravel.com/blog/hotel-marketing-podcast-episode-187-are-you-missing-the-boat-with-these-7-data-points

To fully staff your hotel or resort you must look at your employment strategy the same as you would look at your marketing strategy. In today’s podcast, we are going to cover six strategies that will help you identify, attract, hire, and keep great employees. SHOW NOTES: https://www.fueltravel.com/blog/hotel-marketing-podcast-episode-186-six-strategies-to-finding-staff-for-your-hotel

It’s not easy for a hotel to stand out against their competition. At the end of the day, you are providing a place to stay just like your competitor. In this episode we cover the amenities & services that will guarantee a potential guest will pick your hotel over the one next door. SHOW NOTES: https://www.fueltravel.com/blog/hotel-marketing-podcast-episode-185-how-to-differentiate-your-hotel-getting-a-leg-up-on-the-competition/

The latest edition of the Fuel Customer Sentiment Study (Volume 12) dives in to when your customers are going to be ready to travel, what it will take for hotels to win over guests, and how vaccines will impact travel. SHOW NOTES: https://www.fueltravel.com/blog/fuel-hotel-marketing-podcast-episode-184-get-ready-for-a-booming-spring-summer/

Travel coming back in an incredible way. In fact we’re seeing many examples of hoteliers even breaking their 2019 numbers. However, don't sit back. Now is the time to look back on COVID and understand what worked and what didn’t work in your communications strategies. SHOW NOTES: https://www.fueltravel.com/blog/fuel-hotel-marketing-podcast-episode-183-three-easy-steps-to-build-your-disaster-communications-plan/

It’s been a crazy year here at Fuel and we’ve learned a thing or two. In this episode of the Fuel Hotel Marketing Podcast, the Fueligans discuss their top 3 lessons learned during the pandemic and give hotels advice on how to move forward with recovery SHOW NOTES: https://www.fueltravel.com/blog/fuel-hotel-marketing-podcast-episode-182-top-3-lessons-learned-during-the-pandemic/

This past week, Google quietly rolled out what may end up being a Trojan horse. By opening up Google Hotel Search organic listings, Google aims to gain access to rates and inventory for every accommodation provider on the planet. In this episode, we discuss the facts, the implications, and give advice on how to navigate the changing landscape. SHOW NOTES: https://www.fueltravel.com/blog/fuel-hotel-marketing-podcast-episode-181-everything-you-need-to-know-about-googles-metasearch-changes/

TripAdvisor is sending a ripple of concern, and potentially opportunity, through the hotel industry. Back in December 2020, TripAdvisor Plus launched on a very limited scale in the US but is in the process of being rolled out to the rest of the states as well as international markets. Today we are going to look at the new program, understand what it is, and discuss ways hotels can adapt to ensure this is a positive tool for independent hoteliers. SHOW NOTES: https://www.fueltravel.com/blog/fuel-hotel-marketing-podcast-episode-180-will-tripadvisor-plus-destroy-your-hotels-direct-bookings/

In this episode of the Fuel Hotel Marketing Podcast, the Fueligans discuss all things Clubhouse. If you’re not on this new audio-only social platform yet, you may be missing out. We breakdown what it is, how you can sign up, and why you should pay attention to it. SHOW NOTES: https://www.fueltravel.com/blog/fuel-hotel-marketing-podcast-episode-179-what-the-heck-is-clubhouse-and-why-should-i-care/

While the ultimate goal on a hotel website is to drive bookings, there is more behavioral data available in Google Analytics that can help a hotelier make better marketing decisions than looking at just that one item. In this episode, the Fuel Hotel Marketing Podcast discusses their top 3 GA goals and explains why you should be paying attention to them too. SHOW NTOES: https://www.fueltravel.com/blog/fuel-hotel-marketing-podcast-episode-178-top-3-google-analytics-goals-for-hotel-websites/

During the recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, competition is going to be tough. There will likely be less demand and you’ll have to work harder to get people to visit your site. One of the items that should be on everybody’s to-do list right now is to improve your website’s conversion rate. In this episode, we cover some simple things you can implement today to help catch more direct bookings and ensure that you don’t let people bounce away to the OTAs or to your competitors. SHOW NOTES:

At Fuel, we know a thing or two about mobile apps. Our Fuel Mobile App and Digital KEy software has been deployed to dozens of hotels for more than five years and we’ve been selling the system like hotcakes since COVID hit. During that time, we’ve learned quite a bit about the features that guests want and the tactics that help drive more revenue to the properties. In this episode, we discuss some of the must-have functionalities that you need to consider as you look to recover in 2021. SHOW NOTES: https://www.fueltravel.com/blog/fuel-hotel-marketing-podcast-episode-176-is-2021-the-year-of-the-mobile-app/