Online Marketing in Travel SpecialThere are tools available in the marketplace which offer travel suppliers not only reports about information posted on the select sites, but also educates users on appropriate responses and counter measures for negative consumer generated content.

Published: 04 Aug 2008

Online Marketing in Travel Special

There are tools available in the marketplace which offer travel suppliers not only reports about information posted on the select sites, but also educates users on appropriate responses and counter measures for negative consumer generated content.

From a hotelier's perspective, assessing such tools and also cashing in on the relationship between search and social media, Barbara Pezzi, Director Webmarketing & Ecommerce, Swissotel Hotels & Resorts says, these tools will be become increasingly popular.

"We are still a relatively small chain and are able to monitor consumer reviews on the main sites directly, but as we expand, we will probably have to review this. All our hotels monitor their consumer reviews and the general managers are required to reply to all negative comments, if the site allows it. We also encourage them to subscribe to Google alerts and monitor what consumers are writing on blogs. Reputation management is now just as important as brand management. With Google universal search becoming more widespread, it will be imperative for hotels not only to monitor consumer reviews, which for example are already being displayed on Google Local Business listings, but also to participate and start posting images and videos online about their property and destination," said Pezzi, who had attended EyeforTravel's Travel Distribution Summit Europe 2008 in London in May.

She spoke to EyeforTravel.com's Ritesh Gupta about online marketing. Excerpts from the interview:

Ritesh Gupta: Regarding SEO and SEM, what do you recommend to avoid the 3E trap i.e. Everything to Everyone Everywhere?

Barbara Pezzi: Ideally we would like to rank well on all possible search terms related to hotels, but realistically it is very difficult to achieve this in a very competitive market place on generic terms. It is all about targeting the right audience and delivering the right offer at the right time to the right buyer, and in order to identify the right buyer, it is essential to have a brand-based on lifestyle values rather than just price.

We have recently redesigned our website to better reflect our corporate identity and values and with that, we have also adopted a whole new SEO strategy to incorporate the new identity in all aspects of the site, from content to meta text.

On more practical terms, generic keywords are also the most expensive when it comes to SEM campaigns. I always include a high number of negative keywords in our PPC campaign to appear in the most relevant search results and at the same time reinforce our brand strategy. For example, even if I was running an SEM campaign to promote a tactical promotion, "cheap" would always be a negative keyword, even if it is a popular search term for "special offers".

Ritesh Gupta: A hotelier last year mentioned that hotels should include SEO and SEM marketing costs into their distribution costs as it's not a marketing cost you can substitute for another medium. Also, one should learn to be comfortable with being uncomfortable….work with SEO and SEM agencies to help you evolve. What's your opinion regarding this?

Barbara Pezzi: Whilst I might agree that a PPC campaign could be seen as a distribution cost, if the sole purpose of the PPC campaign is geared towards promoting a specific tactical campaign, I do not believe that the website should only be seen as a distribution channel. It is the most cost effective distribution channel, but it is also our first point of contact for many of our guests and the public and as such it involves all departments within the company.

For example, we are currently working with the HR department to expand our career section on the site and develop an online strategy to attract future employees. We are working with the operations department to find ways to better integrate and convey their values and philosophy to our guests, from F&B to guest services.

I encourage the sales teams to inform me whenever they undertake sales activities, being a road show or a mailing, to then monitor via webanalytics if their activities have had any effect on our webtraffic. SEM must be part of a totally integrated marketing effort. This way, we can get a measure of how it really performs by comparing it across the entire mix. Other elements such as e-mail marketing and affiliate marketing can frequently add a considerable boost to search marketing, and vice versa.

By involving all departments and sharing information on how their activities affect our traffic and presence online, the website becomes much more than just a reservations channel, and as such, it should not be just a distribution cost.

On the second point, I do not see how working with SEO and SEM agencies should be an uncomfortable experience. I very much enjoy working with our SEO and SEM agency. However, I have also invested a lot of time in gaining the necessary knowledge to be able to understand the terminology as well as the principles and then have a dialogue with the agencies, share ideas and find good working solutions suitable to our needs, rather than just "being told" what we should be doing. There are many resources available to gain the necessary knowledge and I believe hoteliers need to embrace this and see it as an essential skill to run a successful property.

The same happened with "revenue management" years ago, when hoteliers did not always understand its importance and in most cases the revenue manager was the reservation manager. In years to come, more and more hotels will hopefully have an online specialist within their team, with a sound knowledge of SEO and SEM.

Ritesh Gupta: Natural search result snippets cannot always be quickly influenced/changed and may not therefore include the latest special offers, current brand message etc. - whereas PPC listings can accommodate impact from timely, real world events. What do you recommend when it comes to ensuring an intelligent balance?

Barbara Pezzi: I do not think there is a definite answer to this question. The right mix varies according to various factors such as for example brand strength and business requirement. However, I do believe there is a need for both and there should be an integrated approach between PPC and SEO to maximize results. SEO is essential and a long term commitment. The nature of PPC makes it a more flexible tool, which can be very useful when running tactical campaigns. However, it should also be used to provide real time data and direction to maximize the SEO strategy. Successful keywords and landing pages used during PPC campaigns, should for example be incorporated in the SEO strategy and website optimization. At the same time, SEO needs time show results and PPC can be a short term interim solution, until the SEO catches up.

Ritesh Gupta: PPC is no longer the end all be all of online marketing. If you agree with this, how do you consider online marketing on the whole? Also, do you think Google being the core of SEO/SEM strategy is ever going to change?

Barbara Pezzi: PPC will remain a strong element of online marketing but social networks and rich media will definitely be increasingly important as well as mobile search and mobile ads. We, hoteliers, apart from few exceptions, have been quite slow to embrace Web 2.0. Marketing to bloggers, widgets for social networks, personalisation, to name a few, will all have to be taken into account.

I believe Google will remain at the core of SEO/SEM strategy, but it cannot be the only element. Our hotels are spread over 16 countries, and whilst Google is a very important and essential partner, in some cases, we need to take into account other local search engines, for example in countries such as Russia and China, where there are important local players.