Smartstay is a revolutionary iPhone app customized to your own hotel brand. The Smartstay hotel app serves as a 24/7 concierge and provides users with a micro mobile website, real-time news about events, and an interactive city guide.

Hotels have unlimited opportunities to communicate with their guests and can send them exclusive offers. Smartstay is a mobile solution for hotels looking to capture a wider market share, tap into a new source of revenue, and enhance the guest experience at their hotel and in their city.

For more information call 888-965-5966
http://www.smartstayapp.com/

O’Rourke Hospitality Marketing, a full-service marketer specializing in the hospitality industry, has just launched Smartstay a one-of-a-kind iPhone app that hotels can customize to reflect their own hotel brand.

Smartstay is a mobile solution for hotels who have been looking for a way to enter the mobile market and who recognize the many benefits the mobile platform can provide their hotel and their guests. Tom O’Rourke, Founder/CEO of O’Rourke Hospitality Marketing explains, “We’re opening up a channel that has never been used before in the hotel industry. This is not just another app – it’s an opportunity through a mobile channel to connect with a guest before, during, and after their stay.”

O’Rourke explained that the mobile platform is new for hotels and is often overlooked in their marketing plans. Many hotels still spend millions of dollars on traditional media that aspires only to attract guests to their hotel. The mobile platform allows hotels to communicate with their guests in a continuous and connected manner.

Smartstay provides many benefits for hotels and it can help them capture a wider market share, tap into a new source of revenue, and enhance the guest experience at their hotel and in their city. Hotels can send exclusive offers directly through the Smartstay app and the user is then prompted to make a reservation with the single touch e-mail and dialing options.

The hotel can also cross-sell and up-sell guests on amenities, their spa services, the hotel restaurant or events at their hotel through the news feature of Smartstay. The hotel can enter posts as often as they choose and they can also incorporate their Twitter stream to supply their guests with real-time information that their guests can use at that moment. For example if the hotel posts a last minute deal at their restaurant, guests with Smartstay will receive the message on their iPhone and may decide to have dinner at the hotel restaurant to take advantage of the offer.

The Smartstay app also serves as a micro mobile website and guests can see images, videos, and useful information about a hotel. The hotel can manage all the content on the Smartstay app through a very easy-to-use back-end program that they can access online. Hotels can instantly update their content and choose the information they want to display such as directions, specials & packages, room rates, restaurant information and more.

Smartstay appeals to travelers and helps them make the most of their stay at a hotel and in a city. Many people today make travel plans from the road and they appreciate the convenience of managing their stay at a hotel directly from their iPhones. Once a guest downloads a Smartstay hotel app from iTunes, the hotel icon appears on the user’s iPhone. The next time the Smartstay user travels, they are more likely to tap on the hotel iPhone icon and make a reservation at that hotel because of the convenience it offers and the time it saves them from searching the Internet for hotels.

Guests will also enjoy the interactive city guide which will help them find the location of the nearest shops, bars, restaurants, cultural venues, transportation services, and more. Guests simply tap on the icons to see detailed information about a specific place. They can also tap on the phone number if they would like to learn more or make a reservation. Local area businesses such as bars and restaurants may also promote special offers on their detailed description page with the consent of the hotel. With the interactive map feature, guests are able to find their way around an unfamiliar city at any time without the help of a concierge.

The Smartstay app is an asset to any hotel and will help them increase revenue, improve guest loyalty, and enhance the guest experience. O’Rourke has officially launched the Smartstay hotel app and is currently filling requests from interested hotels. However, as Tom O’Rourke pointed out, “There are unlimited opportunities for hotels to use the iPhone app and we are constantly working to add new features and find creative ways that hotels can use the app to connect with their guests and increase revenue. Once a hotel has obtained their customized  iPhone app that is not the end, but just the beginning. We are confident that hotels and hotel guests alike will find the Smartstay app an invaluable resource for travel.”

Contact Information

For more information about the Smartstay hotel app please contact the mobile division of O’Rourke Hospitality Marketing:

Toll Free Phone Number: 888-965-5966

Watch a Demo Video: http://www.smartstayapp.com/

About O’Rourke Hospitality Marketing

Founded in 2001, O’Rourke is an award-winning hospitality marketing firm headquartered in Newburyport, Massachusetts. Serving national and international clients, O’Rourke provides hotels with a complete range of services including Internet marketing, hotel website design and development, and print design. Clients include major brands as Marriott International, Renaissance Hotels, and Winegardner & Hammons, Inc. For more information see the O’Rourke website: http://www.orourkehospitality.com/

Our clients often ask us if they should use Facebook ads. Many hotels are skeptical about using the ads and question if they will be effective or not. We recommend that hotels do use Facebook ads, but that they do so with clear goals in mind, and that they follow best practices when it comes to designing, targeting, testing, and tracking their ads.

Before using Facebook ads, hotels should understand the advertising platform. As with any advertising medium, the objective of using Facebooks ads is to increase your business. Facebook ads have the power to do this, but as their representatives often state, their platform is primarily in demand generation rather than demand fulfillment.¹

In other words Facebook considers itself to be a platform where you can generate interest in your brand – demand generation, which typically happens at the top of the sales funnel. Once consumers have decided to take action, they may conduct more specific searches on Google, which can be used for demand fulfillment.  Facebook ads are used more to stimulate interest in a brand, and engage with customers early in the buying & decsion making cycle.  As the Facebook marketing slogan states, ‘Find your customers before they search.’

What are Facebook Ads?

Facebook ads appear on the right-hand column of the Facebook pages and are highly targeted to the users’ profiles and interests. Advertisers can easily create ads through their own account, and can set a minimum budget for as low as $1 a day. You can choose to bid by CPC (cost per click), or by CPM (cost per thousand impressions).

Only three ads may show at a time on a page, and the ads to be displayed are determined by an algorithm that takes into account the ad performance and the bid. Advertisers can run multiple ads simultaneously, and can set up start and end dates up to 30 days in advance. You can then track the performance of your ads through the Facebook reports and your analytics software.

How can my hotel benefit from using Facebook Ads?

Targeted Messaging

Facebook compiles personal information from its users’ profiles and interests, and will display your ads to people who match the criteria you specify. This is extremely beneficial for hotels, because they typically have different segments with different target audiences that will require different ads.

For example, you may want to create an ad to promote weddings at your hotel. You can specify that your ads be shown only to females, who are engaged, between the ages of 20-35, and who live in a specific state, or province. You could also create ads about your spa, restaurant, or meeting space, and select different demographics for each ad.

The targeting options you can choose from include location, age, birthday, sex, keywords, education, workplaces, relationships, interested in men or women, languages, connections, and friends of connections. Below is a brief description of how these options can help your hotel send targeted messages:

Target people in different countries, cities, or states: This option is very useful to hotels. For example, a beach resort that is a short distance from a city may run a summer campaign targeted exclusively to people who live in that city. You may also want to run an international campaign to promote your hotel to an overseas market.

Create ads that will appeal to different age groups: Different types of hotels may appeal to different age groups.  For example, a golf resort may want to target an older demographic than a modern urban hotel.

Send people special offers on their birthdays: Create a separate ad with a birthday image and perhaps a special offer.

Target to men or women: Different ads will appeal to different genders. For example, you could create two ads for the same weekend getaway, one that would appeal more to women, and one that would appeal more to men.

Use keywords that match users’ interests: This is the most important targeting option. When a Facebook user sets up an account, they can reveal a lot of personal information about themselves, including their basic information, where they went to school, and where they work. There is also a personal profile where users can list their favorite activities, interests, favorite music, favorite TV shows, and favorite books.

As an advertiser, you can select words (keywords) to target, and your ad will be displayed to people who have used that word somewhere in their profile. For example, if I am creating an ad to promote my hotel restaurant, I would need to think of the words that someone interested in food and dining might include in their profile, such as such as, ‘dining out,’ ‘gourmet food,’ or ‘cooking.’ If I include these words in the keyword section, my ad will be displayed to people who have used these words in their profile.

You should create different versions of your ads to match different profiles. For example, think of the city or town you are in. Why do people go there? Some go to ski, to see a sports event, to shop, to see the sights, to go to a show, to visit a museum, etc. You could create an ad for your hotel that includes an image of a museum in your city, and display it to people who are have expressed an interest in art or in visiting museums. You could take the same ad, and include an image of a famous sports event in your town, and display it to people who are interested in sports, a specific team, or a specific event.

Customize your ads to students of specific universities: Send an ad to students of a specific university, and offer them a special discount for family members. For example, if I was a student at Emerson, and I saw an ad that said, ‘Hey Emersonians – Special Discount for Your Parents!’ it would get my attention. The National Center for Education Statistics can give you a list of all the Universities in your area.

Include the name of a specific workplace in your meetings ads: Create a meetings ad and include the name of the company that you are targeting. For example, employees of ‘Compstar Rhode Island’ would be interested in an ad that stated, ‘50% Discount on Weekend Retreat for Compstar, Rhode Island Employees!’

Target wedding ads to couples who are engaged, or offer weekend getaways for married couples: Relationship targeting is very useful to hotels. You could promote weddings at your hotel to couples who are engaged. You could even go a step further and create a separate ad for the bride-to-be, and another one for the groom-to-be. With Facebook ads you can also target married couples of various age groups, and offer weekend getaways.

Create ads targeted to the gay and lesbian community: Facebook ads allow you an excellent opportunity to create ads that will reach the gay and lesbian community. Most ads on the market are very generic and cannot target specific groups. People in the gay and lesbian community will become more aware of your hotel, and perhaps choose you over your competition.

Create ads in different languages: People respond better to ads that are in their own language. Create ads that will appeal to foreign language speakers and tap into new markets.

Create ads exclusive to your fans with Connection Targeting:

Connection targeting allows you to send ads targeted to people who are fans of your page, people who have used your applications, members of any groups you may have, or people who have RSVP’d to one of your events.

Send your connections a special offer, and encourage them to share it with their own network of friends and family. Your connections have already proclaimed their interest in your brand, and they will be happy to engage with you. You also have the option to exclude your connections from seeing an ad, for example if you are sending an ad to promote your Facebook page, you may not want to send it to people who are already fans of your page.

You can even send ads that target the friends of your connections:

One step further than connection targeting, you can also target friends of your connections. For example, let’s say that Sally is a fan of your hotel Facebook page. When your hotel sends an ad, you can select the ‘friends of connections’ option, and all of Sally’s friends will receive your ad. Even more exciting, the ad will also announce that their friend Sally is a fan of your hotel Facebook page. Sally’s friends are more likely to click on your ad because they trust Sally, and they will be curious about your hotel.

Facebook users who fit a specific profile will welcome your ad

There has been some controversy whether ads should appear on Facebook, because it is mainly a place to socialize, not shop. However, the Facebook ads targeting options allow you to target people who have already proclaimed an interest in things related to your hotel or to travel. For example, they may have expressed an interest in your city, an interest in an activity your city offers, an interest in dining out, or an interest in leisure travel. These are the people who will see your hotel ads, and they will welcome the opportunity to learn about a special offer at your hotel.

Awareness building

Another benefit to using Facebook ads is that your ad will gain a lot of exposure, which will build more awareness about your hotel. Every time your ad appears on a page it is called an impression. Even if your ad doesn’t receive many click-throughs, it will still be effective because the impressions will generate awareness.

Facebook ads can affect search behavior

Studies have been conducted that explore the impact of a brand’s exposure in social media on users’ search behavior. One such study, conducted by GroupM, revealed that searchers who engage with social media, especially those exposed to a brand’s influenced social media, are far more likely to search for lower-funnel terms compared to consumers who do not engage with social media.² (Lower-funnel terms express action and loyalty including campaign brand terms and brand product terms. Upper-funnel terms express awareness and consideration such as industry relevant terms or general product attributes.)

You have less competition (if you advertise now)

Facebook ads are still relatively new, and many hotels haven’t figured them out yet, but they will. Some businesses are afraid to advertise on Facebook because they believe some of the other ads appear spammy or low quality. The flip side of the coin are the large corporations who also advertise on Facebook. If you create a well-designed ad with an attractive image and clever copy, your ad will stand out, and you won’t be competing with hundreds of other hotels.

It is wise to start advertising on Facebook now while you have less competition. Businesses are becoming more aware of the opportunities that Facebook ads present. Tim Kendal, Facebook’s Director of Monetization, stated in a September article from ‘Daily Finance,’ that the number of advertisers on the platform has more than tripled over the past 12 months.¹

FACEBOOK AD TIPS

Set up a Facebook business page

Regardless of whether you are using Facebook ads or not, you should definitely set up a Facebook page for your hotel. Encourage your guests to become fans of your page. Any action a fan takes on your page will go into the news feeds of all their friends’ pages. For example, if Sally signs up to become a fan of your page, all of her friends will be notified. They will also be notified if she takes some action on your site, for example if she RSVP’s to an event. You can also create ads to promote your Facebook page where users can sign up to become a fan without even leaving their own page.

Set measurable goals

Outline your goals. What do you want to achieve from your ads? Once you have identified your goals, you will have something to compare your ad campaign performance to.

Create compelling ads with relevant landing pages

Create copy and images that will stand out and capture attention. Specify what makes you different from your competition, and have clear calls to action that will tell users what they can do when they arrive at your landing page, i.e. ‘Book Now!’ It is also smart to include a special offer or promotion.

Facebook has outlined some suggested best practices you can follow. Make sure that your landing page is relevant to your ad, and allows users to follow through on your calls-to-action. You should also change your creative often to keep users’ interest. Don’t forget to optimize your ads and landing pages with your keywords.

Test, Test, Test!

As with most online advertising, you can greatly increase the effectiveness of your Facebook ads through testing. For example, you can send two different ads to the same audience to see which one performs the best. You can test ad copy, imagery, landing pages, and experiment with different targeting options. A trick of the trade is a tool called Facebook Ads Manager, and it can help you conduct split testing and multivariable testing. It can also help you automatically create thousands of Facebook ads.

Start big, narrow down

Start out by creating many ads, and then narrow it down to the ads that are most effective. You may also want to experiment with bidding by cost-per-click and cost per thousand impressions to see which option is most profitable for your ads.

Track your results

You must monitor your ad campaign’s performance. With your account, you can analyze data about your click-through-rates, impressions, and average cost-per-click or cost per thousand impressions. You will start to notice what works well, and what doesn’t, and then you can decide what action you need to take to improve your campaign. You can also integrate your ads with Google Analytics so you can track conversions on your website.

The best way to learn if Facebook ads are right for your hotel is to give it a try. Here at O’Rourke, we believe that Facebook ads are an effective way to build awareness about your hotel, and generate new business. It is an inexpensive platform to use, and if you test your ads, and follow best practices, you could have a lot of success with Facebook ads. According to the Facebook statistics, there are more than 350 million active Facebook users. That is a large audience that your hotel could tap into. The targeting options available, and the popularity of the site, make it a perfect advertising platform. Start advertising now to get ahead of your competition, and as the Facebook ad slogan states,  ‘Find your customers before they search.’

¹ Facebook revenue guru says demand generation is secret to ad success

² Group M, The Influenced: Social Media, Search and the Interplay of Consideration and Consumption

If you would like to learn more about Internet Marketing and Social Media Strategies, please call us at 978-465-5949 or send an email to info@orourkehospitality.com.

Re-cap of presentation ‘Critical Email Prospecting Strategies for 2010’

Jay Schwedelson, Corporate Vice President of Worldata, focused on the newest trends and lastest developments in prospecting, in his presentation ‘Critical Email Prospecting Strategies for 2010,’ at the Email Evolution Conference 2010 in Miami Beach, Florida. Below are some quick tips your hotel can use to improve your email marketing campaigns:

• Test your e-mail creative on a mobile device to make sure it displays correctly.

• Keep your e-mail campaign on a server so that people can access the message at a later date.

• Don’t use recipients’ names in the subject lines because they can be picked up by spammers.

• Include the offer deadline date in the subject line. This can increase open rates by 39% (i.e. offer ends Jan 31^st).

• Analyze why recipients unsubscribe – why they leave is just as important as why they arrive. Send a follow-up email with a short survey asking why they unsubscribed.

• The top reasons people unsubscribe to a mailing list is because they receive too many emails from a sender (38%), or the emails are not relevant to them (23%).

• Include links that allow recipients to share your email with their own social network. People who use Facebook or Twitter at least once a week are 38% more likely to open a 3^rd party email promotion, and people who use LinkedIn at least once a week are 37% more likely to open a 3^rd party email promotion.

• Send your e-mail at least 2 weeks prior to the event date.

• Send a reminder email 2-3 days prior to event.

• Try sending your emails on different days of the week, and at different times of the day, to see what is most effective for your audience. In the past, many businesses avoided Mondays, but now Mondays are showing the best response rate. Test deploying your emails on Fridays as well.

• Never send an email after 4 pm. Experiment with sending emails at 8 am.

• Test your subject lines. Select 10% of your email address list and divide it into 2 groups. Send a different subject line to each group. Wait 24 hours, and then analyze the data to see which subject line was most effective.

• Include an offer in your subject line. Some offers that work well are Free Shipping, Invitation Only, Discount on Next Purchase, Gift with Next Purchase, or Exclusive Secret Sale.

• When you analyze the metrics on your open rate you may not be seeing the whole picture. Open rates are tracked only when the recipient enables the email images. Many recipients don’t enable the images, so even though they have opened your email, it won’t be tracked as an ‘open.’

• Your click-through-rate is more important than your open rate. Generally speaking, if your open/click through rate is more than 2% you are doing well.

• Use tools to help you manage your overall campaign. Below are some free tools you can start using right away.

Quantcast.com can help you find your audience. They offer a measurement service that allow you to create demographic, geographic, and affinity-based audience profiles.

Compete.com allows you to learn about your competitors’ online marketing strategies. You can see their keywords, traffic metrics, and links.

Browsershots.org generates screenshots of how your website will appear with different resolutions and across various web browsers.

Popuri.us is a tool that allows you to see the link popularity of any site based on its ranking, social bookmarks, and subscribers.

Strive to improve your email campaigns in 2010 and increase your ROI with progressive email tactics. Work to build a solid database and make sure you segment your e-mail campaigns and avoid one-size-fits-all mailings. Email campaigns are a very effective way for hotels to connect with their audience and generate new and repeat business.

For more tips on email marketing please see the following articles from O’Rourke Hospitality:

What’s the Link Between E-Mail Marketing and Social Media?

New Email Marketing Tactics for Hotels to Use in 2010

If you would like to learn more about how these advanced email marketing strategies can increase your revenue, please call us at 978-465-5949 or send an email to info@orourkehospitality.com.

O’Rourke is attending the Email Evolution Conference in Miami Beach, Florida, February 1-3. This conference is sponsored by the Email Experience Council and the DMA, and will focus on how email and digital media drive each other and how businesses can gain the most ROI by utilizing a multichannel strategy. O’Rourke will keep you updated on best practices and new strategies to help your hotel email marketing campaign excel. You can follow the twitter stream of the conference by searching on the hashtag #EEC10 (on a site such as search.twitter.com).

Keynote speakers include:

Brian Harniman
VP of Marketing and Distribution
KAYAK

Lisa Harmon
Director, Creative Services,
Smith-Harmon, a Responsys Company

Don Shula
Pro Football Hall of Famer & Equity Partner in Don Shula’s Hotel & Golf Club and Don Shula’s Steak Houses, LP

Sam White
Creative Director, eROI

Dylan Boyd
Vice President of Sales & Strategy, eROI

Melinda Krueger
Director, Digital Dialog, OgilvyOne

Mike Corak
Director of Interactive Services, Mighty Interactive

Other speakers include:

Kavon Adli
Attorney At Law; Founder, The Internet Law Group
Jay Baer
Founder, Convince & Convert
Angela Barber
Art Director, ThinData
Austin Bliss
President & Co-Founder, FreshAddress, Inc.
Joel Book
Director of eMarketing Education, Exact Target
Pilar Bower
Optimization and Email Strategist, Red Door Interactive
Jordan Cohen
Senior Director of Marketing and Public Relations, Pivotal Veracity
David Daniels
Author and Consultant, Email Marketing An Hour A Day
Dennis Dayman
Chief Privacy Officer, Eloqua
Lawrence DiCapua
Director, Interactive Marketing/CRM, Pepsi North America Beverages
Kip Edwardson
Manager of Interactive Marketing, The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company
Nicholas Einstein
Director of Strategic & Analytic Services, Datran Media
Jeremy Farber
President and Founder, PC Recycler, Inc.
Craig Fontenot
VP, Member Relationship Management, AARP
Tamara Gielen
Independent Email Marketing Consultant
Andy Goldman
SVP, Director of Strategy Integration, RAPP North America
Lucy Hudson
Marketing Manager, eCircle UK
Frank Ioppolo
COO and General (In-House) Counsel to MarketLeverage
Ivo Ivanov
Legal Counsel, DE-CIX Management GmbH
Jeanne S. Jennings
Consultant, Email Marketing Strategy, JeanneJennings.com
Jeanne Jones
Email Marketing Manager, Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air
Katrina Kithene
Email Marketing Manager, Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air
Andrew Kordek
Manager of Optimization, Groupon

Ben Lerer
Co-Founder and CEO, Thrillist.com
Susan Lyon
C.I.P.P., Perkins Coie
Chris Marriott
VP, Global Managing Director, Acxiom Digital
Blaine Mathieu
CMO, Lyris, Inc.
Loren Mcdonald
VP, Industry Relations, Silverpop
Dino Michetti
VP of Client Services, Epsilon Interactive Services
Renee Middleton
Vice President for Marketing, Taco John’s International
Stephanie Miller
VP, Market Development, Return Path
Jeanniey Mullen
Founder, Email Experience Council; Global EVP & CMO, Zinio; Global EVP & CMO, VIVmag
Mark Nylec
Senior Manager, CRM Infrastructure Strategy, Channel Development and Governance, AARP
James O’Brien
Director of Marketing, LashBack LLC
Andrew O’Halloran
Chief Privacy Officer, Cypra Media
Sean O’Neal
Chief Revenue Officer, Datran Media
Kath Pay
Managing Director, Ezemail UK ltd.
Stefan Pollard
Senior Strategic Consultant, Responsys
Justin Premick
Director of Education Marketing, AWeber Communications
Mike Quigley
VP, Email Services Division, Cypra Media
Mike Rogers
Senior VP Sales, Goodmail
Dan Rubin
Director of Strategy & Analysis, Publicis Modem
Julie Rutherford
VP of Marketing and GM for Email, Belief.net
Ryan Sagan
Marketing Automation Manager, InterContinental Hotels Group
Jay Schwedelson
Corporate Vice President, Worldata
Melissa Shaw
Senior Strategic Consultant, WhatCounts
Juan Silvera
SVP of eMerchandising, Bank of America
Rita Smith
North American Email Manager, Hewlett Packard
Michael Straathof
Senior Consultant, Borgers&Straathof, Dutch
Karen Talavera
President, Synchronicity Marketing
Jill Trecker
Manager of Guest Loyalty, Souplantation & Sweet Tomatoes Restaurants
Sal Tripi
Senior Director of Operations and Compliance, Publishers Clearing House
DJ Waldow
Director of Community, Blue Sky Factory
Chris Wheeler
Director of Deliverability, Bronto Software

Dan Siroker, former deputy New Media Director of the Obama Presidential Transition, gave a keynote presentation at SES Chicago in December about how he and his team used Data to win the Obama presidential election, and the lessons they learned along the way. Your hotel can learn from these lessons and apply them in your own internet marketing campaign.

Before joining the campaign, Siroker was a product manager for Google Chrome. He saw Obama speak at a visit to Google¹ and he was inspired to help him with the new media aspect of his campaign. Two weeks later, Dan moved to Chicago for a month where he did whatever he could to help the campaign. He then officially joined the campaign as the director of analytics.

Dan showed us how the campaign structure worked with Barack Obama on the top tier, followed by David Plouffe, the campaign manager, and then the departments of correspondence, field, policy, operations, communications, new media, paid media, and finance. New media was then divided into marketing, e-mail, blog, analytics, design, video and organizing.

Before going into the details of the campaign, Siroker reminded us that Obama won with 365 electoral votes as opposed to 173 electoral votes for McCain. In the popular vote Obama had 53% percent of votes (69,456,897), and McCain had 46% of votes (59,934,814).

As we all saw, the Obama new media campaign triumphed over McCain’s. Below is a screenshot of one of Dan’s slides which reveals the drastic difference in the number of Facebook friends, YouTube video views, and unique website visitors that the Obama campaign attracted as opposed to the McCain campaign.

Through their online efforts, the Obama team dramatically surpassed the McCain team in terms of money raised. The Obama team raised a total of $656 million and $500 million of that came from their online campaign as seen in the slide below.

The online marketing campaign was unprecedented in any other presidential election. You have probably read articles and seen interviews about the innovative process and the talent of the people involved. Barack Obama wrote about it himself in his book, ‘The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream.’ Obama’s campaign manager, David Plouffe, also recently wrote a memoir about the campaign titled, ‘The Audacity to Win.’

Dan Siroker helped mastermind the online efforts and we were eager to hear what he had to say about the campaign. Below is a re-cap of the lessons they learned, and our thoughts on how your hotel can benefit from those lessons.

Lessons Learned

Lesson #1: Define Success

Or rather, Define Quantifiable Success Metrics. Obviously the main goal for the Obama team was for Obama to win the election. For the team managing the online campaign they defined it this way: website > email signup > raise money. They could measure the success by cost-per-click, sign up rate and money per recipient.

What is the definition of success for your hotel’s online efforts? Most likely it is to increase bookings and revenue. Have you set specific goals for your internet marketing campaign? Are you measuring the success of your campaign?  Success can also consist of increasing your online presence, building a brand voice, capturing e-mail addresses, managing your online reputation, or building relationships with your audience through social media.

Lesson #2: Question Assumptions

Dan never just followed assumptions that their online material would be effective in achieving their goal of gaining supporters and raising money. Instead he and his team tested different layouts of the material and used the data to determine what elements motivated people to take action.

As an example, Dan showed us how his team used testing on a splash page they created to encourage people to sign up for the e-mail list. They did not just create a page that thought would be effective, rather they created different versions and used multivariate testing through Google Optimizer to test which button and image proved most effective in getting people to sign up. They tested four different buttons, Sign up, Learn More, Join Us Now, and Sign Up Now. They also tested 3 images and 3 videos.

Before Dan showed us the splash page that was most effective, he tested us to prove his point that assumptions are often wrong. He showed us the variations of the splash page and asked us what we thought would work the best. In the end only 2 people in the audience had assumed correctly. Below is the image of the winning splash page which was most compelling in encouraging visitors to sign up.

The new layout resulted in an increase in conversions from 8.2% to 11.6%, which is an observed improvement of 40%. This means that they went from 1000 conversions to 1500 conversions. Dan explained that it may not seem like much presented that way, but through the life of the campaign it would translate into 4 million more people that signed up.

Does your hotel make decisions based on assumptions about what will appeal to your audience, or do you test to see which layouts of your online material are most effective? You should test everything from website pages, landing pages, e-mail campaigns, and PPC ads. You can also test landing pages for free with Google Optimizer.² Testing helped the Obama team increase conversions, and it can also help your hotel increase bookings.

Lesson #3: Divide and Conquer

Another lesson the team learned is that different elements appeal to different users. This became clear when the team attempted to test a donate button.  The variables included, Donate Now, Please Donate, Why Donate? Donate and Get a Gift, or Contribute. Again Dan conducted a quick test with the conference audience to see what we thought would be most effective. Again, we were wrong.

This time it turned out that there was not just one correct answer because it depended on who you were as a visitor. Through testing they discovered that people who had never signed up before favored the ‘Donate & Get A Gift,’ those who had signed up but didn’t donate preferred the ‘Please Donate’ button, and those who previously donated preferred the ‘Contribute’ button, as seen in the slide below.

Your hotel can also divide and conquer. You must profile your guests which will allow you to send very targeted messaging to individuals. Learn about your guests and record if they are at your hotel for leisure, a wedding, a meeting, or business. Note their interests. Did they use the fitness center or visit the spa? Did they dine at the restaurant or do they prefer room service? It is also important to segment your guests into new guests, return guests or regular guests. Once you have this information you can create e-mail campaigns that will appeal to the individual guest. Again, test your landing pages and e-mail campaigns to learn which combination of design elements will be most effective in encouraging conversions.

Lesson 4: Take Advantage of Circumstances

Dan stressed the importance of taking advantage of circumstances. He gave us an example of a time when Sara Palin specifically mocked Barack’s experience as a community organizer on the South Side of Chicago. David Plouffe and his team then sent out letters to their supporters explaining the situation and asked them to make a donation. This e-mail resulted in 10 million dollars within 24 hours! Below is a screenshot of the letter.

Is your hotel taking advantage of circumstances? Circumstances can include everything from the weather, the economy, holidays, school vacations, your competition, to conferences or special events in your town. Listen in social media to find out what people are saying about your hotel, or your town, or upcoming events. You can use Twitter search or Tweetbeep to listen in. If you see that someone may be looking for a hotel in your city, respond to them. Take advantage of circumstances and you can greatly increase bookings.

Lesson 5: Turn Your Customers Into Evangelists

Dan said they turned their supporters into evangelists everyday through their blog and YouTube channels. Here they focused more on the supporters rather than the candidate. He feels that other campaigns missed the boat here.

For example, the Obama team created videos that motivated others to get involved. One such video, Charles Meets Barack³, focused on one of the volunteers who won a raffle to meet Barack. This video was released only 28 days before the election but generated over ½ million YouTube views. The video also received a lot of press coverage because of the process story of social media transforming politics. Social media made it easy for supporters to share content and recruit new supporters.

Do you have evangelists for your hotel? You probably do have regular guests who recommend your hotel to their friends and family. Encourage them to share your offers and content by placing Share With Your Network icons on your e-mail campaigns. These icons can link to Facebook and Twitter and make it very easy for them to pass your message on to their own contacts. Find out who your evangelists are and encourage them to write a review of your hotel. Encourage guests to create their own photos and videos about your hotel. Again, listen in on social media to learn what people are saying about your hotel and create new relationships that could result in new evangelists.

Create Evangalists for your hotel with Spreadly

Dan took the idea of social media and combined it with affiliate marketing to create a new program called Spreadly⁴.  Spreadly is a social affiliate marketing program any online merchant can use to turn their customers into evangelists. The idea behind Spreadly is that a business can help support a cause and the cause is the reason why people start talking about the business.

Spreadly provides users with a widget that they can place on their purchase confirmation page. Customers can then choose a cause they are interested in and Spreadly creates a referral link where users can easily share the information through Twitter, Facebook, or E-Mail. Your company vows to pay $5 (or amount agreed) for every purchase that their friend makes. If you are interested in using this program you can request an early partner account on the site www.spreadly.com.

In closing, below is a quick re-cap of the Lessons Learned From the Obama Campaign:

Lesson #1: Define Success

Lesson #2: Question Assumptions

Lesson #3: Divide and Conquer

Lesson #4: Take Advantage of Circumstances

Lesson #5: Turn Your Customers Into Evangelists

Try some of these tactics in 2010. If they were effective enough to help win the presidential election there is a high probability they can help your hotel increase bookings.

If you would like to learn more about how Internet Marketing can help your hotel, please call us at 978-465-5955 or write an e-mail to info@orourkehospitality.

* Slides courtesy of Dan Siroker

1 Candidates@Google: Barack Obama Video

2 Google Website Optimizer

3 Charles meets Barack

4 Spreadly

We met up with Colleen Curtis, Midwest Regional Director of Yelp, at SES Chicago in December. Tom ORourke, Founder/CEO of ORourke Hospitality Marketing, asked Colleen if she could explain the new augmented reality app from Yelp. Colleen explained that there is a Yelp app for the iPhone and one for the Android. The iPhone has Monacle, which has an augmented reality function which allows users to point their phone on the street and find out the location and ratings of nearby bars and restaurants. The virtual listings appear as an overlay of the (reality) image you see through your camera. This app is great for travelers and can be thought of as the new e-concierge to help your guests find their way around your city!

Ever since social media arrived on the scene there has been speculation that it would be the death of e-mail. Some claim that e-mail is on the decline, and it is the old way of communicating. That is not exactly the case. E-mail is not threatened by social media, in fact it is the home base of all accounts, it drives social web activity, and it can work in sync with social media to increase overall message reach and engagement. We will discuss how social media has affected e-mail usage, explain why your hotel should use the two in conjunction, and give you some tips on how to use the two tactics together.

There have been many research studies aimed at finding out which is the most popular online activity, e-mail or social media. These reports have had conflicting results. The Nielsen Company released a report in March 2009 which revealed that social networks/blogs rated 4^th in the most popular online activity – ahead of personal e-mail.¹ However, other reports reveal the opposite, such a September 2009 report from Pew Research which revealed that on an average day, 58% of internet users send or read e-mail, as opposed to the 27% who use social networking sites.²

This is not to say that internet users use only e-mail or social media sites, as many people use both. So the next question is, does the use of social media decrease e-mail usage? The Nielson Company speculated that it would, and set up a research study to prove their hypothesis. However the results of this experiment, released in September 2009, revealed that social media use makes people consume e-mail more, not less, as they had originally assumed.³ Below is a chart of their findings on how many minutes low, medium, and high social media consumers spent on e-mail over the course of a year.

This chart reveals that social media doesn’t decrease e-mail usage. E-mail is actually a driver of social web activity and the currency of all social media accounts. Most people who use social media sites have their settings set so that they will be notified by e-mail when there is activity on their social media sites. People who participate in social media may also make new connections, and once the initial contact is made, they often move their communication to e-mail.

Why Should your Hotel Combine Social Media with E-mail Marketing?

“The use of e-mail in social networks will be one of the biggest challenges for direct marketers. Over the next five years, marketers must bridge the gap between social and traditional inboxes with social sharing tools,” states David Daniels, Forrester Research Vice President.⁴ This challenge is here now. Your hotel can improve the reach and engagement of your messages by combining e-mail with social media. Below is an outline of why your hotel should use the two together.

• You can listen to your audience and develop your e-mail campaign accordingly

Before you speak, you should listen in social media. What are people saying about your hotel, your competition, your city, or travel in general? This could affect the type of message you want to send. For example you might learn that people are talking about an offer from your competition i.e. a hotel package that includes a free ski pass. You can then beat their offer by offering a free ski pass and include a free spa treatment.

• Social media comments now appears in search

Social media comments now appear in the search engine results pages which will increase your online visibility and drive more traffic to your website. Google has also added a real-time search feature which streams tweets and articles. Obviously you would never send out daily e-mails, but it is perfectly acceptable to send out daily Tweets which will reinforce your message and create a stronger presence in the search engine results pages.

• Social media can help your message go viral

Social media has a strong viral component and can help your message be transmitted to new audiences. It is important to build up your fans in Facebook and followers on Twitter. Encourage your fans and followers to send your message to their network.

• Social media can reinforce your message

A message that is seen various times will help your audience retain it. You can promote your offer through social media but it should be a softer version than the e-mail campaign, as most people don’t particularly like to be sold to on social media sites. You could also use social media to send out ‘teasers’ of upcoming offers. Social Media can be used to create awareness, and e-mail can be used to solidify a message or encourage a call-to-action.

• Social media allows for real-time, two-way communication

Contrary to e-mail, your fans and followers have the option to respond to your message with questions or comments in social media. This can build trust and help you develop a relationship with your audience.

• Social media allows you to communicate at point-of-need

People often send tweets to their friends when they are traveling and they often ask for hotel recommendations. If you listen in social media you can catch this, and immediately send a tweet back saying you’d love to have them at your hotel. Tweetbeep is a free tool that allows you to receive alerts on the the words you choose. For example, you could choose to be alerted whenever your city is mentioned in conjunction with the word ‘hotel’.

Tips on Using Social Media and E-mail Marketing Together

• Co-ordinate your messages and have clear calls-to-actions

Don’t just rush into sending an e-mail out and then tweeting about it. Think about what your message is, and how you can communicate it to your audience most effectively. For example you could develop a social media campaign to generate interest in an upcoming promotion, and then send an e-mail with more details. Co-ordinate your messages and have clear calls-to-action.

• Follow a communication flow

Follow a communication flow and send e-mails to individuals, not a one-size fits all mass mailing. For example if someone has inquired about your hotel meeting space, or your wedding services, or your spa, you know they have purchasing intent and you can send emails with specific information, reviews, and offers about that particular segment. Once a guest has booked at your hotel, you could send them e-mails with more details.

You can also send direct messages to your audience on Twitter and let them know you are there to answer any questions they may have. Social media allows you to communicate with your guest before, during, and after their stay with you. Listen to what individuals are saying on their own social media sites to learn more about them. The more information you have about your audience, the more targeted your e-mails can become.

• Put social media links on your e-mail signature

Add icons to your e-mail signature that link to your social media sites. By doing so, you encourage your contacts, through your daily communication, to follow you on Twitter or become a fan of your Facebook page.

• Add Share With Your Network (SWYN) links

Add links on your e-mail campaigns that make it easy for recipients to share your message with their own networks. Most marketers are familiar with the Forward to a Friend (FTAF) feature, but many users may prefer to share your message through their social media sites because it is often easier than sorting through e-mail addresses. Many e-mail service providers include a sharing option that allows your e-mail subscribers to share your message with their friends or followers. The key to motivate people to share your message is good content.

• Promote e-mail with social media and vice versa

You can use e-mail to encourage people to sign up for your social media sites and use your social media sites to encourage followers and fans to sign up to receive your e-mails.

• Create profiles on your audience and learn what social media sites they use

Keep a database of the e-mail address of those who have chosen to opt-in. Create profiles of each person and track if they also follow you on Twitter or are fans of your Facebook page. You can conduct this research yourself or there are also tools available such as Forrester’s Social Technology Profile Tool⁵ which can help you identify where your target audience is online.

• Measure success

It is very important to measure the success of your campaigns to see what is working and what isn’t. Use Google Analytics to track your social media campaigns. There are many free tools available such as Twitter Analyzer which can help you keep track of shared links. For a longer list of tools see the blog post, ‘16 Ways to Track Links Shared on Twitter or Friendfeed’ by Chris Martin.⁶

You can also measure the success of your social media campaign by creating a Bit.ly account which is a free link shortener. You can use the shortened links in your tweets and then track how many times your link was shared.

• Incorporate social media in your offline campaigns

Incorporate social media in all your offline campaigns by letting your audience know that they can follow you on Twitter and become a fan of your Facebook page. You may even give them an incentive to sign up. For example if you send a direct mail piece about weddings at your hotel you could then offer a discount on a spa service for brides-to-be who opt to follow you on Twitter. They could enter a special code and you could track the effectiveness of the campaign. You could then follow up with a more personalized e-mail.

Future Trends in E-Mail Marketing

In summary, e-mail marketing is still a very effective way to reach your audience, and it is not being replaced by social media. However, it is no longer a stand-alone effort and should work together with SEO, PPC, Social Media, and Traditional Marketing. Many companies are increasing their e-mail marketing campaigns for 2010. Forrester Research forecasts that spending on e-mail marketing is growing in the low double-digits annually, and could hit 2 billion by 2014. They predict that each of us will be receiving about 9,000 e-mail marketing messages a year.⁴

Below is a chart from the Center for Media Research that shows the type of media marketers are aiming to include in their 2010 Plans.⁷

It is very important that you send only relevant messages to people who have opted-in to receive your e-mails or you may be losing money. Forrester Research Vice President David Daniels claims that, “by 2014 direct marketers will waste $144 million on e-mails that never reach their primary target.”

Hotels need to become very strategic with their e-mail marketing campaigns going forward. Take a step back and look at your own e-mail campaigns. Ask yourself the following questions:

• Are you building a database of guests who have opted in to receive your e-mails?

• Are you profiling these guests and only sending them e-mails that are relevant to them?

• Are you sending e-mails that are effective at each stage in the buying process?

• Are you including links that encourage recipients to share your message with their network?

• Are you developing a campaign that works together with SEO, PPC, Social Media and Traditional Marketing?

• Are you measuring the results of your efforts with analytics?

If you answered no to any of these questions, we suggest you include these tactics in your new year’s resolutions. You do not have to include everything at once. Start by taking baby steps. Any improvements you can make to your e-mail marketing / social media campaign will pay off and put you ahead of your competition.

If you would like to learn more about how you can improve your hotel’s e-mail marketing campaigns please call us at 978-465-5955 or send an e-mail to info@orourkehospitality.com.

References

¹ Social Networks & Blogs Now 4th Most Popular Online Activity

² Pew Internet & American Life Project

³ Is Social Media Impacting How Much We Email?

⁴ Forrester Forecast: US E-Mail Marketing Spending to Reach 2 Billion in 2014

⁵ Forrester’s Social Technology Profile Tool

⁶ 16 Ways to Track Links Shared on Twitter or Friendfeed

⁷ Percentage of Marketers who Aim to Include the Following Media in 2010 Plans

If the average conversion rate for a website is around 3 percent, why do some websites achieve a 10 percent conversion rate? What do they do that the others don’t? This is the question that Bryan Eisenberg set out to answer in his presentation ‘20 Secrets of Top-Converting Websites’ at the SES Chicago conference this December. Bryan revealed 20 of his most valuable tips that will help you increase your hotel website conversion rate. Bryan is a New York Times bestselling author and a recognized authority in improving conversion rates, persuasion architecture and persona marketing.

First of all, what is a conversion? A conversion is when someone takes a desired action on your website i.e. they purchase a product, download a whitepaper, or in the case of the hotel industry, they make a reservation. You may attract a lot of traffic to your website but this means nothing if your site isn’t designed to facilitate conversions.

How effective is your hotel website in regards to conversions? You can learn this by analyzing the metrics of your Analytics software. Through analytics you can learn what the most popular pages on your site are, where users spend the most time, and where you may be losing people. No matter what your conversion rate is, chances are you could still improve it. Below is an outline of tactics that the top converting websites use according to Bryan. Does your hotel website incorporate these tactics?

The top converting websites do the following:

1. They Communicate Unique Value Propositions & Unique Campaign Propositions

Does your hotel website communicate your Unique Value Proposition? What is it that makes you unique among other hotels, and how does this appeal to your target audience? Think about your unique campaign proposition too. How are you packaging up and selling your hotel?

2. They Make Persuasive & Relevant Offers

Are you offering promotions and packages that are relevant to your guests? How persuasive are your offers?

3. They Reinforce Their Offer Site-wide

Make sure your offer is consistent and repetitive throughout the site. If a guest sees your offer on your homepage, make sure it is repeated on your reservations page so they feel confident they are still going to receive the offer.

4. They Maintain Scent

Make sure you have a consistent look and feel on every page and on every form of your website so that users always know they are on the right track. For example if a user clicks on a form it should match the previous page so they won’t feel lost. Make sure your offer doesn’t change anywhere along the way either. If you promise something, you must deliver it.

5. They Make A Strong First Impression

Similar to first impressions of people, users will size up your website in a matter of seconds. Make sure your first impression is impactful.

6. They Appeal To Multiple Personas/Segments

Your website must appeal to different personality types. Bryan segments the personalities into four groups: Spontaneous, Humanistic, Methodical, and Competitive. He referenced Jacob Nielsen who has also conducted research on these personality types and web usability. Below is a list of the four personality types and the questions they will want answered on your website:

A person who has a competitive personality is decisive and looks for the bottom line. This personality asks ‘what’ questions. Regarding your hotel, this person will want to know location, comparison to other hotels, and star rating systems.

A person who has a humanistic personality appreciates a hotel with a friendly staff that is helpful and polite. This personality asks ‘who’ questions. He/She wants to feel good about a hotel and values learning about the experience of others who have stayed there.

A person who has a spontaneous personality is impulsive and appreciates a personal touch. This personality asks ‘why’ questions. He/She avoids cold, hard facts and wants to know if the staff will help her, or if there is a restaurant or nightclub. This personality type will be impressed by silky sheets, quality toiletries and special touches.

A person who has a methodical personality likes to see the hard facts and wants to see the information presented in a logical manner. This personality type asks ‘how’ questions. He/She is not impressed with the personal touch and will look for things such as check-out times, prices, and what comes with the room.

7. They Don’t Slice & Dice (Website) Optimization

Not only should your website appeal to these four distinct personality groups, but you must also optimize your site design, content and search features in a way that meets the needs of each personality type and encourages conversions. Website optimization is the art of improving your website to optimize the visitor experience and conversion rates, not to be confused with search engine optimization, which is the process of improving volume and quality of traffic to a website from search engines.

Let’s look again at those personality types and see how they may navigate through your hotel website. If the different personality types cannot access the information they are looking for, the way they want to look for it, they will get frustrated and leave your site.

A person with a competitive personality may go directly to the online reservations page. This person will most likely choose a hotel from the drop down menu by city and select the first hotel. He/She may also look at hotel details and the map. This personality type won’t typically look at the other pages on the site but will rely heavily on the search button.

A person with a humanistic personality will look at the homepage first, and be drawn to particular adjectives in the copy such as ‘charming,’ ‘cozy,’ or ‘historic.’ This person may try to search for hotels in the city under these adjectives such as ‘historic.’ He/She will also want to see the image gallery and the video, and will most likely look at services and amenities. This personality type will also want to read reviews before making a reservation.

A person with a spontaneous personality will look at the hotel brands on the home page. He/She won’t read much about the brands but may be impressed by the logos. This person will look at descriptions of area attractions such as shopping and restaurants. He/She will also look at images of the hotel and imagine if they would have a good time there.

A person with a methodical personality will most likely spend the most time on a hotel website. He/She will try the registration tool and read through all the copy, which they will most likely find too ‘fluffy.’ This person is looking for facts and would appreciate a ‘fast facts’ list. This personality type will check all the maps and driving instructions and will want to find it all.

To learn more about personas and personality types see Bryan’s blog post ‘Use Personas to Increase Conversion Rates.’ 1

8. Leverage Social Commerce: Use Voice of Customer

People love to read and write reviews. This is especially true for the hotel industry. Do not try to hide from these reviews, instead use the voice of the customer to help sell your hotel. Bryan referenced the case of Amazon selling Tuscan milk2 on their site. It is one thing to sell it, but a surprising 1,141 people have written reviews about the milk, and hundreds more have claimed the reviews as helpful. Some of the reviews are even in the form of poems.

9. They Use (voice of customer) For Navigation

Listen to what your customers are saying, and make sure your navigation caters to their needs. For example, if you host weddings at your hotel make sure it is easy for guests to navigate that section of your website. Listen to your guests’ common questions and check to see if their questions are being addressed on your website.

Listen to what your customers are saying, and make sure your navigation caters to their needs. For example, if you host weddings at your hotel make sure it is easy for guests to navigate that section of your website. Listen to your guests’ common questions and check to see if their questions are being addressed on your website.

10. They Use It (customer reviews) For Promotions

You can also incorporate guest reviews on your promotional material or e-mails. For example, you could put testimonials from meetings or weddings on your e-mail campaigns that are targeted to that segment.

You can also incorporate guest reviews on your promotional material or e-mails. For example, you could put testimonials from meetings or weddings on your e-mail campaigns that are targeted to that segment.

11. They Use It (voice of customer) For Credibility

People tend to trust reviews written by past guests. If you have these reviews on your website it adds authenticity and may even help your guests learn about your hotel. For example, if a previous guest wrote that your hotel is far from a subway stop, the next guest will be prepared to take a taxi.

Bryan referenced ‘The Brooks Group’3 website which sells sales management books. They post reader reviews on their site, as well as a ‘would you recommend to a friend’ feature. These reviews have helped The Brooks Group increase sales and have lowered their book return rate.

12. They Use It (voice of customer) For Feedback & Research

You can learn a lot about what is working in your hotel and what isn’t, by reading the guest reviews. There may be some problems with your facility or staff that you were unaware of, and the reviews allow you to identify the problems and fix them.

You can also use a focus group to test your website usability. You may think your website is easy to navigate until you watch a user try to click through it. Bryan promoted the use of sites such as www.usertesting.com. This is a company that will conduct a test on your website for $100.

13. They Use Persuasion Principles Like Scarcity

Persuasion principles such as scarcity are very effective. If you offer a room discount for a limited number of rooms, chances are that guests will feel that they can’t pass up a special deal. Bryan referenced Robert Cialdini’s 4 six principles of persuasion, which are reciprocity, commitment and consistency, social proof, authority, linking, and scarcity.

14. They Make Forms Engaging

Every form on your website should be easy to use and follow a consistent look and feel. Bryan referenced proflowers.com5 and said they make everything on their site engaging, including their forms.

Make sure your forms are short and there are no surprises. Some websites trick the user and claim all they have to do is enter their e-mail address to receive something, but when the user hits submit, they are taken to a more extensive form.

15. They Provide Point of Action Assurances

A point of action assurance will help your guest feel more confident about taking an action on your site or making an online reservation. For example, make sure the guest knows they can make changes to their reservation, show them the lock symbol when they are entering their credit card information, and let them know you are not going to share their personal information with anyone. Make sure you are responding to any lead you receive. Bryan claims that the average lead loses 6 times its power in the first hour you don’t respond to it.

16. They Keep You In The Process

Make sure your site communicates with the user what the next steps are. A good reference for this is the ‘Land’s End’6 website. For example when a shopper makes a purchase they see a pop-up with an image of their selection to assure them that they are ordering the correct item. When a guest makes an online reservation on your site make sure they know exactly what they are getting, and what they have to do to confirm the reservation.

Make sure your site communicates with the user what the next steps are. A good reference for this is the ‘Land’s End’6 website. For example when a shopper makes a purchase they see a pop-up with an image of their selection to assure them that they are ordering the correct item. When a guest makes an online reservation on your site make sure they know exactly what they are getting, and what they have to do to confirm the reservation.

17. They Consider Email Preview

E-mail is still the number one way to reach your target audience. You should only send targeted messages to people who have chosen to opt-in.

18. They Budget For Experience

Budget for some website testing and for some trial and error. What is it going to cost to improve your site, and how will that pay off? Bryan claimed that Amazon has hundreds of tests being conducted on their website at any given time. Even very small changes can greatly affect your conversion rate.

19. They Utilize a System for Prioritization

Prioritize your website goals and make sure your website design is in line with these goals.

20. They Make Data-Driven Decisions

Make decisions about your website based on the data you can collect from analytics software and your testing. Too many companies make the mistake of depending on the HIPPO (acronym for Highest Paid Person’s Opinion). Collect the data of what needs to be improved and make a ‘to do’ list.

And the bonus tip which also the most critical point . . .

21. They Know How To Execute Rapidly!

You need to be aware of what is going on in the travel industry at all times, and be prepared to execute changes. For example, just 2 hours after Michael Jackson had died, Amazon changed around their whole website to accommodate demand for his books and CDs. Focus on trends to see what is spiking up or down.

Bryan also suggested 5 steps to great conversion rates next week:

1) Identify the problems, review the analytics, check for high exit-pages, bounce rates, or poor quality scores.

2) Create a ‘to do’ list on things to improve.

3) Develop a hypothesis for why something isn’t working on your site and why the changes you propose should solve the problem.

4) Prioritize your ‘to do’ list by resources and impact.

5) Start testing.

As Bryan says, think of the small details – they all add up. Similar to website optimization, any small step you take can have a big impact. Start with the 5 steps listed above and analyze the data from your analytics to see if your conversions have increased. Do not think of execution as a one-time event, rather it is an on-going process.

References

₁ Use Personas to Increase Conversion Rates

₂ YouTube – ABC News Amazon.com Milk

₃ The Brooks Group

₄ Robert Cialdini’s Principals of Persuasion

₅ www.proflowers.com

₆ Land’s End

High Converting Websites Referenced by Bryan:

http://www.proflowers.com

http://www.overstock.com

http://www.mint.com

sheet music plus

lower my bills

See Nielsen List of Top 10 Online Retailers by Conversion Rate: March 2009

If you would like to learn more about Hotel Website Design please call us at 978-465-5955 or send an e-mail to info@orourkehospitality.com.