Hotels with On-Property Museums

Luxury hotels are constantly trying to set themselves apart. Some of our clients sell guests on one-of-a-kind views from their rooftop bar (check out Pillar Rooftop Bar in Asheville, it’s pretty slick), others highlight specific architectural features (see the view from 35 floors up at Mandarin Oriental New York) and some go even further!

Our friends at the famous Willard InterContinental Hotel were recently featured in 5 Hotels with On-property Museums. Every U.S. President since Franklin Pierce has either stayed at the hotel as a guest or visited for an event. One of the hotel’s main attractions is it’s History Gallery, a small walk-through museum dedicated to the hotel’s storied history. You can see more about the hotel’s history here.

Until next time, be well.

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The End of One-Size-Fits-All Marketing

With Amazon suggesting your next purchase, iPhones identifying your work location and Chipotle remembering your favorite order, consumer’s today expect a customized experience no matter where they go. In fact, according to Mckinsey & Company “Personalization technologies can reduce acquisition costs by as much as 50%, lift revenues by 5-15%, and increase the efficiency of marketing spending by 10-30%”

With those types of possible benefits it’s no surprise that hotels are jumping on board the personalization band wagon as well!

Where to Find the Data 

As a hotel marketer how is it possible to find the data that you need to personalize your marketing efforts? Here are a few options to get you on the path towards personalization success!

Your Hotel’s Customer Database 

Between online bookings, customer service and on-site reservations, your customer database should have plenty of useful information about guests. At the most basic level simply knowing the most common type of guest (business traveler, families, affluent travelers) can allow you to personalize content that fits those specific segments.

Social Media

Think about all of the personal information that people put out on their social accounts and imagine having all of that data at your disposal. If you are responsible for running your hotel’s social accounts, it is incredibly easy to use platforms like Sprout Social or SMhack to see the analytics that break down your followers (potential guests or current guests) into gender, age groups, interests, etc. Instead of focusing solely on posting generic advertising content for your hotel, consider catering your posts to the interests of the followers seeing the posts.

Third Party Companies 

While digging for your own data is definitely helpful, you’re only limited to the information from your existing guests and followers which is a pretty small slice of the pie.

What about larger trends and guests who haven’t already stayed with you? Going to a company that specializes in data is your best bet.  Want specific information about what the average traveler to your city is looking for, or what the most travelers search for when researching your area? A data company probably has that information. For example, nSight specializes in predictive data for the travel and hospitality industry. They offer a range of data that is designed to specifically help you understand your audience better.

Personalized Offers

With all of this newfound data at your fingertips, it’s time to think of ways to incorporate it into your marketing content.

  • Create offers based on guest activity (a hotel system could recognize that a guest typically dines at the hotel restaurant between 7-9pm, and usually has a drink with her meal.) This information could then trigger a SMS message or email with a complimentary drink offer, resulting in the guest visiting the hotel restaurant rather than opting to return to her room.
  • Create promotional content for different types of guests instead of creating one template for a single generic audience. Once you understand the different segments of guests that stay at your hotel, you can promote different aspects of it to the different groups. Obviously a family might be more interested in your indoor pool than a business traveler!

Real Time Responses

Social media platforms and online forums make it incredibly easy for guests to interact with your hotel. Don’t create one-way social content, social media should be a conversation, not a billboard. Platforms like BirdEye allows you to see all reviews and comments posted about your hotel. From the platform you are then able to respond to these reviews and show guests that their opinions and comments have been heard. Exactly how to respond to those reviews is another story, but the Ramada Saskatoon is a great example to learn from. They do a great job responding to TripAdvisor reviews.

What are your best practices when it comes to using personalization to market to guests? Let us know in our comments section below! Until next time, be well. 

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How to Use the “Experience Economy”

What is the “Experience Economy?” 

Today’s travelers value authenticity, making new memories and having adventures. They want something more than the traditional tourist spots and passive relaxation associated with leisure travel of the past. As Airbnb’s marketing points out, people who travel are doing so to have a certain type of experience.

Huffington Post explains the new philosophy of travel this way: “The experience economy has created an atmosphere that encourages and values experiences above material possessions.” For hoteliers this means that guests will probably appreciate a lavishly furnished suite less than the being near an interesting neighborhood.

Another key point about the experience economy is that it’s a perfect match for the sharing culture of social media. People love to take trips and share those trips through photos, videos and reviews on multiple social media sites.

Here are 2 ideas for how to most effectively deal with this new trend in guest needs: 

Facilitate the Adventure! 

Tech-savvy travelers frequently use Yelp and other online reviews to figure out where to eat and what to do, but word of mouth recommendations are still going to have the most influence on their plans. Plenty of travelers make use of knowledgeable front desk agents or concierges for their recommendations on local attractions.

That type of service fits perfectly into the experience economy. The hotel, by providing local expertise, is enabling people to have the great experience they are looking for. If you’re a hotel marketer your version of a word of mouth recommendation can be a nice map takeaway piece or convenient list of nearby attractions. Google is great but a custom map or list specifically designed by knowledgeable, local experts will be better! Below is a custom map we designed to be given to travel agents, but a similar concept could be used to hand out to guests directly.

Give Guests a Mission 

We recently created some support material for a “photo quest” that Mandarin Oriental New York was implementing. The idea was that kids would get a stamp in their “passport” (known as Pocket Panda) for every stay at Mandarin Oriental. They would also be encouraged to take pictures with their Pocket Panda at a list of locations and then share them on social media. Basically it was a scavenger hunt that encouraged and rewarded visiting and photographing cool spots in New York.

A similar concept could be created for adult guests as well, scavenger hunts or trails are a nice way to add some purpose for a traveler who wants to experience your location but might not be sure of the best way to do so.

 

 

Social media was a major component of the Mandarin Oriental photo quest and on its own encouraging social media can be a powerful guest engagement strategy.  A simple way to do this is just creating a weekly give away, Something like: everyone who mentions your hotel in a post or uses a specific hashtag will be entered for a chance to win a gift certificate. Just some type of simple incentive might be enough to get guests to share.

Change Your Perspective 

Hopefully these two tactics will inspire you to come up with some “experience economy” based marketing ideas of your own. The first step in taking advantage of the experience economy is realizing it exists, once you understand that guests are shifting what they want from travel you can shift your own marketing ideas and perspectives, from there the possibilities are endless! Until next time, be well.

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Stats Every Hotel Marketer Should Know

Travelers search for accommodations or location 77% of the time. 

A white paper from TrustYou.com reported that travelers search for keywords that have to do with accommodations or locations 77% of the time. Only 57% of travelers search specifically for hotels. In other words, amenities and location, not brand should be your main focus when marketing your hotel.

88% of travelers don’t book hotels with an average 3 star review or lower.

Another interesting stat from the TrustYou’s white paper was that 88% of travelers sorted out hotels that had a 3 star reviews or  less, and 32% of travelers eliminated 4 star reviews. This really highlights the importance of paying attention and responding to online reviews.

Bookings are 67% more likely when a video tour is available.

This stat from emarketingassociates.com is pretty powerful. It’s consistent with the overall move towards video we’ve seen in the world of content marketing in general. Luckily in 2017 anyone can produce a high quality video with just a smartphone and a little knowledge.

Hotel guests still use brochures. 

Thinking of ditching paper brochures? Think again! According to a study by Bentley University 86% of hotel front desk staff observed guests using brochures “always” or “often.”

59.2% of all hotel bookings will take place on mobile this year.

According to emarketer.com mobile bookings are expected to account for nearly 60% of all hotel bookings this year. That number is predicted to reach nearly 70% by the end of 2019.

52% of Facebook users’ travel plans are inspired by friend’s photos.

We’ve all perused Facebook and seen our friends having a great time during a trip! This inspiration influences about half of our travel plans according to Leonardo.com. Be sure to encourage photography at your hotel with social media campaigns and prizes for sharing pictures.

Video reaches more people than any other content type on Facebook.

This stat from socialbakers.com is yet another reason you should be investing in some type of video content. An especially effective way to do video well is through Facebook Live which you can learn more about in our blog from January!

Average nightly occupancy for full service hotels is 66%. 

If you’re wondering how your occupancy rates stack up, better than 66% is above average. According to hotel data giant STR, the average nightly occupancy for a full service hotel is 66%  as of February 2017.

66% of US Millenials follow a brand on Facebook so they can get a coupon or discount.

Need to boost your Facebook followers? Offering a prize or discount for liking your page could be the ticket! According to copyrise.com a significant amount of millenials admit to following brands in return for a discount or a chance to win a coupon.

Hopefully these stats will give you some more insight into what you should be doing to better market your property! If you know of any other interesting hospitality stats please share in our comments section below! Until next time, be well.

This post brought to you by a cup of Folgers coffee, because sometimes the cheap stuff is all you need.

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A Historic Building With A Bright Future

Historic Building

It is always exciting when a historic building goes under renovation. Like a makeover, the renovation brings a breath of fresh air to a building in need of some TLC. Being in the hospitality industry, we get a little more excited when the renovation leads to a new hotel. And best of all, it’s in our backyard.

The Stambaugh Building which first opened its doors in 1907 will reopen as DoubleTree Youngstown in December 2017.

The Rise

The building has the lengthy history that one would expect from a 109-year old building.

  • 1907: Construction is completed on the eight-story, $1.5 million tower.
  • 1908: Euwer’s Department Store moves into the lower three levels, selling items from 25 departments.
  • 1912: Four more floors would be added to the building.
  • 1940’s: Several businesses including Youngstown Sheet and Tube, the Youngstown Automobile Club and Western Union operate out of Stambaugh.
  • 1967: The building is sold to Youngstown Realty Corporation for $1 million.
  • 2006: Lou Frangos, a Cleveland, Ohio developer purchases the building with plans to fully renovate it into a hotel, but lacks enough funding to do so.

The Fall

By the time the 90’s rolled around, things were starting to look bleak for the Stambaugh Building. The interior condition was deteriorating, and tenants were relocating to the suburbs. The building changed hands several times throughout the late 1990’s into the 2000’s. The building was on its last leg and was in need of a major facelift. Enter NYO Property Group.

The Rebirth

In 2012, Dominic Marchionda, Chief Executive of NYO Property Group purchased the building from Frangos and announced new plans for a $30 million renovation. The end goal of this renovation was to bring a hotel to downtown Youngstown.

DoubleTree Youngstown was announced in November of 2014. The DoubleTree will serve as the first hotel downtown since 1974. The building will feature 134 rooms and provide a perfect place to stay for business travelers, YSU visitors, and Covelli Centre visitors alike. One of the most anticipated amenities is the rooftop bar that will offer visitors a breathtaking bird’s eye view of downtown.

Now guests will be checking in where people once checked out with their new purchases at Euwer’s Department Store 100 years prior. Others will lay down to rest in a room where Youngstown Sheet and Tube executives made crucial business decisions many moons ago. You can even have a drink looking out over the city with the same view that Youngstown Sheet & Tube Chairman and steel industry visionary James Campbell had from his office.

To stay up to date with the construction of the DoubleTree Youngstown, Follow NYO Property Group on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

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