Hotel Marketing strategies: lessons from the blogosphere, and Istanbul.
by marcaf ~ March 9th, 2011. Filed under: Uncategorized.
In continuing with the Turkish theme, I recently read through a blog by the title of ‘hotel marketing strategies’, which posted two recent interviews with a Turkish hotelier. The focus of the discussion was the importance of online user-generated content, reputed design, and strategies to maintain a positive online presence in the hotel marketing industry.
The article argues that, when it comes to hotels, players in the industry do not control the predominant industry channel — online hotel-review and travel sites. Thus, perhaps the best marketing strategy is not really a marketing strategy at all.
The hotel in question, the Witt Istanbul, has been tremendously successful: winner of the 2010 Design Award by Wallpaper Magazine, and rated a World’s 100 Best Hotels by the Sunday Times Traveler Magazine.
As mentioned in the article, the emphasis in the project was on design, and quality. By successfully fulfilling these elements customers are doing the marketing themselves. As found in the interview,
“I think we’re going to see more and more of that in the future. Improving ‘findability’ will give a better return on investment than outbound sales efforts. Having an impressive online presence pre-sells potential guests before they even contact you.”
By hiring reputed young designers and emphasizing guest experience, a word-of-mouth campaign grew naturally. This campaign was certainly aiding along by Gradigio, a digital communication agency. Nevertheless, this online, blog and review-driven campaign has been successful, and a manner in which smaller individual hotels can beat out international chains.
When it comes to hotel marketing, guest reviews are key. Thus in a certain sense, the product itself is the marketing campaign. The medium really is the message. And as Seth Godin often repeats, design is the foundation of marketing.
Sources:
http://www.hotelmarketingstrategies.com/hotelier-interview-tuncel-toprak-of-witt-istanbul-suites/
http://www.autoban212.com/
http://www.hotelmarketingstrategies.com/maintain-interest/