Mr. Suggs

Sales & Marketing

Six Powerful Methods to Combat Slumping Travel Sales

By Blake Suggs, Account Director & Integration Specialist, Range Online Media

Like everyone I know, I've grown weary of hearing about the economy and its seemingly endless downward spiral. The chickens from the last eight years of bad deeds are coming home to roost, but there is light at the end of the tunnel, and it might be a lot closer than you think.

When speaking to clients, they often bring up the economy as having mortally wounded their company - more often than not, though, they're not referring to their online business. This is both a good thing and a bad thing - naturally it reminds all of us who work in the online world that there are other mass channels that account for a great deal of revenue for most large travel brands. The fact that travel has managed to cultivate its revenue stream online over the past few years more than any other vertical bodes well for the future of this industry and its chances of weathering the recession.

Now let's get past recession talk and move on to more productive topics. Specifically, I want to discuss 6 methods that will not only help you avoid slumping sales, but also just might help you grow while everyone else is suffering. You have undoubtedly heard talk about the housing foreclosure market - well we can be the house flippers here, not the ones losing our homes, so let's talk about how we make money.

1) Play to your strengths:

Whether you're offering amenities like free wi-fi or breakfast or something as generic as your commitment to giving your "best price" at all times, playing to what's strong about your brand is key. Ask yourself a simple question: why do people like my brand? Chances are that those who are not current customers are going to feel similarly to your loyal customers as to what they enjoy about your offering. Obviously, if you're going after a new and incremental customer segment, this might not always be true, but in so many cases playing to your strengths can create positive movement.

2) Maintain partnerships:

In order to create growth opportunity, it is necessary to maintain current revenue streams. As marketers look beyond traditional channels for growth in tough times, it's easy to forget what is working. You would be surprised at the amount of opportunity marketers miss by overlooking channels like search, feeds, local etc. OTAs are a large part of most suppliers' business models - these partnerships must be given the necessary attention as ADR drops - profitability of this channel in particular has seen wide fluctuations due to this drop and a lack of focus could mean a deteriorating revenue base.

3) Seasonality:

Planning for seasonality might seem like an obvious point, but a totally integral component of your strategy. There seems to be a pervading mindset that a good offer can entice individuals to stay somewhere they would not necessarily visit at a particular time of year. This is usually not the case. People aren't going to stay somewhere JUST because it's a good price on the hotel room. There are other factors to consider - airfare prices and weather conditions being two of the most key variables. It's true that sometimes you can get people to buy a room during an off-season by offering a great rate, but this is does not typically work on a large scale, and it is not a strategy for growth.

Look at your locations by season and focus, focus, focus; if there is open inventory, push it in these areas. Chances are you're going to sell it.

4) Don't forget to build the top of your funnel

It's a hard pill to swallow, but now is not the time to forget about branding efforts. I know everyone's budgets are being scrutinized, and everyone is being forced into a ROI-or-bust scenario. It's imperative that hoteliers avoid this for two reasons:

• Someone is going to message to your customer. Whether it is a direct competitor or an OTA, competition is tougher than ever, and someone will steal them.

• You can't let current customers down. Believe it or not, branding efforts work on current customers too, especially when even the most loyal of customers in today's market is questioning his/her brand loyalties.

DR marketing is great, but in slower markets, competition is so tough that branding efforts become even more important for driving traffic and hopefully revenue. You can't sell to those who don't even consider you.

5) Loyalty is monumentally important:

A strong loyalty program is one of the most effective measures a hotel brand can take to protect its current customer base in times of hardship. Not only does a strong loyalty program help keep current customers , it can also be a key tool in acquiring new ones. This may sound obvious, but again, using ones loyalty program as an acquisition tool isn't always so intuitive. Consider utilizing points messaging versus low-price messaging. During key acquisition times, one would tend to think that price-based incentives would always win, but this is not true. Particularly for drive markets as well as large business markets, loyalty and points programs can easily outweigh price as an incentive.

Sit down and really think about how you can best use your CRM/Loyalty. Do some research into what drives new customers to your brand. You might be surprised.

6) Natural Search + Local

With their free traffic streams, natural and “local” search are great channels to concentrate on during tight budget situations. Be aware that these channels do not spell overnight success. Their results take time to be realized, but there are plenty of chances within natural search and local to maximize your revenue base. Too often, hoteliers look to paid first to solve their “immediate” growth needs. Natural and local do not provide immediate growth, but they do provide long-term success. Every cohesive online strategy should begin with a strong foundation in search – specifically, if someone searches your brand, can they find you easily in natural? If someone searches for a hotel in Chicago, IL, are you showing up in local with correct property information every time? If not, there’s opportunity. Go get it!

This list is by no means meant to be a comprehensive guide to running a recession-proof online program. However, these are the first steps you can take to ensure the health of your business, now and to come.

After a career in retail management Blake Suggs joined Range Online Media. He quickly began offering his hands-on expertise and strategic insight to clients in the travel, retail and energy sectors. An expert in cross-tactic strategy, he ensures successful integration of multiple campaign channels, including paid search, SEO, feeds, media and conversion optimization techniques. Mr. Suggs' current clients include Wyndham, Charming Shoppes, Reliant Energy, Wingate by Wyndham, Sears Service Live, Hawthorn Suites and Handango. Mr. Suggs can be contacted at 817-509-0348 or blake@rangeonlinemedia.com Extended Bio...

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