Fuel Hotel Marketing Podcast

Expedia Group just released their Traveler Value Index, which looks at traveler behavior changes in our post-COVID world. We don't agree with everything Expedia has to say and today we will dig into what's real and what's conjecture. SHOW NOTES AND MORE! https://www.TravelBoomMarketing.com/podcast

Have you recently asked yourself “Do I need to revamp my hotel website?” With so many components to website design and development, the thought of starting over can be exhausting. In today's episode we are going to show you why it may be time and why you MUST plan for redesigns if you expect to stay competitive in today's hotel world. SHOW NOTES AND MORE! https://www.TravelBoomMarketing.com/podcast

Ryan Beachum of HelloVacay.com is joining us on the Hotel Marketing Podcast today to share his years of experience launching and managing companies as well as using the power of persuasion to improve BOTH revenue and customer satisfaction. While this is critical from a sales and startup role, it also is something every Hotelier should be building into the journey a guest experiences pre, during, and post stay. SHOW NOTES AND MORE! https://www.TravelBoomMarketing.com/podcast Enjoy a free year of HelloVacay at HelloVacay.com/freeyear/ (and tell them TravelBoom sent ya!)

Clarity, Microsoft’s revolutionary user behavior analytics tool, made a big splash several months ago as a way you can gain great insight into how your customers engage with your site. However, since launch we have heard very little about the platform. This doesn’t mean forget about it, it just means that there’s been a LOT going on in the world since it was first launched in October 2020. Today we are going to discuss why you don’t want to forget about Clarity, secrets you don’t know about the platform, where it differs from Google Analytics, and how you can use it to drive revenue. SHOW NOTES AND MORE! https://www.TravelBoomMarketing.com/podcast

Testing is one of the most important aspects of running a successful PPC campaign. Even if your campaigns are meeting your advertising goals, if you are not testing, you’re likely losing bookings and revenue to OTAs and competitors. In today's podcast we dissect an article with all the details of PPC ad testing by sharing three tests that can (and should) be run by every hotelier. SHOW NOTES AND MORE! https://www.TravelBoomMarketing.com/podcast

Are you ignoring a major segment of your audience, and a vast majority of the true decision makers who hold your future in their hands? If you’re a resort destination, family-friendly, or offer kid-friendly amenities you may very well be giving the cold shoulder to your most important consumer. While parents may choose when to vacation, the kids hold the key to where that vacation will take place. Engaging with kids to help them nudge the parents is easy, particularly when you remember one golden rule: Kids are actually little people, and like to be treated as such. If you’re a family property and if kids are an important part of your market segment there are countless ways you can differentiate yourself to stand out to the youngest of your guests. These five tips will help you connect and win with your youngest guests. SHOW NOTES AND MORE! https://www.TravelBoomMarketing.com/podcast

Many hoteliers have relegated display ads as something that doesn’t work or is of dubious impact on putting heads in beds. We’re here today to say you need to reconsider the errors of that thought process. In fact, the importance of upper-funnel, demand generation campaigns can not be overlooked. Consider our earlier article, This is the Hunter Hotelier strategy. We recommend that our clients consider display campaigns to capitalize on prospective guests that are actively looking for their property but also create the demand that gets those searchers into the funnel. Display ads can be shown on both hotel-specific platforms (OTAs & Travel Sites) and non-hotel-specific platforms (Airline websites, GPS Navigation apps, Social Platforms (Facebook, Pinterest, etc.) In today’s podcast we are going to cover just a few considerations in building a successful display demand generation campaign for a hotel SHOW NOTES AND MORE! https://www.TravelBoomMarketing.com/podcast

Big, big changes are afoot here at Fuel… or should I say big Booming changes. Today the podcast becomes the TravelBoom Marketing Podcast to complement our new company. Plus, SHOW NOTES AND MORE! https://www.TravelBoomMarketing.com/podcast

Email is quite likely your number one converting tool in your marketing toolbox. If it’s not, you’ve got some work to do to hone your email collection, targeting, and messaging strategies. Even if your email is already converting well, there is always room for improvement. Today we’re going to review three email tests you can run right now as well as look at real world improvements. SHOW NOTES AND MORE! https://www.fueltravel.com/podcast

Google Ads has released their new Auto-Apply Beta that allows you to choose “optimizations” that Google can do for you automatically. On the surface this would seem like it would help streamline PPC efforts and utilize Google’s machine learning to apply changes that would improve your campaigns. In reality, many of the automatic optimizations could actually hurt your campaigns. We’ll take a look at some of the items Google wants to Auto-Apply for you and explain why you should maintain control. Bidding & Budgets Keywords & Targeting - Add Negative Keywords - Add Phrase or Broad Match Versions of Your Keywords - Expand Your Reach With Google Search Partners - Add New Keywords - Remove Conflicting Negative Keywords - Remove Redundant Keywords - Remove Non-Serving Keywords - Create Dynamic Search Ads - Use Targeting Expansion Ads & Extensions - Use Optimized Ad Rotation - Add Responsive Search Ads Bonus: Turn Off Auto-Generated Ads SHOW NOTES AND MORE! https://www.fueltravel.com/podcast

Don't wait until the end of the month to look at your hotel's analytics! If you do, you will be missing out on exactly what consumers are looking for right now. Hoteliers have got to be nimble and able to adjust to the demand of consumers in almost real-time. SHOW NOTES: https://www.fueltravel.com/blog/hotel-marketing-podcast-episode-187-are-you-missing-the-boat-with-these-7-data-points

To fully staff your hotel or resort you must look at your employment strategy the same as you would look at your marketing strategy. In today’s podcast, we are going to cover six strategies that will help you identify, attract, hire, and keep great employees. SHOW NOTES: https://www.fueltravel.com/blog/hotel-marketing-podcast-episode-186-six-strategies-to-finding-staff-for-your-hotel

It’s not easy for a hotel to stand out against their competition. At the end of the day, you are providing a place to stay just like your competitor. In this episode we cover the amenities & services that will guarantee a potential guest will pick your hotel over the one next door. SHOW NOTES: https://www.fueltravel.com/blog/hotel-marketing-podcast-episode-185-how-to-differentiate-your-hotel-getting-a-leg-up-on-the-competition/

The latest edition of the Fuel Customer Sentiment Study (Volume 12) dives in to when your customers are going to be ready to travel, what it will take for hotels to win over guests, and how vaccines will impact travel. SHOW NOTES: https://www.fueltravel.com/blog/fuel-hotel-marketing-podcast-episode-184-get-ready-for-a-booming-spring-summer/

Travel coming back in an incredible way.  In fact we’re seeing many examples of hoteliers even breaking their 2019 numbers.  However, don't sit back.  Now is the time to look back on COVID and understand what worked and what didn’t work in your communications strategies.   SHOW NOTES: https://www.fueltravel.com/blog/fuel-hotel-marketing-podcast-episode-183-three-easy-steps-to-build-your-disaster-communications-plan/

It’s been a crazy year here at Fuel and we’ve learned a thing or two. In this episode of the Fuel Hotel Marketing Podcast, the Fueligans discuss their top 3 lessons learned during the pandemic and give hotels advice on how to move forward with recovery SHOW NOTES: https://www.fueltravel.com/blog/fuel-hotel-marketing-podcast-episode-182-top-3-lessons-learned-during-the-pandemic/

This past week, Google quietly rolled out what may end up being a Trojan horse. By opening up Google Hotel Search organic listings, Google aims to gain access to rates and inventory for every accommodation provider on the planet. In this episode, we discuss the facts, the implications, and give advice on how to navigate the changing landscape. SHOW NOTES: https://www.fueltravel.com/blog/fuel-hotel-marketing-podcast-episode-181-everything-you-need-to-know-about-googles-metasearch-changes/

TripAdvisor is sending a ripple of concern, and potentially opportunity, through the hotel industry. Back in December 2020, TripAdvisor Plus launched on a very limited scale in the US but is in the process of being rolled out to the rest of the states as well as international markets. Today we are going to look at the new program, understand what it is, and discuss ways hotels can adapt to ensure this is a positive tool for independent hoteliers. SHOW NOTES: https://www.fueltravel.com/blog/fuel-hotel-marketing-podcast-episode-180-will-tripadvisor-plus-destroy-your-hotels-direct-bookings/

In this episode of the Fuel Hotel Marketing Podcast, the Fueligans discuss all things Clubhouse. If you’re not on this new audio-only social platform yet, you may be missing out. We breakdown what it is, how you can sign up, and why you should pay attention to it. SHOW NOTES: https://www.fueltravel.com/blog/fuel-hotel-marketing-podcast-episode-179-what-the-heck-is-clubhouse-and-why-should-i-care/

While the ultimate goal on a hotel website is to drive bookings, there is more behavioral data available in Google Analytics that can help a hotelier make better marketing decisions than looking at just that one item. In this episode, the Fuel Hotel Marketing Podcast discusses their top 3 GA goals and explains why you should be paying attention to them too. SHOW NTOES: https://www.fueltravel.com/blog/fuel-hotel-marketing-podcast-episode-178-top-3-google-analytics-goals-for-hotel-websites/