“Think with Google” recently published a “consumer insights” blog post featuring video interviews with industry marketing leaders.The topic of the series is how customer expectations are changing, and how brands can evolve to meet those expectations.The interviews, captured during Google's most recent "Marketing Live" event, include insights from in-the-trenches marketing professionals from Nationwide, Office Depot, digital performance marketing agency iProspect, and others.If you’re at all familiar with Screen Pilot’s marketing philosophy, this is going to sound very familiar.Here are a few takeaways for hotel and resort marketing teams.
Deliver Personalized Experiences
A generic, shotgun marketing approach is dated, and increasingly ineffective. Giving your audience a personalized digital experience, on the other hand, isn’t just productive, it’s desired.Some 63% of people expect brands to use their purchase history to provide them with personalized experiences. One recent study even noted that a full 83% of Millennials said they would let travel brands track their digital patterns if it would provide them with a more personalized experience.Hospitality brands, in particular, should be eager to personalize their digital marketing outreach. There are more tools and channels available today than at any point in the past, and while that fact alone can, at times, seem overwhelming, it's actually a sea of opportunity.With smart strategy, and support from an experienced team, delivering a personalized experience is both efficient and effective.
Provide a Seamless Path to Purchase
“Frictionless” is one of our favorite words at Screen Pilot.Data shows, time and time again, that a smooth online experience offering a seamless “path to purchase” increases direct bookings. Conversely, slow, bloated, convoluted websites send consumers into the arms of competitors.Keep in mind that nearly half of mobile users in the U.S. are comfortable researching, planning, and booking an entire trip to a new travel destination using only their smartphone, so the small-screen experience must be as frictionless as a desktop one.For hotel and resort brands, offering an omni-channel experience that makes it easy for users to book direct is essential. Regardless of where your brand exists online – your primary website, your support sites, your social media channels, your app – give travelers an opportunity to book at every turn.
Lean Into Video
People watch more than a billion hours of video on YouTube every day.Let that sink in for a moment.Within those one billion hours are billions upon billions of individual video views, and that’s just via YouTube. Though the largest video sharing site in the world, it’s certainly not the only one. Facebook thinks video is so important, that last year it began prioritizing video in users’ News Feed, and other platforms, including Facebook-owned Instagram, are following.We've long preached the importance of incorporating video in a hotel's storytelling.Videos have repeatedly been shown to influence travel decisions. Further, data shows users retain more information from videos than they do text, and clickthrough rates are higher when used with video, not to mention people are inclined to share unique content with friends, family and followers.In short, offering relevant, insightful video is key to meeting today’s customer service expectations.BONUS READ:5 Reasons to Integrate Video Into Your Marketing Strategy Now
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“Think with Google” recently published a “consumer insights” blog post featuring video interviews with industry marketing leaders.The topic of the series is how customer expectations are changing, and how brands can evolve to meet those expectations.The interviews, captured during Google's most recent "Marketing Live" event, include insights from in-the-trenches marketing professionals from Nationwide, Office Depot, digital performance marketing agency iProspect, and others.If you’re at all familiar with Screen Pilot’s marketing philosophy, this is going to sound very familiar.Here are a few takeaways for hotel and resort marketing teams.
Deliver Personalized Experiences
A generic, shotgun marketing approach is dated, and increasingly ineffective. Giving your audience a personalized digital experience, on the other hand, isn’t just productive, it’s desired.Some 63% of people expect brands to use their purchase history to provide them with personalized experiences. One recent study even noted that a full 83% of Millennials said they would let travel brands track their digital patterns if it would provide them with a more personalized experience.Hospitality brands, in particular, should be eager to personalize their digital marketing outreach. There are more tools and channels available today than at any point in the past, and while that fact alone can, at times, seem overwhelming, it's actually a sea of opportunity.With smart strategy, and support from an experienced team, delivering a personalized experience is both efficient and effective.
Provide a Seamless Path to Purchase
“Frictionless” is one of our favorite words at Screen Pilot.Data shows, time and time again, that a smooth online experience offering a seamless “path to purchase” increases direct bookings. Conversely, slow, bloated, convoluted websites send consumers into the arms of competitors.Keep in mind that nearly half of mobile users in the U.S. are comfortable researching, planning, and booking an entire trip to a new travel destination using only their smartphone, so the small-screen experience must be as frictionless as a desktop one.For hotel and resort brands, offering an omni-channel experience that makes it easy for users to book direct is essential. Regardless of where your brand exists online – your primary website, your support sites, your social media channels, your app – give travelers an opportunity to book at every turn.
Lean Into Video
People watch more than a billion hours of video on YouTube every day.Let that sink in for a moment.Within those one billion hours are billions upon billions of individual video views, and that’s just via YouTube. Though the largest video sharing site in the world, it’s certainly not the only one. Facebook thinks video is so important, that last year it began prioritizing video in users’ News Feed, and other platforms, including Facebook-owned Instagram, are following.We've long preached the importance of incorporating video in a hotel's storytelling.Videos have repeatedly been shown to influence travel decisions. Further, data shows users retain more information from videos than they do text, and clickthrough rates are higher when used with video, not to mention people are inclined to share unique content with friends, family and followers.In short, offering relevant, insightful video is key to meeting today’s customer service expectations.BONUS READ:5 Reasons to Integrate Video Into Your Marketing Strategy Now
Did you enjoy the read?
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