What signals can hotels track to gauge guest readiness to travel again? From a digital marketing perspective, how can hotels get back into the market early to achieve a low-cost share of voice? We tackle these questions and more with the help of our friends at <a href="https://screenpilot.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Screen Pilot </a>on this week’s episode f the Fuel Hotel Marketing Podcast.
<h2><a href="https://admin.travelboommarketing.com/crisis-management-resources-for-hotels-master-list/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Click Here For A Crisis Management Resources For Hotels Master List</a></h2>
<iframe loading="lazy" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/802513177%3Fsecret_token%3Ds-IfKfaHaV8CH&amp;color=%23ff5500&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false&amp;show_teaser=true" width="100%" height="166" frameborder="no" scrolling="no"></iframe>
Listener Feedback:
Friend of the show, Candice K,  asks:
Should I cut off google adwords for a month?? Just looking for ways to save money right now but don&#8217;t want to miss out on marketing for future business.
Answer: We wouldn’t recommend stopping entirely because the CPC is cheap and the volume is low, you’d likely not be saving a whole lot by pausing. Also, when you stop, you lose some of your quality score and it ends up costing you a good bit more when you restart. If you need to conserve, maybe day part the campaign or add some negative keywords to limit the impressions.
Studies show that advertising through a downturn helps you gain more market share. You may just want to give the campaign a little more scrutiny.
In addition, your campaigns can offer insight into when things are beginning to pick up.
SHOW NOTES:
Special Guests from Screen Pilot:
<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/alyssam/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Alyssa Larson</a>, Director of Paid Media at Screen Pilot
<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/griffinsandberg/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Griffin Sandberg</a>, Director of Strategic Partnerships &amp; Industry Relations at Screen Pilot
<h2>1. META SEARCH</h2>
<a href="https://admin.travelboommarketing.com/services/hotel-meta-search/">Hotel metasearch</a> advertising is in a similar position to branded paid search. Right now, the competition is still displaying available rates even if they are a few months out. Bid thresholds are the lowest they have ever been, and hotels can take advantage of that and for those searching for dates further out. We are currently still seeing bookings come through (albeit a low number, but every dollar will count coming out of this)
<h2>2. SOCIAL LISTENING</h2>
While this is incredibly important to be doing now to keep a pulse on consumers and their thoughts around travel, it will become useful information down the line to help inform your messaging strategy. What are people calling out about your property? What do they miss about not being able to currently visit? These are all things that can help formulate what to go back to the market with when the time is right.
<h2>3. BOOKING WINDOWS</h2>
While overall traffic and impressions are down, the engagement and click-through rates on things are still similar and people are still searching for dates to shop prices. Analyzing the dates your current customers are searching for will help inform how far out people are looking to book and what time period to be pushing for. We are currently seeing some people searching for the end of summer time period, hopefully signaling that people haven’t given up on their summer vacations yet.
<h2>4. BRANDED SEARCH</h2>
OTAs have such a small presence on branded paid search terms right now, and this will be one of the first areas to capitalize on as demand starts to increase. We are currently seeing CPCs down over 50% from a few weeks ago. These are the bottom of the funnel customers who are ready to buy, and the last thing you want to do is lose them to an OTA and pay out a % on a booking. Every dollar will matter. You need t0 be present at the bottom of the sales funnel.
<h2>5. BOOKING ENGINE CONVERSION RATE</h2>
We are tracking these in GA including ALL channels to get a good look at what customers are doing. In the past two weeks, we’ve seen some improvement in CVR. While it’s still much lower than pre-COVID numbers, we are seeing some small and slow improvements.
<h2>6. FEEDBACK SURVEYS</h2>
Example: 50 Bowery &#8211; it’s as simple as asking your guests what kind of content they want to consume right now. Cleared up their concerns and then asked them through IG polls &#8211; gave them the calming NYC skyline views that they asked for.
In summary, the costs across paid media channels are low and have little competition. Taking advantage of that now to gather data on your current customers, when they are searching and what they are interested in will help inform the planning process for recovery.
========================
<h2>In The Newsaroos:     </h2>
<ul>
<li>Check out  <a href="https://www.wetravelforward.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">We Travel Forward</a></li>
</ul>
========================
Submit your questions and topic ideas on Twitter to <a href="http://www.twitter.com/fueltravel" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">@_travelboom</a> or info@travelboommarketing.com.
<a href="https://admin.travelboommarketing.com/downloads/">IN ADDITION TO THE PODCAST WE HAVE A BUNCH OF WHITEPAPERS AND STUDIES YOU CAN DOWNLOAD HERE</a>

Fuel Hotel Marketing Podcast: Episode 148 – 6 Ways To Look For Recovery Signals And Make Smarter Decisions (with Screen Pilot)

Marketers have become wizards of data collection, masters of data storage, and champions of data management. But for most of us, that’s where the winning stops. The result? A lot of data and not enough guest engagement. The inability to use data in marketing execution across channels has created a significant disconnect between what guests want and what marketers deliver. In this episode of the Fuel Hotel Marketing Podcast, the 20-year marketing veteran of Priceline and Lending Tree, Josh Francia, will reveal his own tried-and-tested recipe for building an engine that leads to sustained growth and success, propelling you light years ahead of the competition. He&#8217;ll also share how this approach brings greater returns, easier execution, and deeper guest insights.
<h2><a href="https://admin.travelboommarketing.com/crisis-management-resources-for-hotels-master-list/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Click Here For A Crisis Management Resources For Hotels Master List</a></h2>
<iframe loading="lazy" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/802497982&amp;color=%23ff5500&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false&amp;show_teaser=true" width="100%" height="166" frameborder="no" scrolling="no"></iframe>
SHOW NOTES:
Special Guest<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jfrancia/"> Josh Francia</a>, Chief Growth Officer with <a href="https://blueshift.com/">Blueshift</a>
<h2>1. Leverage First-Party Data</h2>
Storing first-party on a unified platform opens up worlds of possibilities.  Most important types of first-party data for hotel/lodging are the following two buckets:
<ul>
<li>Reservation/booking data including room types, preferences, price, length of stay, insurance options, advanced purchase period, guests’ names and ages, post-stay survey responses, etc.</li>
<li>Browsing data including location, filters, favorites, time on site, property/rooms viewed, open, click on emails, etc.</li>
</ul>
Key stats: 51% of marketers don&#8217;t store data on a single integrated platform. 59% of marketers that exceeded rev goals by at least 30% store data on one integrated platform.  Conversely, 38% of marketers that missed revenue goals don&#8217;t store on an integrated platform.
&nbsp;
<h2>2. Use AI to Uncover Valuable Insights</h2>
AI works by predicting the future based on the past.  Specific use cases for hotel/lodging.
<ul>
<li>Predictive Segmentation predicts the chance of some event occurring in the future.  This is a great tool for intent. Specifically for hotels wouldn&#8217;t it be awesome if you knew which customers were likely to purchase and which ones were not in the next 30 days.  This knowledge would change your GTM approach and allow you to focus efforts on near-term success. // Key Stat -&gt; Skillshare 89% increase in conversions when using predictive intent.</li>
<li>Predictive Recommendations figures out which content is most relevant to each customer.  For hotels, that type of content can range from articles to room options.  You can build the recommendation once and then show it on your website, email and other messaging channels.  If the AI determines that customer A loves golf, then don&#8217;t show a shopping promo on the homepage or in his emails.  // Key Stat -&gt; Zumper 128% increase in CTR</li>
<li>Predictive Engage Time is all about identifying when the best time to send a message to drive engagement.  People operate in semi-autonomous routines and if you message them during &#8220;get dinner ready mode&#8221; they are unlikely to respond or even notice your offer.  But if you hit them during &#8220;plan a vacation mode&#8221; the response will be tremendous. // Key Stat -&gt; LendingTree 35% increase in revenue.</li>
<li>Predictive Channel Engagement figures out where customers are most likely to respond.  Are some of your customers more mobile customers vs email?</li>
</ul>
&nbsp;
<h2>3. Expand Triggered Campaigns</h2>
Email and Mobile Push are two of the best and cheapest ways of talking to your customers.  One of the easiest and best ways to leverage these channels is through triggered campaigns.  Triggered campaigns are based on a real-time event and messages the user with relevant info of that event.  For hotels, there is a litany of triggered events that happen all the way through the travel-arc. Browsing events like abandoned cart, favorited.  Purchase events like confirmation, pre-trip, check-in, etc. Inter-Trip like itinerary and upcoming events, the weather during your stay, coupons. Post-purchase like reviews.
&nbsp;
<h2>4. Tighten Paid Media Audiences</h2>
There is likely about 30-40% of your paid media that is hitting the wrong people at the wrong time and is essentially wasted.  Obviously, the media publishers are good with this as they make a lot of their revenue on sloppy campaigns. However, using customer data and AI you can right the ship and reduce your spending but not your results.  Using predictive scores you can focus or bid up what you spend on customers with a high likelihood to convert and reduce or eliminate your spend on low converters. By keeping these audiences continuously in sync you don&#8217;t have to worry about refreshing them or doing any manual uploads.
&nbsp;
========================
<h2>In The Newsaroos:     </h2>
<ul>
<li>Diseny could be opening the theme parks in the US as early as June 1st.</li>
</ul>
========================
Submit your questions and topic ideas on Twitter to <a href="http://www.twitter.com/fueltravel" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">@_travelboom</a> or info@travelboommarketing.com.
&nbsp;
<a href="https://admin.travelboommarketing.com/downloads/">IN ADDITION TO THE PODCAST WE HAVE A BUNCH OF WHITEPAPERS AND STUDIES YOU CAN DOWNLOAD HERE</a>

Fuel Hotel Marketing Podcast: Episode 147 – 4 Ways to Drive Growth and Increase Engagement With Your Guest Data

Fuel recently conducted a consumer sentiment study to more than 10,000 leisure travelers to see how the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting their travel planning. In this episode, the Fueligans dig into the data and discuss ways that your property can take advantage of the situation as we begin to plan for recovery.
<h2><a href="https://admin.travelboommarketing.com/crisis-management-resources-for-hotels-master-list/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Click Here For A Crisis Management Resources For Hotels Master List</a></h2>
<iframe loading="lazy" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/797804266&amp;color=%23ff5500&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false&amp;show_teaser=true" width="100%" height="166" frameborder="no" scrolling="no"></iframe>
SHOW NOTES:
<h2>The notes to this week&#8217;s show can be found on our original blog post: 
</h2>
<h2 class="blog-grid-content-title"><a href="https://admin.travelboommarketing.com/blog/shocking-results-from-the-covid-19-consumer-sentiment-study/">Shocking Findings From COVID-19 Consumer Sentiment Study </a></h2>
&nbsp;
========================
<h2>In The Newsaroos:     </h2>
<ul>
<li>Travel To Resume This Summer… Possibility says Dr Fauci:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.travelpulse.com/news/destinations/dr-fauci-cautiously-optimistic-summer-travel-will-resume.html">https://www.travelpulse.com/news/destinations/dr-fauci-cautiously-optimistic-summer-travel-will-resume.html</a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/coronavirus-pandemic-04-09-20/h_f0bcda38442627c8ff3549edff2fcdc7">https://www.cnn.com/world/live-news/coronavirus-pandemic-04-09-20/h_f0bcda38442627c8ff3549edff2fcdc7</a></li>
<li>And more and more&#8230;</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
========================
Submit your questions and topic ideas on Twitter to <a href="http://www.twitter.com/fueltravel" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">@_travelboom</a> or info@travelboommarketing.com.
&nbsp;
<a href="https://admin.travelboommarketing.com/downloads/">IN ADDITION TO THE PODCAST WE HAVE A BUNCH OF WHITEPAPERS AND STUDIES YOU CAN DOWNLOAD HERE</a>

Fuel Hotel Marketing Podcast: Episode 146 – A Deep Dive Into Fuel’s COVID-19 Consumer Sentiment Data

While it may seem that no one is traveling during the COVID-19 pandemic, there are still groups of people that need to stay in hotels for a variety of reasons. In this episode of the Fuel Hotel Marketing Podcast, we look at a handful of guest types and discuss how creativity can not only help you keep the lights on but it may give you a leg up against the competition when things start to get back to normal.
<h2><a href="https://admin.travelboommarketing.com/crisis-management-resources-for-hotels-master-list/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Click Here For A Crisis Management Resources For Hotels Master List</a></h2>
You can also download <a href="https://admin.travelboommarketing.com/navigating-troubled-times/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">How Hotels Can Navigate Troubled Times</a>
<iframe loading="lazy" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/794618560&amp;color=%23ff5500&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false&amp;show_teaser=true" width="100%" height="166" frameborder="no" scrolling="no"></iframe>
SHOW NOTES:
<h2>Types of travelers who still need hotels:</h2>
<ol>
<li>Airline crews</li>
<li>Long haul drivers</li>
<li>Family support for medical staff</li>
<li>Family support for convalescent care</li>
<li>College kids and families</li>
<li>Relocation stays</li>
<li>Family separation of first responders</li>
<li>Ex-pats who are stuck</li>
</ol>
&nbsp;
<h2>How To Target People Who Are Still Traveling</h2>
&nbsp;
<ul>
<li>Geographic Targeting</li>
</ul>
&nbsp;
<ol>
<li style="list-style-type: none;">
<ol>
<li>Airports</li>
<li>Colleges</li>
<li>Hospitals</li>
<li>Mass distribution hubs</li>
<li>250 mile to 350-mile radius</li>
</ol>
</li>
</ol>
&nbsp;
<ul>
<li>Keyword Targeting</li>
</ul>
&nbsp;
<ol>
<li style="list-style-type: none;">
<ol>
<li>Self-quarantine</li>
<li>long term parking</li>
<li>free parking</li>
<li>shuttle service</li>
<li>Names of brands and services</li>
<li>Hotels in X</li>
</ol>
</li>
</ol>
&nbsp;
<ul>
<li>Ad Copy And Content targeting</li>
</ul>
&nbsp;
<ol>
<li style="list-style-type: none;">
<ol>
<li>Highlight amenity services content</li>
<li>Hygiene protocols content</li>
<li>Refer to the specific type of people. I.e college name, hospital name, etc.</li>
</ol>
</li>
</ol>
&nbsp;
<ul>
<li>Additional Targeting</li>
</ul>
&nbsp;
<ol>
<li style="list-style-type: none;">
<ol>
<li>Airline carriers to the airport</li>
<li>Long haul services by name</li>
<li>Dayparting based on arrivals and departures</li>
<li>Data mining guest history</li>
</ol>
</li>
</ol>
&nbsp;
<h2>Don&#8217;t forget the power of word of mouth within a small community</h2>
&nbsp;
========================
<h2>In The Newsaroos:     </h2>
<ul>
<li>Hilton And American Express Offer 1 Million Rooms 
<a href="https://skift.com/2020/04/06/hilton-american-express-offer-1-million-rooms-to-coronavirus-frontline-medical-staff/">https://skift.com/2020/04/06/hilton-american-express-offer-1-million-rooms-to-coronavirus-frontline-medical-staff/</a>
<ul>
<li>Part of Hospitality for Hope, an American Hotel &amp; Lodging Association</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
========================
Submit your questions and topic ideas on Twitter to <a href="http://www.twitter.com/fueltravel" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">@_travelboom</a> or info@travelboommarketing.com.
&nbsp;
<a href="https://admin.travelboommarketing.com/downloads/">IN ADDITION TO THE PODCAST WE HAVE A BUNCH OF WHITEPAPERS AND STUDIES YOU CAN DOWNLOAD HERE</a>

Fuel Hotel Marketing Podcast: Episode 145 – 8 Guest Types Who Will Stay At Your Hotel Right Now And How To Target Them (with Loren Gray)

You know the saying&#8230;if not now, then when? If you are like the majority of hotels right now, the traffic and revenue being generated online has come to nearly a screeching halt. This doesn’t mean you should be ignoring your analytics data. We are going to cover the three things you need to be doing with your data today.
<h2><a href="https://admin.travelboommarketing.com/crisis-management-resources-for-hotels-master-list/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Click Here For A Crisis Management Resources For Hotels Master List</a></h2>
You can also download <a href="https://admin.travelboommarketing.com/navigating-troubled-times/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">How Hotels Can Navigate Troubled Times</a>
<iframe loading="lazy" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/791840914%3Fsecret_token%3Ds-aHq2GEHo4HF&amp;color=%23ff5500&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false&amp;show_teaser=true" width="100%" height="166" frameborder="no" scrolling="no"></iframe>
SHOW NOTES:
Original blog post:
https://admin.travelboommarketing.com/blog/what-covid-19-means-for-your-hotel-analytics-data/
1 &#8211; Keep Track of Current Events
While everything is fresh in your mind, this is the time to take advantage of annotations in your analytics platform. When you add an annotation, you will be able to see that note whenever you run a report that includes that date range, or from the entire list of annotations in the admin section.
Here are some critical dates to note as it pertains to this particular issue:
<ul>
<li>3/11/20 &#8211; WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic</li>
<li>The date of your state of emergency</li>
<li>If you have specific fly/drive markets, note those states of emergency</li>
<li>The date your area was affected by a government-enforced quarantine</li>
<li>The date of government or owner shutdown of property</li>
<li>Changes in marketing spend (PPC, social, meta)</li>
<li>Changes in marketing strategies (started bidding on broad area keywords, changed spring promotion to summer)</li>
<li>Any operational changes</li>
<li>Changes to website content
<ul>
<li>COVID alert added to site</li>
<li>Restaurant featured on the homepage</li>
<li>Cancelation policy updated</li>
<li>Featured no deposit necessary in booking engine or homepage</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
If you are unfamiliar with annotations, we’ve given you step-by-step instructions in <a href="https://admin.travelboommarketing.com/blog/what-covid-19-means-for-your-hotel-analytics-data/">the full blog post</a>.
&nbsp;
2 &#8211; Review and Act on Your Current Data
<ol>
<li>Content
<ul>
<li>For the visitors who are coming to your site, what are they consuming?</li>
<li>Are you seeing an increase in traffic to the policy page, the FAQs, the contact page, or a specific page you’ve got dedicated to COVID-19?</li>
<li>Does this data show that you are missing information on some pertinent pages?</li>
<li>Do you have a webcam page that is getting traffic? This can be an opportunity for appropriate “we will be here when you are ready to travel” type messaging (<a href="https://admin.travelboommarketing.com/blog/hotel-messaging-promoting-during-a-global-crisis/">see this post on tips for messaging</a>).</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Room Searches
<ul>
<li>If you are collecting data on the behavior in your booking engine, looking at the dates searched, dates booked and length of stay can be extremely helpful.</li>
<li>Can you use some <a href="https://admin.travelboommarketing.com/blog/how-to-adjust-your-advertising-strategy-right-now/">marketing tactics</a> to get visitors to search for summer vacations now?</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Location
<ul>
<li>From what geographic location are people visiting your website? Is it local traffic? Drive market? Fly market?</li>
<li>Use this data to tailor your content appropriately
<ol>
<li>Geo-target your paid advertising campaigns based on this data</li>
</ol>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Market Trends
<ul>
<li>Reach out to your friendly competitors in your market or CVB and see how you are doing in comparison</li>
<li>Use things like Google Trends and Vertical Trends Reports from Google</li>
<li>We’ve given some examples of reports we’ve provided to clients in the full blog post</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>One quick side-note:
<ul>
<li>If you have a team of people working remotely that could be skewing data of your website traffic, you should probably exclude their IP addresses from your analytics.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ol>
&nbsp;
3 &#8211; Prepare For Next Year’s Data
Another saying I’m very fond of: Garbage in, garbage out. While the data you are receiving now is not garbage now, at this time next year, any year-to-year comparisons will be basically useless. We would recommend using 2019 data as your comparison dataset.
We know that using 2-year-old data is not ideal, but there is virtually no helpful data for this timeframe in 2020. Under these extreme conditions, we need to cut our losses, and do the best we can. We’ve had to contend with situations like this for clients that have been closed because of damages from hurricanes or partial closures for renovations. We create reports that do have both year-to-year and year vs. 2 years ago comparisons. Examples in the full blog post.
&nbsp;
Wrap-up
There is nothing simple about the situation we are contending with right now. The more you can do to make sure your data is well annotated and utilized in the best way possible now, the more likely you will be able to share your insights with your entire organization in a way that will help everyone get through this crisis.
&nbsp;
========================
<h2>In The Newsaroos:     </h2>
<ul>
<li>TripAdvisor Relief: Offering Business Advantage Free for 2 months:
<ul>
<li>Email from TripAdvisor for some Business Advantage partners</li>
</ul>
During this difficult period we feel it is our responsibility to help our partners as best we can. We firmly believe that TripAdvisor can support your business once this crisis passes, and in the interim, as a Business Advantage partner we want to offer some relief by providing you 2 months of free BA service. You will not be responsible for April and May&#8217;s payments. Additionally, we will also be pushing back your renewal date by two months.
We understand that during this time, decisions are being made to ensure short term cash flow while also driving future business. We hope this gesture will help you and we hope to continue working with your business when this is behind us.</li>
</ul>
========================
Submit your questions and topic ideas on Twitter to <a href="http://www.twitter.com/fueltravel" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">@_travelboom</a> or info@travelboommarketing.com.
&nbsp;
<a href="https://admin.travelboommarketing.com/downloads/">IN ADDITION TO THE PODCAST WE HAVE A BUNCH OF WHITEPAPERS AND STUDIES YOU CAN DOWNLOAD HERE</a>

Fuel Hotel Marketing Podcast: Episode 144 – The 3 Things Hoteliers Should be Doing with Their COVID-19 Analytics Data Now

You know the saying&#8230;if not now, then when? If you are like the majority of hotels right now, the traffic and revenue being generated online has come to nearly a screeching halt. This doesn’t mean you should be ignoring your analytics data. We are going to cover the three things you need to be doing with your data today.
<h2><a href="https://admin.travelboommarketing.com/crisis-management-resources-for-hotels-master-list/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Click Here For A Crisis Management Resources For Hotels Master List</a></h2>
You can also download <a href="https://admin.travelboommarketing.com/navigating-troubled-times/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">How Hotels Can Navigate Troubled Times</a>
<iframe loading="lazy" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/791840914%3Fsecret_token%3Ds-aHq2GEHo4HF&amp;color=%23ff5500&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false&amp;show_teaser=true" width="100%" height="166" frameborder="no" scrolling="no"></iframe>
SHOW NOTES:
Original blog post:
<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="Y9BRTra9bs"><a href="https://admin.travelboommarketing.com/blog/what-covid-19-means-for-your-hotel-analytics-data/">What COVID-19 Means for Your Hotel Analytics Data</a></blockquote>
<iframe loading="lazy" class="wp-embedded-content" sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" style="position: absolute; clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px);" title="&#8220;What COVID-19 Means for Your Hotel Analytics Data&#8221; &#8212; TravelBoom" src="https://admin.travelboommarketing.com/blog/what-covid-19-means-for-your-hotel-analytics-data/embed/#?secret=P62RSMNjOY#?secret=Y9BRTra9bs" data-secret="Y9BRTra9bs" width="500" height="282" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no"></iframe>
1 &#8211; Keep Track of Current Events
While everything is fresh in your mind, this is the time to take advantage of annotations in your analytics platform. When you add an annotation, you will be able to see that note whenever you run a report that includes that date range, or from the entire list of annotations in the admin section.
Here are some critical dates to note as it pertains to this particular issue:
<ul>
<li>3/11/20 &#8211; WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic</li>
<li>The date of your state of emergency</li>
<li>If you have specific fly/drive markets, note those states of emergency</li>
<li>The date your area was affected by a government-enforced quarantine</li>
<li>The date of government or owner shutdown of property</li>
<li>Changes in marketing spend (PPC, social, meta)</li>
<li>Changes in marketing strategies (started bidding on broad area keywords, changed spring promotion to summer)</li>
<li>Any operational changes</li>
<li>Changes to website content
<ul>
<li>COVID alert added to site</li>
<li>Restaurant featured on the homepage</li>
<li>Cancelation policy updated</li>
<li>Featured no deposit necessary in booking engine or homepage</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
If you are unfamiliar with annotations, we’ve given you step-by-step instructions in <a href="https://admin.travelboommarketing.com/blog/what-covid-19-means-for-your-hotel-analytics-data/">the full blog post</a>.
&nbsp;
2 &#8211; Review and Act on Your Current Data
<ol>
<li>Content
<ul>
<li>For the visitors who are coming to your site, what are they consuming?</li>
<li>Are you seeing an increase in traffic to the policy page, the FAQs, the contact page, or a specific page you’ve got dedicated to COVID-19?</li>
<li>Does this data show that you are missing information on some pertinent pages?</li>
<li>Do you have a webcam page that is getting traffic? This can be an opportunity for appropriate “we will be here when you are ready to travel” type messaging (<a href="https://admin.travelboommarketing.com/blog/hotel-messaging-promoting-during-a-global-crisis/">see this post on tips for messaging</a>).</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Room Searches
<ul>
<li>If you are collecting data on the behavior in your booking engine, looking at the dates searched, dates booked and length of stay can be extremely helpful.</li>
<li>Can you use some <a href="https://admin.travelboommarketing.com/blog/how-to-adjust-your-advertising-strategy-right-now/">marketing tactics</a> to get visitors to search for summer vacations now?</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Location
<ul>
<li>From what geographic location are people visiting your website? Is it local traffic? Drive market? Fly market?</li>
<li>Use this data to tailor your content appropriately
<ol>
<li>Geo-target your paid advertising campaigns based on this data</li>
</ol>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Market Trends
<ul>
<li>Reach out to your friendly competitors in your market or CVB and see how you are doing in comparison</li>
<li>Use things like Google Trends and Vertical Trends Reports from Google</li>
<li>We’ve given some examples of reports we’ve provided to clients in the full blog post</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>One quick side-note:
<ul>
<li>If you have a team of people working remotely that could be skewing data of your website traffic, you should probably exclude their IP addresses from your analytics.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ol>
&nbsp;
3 &#8211; Prepare For Next Year’s Data
Another saying I’m very fond of: Garbage in, garbage out. While the data you are receiving now is not garbage now, at this time next year, any year-to-year comparisons will be basically useless. We would recommend using 2019 data as your comparison dataset.
We know that using 2-year-old data is not ideal, but there is virtually no helpful data for this timeframe in 2020. Under these extreme conditions, we need to cut our losses, and do the best we can. We’ve had to contend with situations like this for clients that have been closed because of damages from hurricanes or partial closures for renovations. We create reports that do have both year-to-year and year vs. 2 years ago comparisons. Examples in the full blog post.
&nbsp;
Wrap-up
There is nothing simple about the situation we are contending with right now. The more you can do to make sure your data is well annotated and utilized in the best way possible now, the more likely you will be able to share your insights with your entire organization in a way that will help everyone get through this crisis.
&nbsp;
========================
<h2>In The Newsaroos:     </h2>
<ul>
<li>TripAdvisor Relief: Offering Business Advantage Free for 2 months:
<ul>
<li>Email from TripAdvisor for some Business Advantage partners</li>
</ul>
During this difficult period we feel it is our responsibility to help our partners as best we can. We firmly believe that TripAdvisor can support your business once this crisis passes, and in the interim, as a Business Advantage partner we want to offer some relief by providing you 2 months of free BA service. You will not be responsible for April and May&#8217;s payments. Additionally, we will also be pushing back your renewal date by two months.
We understand that during this time, decisions are being made to ensure short term cash flow while also driving future business. We hope this gesture will help you and we hope to continue working with your business when this is behind us.</li>
</ul>
========================
Submit your questions and topic ideas on Twitter to <a href="http://www.twitter.com/fueltravel" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">@_travelboom</a> or info@travelboommarketing.com.
&nbsp;
<a href="https://admin.travelboommarketing.com/downloads/">IN ADDITION TO THE PODCAST WE HAVE A BUNCH OF WHITEPAPERS AND STUDIES YOU CAN DOWNLOAD HERE</a>

In times of disaster and social upheaval, such as the COVID-19 struggles today, hoteliers must be both adaptable and transparent with their guests.  When we’re in a time of uncertainty, providing customers with a little clarity can go a long way to building a great relationship as well as being a servant to your guest.
<h2><a href="https://admin.travelboommarketing.com/crisis-management-resources-for-hotels-master-list/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Click Here For A Crisis Management Resources For Hotels Master List</a></h2>
You can also download <a href="https://admin.travelboommarketing.com/navigating-troubled-times/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">How Hotels Can Navigate Troubled Times</a>
<iframe loading="lazy" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/791835112&amp;color=%23ff5500&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false&amp;show_teaser=true" width="100%" height="166" frameborder="no" scrolling="no"></iframe>
SHOW NOTES:
&nbsp;
Original blog post:
https://admin.travelboommarketing.com/blog/the-definitive-guide-to-covid19-policy-updates-communication/
One of the best ways to put your current and potential guests at ease is through updated policies to help address objections to bookings. Objections such as deposits, cancellation policies, modifications, and price fluctuations.
&nbsp;
Who is doing this right?
Hilton gets the award as one of the first flags to come out with a very well-crafted set of emergency policies to address their guest concerns.  They updated their site, communicated to guests and ensured that if you were going through a booking process you had a clear understanding that there was nothing to worry about… if you had to cancel or modify your plans.
&nbsp;
Who is doing this wrong?
We decided to redact this one example of a hotelier who took an entirely 180 approach to their policies in light of a disaster.  This vacation rental business basically said, “the rules are the rules” and if you didn’t purchase vacation insurance you’re out of luck.
Even if you did purchase insurance you could only reschedule your visit in the same unit within 6 months.
&nbsp;
Now Let’s Play Good Hotelier Bad Hotelier.
To start, you will want to update your policies for stays and cancellations.  This is both a good time to make any needed updates that should be made regardless of an event, but also to highlight the specific short term alterations you are making to ease your guest’s minds.
The Right Way
<ul>
<li>Update your existing reservation policies to make them as flexible as possible</li>
<li>Update your new reservation policies to allow for generous cancellation rules</li>
<li>Provide links from your policy pages to your disaster response pages</li>
<li>Update your booking engine disclaimers to match your temporary policies</li>
<li>Make your contact information very easily accessible on your policy page, people will still have questions</li>
<li>Consider adding a FAQ box to your policy page for disaster related questions and answers</li>
</ul>
The Wrong Way
<ul>
<li>Remain inflexible because &#8220;the rules are the rules&#8220;</li>
<li>Bury your policy updates in a sea of text where they are not easy to see</li>
<li>Cut and paste a policy from another site, you may be getting more (or less) than you bargained for</li>
<li>Only update your policy and not your package and booking disclaimers</li>
<li>Make it hard to contact you via phone, email, or chat</li>
</ul>
&nbsp;
We’ve Chosen To Be The Good Hotelier, Now Let’s Promote Our Policy.
Creating a compassionate policy update to handle large scale disruptions show that you’re a great hotelier and good neighbor in your community.  However if you don’t let your potential and current guests know, it’s not doing you much good. Below is a short checklist of how you can make sure everyone who wants to know is in the loop.  Your goal here is to let customers know they don’t have to worry about the financial side of their stay decision. You also want to let everyone know that, “hey, we’re nice guys and we are here for you in good times and bad.”
On Site Promotions:
<ul>
<li>Clearly highlight your policy updates on your policy page by positioning key updates at the top and differentiating in a different text treatment</li>
<li>Create a home page alert to drive visitors to your updated policy page</li>
<li>Do a search for &#8220;your property&#8220; Cancellation and see what pages appear. Update those pages with the proper links and content</li>
<li>Ensure your booking engine policies match your new policies you posted</li>
<li>Ensure the policies on your email confirmations match your new policies</li>
<li>Browse your entire site and highlight or link to your policies where it will help your conversion process</li>
</ul>
Off Site Promotions:
<ul>
<li>Create a helpful email to your guests</li>
<li>Include your policy updates such as &#8220;free cancellations&#8220; on your PPC callout extensions</li>
<li>Create a response plan for responding to social inquiries</li>
<li>Share your temporary policies with local DMOs and portal sites</li>
</ul>
Most importantly, remember that your guests are humans, with real human problems and worries.  Be compassionate with your guests, work with them one-on-one, and step outside of your written policies to surprise and delight your guests.
&nbsp;
========================
<h2>In The Newsaroos:     </h2>
<ul>
<li>Google giving Google Ads credit. 
</li>
</ul>
========================
Submit your questions and topic ideas on Twitter to <a href="http://www.twitter.com/fueltravel" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">@_travelboom</a> or info@travelboommarketing.com.
&nbsp;
<a href="https://admin.travelboommarketing.com/downloads/">IN ADDITION TO THE PODCAST WE HAVE A BUNCH OF WHITEPAPERS AND STUDIES YOU CAN DOWNLOAD HERE</a>

Fuel Hotel Marketing Podcast: Episode 143 – Smart Hoteliers Have Updated Their Policies For COVID-19, Here’s How You Can Too

In times of disaster and social upheaval, such as the COVID-19 struggles today, hoteliers must be both adaptable and transparent with their guests.  When we’re in a time of uncertainty, providing customers with a little clarity can go a long way to building a great relationship as well as being a servant to your guest.
<h2><a href="https://admin.travelboommarketing.com/crisis-management-resources-for-hotels-master-list/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Click Here For A Crisis Management Resources For Hotels Master List</a></h2>
You can also download <a href="https://admin.travelboommarketing.com/navigating-troubled-times/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">How Hotels Can Navigate Troubled Times</a>
<iframe loading="lazy" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/791835112&amp;color=%23ff5500&amp;auto_play=false&amp;hide_related=false&amp;show_comments=true&amp;show_user=true&amp;show_reposts=false&amp;show_teaser=true" width="100%" height="166" frameborder="no" scrolling="no"></iframe>
SHOW NOTES:
&nbsp;
Original blog post:
<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="pKy5zenk83"><a href="https://admin.travelboommarketing.com/blog/the-definitive-guide-to-covid19-policy-updates-communication/">The Definitive Guide To COVID19 Policy Updates &#038; Communication</a></blockquote>
<iframe loading="lazy" class="wp-embedded-content" sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" style="position: absolute; clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px);" title="&#8220;The Definitive Guide To COVID19 Policy Updates &#038; Communication&#8221; &#8212; TravelBoom" src="https://admin.travelboommarketing.com/blog/the-definitive-guide-to-covid19-policy-updates-communication/embed/#?secret=fmC7QGH662#?secret=pKy5zenk83" data-secret="pKy5zenk83" width="500" height="282" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no"></iframe>
One of the best ways to put your current and potential guests at ease is through updated policies to help address objections to bookings. Objections such as deposits, cancellation policies, modifications, and price fluctuations.
&nbsp;
Who is doing this right?
Hilton gets the award as one of the first flags to come out with a very well-crafted set of emergency policies to address their guest concerns.  They updated their site, communicated to guests and ensured that if you were going through a booking process you had a clear understanding that there was nothing to worry about… if you had to cancel or modify your plans.
&nbsp;
Who is doing this wrong?
We decided to redact this one example of a hotelier who took an entirely 180 approach to their policies in light of a disaster.  This vacation rental business basically said, “the rules are the rules” and if you didn’t purchase vacation insurance you’re out of luck.
Even if you did purchase insurance you could only reschedule your visit in the same unit within 6 months.
&nbsp;
Now Let’s Play Good Hotelier Bad Hotelier.
To start, you will want to update your policies for stays and cancellations.  This is both a good time to make any needed updates that should be made regardless of an event, but also to highlight the specific short term alterations you are making to ease your guest’s minds.
The Right Way
<ul>
<li>Update your existing reservation policies to make them as flexible as possible</li>
<li>Update your new reservation policies to allow for generous cancellation rules</li>
<li>Provide links from your policy pages to your disaster response pages</li>
<li>Update your booking engine disclaimers to match your temporary policies</li>
<li>Make your contact information very easily accessible on your policy page, people will still have questions</li>
<li>Consider adding a FAQ box to your policy page for disaster related questions and answers</li>
</ul>
The Wrong Way
<ul>
<li>Remain inflexible because &#8220;the rules are the rules&#8220;</li>
<li>Bury your policy updates in a sea of text where they are not easy to see</li>
<li>Cut and paste a policy from another site, you may be getting more (or less) than you bargained for</li>
<li>Only update your policy and not your package and booking disclaimers</li>
<li>Make it hard to contact you via phone, email, or chat</li>
</ul>
&nbsp;
We’ve Chosen To Be The Good Hotelier, Now Let’s Promote Our Policy.
Creating a compassionate policy update to handle large scale disruptions show that you’re a great hotelier and good neighbor in your community.  However if you don’t let your potential and current guests know, it’s not doing you much good. Below is a short checklist of how you can make sure everyone who wants to know is in the loop.  Your goal here is to let customers know they don’t have to worry about the financial side of their stay decision. You also want to let everyone know that, “hey, we’re nice guys and we are here for you in good times and bad.”
On Site Promotions:
<ul>
<li>Clearly highlight your policy updates on your policy page by positioning key updates at the top and differentiating in a different text treatment</li>
<li>Create a home page alert to drive visitors to your updated policy page</li>
<li>Do a search for &#8220;your property&#8220; Cancellation and see what pages appear. Update those pages with the proper links and content</li>
<li>Ensure your booking engine policies match your new policies you posted</li>
<li>Ensure the policies on your email confirmations match your new policies</li>
<li>Browse your entire site and highlight or link to your policies where it will help your conversion process</li>
</ul>
Off Site Promotions:
<ul>
<li>Create a helpful email to your guests</li>
<li>Include your policy updates such as &#8220;free cancellations&#8220; on your PPC callout extensions</li>
<li>Create a response plan for responding to social inquiries</li>
<li>Share your temporary policies with local DMOs and portal sites</li>
</ul>
Most importantly, remember that your guests are humans, with real human problems and worries.  Be compassionate with your guests, work with them one-on-one, and step outside of your written policies to surprise and delight your guests.
&nbsp;
========================
<h2>In The Newsaroos:     </h2>
<ul>
<li>Google giving Google Ads credit. 
</li>
</ul>
========================
Submit your questions and topic ideas on Twitter to <a href="http://www.twitter.com/fueltravel" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">@_travelboom</a> or info@travelboommarketing.com.
&nbsp;
<a href="https://admin.travelboommarketing.com/downloads/">IN ADDITION TO THE PODCAST WE HAVE A BUNCH OF WHITEPAPERS AND STUDIES YOU CAN DOWNLOAD HERE</a>

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