TECHNOLOGY
THE HOLY GRAIL of website content
By JEFF WEINSTEIN , EDITOR IN CHIEF
Website content beyond standard e-commerce information is the focus of every hotel company working to more directly engage with guests and potential customers . Rich media , locally curated blogs , story-telling and beautiful design creates stickiness that hopefully leads visitors down the booking funnels .
While some reports suggest hotel websites are passé , operators continue to use social channels to drive users to relevant website content . Two Roads Hospitality ’ s new vice president of digital marketing and e-commerce , Paolo Torchio , is convinced that content can drive business . The former Sabre Hospitality Solutions executive now working for the San Francisco-based hotel company talked to HOTELS about best practices that can lead to more personalized conversations and , yes , bookings .
HOTELS : Give us an example of Two Roads ’ content curation strategy . Paolo Torchio : A section of the Thompson Hotels website ( one of five Two Roads brands ) called Thompson Hotel Influencers has a blog called Upper Stories . Content comes from hotel team members and local influencers ( photographers , travel writers , nightlife experts who are heavy social media content generators ). We also rely heavily on social channels to bring guests to our digital assets . The ideal experience : A consumer follows us on a social channel , we promote content there from a social influencer , they continue
Paolo Torchio , vice president of digital marketing and e-commerce , Two Roads Hospitality
reading the curated content via a link to our website , and as they engage more deeply we hope it acts as a bridge to our booking funnel because we created brand affinity through our content .
H : How much is content driving bookings ? PT : I would say more than 50 % of our web-based reservations include those who have engaged with our content . Many visitors are coming from social channels and then booking . In those social channels , we continue to do some advertising . While there has been a lot of debate about the effectiveness of advertising on the likes of Facebook and Twitter , I think they are effective when you promote stories and lead readers to the booking process . I was a little skeptical at first , but the social channels actually work very well .
H : What is the most relevant content , and what is coming next ?
PT : The biggest opportunity is in moving the communication and messaging from pure content to direct engagement . Part of that strategy involves our local insiders . Someone interested in running , for example , that we can connect directly to our content curator who knows the best running experiences is what ’ s next . It creates an opportunity to move that engagement into messaging platforms , which brings the messaging platform , social content and website together to focus on the guest journey . Many communication channels are social like Facebook messaging , Twitter direct messaging and WeChat , and we can move that concierge-style engagement to those channels . It is all led by content .
H : What are your website format preferences ? PT : There are these micro-moments , which are very relevant to travel . You must optimize for those moments and 75 % of them happen on mobile devices – probably a mobile telelphone . Those moments can start on a social channels and link to the hotel website – again from a mobile device . Then window between booking and arrival is another huge interaction opportunity and those are all optimized for mobile . The guest journey has about 20 touch points , and about 15 of those are optimized for mobile .
H : What ’ s next ? PT : Moving consumer to a direct communication channel is next . One of our objectives with our content is to get consumers to identify themselves and create profiles so we can communicate directly and learn more about their needs . There is a moment in time where it is appropriate to ask for a phone number , or a Facebook or Twitter handle to move to one-to-one communication . A very simple guest profile piece is a critical component of this engagement .
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