EXPANDED CHANNELS =
EXPANDED
REACH
Hoteliers willing to go against the grain on customer acquisition approaches could net rewarding results . Bill Linehan , executive vice president and chief marketing officer , RLH Corp ., Denver , writes about his company ’ s individual approach to distribution . Consider the OTAs , which use different channels to target various buyer personas across every segment and demographic . This means hoteliers need to focus even more on leveraging marketplace opportunities to connect with consumers .
Channels market and price themselves differently , and that has varying effects on parity . Hoteliers should capitalize on expanded channels for expanded reach .
For example , RLH Corp . launched a partnership with Expedia last summer , offering Red Lion Hello Rewards members exclusive rates on Expedia . com and Hotels . com ( U . S .), and it provided direct member sign-up for Hello Rewards from these sites . Expedia shoppers are required to join Hello Rewards to receive the rate , and RLH Corp . receives guest information such as email address .
Who has a greater ubiquity of inventory than the OTAs , so why not market within that marketplace ? RLH Corp . took this unconventional approach because it realized that it was not going to outspend the OTAs on marketing .
Over the first year of the partnership , the wins helped Red Lion grow market share . Around the four-month mark , it started monitoring the consumer-facing displays more diligently as the test and learn culture at Expedia was abuzz with activity given the new product . Since then , Red Lion continually monitors to ensure common ground on defining tests and sharing results .
If it weren ’ t for online travel agent sites like Expedia , Red Lion wouldn ’ t be getting the customer volume . Essentially , these are mass marketplaces , and as a marketer it wants to ensure it is optimizing brand exposure when needed the most and at the precise time consumers are researching to book . So Red Lion plans to continue to work with the OTAs and “ fish where the fish are ” to capture , convert and retain consumers .
Another strategy affecting distribution is demand management . If hotel departments aren ’ t working together to generate demand and customer engagement , they are facing an uphill battle . Ideally , divisions need to be aligned under the same umbrella to become nimble and more proactively react to the market in front of them .
A few years ago , RLH Corp . faced such a problem and was able to break down the silos that existed with RevPak , a suite of marketing , operations and business intelligence tools configured to each brand . It ’ s a guest capture and management ecosystem – a technology platform that brings together third-party technologies to handle reservations , distribution , customer relations , CRM , marketing , revenue management and other marketplace related disciplines .
Instead of building the platform from the ground up , Red Lion bridged strategic alliances with a virtual team of industry leaders who customized their technologies , allowing Red Lion to capture untapped distribution opportunities , enable more efficiency and produce RevPAR growth .
The first of RevPak ’ s three product caches is customer acquisition as it helps the brands connect with , capture and convert guests . Examples :
• The CRS systems enable it to distribute real-time offers and inventory across all distribution channels .
“ ESSENTIALLY , THESE ARE MASS MARKETPLACES , AND AS A MARKETER IT WANTS TO ENSURE IT IS OPTIMIZING BRAND EXPOSURE WHEN NEEDED THE MOST AND AT THE PRECISE TIME CONSUMERS ARE RESEARCHING TO BOOK .”
— BILL LINEHAN
• The hotel marketing ( CRM ) platform drives direct and repeat bookings through automated and personalized messaging .
• The “ always on ” approach to digital marketing promotes direct-channel business , and Red Lion makes it easy for intermediaries to further market its brands by sharing its creative with intermediaries for their own self-funded campaigns .
The other two caches focus on guest management and business intelligence .
Red Lion considers its partners as much a part of its team as its associates , and the vendors have adopted this mindset as well . The payoff is when Red Lion gets two , three or sometimes four vendors working on a single initiative . An example : Its recently launched website with the digital agency working with the loyalty vendor and both working with two central reservations systems , all to enable RLH Corp . to have a single website that allows customers to book any hotel .
September 2017 hotelsmag . com 33