Slideshow used for a recent VFM Leonardo webinar hosted by Darlene Rondeau, featuring guest speakers Glenn Squires of Pacrim Hospitality Services Inc. and Craig Perch of The Georgian Terrace Hotel. The webinar covered current hotel marketing trends, predictions for 2013 and recommended best practices.

1. New Year, New Plan:
Planning Your Hotel’s Digital Marketing for
2013
December 12th, 2012
Technical difficulties?
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vfmleonardo.com facebook.com/vfmleonardo @vfmleonardo

2. Darlene Rondeau
Vice-President, Best
Practices, Online Merchandising
VFM Leonardo Inc.
@darlenerondeau

3. Follow:
@vfmleonardo
Tweets & Questions:
#vfmlwebinar

4. What you will learn today
 What transpired in 2012
 How to meet growing consumer demands
 Tips for using social media to increase
engagement and bookings
 How to optimize for travel shopping on mobile
devices

5. Glenn Squires
 Chief Executive Officer
Pacrim Hospitality Services Inc.
 Immediate Past Chairman, IHG
Owners Association

6. Craig Perch
 Area Director of Revenue
Management
Crescent Hotels & Resorts
The Georgian Terrace Hotel

7. Poll:
What keeps you up at night?

8. Digital shopping has
grown at a rate of
16%
iMedia Connection: Today’s biggest digital marketing challenge

9. 48%
of mobile phone users in
the US own a smartphone
iMedia Connection: Today’s biggest digital marketing challenge

10. The use of social
media has risen by
30%
iMedia Connection: Today’s biggest digital marketing challenge

11. Facebook accounts for
60%
of the social market share
iMedia Connection: Today’s biggest digital marketing challenge

12. The number of daily Pinterest
users has increased by
145%
since January 2012
Factbroswer: Pinterest Facts and Statistics

13. Travel is one of Top 10 Categories on Pinterest
Source: Mashable, What People Are Pinning on Pinterest

14. Glenn Squires
 Chief Executive Officer
Pacrim Hospitality Services Inc.
 Immediate Past Chairman, IHG
Owners Association

15. Market Outlook 2013
 More of the same as we experienced in 2012.
 Global GDP should rise about 2.5%, Europe will continue to be
slow.
 The US Fiscal Cliff is something to watch.
 Business and corporate travel will be good. Expect RevPar
growth of about 5%, but 80% will be rate as demand growth
slows.
 Manage your KNR and LNR - use the right channels; more
stringent management of rates needed.

16. Market Outlook 2013
 Leisure travel will depend on whether there are tax hikes
◦ This will impact middle market, but top-end should continue to travel as normal
 College-educated unemployment will continue to fall, which is good
for hotel sales
 Economy segment will still be soft, with luxury, upper up-scale and
upscale performing well. Upper mid scale will also do well
 Review the Distribution study conducted by AH&LA last year
◦ Will be a valuable resource and reference tool for 2013.
 Raise your rates at least as much as inflation
 Be diligent on revenue and profit management

17. Social Media
 How to manage your online reputation…
 What people are saying about you…
 How do you respond…

18. Social Media
 How do I get more consumers/members to
participate?
 Facebook and Twitter will continue to be strong
and dominate
 Pinterest (dominated by women) and
FourSquare will be good

19. Tips & Advice for 2013
Focus on
enhancing
your core
capabilities

20. Tips & Advice for 2013
Be segment
driven

21. Tips & Advice for 2013
There is a
steady steam
of new media
that shifts with
how people
consume

22. Tips & Advice for 2013
Be diligent and
monitor regularly

23. Tips & Advice for 2013
Always look out
for new
technology,
apps, etc.

24. Tips & Advice for 2013
Get involved
in new hot
media like
Instagram
(Taking a photo and
posting to generate
comments)

25. Tips & Advice for 2013
Be careful of
over discounting
& watch out for a
discount mentality
(Groupon/deal sites used
properly can = new business)

26. Tips & Advice for 2013
Integration of
social and mobile
will accelerate
and become
more important
(Stay diligent and look
for innovation)

27. Craig Perch
 Area Director of Revenue
Management
Crescent Hotels & Resorts
The Georgian Terrace Hotel

28. Website Strategy
 Regular audits ensure accuracy
of information
 Video/ 360 degree virtual tours
huge part of selling process

29. Website Strategy
 Regular audits ensure accuracy
of information
 Video/ 360 degree virtual tours
huge part of selling process
 Interactive agency manages
several marketing aspects
 Search Engine Optimization
 Linking strategy
 Paid search advertising
 Remarketing/retargeting
 Trigger campaigns

30. Website Redesign 2013
 Complete redesign of current hotel website with strong emphasis on
the Tablet and Mobile platforms as we continue to see very positive
trends through these channels.
 New website will focus on:
1. Ease of use – We understand if the site is more user friendly and
less congested it will drive more traffic.
2. Rich media – Will have rich media throughout the entire site with
links to navigate around the site easily.
3. Best prices – Will highlight our best prices, offers and loyalty
programs on our homepage

31. Custom Tabs

32. Highlight our favorite
videos about the
property

33. Link to Twitter
Link to
Instagram

34. Multi-Media
Apps

35. Direct
Booking
Video, Virtual
Tours, Photos

36. Teaser
Questions

37. Contests

38. Optimized for Tablets
and Smartphones

39. Mobile Booking
Engine

40. Special
Offers

41. Mobile – Next Steps
 Continue matching any mobile only promotions
extended to the OTA sites through our own site.
 Currently reviewing Customer Relations Management
tools (CRM) which will enable us to blast our clients
while in-house about the offerings in our outlets.
 Looking at implementing QR codes on property as a
way to quickly interact with our customers.

42. Results & Projections
 2012 shows positive YOY RevPar
growth of 8.3% for the hotel
 In 2013 the midtown Atlanta market
projection is expecting a 4.2% RevPar
growth (PKF data, September 2012)
 We believe the hotel will be
somewhere in line with that projection

43. Poll:
What are you focused on for
2013?

44. Key Takeaways
 Digital and mobile shopping are expected to
continue rising
 Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest are the top social
platforms to monitor
 Multi-device shopping is a evolving trend
 Optimizing for mobile devices is essential for
consumer satisfaction

45. Poll:
Did you find the content in this
webinar valuable?

46. Watch your inbox for…
 Recording of this webinar
◦ Share it with your colleagues
 Free whitepaper
◦ 2013 Hotel Marketing Trends: From standout social media
to marvelous mobile marketing
 Invitations to upcoming webinars
◦ January’s topic: Visual Storytelling on Social Media

47. Connect
www.vfmleonardo.com with us!
vbrochure@vfmleonardo.com
1.877.593.6634 Glenn Squires
@vfmleonardo
facebook.com/vfmleonardo
gsquires@pacrimhospitality.com
Craig Perch pacrimhospitality.com
www.owners.org
Facebook.com/IHGOwnersAssn
cperch@thegeorgianterrace.com
thegeorgianterrace.com
47 facebook.com/georgianterrace
@GeorgianTerrace

48. Questions and Best Practices