In today’s economy, one has to be careful about how to spend their money wisely, and this is especially true in the hotel industry. Hoteliers invest their money in marketing to bring in more guests, but in a tough economy, business slows down. So how is it possible for us to thrive, despite slow business?

The answer is: keep marketing, and don’t slow down. This does not mean simply market every way you know how, it means be careful in how you invest your money - what marketing methods work, and what don’t. It is more important than ever that we pay attention to our return on investment (ROI). So, stick to proven marketing methods that have a high ROI, and your worries will remain small.

Eighty-three percent of travel planning is booked online. This means that the internet has emerged as the premier distributor of hospitality. Since this is the case, it only makes sense that we work through the internet for the best possible ROI. Instead of cutting your marketing spending, look at the most effective ways to attract guests through internet-related means: online advertising and direct response initiatives as opposed to offline and brand-building methods. Plus, with web analytics tools, it is easier than ever for a hotel to track how their online marketing initiatives are performing.

Word of Mouth advertising is the best possible advertising. It is important that you monitor and measure your online reputation as determined by the websites like Facebook, YouTube, Flicker and other social sites along with travel chatter sites like TripAdvisor, IgoUgo, Hotel Chatter and many more. Once you have a monitoring and measuring method or tool, you need to implement a procedure to utilize this information to improve internal operations, build your Public Relations and integrate into your property marketing. Where possible you should interact with consumers with postings, networking and blogging. Granted your marketing spend during a slow economy has to be productive and it is difficult to determine your ROI from social media. But people do utilize these sites as part of their planning process for both business and leisure travel. You need to capitalize on good reviews and respond to offset bad review.

Get the full story at htrends.com