How should the digital marketing preferences of 5-star hotels be?

Since we have been serving hotels for a long time, we write articles for informational purposes about the sector. However, we noticed that these articles are mostly read by boutique hotels. That's why we have prepared a special article for 5-star hotels. The examples we give here should not be misunderstood by companies that do their job properly. Our promise is to companies that see owning an agency not as a job, but as a status, but do not understand business at all.

As you can see from the title of our article, we think that 5-star hotels do not give the necessary importance to digital marketing. This disregard does not mean that he is not working with an agency. Maybe you have been working with agencies for many years, but the service you receive is limited to only Facebook and Instagram ads. They may also call you digital marketing. However, digital marketing is much more than the 3-4 page slides that are shown to you under the name of the report by the way.

Don't expect a huge sales boom from digital marketing in a short time. Digital marketing is a long-term and continuous business; It will also determine the perception of the brand. That's why starting with the right company is very important. So, which channels does digital marketing cover?

Digital marketing channels

• your website
• your Google ranking
• Your Google map and reviews
• Your social media accounts
• Your Tripadvisor ranking and reviews
• Online reservation channels
• Your photos and videos
• Incoming emails and replies

In general, hotels prefer the digital marketing company according to the following options. If these options don't describe you, you're in luck.

Wrong choices about digital marketing

Hotel managers who can't see ahead: Only he knows the truth. According to him, social media is a family business, there are more important things in the hotel.

Managers who only want to do business with people they know: When a person has a say in the hotel, a friend will definitely reach the manager or the person who is the manager will reach his friend. The agency owner friend who has no success in digital marketing is about to achieve great success. Because under the name of digital marketing, it will make a website for the hotel and sell advertisements from newspapers and magazines, make social media advertisements, in short, earn money without effort. It doesn't matter much what the hotel earns. In the meantime, he will have someone else make a website he doesn't understand at all; He will say to the institution that we did it.

If only one of your parents works in an important place:A hotel manager meets someone who works in a prominent position in his social circle. The subject opens the subject and the person met said that his child is an advertising agency. The advertising agency has already been opened so that the child can have a job. It's not because the kid understands a lot about this business. Since the hotel manager has met a very important person, he will mention that he found a digital marketing agency at his first sales and marketing meeting without researching the company. If you're wondering about the ending, it's the same as the example above.

Agency working with another hotel: Hearing the digital agency, which is found with a working logic similar to the examples above, the rival hotel develops a marketing strategy and desperately wants to work with the agency the hotel works with. Of course, the result of the work is still a disappointment.

Fear or unnecessary jealousy of working people: The hotel staff, who thinks digital marketing is just social media work, said, "I'm losing my job or who are they!! Problems arise as a result of constantly vilifying the agency with the idea of "I can manage social media better" and a digital marketing disaster that cannot be productive.

Companies selected for the award:Maybe this is the new fashion of agencies. While some companies were able to do this in the past, with the development of digital platforms, many digital agencies that are not competent can receive awards. Most of these awards are paid or sponsored awards or received from an awards night abroad that never existed. We commend serious organizations that are very few in number and that give real awards.

Hotel general managers' lack of interest in digital marketing or not questioning why the digital marketing agency was chosen could be another option, but they are also right in their own way. After all, digital marketing is just a word, no one knows what it contains.

Let's talk briefly about what should be.

digital marketing firm It is very important that he understands what you need. He needs to develop a custom digital marketing strategy for you. If he only directs you to social media ads, be sure he wants to earn a commission. Social media ads can be a part of digital marketing, but when it's all done. The more digital marketing companies you meet, the more information you will have, and you can compare prices between companies. Before meeting with the digital marketing agency, you should definitely visit the web page. After 2-3 agency sites, you will have made serious progress in choosing a company. Focus entirely on the maximum benefit your hotel will receive. It is more important than what the company will tell you. If possible, hold the meeting in a meeting room with the participation of people from the relevant units. It could be sales marketing, guest relations and IT department. Let everyone ask the questions in their minds and let everyone get to know these companies that will work for a long time.

Questions to ask:

• How old is your company?
• Have you worked with a similar hotel before? How long did you work?
• What kind of digital marketing work do you do for your own agency, why?
• If you are going to make a website, do you make the website or do you get service from another company? If you are getting service from another company, how will it guarantee you that the website will be updated and that the site will run smoothly?
• We want our website to be updated regularly. Will you incur additional costs?
• Eğer web sitesi ajansın sunucularında barınacaksa, web sitemizin sunucusu nerede olacak, yedek alıyor musunuz, uptime garantisi veriyor musunuz? Uptime garantisi sitenizin yayında olma oranıdır. Genelde Yıllık %99 olması gerekmektedir. Site yedeğiniz de çok önemlidir.
• for our hotel digital marketing Do you have any suggestions?
• Can you create crisis strategies?
• How do you think our brand should be perceived?
• Can you present the Google rankings and site visitor statistics of our website to us on a monthly basis?
• By updating the information of Google maps, can you show us monthly map viewing and what actions the visitors are doing on the map?
• Can you make a monthly presentation about the latest status of our social media accounts and their comparison with our competitors?

Emin olun yukarıdaki sorulardan özellikle  istatistikle ilgili kısmına geldiğinizde, görüştüğünüz kişilerin %90 ‘nının afallamaya başladığını göreceksiniz.Çünkü hayatlarında ilk defa duyuyorlar ve daha önce böyle bir sunum yapmamışlardır.

After your questions, ask yourself the following questions.

• How satisfied are you with the answers given by the agency official?
• What was the difference between the other agencies you interviewed?
• Why do companies give different prices? If necessary, call the companies again and ask for the details of the pricing.
• How sustainable are the prices quoted? Expensive may not be good service, appropriate may not be bad service.

Prices quoted are higher than other prices

• The agency owner does not know the business. That's why when he can't get out of the job, he hires staff and employs more people than necessary.
• It will be the first time to work with a 5 star hotel. (He's playing big.)
• It offers all its services as an intermediary; services from other companies. He will only organize.
• It has come to you with a very good reference. He is very confident that he will be selected.

Very low prices

• The agency owner knows the technical part.
• It will be the first time to work with a 5 star hotel. (He wants to get a good reference.)
• Doesn't understand business

Remember that what matters is the success of your hotel. With the decision you will make, you will either waste your hotel's budget or you will have started the process that will bring a good income to your hotel.

Kobimedia A.Ş, we are preferred by corporate companies as the company that steers digital with our signature and strong after-sales support we have put on professional works for many years in the sector. We increase the efficiency of companies with the digital services we offer to our customers.