ROI
Infographic: The 16 Hottest Travel Marketing Trends of 2016
A few years ago, Greg and Meredith Tally decided to transform the Best Western Denver Southwest into a dinosaur-themed hotel that included murals, fossil replicas, and educational programs. It’s now affectionately known as the “Dino Hotel.”
I’m not exactly a Best Western enthusiast and I’ve never actually been to Lakewood, Colorado, but thanks to Facebook, I know plenty about the place. If you’re curious, the hotel’s page has 86,951 likes and is full of great photos and memes.
But you don’t have to be a dinosaur-themed Best Western to use content and social media to promote your business. In the hospitality industry, digital media has become incredibly important. According to a recent infographic from NetAffinity, a hotel engine provider, roughly one-third of the average hotel’s revenue comes from organic traffic, and 21 percent of bookings come from mobile devices.
Anyone can provide basic details on rates and availability, but the smartest hotels are promoting themselves with mobile content, video, personalized emails, and, in rare cases, dinosaurs. The content is only going to get better, by the way. NetAffinity lists content marketing and relationship marketing as two of the top hotel marketing trends for 2016, noting that that savvy marketers can turning a travel experience into a story that starts as soon as you follow a brand on Twitter or Instagram.
The full visual below is more like a collection of colorful cards full of insights than a cohesive infographic, but scroll down to check out the finished product and learn more.
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