It’s that time of the year again – are you ready?

Posted on 01. Oct, 2011 by in All Local Search Posts, Food & Dining, Internet Marketing & Local SEO, Mobile, Pay-Per-Click, Recreation & Entertainment, Retail

Local businesses have less than one-month to prepare for the upcoming spike in online search, researching and buying.

As discussed here last year, certain local service and retail type businesses need to be optimized and visible by November to capture their fair-share of increased online activity. And here’s a new statistic; Google states “44 percent of total searches for last minute gifts and store locator terms will be from mobile devices this holiday season“

 

So, it’s not just about being visible – it’s now about being “mobile ready“. Google recently announced the importance of websites being optimized for mobile, which includes incentives such as higher Quality scores in AdWords programs.

Most businesses experience ups and downs throughout the year; some cyclical, some triggered by one-time events.  The holiday’s of course are a biggie. Changing seasons, one-time events and increased competition are also factors. Thinking 30-days ahead of the predictable trends and positioning yourself  “ahead of the curve” will ensure you remain competitive. At the same time, you’ll capture additional new customers and gain market share.

Now stop procrastinating and get that campaign going!

Local Online Success: “it’s a journey, not a destination”.

Posted on 05. Sep, 2011 by in All Local Search Posts, Automotive, Business-to-Business, Classified Sites, Coupons, Food & Dining, Health & Medicine, Home Services, Internet Marketing & Local SEO, Internet Yellow Pages, Legal & Financial, Maps, Mobile, Optimization, Pay-Per-Click, Professional Services, Real Estate, Recreation & Entertainment, Reputation Management, Retail, Social Networking, Traditional Media, Travel & Transportation, Video, Websites

To achieve a high-level of online visibility and internet marketing success, local businesses need to consider multiple factors…  

 
So what’s the definition of “online success”? For most local business owners – it’s a visible, productive presence across search engines and the increasingly more fragmented local Internet. Strong, relevant visibility will enable a website to act as the marketing tool it should be, and its success can come in several forms; including phone calls, contacts, and on/off-line sales. 
 
It all starts with the “foundation” – aka the website; one that is both user and mobile-friendly (why? check out these recent findings). A properly designed and optimized site and domain name has replaced the local phone number as the “hub” of all marketing and advertising efforts. The domain name in particular should be properly formatted and included in all online and offline promotional efforts, including yellowbook ads, newspapers, billing statements, business cards, vehicles, store fronts, direct mail, creative media and promotional items. The website itself should be locally optimized and contain embedded video, images, relevant title tag/meta descriptions, and other search-engine friendly elements. A “call-to-action” statement will help drive conversions (or actions): give visitors a reason to take the next step and not hit their browser’s back-button!
 
And speaking of search-engine friendly elements, the ongoing off-page optimization of your site is critical. Specifically, a strong network of inbound links from authoritative sites will all act as “votes of confidence” for the search engines. Strategies include distribution and syndication of videos, blogs, press releases, and inclusion within IYP’s, local maps databases, directories and Google Place Pages. Without this important off-page piece of SEO, you’ll most likely never see top ranking or first-page placement for your most important keywords.    
 
Search engine marketing (pay-per-click) campaigns will ensure you maintain high visibility for the literally hundreds of keywords and keyword combinations that SEO cannot address. You’ll want to work thru a provider that can manage your campaigns across multiple search engines to effectivly reach your entire market. Use of landing pages and multiple ad groups will help maximize conversions. Also, make sure reporting includes all forms of conversions, including phone calls.
 
Lastly, these most basic requirements of online success need to include social media. These days, an active presence on Facebook, Twitter and more recently Google Plus will not only give a businesses more places to be found, but will help in overall optimization efforts (social is now a factor within search engines algorithms). Blogging, video/photo sharing and online ratings/reviews should also be considered important online social elements.            
 
In summary, it’s important to realize there’s no quick-fix. This should be thought of more of a ongoing process, which most often should be left to a professional firm or agency. One place to start to learn more are on free online seminars. And remember, watch out for anyone making those unrealistic promises and claims!   
 

Caution! Unrealistic Internet marketing claims coming your way!

Posted on 17. Jun, 2011 by in All Local Search Posts, Automotive, Business-to-Business, Food & Dining, Health & Medicine, Home Services, Internet Marketing & Local SEO, Legal & Financial, Maps, Optimization, Pay-Per-Click, Professional Services, Real Estate, Recreation & Entertainment, Retail, Travel & Transportation

NOTE: this is not me.

I’ve been in the “local search” business since the earliest days. From selling IYP on BigYellow.com, the Yahoo! Yellow Pages and InfoSpace in the 90′s, to SEM, SEO and more recently Social Media, video and Reputation Management services – and all I can say is “I’ve heard it all”!

Lately however, there seems to be a higher proliferation of questionable sales pitches and practices – and it’s not just coming from the local independent guys or fly-by-night start up’s. Increasingly, these unrealistic promises and aggressive lyrics are being used by larger, more “legitimate” firms in the SMB space. Some discussion on this being a sales “training issue” recently took place over on Screenwerk, but I think there is more to it than that…

The reality is this; the marketplace continues to become more competitive. Local search represents the fastest growing segment of online marketing – and some companies/individuals will say just about anything to get their piece of the pie. Additionally, the continued fragmentation and complexities of the “splinternet” is generating more confusion for business owners. Although most local business now realize they need to be visible wherever and whenever potential customers are searching, I think their judgement can become easily impaired under some of these strong sales and closing tactics.

I’ve personally taken a great amount of pride in setting realistic expectations with clients. As a seasoned sales professional I’ve learned that as much as one wants to exceed quota or win the current sales contest; it’s a consistent honest, realistic and passionate approach that wins the game and builds long-lasting, mutually beneficial relationships. Strong Clients relationships are a journey – not a destination.

So as a public service, here are the latest and most frequently heard unrealistic and questionable sales tactics to look out for…

  • Performance guarantees! Any time the word “guarantee” is used within the world of marketing, watch out! This is especially true in the areas of SEM & SEO. There are never any guarantee: not with PPC positioning, not within organic rank, not within local listings and certainly not regarding your advertising ROI. This is one of the most popular tactics being used; “Mr. Business, I guarantee first position in 30 days, for $199/month”! Run for the hills…
  • Something for nothing? Online, local businesses really can get something for nothing! Inclusion within Google Place Pages, Yahoo! Local and Bing Maps is FREE, and it’s a good place to start building an online presence. As a matter of fact – most businesses already have some level of inclusion – but “claiming” that listing and optimizing it for better rank is the next natural step. This can usually be done with minimal time and expertise (although true website SEO is a critical ranking component – with this you’ll need some assistance). I’ve personally received calls (as have my clients) from Marketing Representatives that offer Google listings for a flat fee of $49, $99, or even several hundreds of dollars per-month! Now, having the marketing experience and knowledge to optimize a Place Page does have some value, but positioning the service a recurring $99/month charge into perpetuity is where I have a problem…
  • Optimization of ___ (fill in the blank). I recently worked with a Client that got swindled into a long-term contract for optimization services, and thanks to that ineffective effort – this business now falls into a growing group of “SEO doubters”. “Optimization” is quickly becoming the most mis-used term in our industry. Everyone it seems wants to “optimize” something, but few of these SEO services I’m hearing within the local-space really address all the critical SEO factors (on-page factors, inbound links, social, listings, ratings/reviews, etc.). High organic rank and visibility is a product of multiple efforts and hard work – don’t’ get fooled by anything less. Ask for references!
  • Cheap SEO/or cheaper PPC. Generally speaking, you get what you pay for. In the world of PPC, I’m continually surprised at the number of business owners that fall victim to claims of cheaper pay-per-click advertising. PPC is a commodity, and outside of set-up or monthly service fees the market/competition is what dictates the budget (“supply and demand”). The best PPC agencies don’t sell on price, they propose budgets that would maximize advertising R.O.I. SEO on the other hand is more of a “service” that consists of significant man-hours and expertise. Some components of SEO may be more competitive if fulfilled off-shore, but generally speaking – a full-blown, inclusive and effective SEO project cannot be completed for less than several thousand dollars. Watch out for the one-size fits-all “cookie cutter” strategy!

Feel free to “comment” and let us know what you’ve heard out there as well…

Your Marketing Plans Should be Warming Up!

Posted on 21. Feb, 2011 by in All Local Search Posts, Automotive, Home Services, Internet Marketing & Local SEO, Legal & Financial, Optimization, Pay-Per-Click, Professional Services, Real Estate, Recreation & Entertainment, Retail, Travel & Transportation

The majority of the U.S. is covered by record-breaking snow and cold weather, but smart business owners and marketers are starting to have “warmer thoughts”…

Several months ago I wrote about those businesses that could take advantage of the increasing holiday searches, now it’s time to look at those upcoming warmer weather opportunities…

Thanks to predictive search tools like Google Insights and historical search data, local businesses can now position themselves “ahead of the curve” to capture the upcoming surge of new potential customers and clients. As it can take up to 30 days to effectively launch a PPC program, and 60-90+ days to benefit from an SEO project, now is the time start!

Businesses that can benefit from increasing search volume (new customers) March – May:

  • Landscapers / Lawn Care
  • Fence Repair
  • Roof / Gutter Contractors (major winter damage this season!)
  • Accountants / Tax Prep.
  • Bicycle Shops
  • Anything related to Weddings (caterers, tent rentals, tux shops, florists, etc)
  • Summer Camps (yes, they are booked by June 1!)
  • Boat Dealers
  • Auto Dealers
  • Vacation planning / travel agents
  • Home Improvements / Contractors
  • Auto Body Repair
  • Golf shops / courses

Any others you can come up with?

Filed under: All Local Search Posts, Automotive, Home Services, Legal & Financial, Optimization, Pay-Per-Click, Professional Services, Real Estate, Recreation & Entertainment, Retail, Travel & Transportation

This Week in NY Small Business…

Posted on 27. Dec, 2010 by in All Local Search Posts, Automotive, Business-to-Business, Food & Dining, Health & Medicine, Home Services, Internet Marketing & Local SEO, Legal & Financial, Mobile, Professional Services, Real Estate, Recreation & Entertainment, Retail, Traditional Media, Travel & Transportation

From this weeks NY Times Small Business section, and recommended reading for Westchester County based business owners…

Read the entire article here.

Filed under: All Local Search Posts, Automotive, Business-to-Business, Food & Dining, Health & Medicine, Home Services, Legal & Financial, Mobile, Professional Services, Real Estate, Recreation & Entertainment, Retail, Traditional Media, Travel & Transportation

Winter in Westchester, The Holidays & SEM…

Posted on 15. Nov, 2010 by in All Local Search Posts, Automotive, Food & Dining, Health & Medicine, Home Services, Internet Marketing & Local SEO, Internet Yellow Pages, Legal & Financial, Pay-Per-Click, Recreation & Entertainment, Retail, Travel & Transportation

While  driving the other day I passed the 2010 Rockefeller Christmas tree being transported into NYC, police escort and all.

Pretty cool, but hard to believe I’m seeing Christmas preparations already. It got me thinking about all the SEM advertisers that need to start preparations of their own.

Most businesses experience ups and downs throughout the year; some cyclical, some triggered by one-time events.  Christmas of course is a biggie, as are other holidays. Changing seasons, one-time economic and weather events and increased competition are also factors. Thinking 30 days ahead of these predictable trends and positioning yourself  “ahead of the curve” will ensure you remain competitive. At the same time, you’ll capture additional new customers and gain market share.

For example, I know of a Manhattan-based Costume Shop increases their PPC budget ten-fold every August to prepare for the upcoming crush of consumers in the following 60 days. Google Insights data confirms this decision as being a smart one:

Insights is just one of the great tools you can use to predict things like search interest (aka: “demand”). Based on this, as well as IYP usage data, I’ve looked at a number of businesses verticals and identified those that are now entering their “prime season”. They include:

  • Caterers & Restaurants
  • Anything retail
  • Electronics
  • Jewelery & Watches
  • Ski Shops
  • Snow plowing & Equipment
  • Tires
  • D.J.s
  • Carpet Cleaners
  • Accountants
  • Tax Attorneys
  • Divorce Lawyers
  • DUI Attorneys
  • Health Clubs

Competition is increasing, as is demand for these products and services. Smart businesses that are prepared and proactive will benefit from the increased exposure and additional new sales that are sure to follow!

Filed under: All Local Search Posts, Automotive, Food & Dining, Health & Medicine, Home Services, Internet Yellow Pages, Legal & Financial, Pay-Per-Click, Recreation & Entertainment, Retail, Travel & Transportation

Local Internet Marketing is Complicated!

Posted on 29. Mar, 2010 by in All Local Search Posts, Automotive, Business-to-Business, Classified Sites, Food & Dining, Health & Medicine, Home Services, Internet Marketing & Local SEO, Internet Yellow Pages, Legal & Financial, Maps, Mobile, Optimization, Pay-Per-Click, Professional Services, Real Estate, Recreation & Entertainment, Retail, Social Networking, Travel & Transportation

 

David Mihm’s illustration representing the “local search” relationships makes a great point: this business of local search marketing is complicated! 

In my experience, the typical local business owner doesn’t have the time or expertise to effectively manage online advertising investments - as illustrated in the recent Search Engine Land article ”Local Search Complexity = SMB Frustration“. 

Not only do you have numerous, complex supplier/directory relationships – but the continued fragmentation which is taking place keeps everyone on their toes! Search Engines,  social networking, blogs, directories and Internet Yellow Pages, mobile, vertical and hyper-local sites, etc., etc., etc.  Additionally, there are website design issues, analytics to keep up with, billing reconciliation, A/B testing, optimization and many other time-consuming elements.  Oh, and by the way – let’s not forget about the day job! It can be challenging, to say the least.

This is the primary reason so many third-party providers have jumped-into the game over the past several years – there is a void to fill; an overwelming demand to hand off this business of Internet marketing to a trusted advisor. Problem is: exactly who can you trust? The local SEO expert? Your website design guy? An out-of-work executive or moonlighting sales rep? The phone company, the local newspaper publisher, your tax software company?  All these characters are now in the game!

 
A word to the wise: be careful with whom you choose to work with! Here are a few quick tips:
  • Stick with a well-known firm. Check their history; how long have they been in the Internet marketing business? Is it one of their core competencies? 
  • Was the term “guarantee” used in their pitch? If so, run for the hills!  
  • Are they charging you for free services like Google Maps, or worse yet – taking “credit” for those leads/clicks? 
  • Is there a monthly recurring management fee? And if so, is it based on a percent of your overall budget? Hmmmm - could be a conflict of interest…
  • Are they willing to provide full transparency and reporting?
  • Are testimonials, references or case-studies from happy clients available?

Filed under: All Local Search Posts, Automotive, Business-to-Business, Classified Sites, Food & Dining, Health & Medicine, Home Services, Internet Yellow Pages, Legal & Financial, Maps, Mobile, Optimization, Pay-Per-Click, Professional Services, Real Estate, Recreation & Entertainment, Retail, Social Networking, Travel & Transportation

Online Coupons!

Posted on 05. Sep, 2009 by in All Local Search Posts, Automotive, Coupons, Food & Dining, Home Services, Internet Yellow Pages, Professional Services, Recreation & Entertainment, Retail, Travel & Transportation

Consumers love saving money – and  coupons enable the savings!

In theory, the Internet makes finding and printing coupons simple, but a recent Yahoo! survey found otherwise. The majority of people polled feel that there are not currently enough coupons for things they want to buy and nearly half actually think coupon hunting is a chore. Less than a fifth of consumers have a “go-to” on-line site and almost 80 percent think the process of finding coupons is difficult.   

The survey also reported that 43 percent of participants said they are using coupons more often than last year. They also cited that easier access to coupons would motivate them to use coupons more often, a sentiment stated by 76 percent of women. 

An increasing number of people are turning to the Internet for money-saving tips and tricks. In fact, Web searches for “printable coupons” on Yahoo! are up 50 percent in 2009, compared to the same time in 2008, and up 135 percent compared to 2007. Furthermore, the most popular coupon-related Web searches in the past month have been for pizza restaurants, major retailers and grocery coupons.

Additionally, the survey asked how pride factors into couponing. Saving money makes people feel good as 59 percent stated that “they feel great when buying things with coupons.” This trend is much stronger for women, with a greater percentage of men feeling embarrassed when using coupons. Bargain hunting can also become a badge of honor with 29 percent wanting to be known as the coupon king or queen.

My advise? Reach and convert more local shoppers by offering a coupon or special offer! Searching for  ”local coupons” on Google is a good start – there are several solid options to choose from. Most major Internet Yellow Pages also have coupon options - see yellowbook.com details here. You’ll also want to consider a printable coupon on your website – preferably combined with your “call to action” statement on the home page. 

Also, your offer should be strong enough to produce results; ”10% off” or ”free estimates” wont’ do the trick. Now go and help your customers save some money!

Small Business Web Holdouts: Unsearched, Unfound, Unfulfilled.

Posted on 24. Jul, 2009 by in All Local Search Posts, Automotive, Business-to-Business, Food & Dining, Health & Medicine, Home Services, Legal & Financial, Professional Services, Real Estate, Recreation & Entertainment, Retail, Travel & Transportation, Websites

From the eCommerce Times:

Who’s afraid of the Big Bad Web? A lot of small businesses, that’s who. For the most part, that fear appears to be grounded in a lack of information about the actual costs and benefits of operating a Web site and engaging in some strategic e-marketing efforts.

 No matter where one turns on the Internet these days, it’s virtually impossible to avoid being bombarded by advertising in one form or another. Banner ads. Video ads. Display ads. Search engine marketing. Ads on MySpace . Ads on Facebook . The only area of the Web left untouched by advertising may be government-run sites.  Web marketing, in large part, is the province of companies with enough money to plaster their messages, goods and services all over the Internet. Missing from this equation is the traditional engine of American commerce: the small business.

Indeed, a recent study showed that there is a major disconnect between the way most consumers look for goods and services on the Internet and the way small businesses use the Web to advertise.  The study, which surveyed nearly 4,000 U.S. Internet users on the tools they use to find local businesses, was conducted last November by Nielsen and WebVisible. Participants in the survey included 261 small business owners.

Here’s what Nielsen and WebVisible discovered: Search is the No. 1 choice of consumers and small business owners alike when looking for a local product or service on the Internet. Yet, half of all small businesses spent less than 10 percent of their marketing budgets on Internet ads.  In essence, most small businesses are missing out on a huge segment of the consumer population that turns to Internet search engines such as Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) , Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO) and Microsoft’s (Nasdaq: MSFT) Live Search.

The Great Divide

“Local business is the last, vast untapped piece of online marketing space,” said Kevin Ryan, chief marketing officer at WebVisible, which offers a suite of software tools and services designed to help small businesses run online advertising and marketing campaigns.  The biggest problem small businesses face when it comes to Web marketing is an attachment to an old way of doing business. It’s clear in many cases that small businesses simply don’t understand the inherent power of the Internet as a way to reach their customers, Ryan said.

Here’s an example: A consumer looking for a plumber, attorney, insurance agent or electrician rarely conducts a search using the name of a local business but rather types in keywords such as “plumber and the Bronx” or “electricians and 06850,” the ZIP code for Norwalk, Conn. Then, a page of search results with local businesses comes up, and the consumer goes on from there, he said.  “It’s very difficult to convince a small business that in the eyes of a search engine, their brand doesn’t have nearly the value they think it does,” noted Ryan. “What they fail to realize is that most consumers will go to an online source such as a search engine or even the Yellow Pages directory first.”  In fact, 63 percent of consumers turn to the Internet first when looking for local products and services, according to the Nielsen/WebVisible survey.

At the same time, only 44 percent of small businesses surveyed said they had a Web site.

“That explains why 40 percent of consumers said they have trouble finding a local business they know exists,” Ryan observed.

Small Biz Snapshot: Helena, Mont.

The Helena Area Chamber of Commerce in Montana has about 860 local businesses as members. About 75 percent of those businesses are small businesses — that is, businesses with 25 employees or less, according to the chamber’s marketing and communications director, Barry Houser.  “I would say the majority of the businesses that comprise our membership still don’t have a Web presence,” Houser told the E-Commerce Times.  As the state capitol, Helena is by and large a government town. Outside of government, the major industries include health care and tourism.  “We’re centrally located between Glacier National Park and Yellowstone National Park,” Houser said. “So, fishing, skiing and snowmobiling are big attractions here.”

While many big-box companies such as Costco (Nasdaq: COST) , Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) and Bed Bath & Beyond have started to move into the Helena area, the vast majority of businesses there are “small mom and pop” shops, he said.

Like small businesses in every corner of the U.S., these mom and pops don’t have the budgets to promote their goods and services the way the big-box stores do, making the Internet almost a vital component of their marketing efforts, noted Houser.  “We try to encourage them to take advantage of their membership with the chamber to get more of a presence on the Web,” he said.

The Helena chamber has an online directory that is searchable by business name and type. Businesses that already have Web sites can link to the chamber’s site too.

Doesn’t have to Break the Bank

One of the chief reasons small business owners give for not having an Internet presence is that it’s too expensive to put up and maintain a Web site.  It doesn’t have to be that way though, said WebVisible’s Ryan.  What’s most critical is that whatever route a small business owner chooses to go with in terms of a Web presence, it has to suit their specific needs.

“Alfonso the tailor doesn’t want to check emails all day long,” Ryan said. “He wants to receive an SMS (short message service) text when someone needs something. The diamond jeweler doesn’t want to spend all day answering stupid questions from someone that doesn’t know what they want to buy.”

Situated in the heart of downtown Seattle is the Seattle Mystery Bookshop. The store’s owner, J.B. Dickey, has been selling mysteries, and nothing but mysteries, for years.  His shelves are lined with paperback and hard cover books written by authors local to the Pacific Northwest, such as G.M. Ford, as well as nationally acclaimed writers like James Ellroy and Michael Connelly.  Dickey has had a Web site in various iterations for 10 years.  “It started out as a way to just have a presence on the Web and have information about the shop out there,” he told the E-Commerce Times. “It evolved into a place where we post our quarterly newsletter, an updated calendar of events such as author signings, and a shop blog. It’s also information that’s always out there, even when the shop is closed.”

Hospitality, Hotel and Travel: Mastering Internet Marketing.

Posted on 17. Jul, 2009 by in All Local Search Posts, Optimization, Pay-Per-Click, Recreation & Entertainment, Social Networking, Travel & Transportation, Websites

From 4Hoteliers, 3/09:

In the tough year that 2009 is turning out to be for hoteliers, it is crucial to know where every marketing dollar is being spent.
When reevaluating marketing plans – as most of you have had to do this year – hoteliers also need to consider whether or not they should shift marketing dollars from offline to the more measurable online initiatives, what their peers are doing, and how they can evolve with the industry without wasting valuable dollars on unproven tactics.

How are hoteliers budgeting for their Internet marketing this year? Are they focusing on Web 2.0/Social Media initiatives in this recession? What percentage of business should be coming from your website?

In the 3rd Benchmark Survey on Hotel Internet Marketing Budget Planning and Best Practices in Hospitality, HeBS set out to answer these questions and identify trends in online marketing in hospitality. The purpose of the survey was to assess hoteliers’ 2009 Internet marketing priorities and strategies in order to compare with the responses received last year, and to provide the industry with insights on how internet marketing strategies for the hospitality industry are developing.

Who Participated in this Survey?

The survey experienced global participation, with almost half of respondents from the US and Western Europe. Hospitality executives included general managers (20.6%), sales and marketing directors (49.6%), e-commerce managers (13%), and revenue managers (29.8%).

The full spectrum of hospitality and travel verticals are represented in this survey, including boutique hotels, upscale hotels, budget, mid-scale and luxury franchised properties, major brands, real estate groups, resorts, hotel management companies, casinos, and more. Most participants were hoteliers from independent properties; however there was a heavy influence this year of franchise/hotel brand hoteliers.

Main Findings from the 3rd Benchmark Survey

Hoteliers strongly believe that Internet marketing produces the best results. We asked hoteliers whether they thought Internet marketing, traditional marketing, or a mix of both produces better results and 55.7% said Internet marketing (up from 49.2% in the 08 survey and 37.7% in the 07 survey). Hoteliers are right on target as the online channel will be the only growth channel in hospitality in 2009-2010.

Even in this current economic environment, 63% plan to increase their Internet marketing budget in 09 – and a majority of hoteliers are planning on raising their online budget more than 15%. A larger percentage of respondents this year (33%) will be keeping their 09 budget at 08 levels. Where is the money coming from for hoteliers that are increasing their Internet marketing budget? Fifty-three percent of respondents are shifting money from offline marketing budgets.

In the 2009 survey, we introduced ‘the economic environment’ as one of the multiple choice options when we asked hoteliers what factors they will consider in planning their 2009 budget. Not surprisingly, 81.6% of respondents said that the economy will affect their budget planning for 09. We also saw that ‘what my peers are doing’ and ‘industry averages’ had less of an influence on hotel budget planning this year.

The types of Web 2.0 marketing initiatives planned for 09 vary greatly from 07 and 08. In previous years, hoteliers selected Surveys and Comment cards as the Web 2.0 initiatives they were planning. This year, hoteliers selected advertising on Social Media sites (i.e. TripAdvisor), creating profiles on social networks and a blog on the hotel website.

Almost half of all respondents believe their property does NOT conform to industry’s best practices in terms of Internet marketing. While hoteliers are getting more educated about the direct online channel, many of them do not have the internal resources, bandwidth or knowledge to deal effectively with this highly dynamic field.

This year, hoteliers overwhelmingly responded that they thought website optimization produced the best results and the highest ROIs (81.6%).  Search optimization – organic search was next at 60.9%. Indeed, both website and search optimizations are the most-cost effective initiatives for hoteliers in this economy.

This year, 85.6% of franchise/major brand hoteliers respondents said they did not find there to be major restrictions in online marketing due to brand restrictions. This percentage is increasing over the years (81.8% in 2008 and 76.2% in 2006) as more and more franchisees embrace best practices and launch local Internet marketing initiatives that complement their brand efforts.

The percentage of hoteliers who are participating in Paid Search increased from 50% in 2008 to 59.8% in 2009.  The use of Meta search and local search is also increasing year after year. Also, Web 2.0 Paid Search (e.g. TripAdvisor) was big this year as 32% of respondents are spending marketing dollars on this initiative. These responses are in par with industry practices and show that hoteliers are aware that as much as 60%-80% of traffic and bookings on hotel websites originate from the search engines.

Where is Hotel Business coming from?

For the past three years, Benchmark Survey respondents have said that most of their business comes from the direct online channel, which is supported by industry data. In 2009, more than 55% of all travel bookings and up to 40% of all hotel bookings in North America will be generated from the Internet (eMarketer, HeBS), which represents a double-digit growth over 2008. At least another third of hotel bookings will be directly influenced by online research, but booked offline. Over 65% of online hotel bookings will come from the direct online channel (76% for the major hotel brands).

However, 2009 survey results also show that bookings made via Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) have increased for hoteliers – from 19% in 08 to 21% in 09. This is in large part due to the dire economic situation many hoteliers are going through. Hoteliers seem to be worried about lower occupancy rates and are providing more and more inventory to the OTAs.

What hoteliers are not realizing however is that the OTAs are also affected by the overall decline in travel demand (Expedia reported 7% decline in revenue in Q4 2008) and can help only so much. Therefore the only real growth channel in 2009-2010 is the direct online channel which allows savvy hoteliers to outsmart the competition and gain market share.

Budgeting for Hotel Internet Marketing in a Recession

Compared to last year’s survey, we noticed an increase in hoteliers saying that they have overall budget constraints. Hoteliers are less concerned with what peers are doing now then they were last year (24% in 2006 up to 27% in 2007, and back down to 18% in 2008), and much more concerned with the economy.

We saw the same decrease with concerns over industry averages for budget planning (from approx. 40% over the last two years, to 30%). However, despite the economy, most hoteliers are increasing their Internet marketing budgets in 09.

So where is this increase coming from? As expected, over half of the respondents (53%) said they were shifting money from the offline marketing budget.

When asked approximately what percentage of your overall marketing budget was devoted to Internet marketing activities in the past year, most respondents were in the 11-20% and 21-49% range. More people are devoting a larger portion of their overall budget to Internet than they had been in 06 and 07.

Year after year we are seeing a shift from lower categories of percentages to higher percentages of money spent on the Internet, although hoteliers are still using traditional media. In this year’s survey results, people that were throwing their entire budget towards the Internet (76-100%), have scaled back as hoteliers discover a better balance between traditional and Internet marketing budgeting.

Once the budget is set, what are hoteliers spending their Internet marketing dollars on? From the table below, you can see that they are indeed spending their money on those formats they believe achieve the highest ROIs.

Website design, website optimization, paid search and email marketing consume fairly high percentages of the budget.

What Marketing Formats do Hoteliers Believe Produce the Best Results?

What are the Internet marketing formats hoteliers believe generate the highest ROIs?

In the 2007 and 2008 results, website design, website optimization and search engine optimization ranked as the highest revenue generators. For 2009 we saw a decrease in the percentage of people who ranked website design as one of the highest revenue generators.

This thinking is in line with current budget restraints due to the recession. Website optimizations are much more affordable than website redesigns, and often pay for themselves within 3-4 months (as do website redesigns).  Unless the website is over 2-3 years old, hotel optimizations can help hoteliers take advantage of the much cheaper organic search related visitors to the hotel website.

Even though hoteliers are going back to the basics this year, there are a high percentage of hoteliers who believe Web 2.0 initiatives produce results. This is interesting considering that 15% of respondents are not even planning Web 2.0 initiatives for 2009.

The results make a lot of sense however, in the case of the increase of hoteliers who thought Paid Search Marketing produces the highest ROI. We saw the use of paid search decrease from 07-08, and then saw over a 40% increase in the 09 survey results.

This is most likely because more and more hoteliers realize that Paid Search works.  According to eMarketer, these survey results are on track for search engine marketing across all industries (not just hospitality), as U.S. spending on search engine marketing will nearly double from $12.2 billion in 2008 to $23.4 billion in 2013.

Here are some of this year’s responses:

  •  “You can’t be as flexible as you need, you don’t spend a lot of money in online marketing because you can’t analyze it as you would [normally] do.”
  • “Hotel website is stand-alone however we have to use the Franchise Booking Engine.”
  • “Limitations of who you can contract with.”
  • “Restriction for hotel pictures loading…restriction for hotel package design and loading.”

So what does this tell us? HeBS believes that there are many online revenue opportunities which fall outside the scope and ‘bandwidth’ of the major hotel brands’ Internet marketing efforts. Even though most of the leading hotel brands have become proficient national and international eMarketers over the past 5-6 years, they cannot possibly cover all the local online revenue opportunities available to the property.

As hoteliers are becoming more Internet marketing savvy, they are realizing they can complement the hotel brand’s Internet marketing efforts with their own “Local Internet Marketing Strategy for Franchised Hotels”.

What’s Ahead for Hoteliers and Social Media?

Social media continues to be a hot topic in the industry, and more hoteliers are looking for the next big thing they can do (without spending a lot of marketing dollars). According to the survey, this year the most important Web 2.0 initiatives were: advertising on social media sites (25%), a blog on the hotel website (14%), creating profiles on social networks (14%) and survey and comment cards on the hotel website (14% – although this is significantly down from last year).

Last year, hoteliers selected Surveys and Comments Cards as the most popular option. Another big drop was in the use of reputation monitoring tools, as hoteliers become savvier and realize they can monitor the most popular sites that offer reviews themselves – and for free – read HeBS’ article on the subject.

Conclusions

The survey results show that hoteliers really are “Getting Back to the Basics” in this tough economy – read HeBS’ article on the subject. While there were some interesting results, such as an increase in hoteliers planning on advertising on social media sites, hoteliers are shifting budgets from offline to online, focusing on Internet marketing initiatives that have been proven, are becoming savvier at monitoring their hotel reviews on their own, and in general are embracing the Internet as their most cost-effective, revenue generating tool.

All industry forecasts indicate that in 2009-2010 the travel industry in North America will experience a major decline. GDS contribution is also projected to decrease by several percentage points.  And yet, online travel bookings in 2009 are expected to grow by 10.5% and reach $116.1 billion due to channel shift, and an additional 11% in 2010 to reach $128.9 billion (eMarketer).

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