Curious about the future of hospitality marketing and distribution? This presentation to HSMAI's Washington, DC chapter explains why the future of hospitality marketing for independent hotels and brands alike starts this year.

1. DIGITAL MARKETING
DIRECTIONS: 2020
Why the Future of Hospitality Marketing
and Distribution Starts This Year

2. What are the top trends in
hospitality marketing?

4. Artificial
Intelligence
Conversational UI
Quantum
computing
5G
Self-driving cars
Metasearch
Privacy
Millennials
Mobile
Blockchain

5. Artificial
Intelligence
Conversational UI
Quantum
computing
5G
Self-driving cars
Metasearch
Privacy
Millennials
Mobile
Blockchain
+

7. More people own mobile
phones than own toothbrushes
7

8. Trend #0:
We need to stop talking about
mobile as a trend…
It’s a way of life
8

9. More page views on mobile than
desktop… starting in 2016
Greater than 65% of all digital media
time… and growing
Over half of all searches on mobile
Over 20% of mobile searches on voice
5G started testing in 2017 – 1,000x faster
than 4G
© 2018 Tim Peter & Associates - Proprietary and Confidential 9

10. Mobile
changes
behaviors
© 2018 Tim Peter & Associates - Proprietary and Confidential 10

11. Mobile
changes
business
models
© 2018 Tim Peter & Associates - Proprietary and Confidential 11

12. Artificial
Intelligence
Conversational UI
Quantum
computing
5G
Self-driving cars
Metasearch
Privacy
Millennials
Mobile
Blockchain

13. They’re Not “Millennials”
They’re “Adults Under 40”
• Largest single demographic
category (~73m vs. 72m Boomers
vs. 66m Gen X)… and growing
• Largest share of business
travelers
• More travel days than any other
demographic (35 travel days/year
vs. 27 for Boomers and 26 for
Gen X)

14. And now the bad news…
• Adults under 40 spend
significantly less per year on
travel than any other age group
(~$4,400 vs. $6,600 for Boomers
and $5,400 for Gen X)
• The Great Recession is the gift
that keeps on taking from this
segment

15. Artificial
Intelligence
Conversational UI
Quantum
computing
5G
Self-driving cars
Metasearch
Privacy
Millennials
Mobile
Blockchain

16. Metasearch
is a
feature, not
a product or
company

17. Significant changes coming in search may
further pressure ranking/performance
Duetto calls
Google, “Your
most important
hotel
distribution
channel”

18. “Google is our biggest
competitor. The
internet has been
littered with the bodies
of companies put out of
business by Google.”
Mark Okerstrom,
Expedia CEO

19. What are you going to do?

20. Smart hospitality organizations
ignore“mobile-first” –
focus on “guest-first” instead

21. Response #1:
Content is, was,
and always shall
be King
© 2018 Tim Peter & Associates - Proprietary and Confidential 21

22. Even voice – which is
growing significantly –
relies on content to work
Worry about the website
and what powers that
customer experience
Focus on “the painting,”
not just “the frame”
© 2018 Tim Peter & Associates - Proprietary and Confidential 22

23. 23Source: “Demystifying the Digital Marketplace,” p. 45, Kalibri Labs/AHLA, 2016

24. Content attracts and converts guests
• Customers who start on OTA’s have only a 7% chance of
booking on hotel website1
• Customers who start on brand website have almost 10x percentage
of booking through brand direct site
• “According to Expedia doubling a hotel’s online pictures can
result in a 4.5% take-up and $3.50 higher ADR, while providing a
full property description (as opposed to a partial one) can result
in a 5% take-up and $3 higher ADR”1
• Key takeaway: We are all publishers now
1: “Demystifying the Digital Marketplace,” p. 40, Kalibri Labs/AHLA, 2016

25. 4.5 billion hours of video watched

26. 144,000,000 tweets

27. 350,000,000 photo uploads

29. SNACKABLE
SHARP
SHAREABLE
© 2018 Tim Peter & Associates - Proprietary and Confidential 29

30. 😂🤬😱

31. 55 100
4,500
5,500
10,000
0
1,000
2,000
3,000
4,000
5,000
6,000
7,000
8,000
9,000
10,000
Instagram posts Facebook hours of
video watched
YouTube videos
viewed
Google searches Snapchat video
views
Response #1½:
Content increasingly
means video
© 2018 Tim Peter & Associates - Proprietary and Confidential 31

32. Video beginning to influence guests
• Views of branded
video on YouTube
up 118% YOY
• 2 out of 3 US
consumers watch
online travel video
when they’re
thinking about
taking a trip
© 2018 Tim Peter & Associates - Proprietary and Confidential

33. Four types of content needed to
merchandise and market your properties
Destination content. The first rule of selling travel to consumers remains “sell the destination first.” Research from
Google shows that travelers tend to start their travel planning by searching destination-related terms. Whether you
use blog posts highlighting area attractions, dedicated destination guides offered on your website, email marketing
campaigns featuring local hot spots, or themed-content targeting key audiences, guests must first want to travel to
your destination; you cannot get guests to consider your hotel if they’re planning to travel to another destination
altogether.
Property content. Often referred to as “descriptive” content, or less commonly “static” content, this includes
information about your property itself, such as the number and type of guest rooms and meeting rooms, available
amenities, its physical location and proximity to attractions, property name, brand affiliation, and other necessary
attributes.
Promotional. Promotional content includes the many offers, specials, and packages your marketing team designs
to attract customers to book, enroll in loyalty programs or email lists, or any other call-to-action you can imagine.
Availability, rates and inventory (ARI). Finally, availability, rates, and inventory presents guests with information
about what they’ll actually book — descriptions and details of the room types, rate plans, and packages your
property offers — as well as the dates when guests can book their stay. While ARI typically refers only to room
types and suites, additional amenities, add-ons, and upsell items — including such varied items as restaurant
reservations, Collab reservations and the like — may also represent inventoried items within your property
management system, central reservations system, or booking engine.
Google, “The 2014 Traveler’s Road to Decision,” Google, retrieved November 22, 2017, http://storage.googleapis.com/think/docs/2014-travelers-road-to-decision_research_studies.pdf. Also, Caroline McGuire, “Google reveals the top
10 travel searches of 2016 in the US,” The Daily Mail, retrieved November 22, 2017, http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-4047968/Was-listening-geography-class-Google-reveals-10-travel-searches-2016-Grand-
Canyon-them.html

34. 34
● Zoos
● Universities and colleges
● Theaters
● Business (esp. major
employers, key accounts)
● Convention center

35. Hotel
CMS
Website
Mobile app
Kiosk
Google
FacebookInstagram
YouTube
Metasearch
Future

36. Trend #2:
Customer
experience is
Queen
© 2018 Tim Peter & Associates - Proprietary and Confidential 36

37. Just because you
say something,
that doesn’t make it
true

38. Price matters, but value matters more
© 2018 Tim Peter & Associates - Proprietary and Confidential 38

39. 39
“...humans rarely choose
things in absolute terms.
We don’t have an internal
value meter that tells us
how much things are worth.
Rather, we focus on the
relative advantage of one
thing over another, and
estimate value accordingly.”
–Dan Ariely

40. Real-world experience
illustrates this in practice
Achieved top positions in
TripAdvisor, Yelp, social channels
for multiple hotel clients
Occupancy index improved to 95-
105
ADR index improved to 107-180
RevPAR index improved to 109-
169
Growth above comp set
Reduced or held OTA share below
10%

41. Adults under 40 represent
major upsell opportunity
• Upsell: Masters of “bleisure” travel
(81% “probably” will add extra time
to trip vs. 56% for Gen X and 46%
for Boomers)
• Speed: 49% put off booking if they
can’t do it instantly online… which
means mobile
• Value: 50% consider themselves
“Travel Hackers” able to get deals
(vs. 26% for Gen X and 12% of
Boomers)

42. Matures continue to
represent significant
revenue opportunity
• Value: Mostly “price” sensitive,
but can swayed by experience
• Experience: Don’t tend to mix
business with pleasure – sell
benefits of specific trip
• Longer-term? Be conscious of
growth trends as Boomers begin
to age out of the marketplace

43. 93% of consumers say online reviews
impact their purchase decision
1% lift in TripAdvisor Rating leads to ~1%
increase in RevPAR
Companies with higher NPS grow 200%
faster than competitors

44. Review quality leads to increased RevPAR
Pricing Power
(ADR)
Demand
(Occupancy)
Performance
(RevPAR)
All +0.8% +0.2% +0.96%
Upscale +0.67% +0.19% +0.83%
Upper Midscale +0.74% +0.42% +1.13%
Midscale +0.89% +0.54% +1.42%
Measured change in pricing power, demand, and performance given a 1% change in online reputation
Source: Cornell Center for Hospitality Research

45. In other words, your brand is only as
good as your last review
“…64% of leisure travelers and
52% of business travelers said
they are not loyal to a particular
brand. Sixty-nine percent of
travelers tell family and friends
about travel products and services,
and 46% rely on those
recommendations.”1
In essence, your brand is only as
good as your last review
45
1: http://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Hotel-News/Study-says-personalized-service-key-to-hotel-customer-loyalty

46. “Speed is the
new currency of
business”
- Marc Benioff
Chairman and
CEO,
Salesforce.com
© 2018 Tim Peter & Associates - Proprietary and Confidential 46

47. Your mantra:
“Instant
gratification isn’t
fast enough”
© 2018 Tim Peter & Associates - Proprietary and Confidential 47

49. Leverage guests to create and curate a
positive brand story
• Guests during peak periods
create opportunity to reach over
6.5 million potential guests
• Punch through Facebook filters
with content from “friends and
family”
• Test Flip.to platform or
equivalent
49
Total rooms 150
Occupancy 60%
Days occupied 365
Average friends on
Facebook
200
Potential
addressable
audience
6,570,000

50. Leverage guests to create and curate a
positive brand story
• Guests during peak periods
create opportunity to reach over
6.5 million potential guests
• Punch through Facebook filters
with content from “friends and
family”
• Test Flip.to platform or
equivalent
50
Total rooms 150
Occupancy 60%
Days occupied 365
Average friends on
Facebook
200
Potential
addressable
audience
6,570,000
You want influencer
marketing?
You have a house
full of them

51. Trend #3:
Data is the
Crown Jewels
© 2018 Tim Peter & Associates - Proprietary and Confidential 51

53. OTA’s moving into hotel services: Expedia Powered
Technology
Expedia launched Expedia Powered Technology
including MICE booking solution – “he first tool that truly
automates the booking process for meeting organizers
and hotels in real time” – “free” Rev+ revenue
management tool and more
Expedia hired VP, owner strategy and services (October
2016) “...focused on growing relationships with, and
developing new services for, hotel owners and
management companies”1
Starting to address the “in-stay” experience with keyless
entry trials taking place with a partner in Norway
Investment in Alice On-Property guest experience
management tool
1: https://www.traveldailynews.com/post/mark-morrison-joins-expedia-inc-as-vice-president-of-owner-strategy-and-services#sthash.MEi0HPx0.dpuf

54. “We are working to ensure we can
not only provide distribution and
new audiences for our partners,
but also help solve for other
challenges they may have. As we
make the shift to strategically
focus on needs of evolving
business solutions, we are
committed to using our resources
and technology to create new
product offerings that help our
partners reach their goals.” - Cyril
Ranque, president, Expedia’s
Lodging Partner Services
1: https://www.traveldailynews.com/post/mark-morrison-joins-expedia-inc-as-vice-president-of-owner-strategy-and-services#sthash.MEi0HPx0.dpuf

55. “You can never have too
much data. Bigger is
definitely better.”
Werner Vogel, CTO, Amazon

56. Or can you?

57. Welcome to the post-
GDPR and CCPA world
of marketing

58. Visual Information Specialist Jason Johnston/U.S. Army
Practice does not make perfect

59. WHAT WORKS?

60. THANK YOU
© 2018 Tim Peter & Associates - Proprietary and Confidential 60
Web timpeter.com
Phone +1.201.305.0055
Email tim@timpeter.com
Twitter @tcpeter

62. Develop paid media budget as
percentage of sale
62
Metrics
● Cost-per-click
(CPC) or cost-per-
impression (CPM)
● Clicks (or
impressions)
● Total cost (CPC *
clicks)
Metrics
● Visits
● Conversion rate
Metrics
● Conversion rate
(conversion
actions/visits to
page)
Metrics
● ROI or ROAS
● Cost per
conversion (Total
cost/conversion
rate)
Metrics
● Cost per
conversion as
share of sales
revenue

63. Which is better?
63
Scenario A Scenario B
Cost-per-click $1.00 $2.00
Conversion rate 4% 8%

64. Scenario A Scenario B
Cost-per-click $1.00 $2.00
Conversion rate 4% 8%
Cost-per-conversion $25 $25
Which is better?
64
They’re exactly the same
Focus on cost-per-conversion, not just cost-per click

65. Channel is irrelevant –same model applies to all
65
Scenario A
Cost of labor $25/hour
Hours to produce content 40
Total cost of content $1,000
Clicks received 500
Cost-per-click $2.00
Conversion rate 5%
Cost-per-conversion $25