Strike up compelling conversations with your guests across their entire guest journey. It’ll mean a richer experience for your guests, and a growing team of advocates for your hotel. Watch as your guests bring a level of authenticity that resonates, leading future travelers to experiences that convert. Best of all? There’s no heavy lifting on your part.
Sound interesting? Introduce your hotel to the world with Flip.to. Take a tour, or continue on to inspire a global audience below:
Advocacy platform drives revenue, marketing, and even off-season success for lakeside resort
ORLANDO, FL — August 08, 2016 — Flip.to, the advocacy platform for hotels has attracted a massive audience of over 100,000 travelers for The Pines Resort in just the first year, while boosting the resort’s brand with compelling, co-created stories from their guests.
A mountain lodge nestled the Sierra National Forest near Yosemite National Park, The Pines Resort launched Flip.to in August of 2015. The property has seen enormous success, reaching this major milestone in less than 12 months. Flip.to has driven over 5,000 unique site visitors back to The Pines Resort’s hotel website, converting 450 warm leads and over 130 booked room nights for the hotel—and growing.
“There’s no better way to learn about our scenic experiences at the resort than through a friend or family member—someone you know and trust,” noted Mark Choe, Director of Business Development at The Pines Resort. Choe went on to add, “Our guests are sharing everything from incredible mountain views and lakeside watersports, to exploring our area’s national parks. Flip.to lets us capture these amazing stories and use them to engage future travelers. The return on our investment far exceeded our initial expectations, even helping drive our most successful shoulder season to date.”
The Flip.to platform has thoughtful touch points throughout the entire guest journey, bettering the conversation hotels have with guests from well before they stay until long after they leave. Flip.to lets guests share everything from their excitement for an upcoming trip to the favorite moment of their stay, tracking the entire conversion funnel down to how many travelers convert. The result is a huge driver of traffic and warm leads—potential guests who fall into a pool of like-minded travelers with similar interests and purchasing habits as the advocates for the hotel.
“I’ve been amazed at the stories our guests capture, and it’s been even more exciting to see that when combined, they shape a candid story of our property,” emphasized Choe.
The Pines Resort inspires new audiences of travelers worldwide with Photo Explorer, a powerful digital experience by Flip.to that tells a rich story of the hotel through the compelling experiences shared by their guests. It showcases a library of authentic content that is an entirely new look at the hotel. Plus, with the recent launch of Vision AI—a new feature by Flip.to that uses artificial intelligence to let hotels better understand and curate content—hotels have insight on image attributes, colors and more, with the ability to filter and source content in seconds.
“With Flip.to, The Pines Resort collects authentic content from their guests detailing the highlight of their trip. Moments like these become introductions with worldwide reach when guests share to friends and family.” said Deborah Moses, Senior Director of Sales, Americas at Flip.to. “Not only do these warm introductions drive site traffic, they help convert warm leads for the hotel inspiring more travelers to book direct.”
Tucked within towering pines alongside Bass Lake, the Pines Resort accommodations reflect a contemporary mountain décor inspired by the scenic, natural surroundings. Guests choose between 84 inviting mountain chalets, 20 deluxe lakefront suites or two private, fully-furnished houses that feature stunning forest or lakefront views and are within easy walking distance of the lake, the resort’s restaurants, recreational activities and retail shops. To reserve a stay, visit http://www.BassLake.com, or call 800-350-7463.
Every guest story is an opportunity for a hotel to unveil something new. Stories reach & inspire—they’re truly memorable, sometimes magical, and a lot of times, a bit of fun.
In a way, we’ve fallen in love with guest stories, and every day see firsthand the impact they’re making for hotels. That’s why we’re sharing them with you! Check out a handful of our recent favorites below:
“Family memories made every time we visit!!” – Ann J.
After an unforgettable stay at Midgett Realty, Ann shared this special moment to 182 friends & family, leading to an incredible 1,091 unique visitors and 218 warm leads from a single advocate alone.
Together, Ann and fellow guests reached an enormous, like-minded audience of 317,000 and 20,000 unique site visitors in the first 2 months… and growing!
“We love going to the Crystal Lodge when in Whistler. Over the years they done nothing but totally exceeded our expectations!!” – Eric R.
Eric, a loyal guest of Crystal Lodge, shared about the exceptional hospitality he’s experienced over the years, becoming a true advocate for the hotel. He joined his fellow guests to help this mountain lodge reach an audience of 35,000 in just the last 3 months.
“The responsiveness and flexibility of the staff is amazing and sets GrandView apart” – Chris C.
Summertime fun. An unforgettable stay. The staff that made the difference. All part of this timeless story shared by Chris to friends and relatives about Grand View Lodge.
(24 leads in just two days isn’t so bad either.)
“We love the location of the Adrift Hotel. The beach is wonderful in Long Beach. And the Pickled Fish is the best place to eat.” – Lea W.
What can we say—we’re constantly in awe of the stories from Adrift Hotel. Lea has left us dreaming of a stay in the Pacific Northwest with this incredible story. Plus, Adrift may now share on to their own captive audiences.
“Excellent service from all of the staff from the time we checked in until we checked out!” – Lauri C.
Laurie put Atlantic Hotel and Spa at the center of this fun and personal moment that was shared with friends & family around the globe. There’s truly no better introduction to this shore-side property.
“Picture taken looking outside my mountain view room window” – Laura M.
Laura captured the view from her Tivoli Lodge mountain view window, leaving friends, relatives and future guests alike in awe of this stunning landscape—20 of whom became warm leads after showing real interest in the hotel. (And that’s just one advocate!)
“We ended our three week US holiday (Aussies!) at The Shore, super happy about that! Location was awesome but the staff were the best of any of the hotels we stayed at.” – Kate W.
Kate’s friends & family in Australia got a taste of the US and introduction to Shore Hotel with this candid moment from her trip. Shore Hotel has reached over 45,000 in that last 90 days alone thanks to their guests.
“My favorite part of this past trip to Woodloch was the new Blues Massage and sharing my peaceful morning walks with the woodloch deer and her fawns.” – Patrick B.
This peaceful moment shared by Patrick to his friends and relatives is truly awe-inspiring—and one he’ll never forget.
Plus, combined with other guests Patrick not only helped paint an incredible picture of the experience at The Lodge at Woodloch, but also reach an audience of over 38,000 in the last 3 months. In fact, this Poconos hotel has captured 766 warm leads in that time alone.
Check back next month for even more. See any stories that stand out? Let us know!
A few months back, we shamelessly shared our first blooper reel after an excited foray into video production. It’s been one heck of an experience and we’ve learned an awful lot along the way.
At Flip.to we’re all about authenticity and the connections between individuals. So when we first committed to making video there was unanimous agreement that whatever it is we’re talking about in our videos, it should be us talking about it.
I was asked to be the voice of our videos. One never to turn down an opportunity (or a challenge), I was happy to take up the mantle. (To be honest I was more excited about recording impersonations, so I convinced myself this was a step in that direction.)
As fun as it’s been, we’ve been focused on continuous improvement. If you’re thinking of integrating video into your content marketing strategy (and you should), here are some major lessons to help you get started.
1. Spend time on a script…
Going into this, I was working under the assumption that we’d need some manner of script but, for the most part, we’d be winging it. It only took a single video to realize how wrong I was. We were using a script from the beginning. While we did adlib a bit, it was immediately apparent how important the script was.
This may seem like an obvious thing, but when you spend the better part of your day talking about a product, you feel confident enough you can do the same with a microphone in front of your face.
Don’t bet on it–having a polished script ensures you’re covering the important points.
2. …but don’t be afraid to deviate
As critical as the script is, if you want the video to feel authentic and convey real emotion, you’ll need to make changes on the fly. We’ll record each section of the video multiple times to make sure it feels and sounds authentic and natural. The script isn’t gospel. Instead, it’s a guide to tie together the scenes and concepts in the video.
3. Record, record, and record again
Getting a scene right on the first try is akin to keeping a wet dog in the bathtub. Try as you might, there will be slip ups.
Or, it just may not feel right. No matter how you feel after recording a scene, the playback may change your mind. In the beginning, we recorded a scene, played it back, and recorded it again—then repeated. We wisened up and now we record each scene a few times back-to-back and then listen in succession. Doing it this way lets you compare each attempt to single out the best take. If none sound good, well… do it again!
4. Finding the right voice and tone takes time
I don’t mean to say you need to make a host of videos to find your voice and tone. Instead, I’m talking about finding the right tone for a specific video.
While recording our “Introduce your hotel to the people that matter most” video, we were about three-quarters of the way through the voice-over when we hit our stride. We wrapped up several scenes in quick succession and they felt incredible.
We went back and listened. It sounded noticeably different! The final 25% felt so right, that we took the time to re-record everything up to that point so that there was continuity. It was well worth the effort. Once we dialed it in we were able to record much more quickly too.
For future videos we recorded a reading of the entire script, sometimes multiple times, to get a feel for the tone. Ultimately this saved us time, produced a better quality video, and gave the video authenticity.
5. Have fun
It’s not all business. You will definitely need to take breaks. We deviate from the script (sometimes by A LOT) because a good laugh can go a long way.
And like I said at the start, doing impersonations was what I really wanted to do in the first place. So don’t hesitate to cut loose when the urge strikes and enjoy the moment. It’s not often you get an opportunity to professionally record yourself cutting up for, you know, posterity.
Oh, and don’t think we didn’t save some of the fun stuff—listen in for yourself below!
Jumping into your own recordings? Let me know! We’re always eager to share and learn more, and collaborate along the way.
At Flip.to, we’re constantly working with people in the industry that inspire us. Here’s a special post from our own team member, originally featured on LinkedIn Pulse. Looking to collaborate? Get in touch and let’s do something amazing together.
It’s virtually impossible to read hospitality headlines nowadays without seeing at least one piece on how hotels can “take back control” from OTAs. A noble pursuit indeed but do hotels know what sort of “control” it is they’re trying to take back? I would argue the answer to that is no in most cases.
Let’s look quickly at what OTAs are designed to do and why they’re good at it. OTAs are conversion machines. They bring in massive amounts of traffic and then excel at converting that traffic into room nights, car rentals, airline tickets, etc.
They’re able to do this because they’re better at getting consumer attention than hotels are and their websites are better at selling than hotel websites are.
Expedia spent, collectively across all of its brands, nearly $3 billion on marketing in 2014. If they’re willing to put that kind of money into the marketing aethers then it’s a sure bet they’re serious about converting that traffic when it lands on their sites.
Beyond that they’ve also invested heavily in keeping those customers coming back. They’ve accomplished this through a loyalty program, long-term nurturing, and a purchasing/discovery experience that favors the user. Not one of these three things is beyond the ability of any hotel reading this.
In most cases when I read these articles about wresting control from the OTAs the focus is on share of revenue and room nights. How can hotels shift more of that into their ecosystem? The issue with this “control” narrative is that it’s focused on symptoms and not the causal factors mentioned above.
Share of attention
As a hotel, it can be overwhelming trying to compete for the fleeting attention of travelers. Never before in human history have so many sources been competing for a person’s attention. OTAs are good at this because they have scale and budget. They can be in most places the consumer cares about, but not everywhere.
For hotels this means competing in spaces where OTAs are not yet part of the equation, and via means unavailable to them. To achieve this the hotel needs to be in front of the guest before that person is even in the travel-planning mindset. It’s better to stand out early than to be part of an arbitrary sorting algorithm on a third-party website.
On top of this, social media is so underutilized by hotels it’s hard to believe it’s actually 2016. This is a low-cost platform that can drive massive value for the guest both pre- and post-stay and yet more often than not I see hotels sending people there versus collecting traffic from those sites.
Experiences designed to sell
OTAs are good at selling. They’re really, really good. That’s because they don’t really care that much about which product someone buys, just that they buy any product while they’re on their site. That’s their advantage, money notwithstanding.
Conversely, for the average independent hotel, they have a single product to offer. Sure there are different rate plans, add-ons, packages, etc. In the end though the guest can only buy that single experience. That being the case, why is it that most hotel websites feel and function like digital billboards? It’s like, “hey, you’re in my shop but here’s an ad for my shop anyway.”
Bulleted amenity lists, professional photos of rooms, and canned descriptions of the product abound. It’s incumbent upon the hotel to nurture that visitor down the path to becoming a guest. Hotels can provide insight into the experience the guest can expect unlike any OTA possibly can.
Remember, the OTA is putting piles of hotels in front of the consumer. That person is there for options.
When a potential guest lands on a hotel’s website something has already grabbed her attention and she’s interested. Give her something worth her time, not a product spec sheet.
And on the subject of time, the importance of design cannot be overstated. Imagine if, instead of feeling like work, learning about a hotel was an experience in and of itself. An experience that’s just a taste of what the guest can expect during a stay.
That’s the sort of “control” that wins the day. Winning more share of attention and designing experiences that convert will ensure more business comes direct. But it has to be earned, not taken back.
At HITEC we collaborated with Google and GCommerce to discuss up-and-coming travel marketing trends. Hosted at La Louisiane of New Orleans Hotel Collection French Quarter fame, it was an incredible opportunity to share what’s driving hospitality today. Guest experience, content marketing and personalization were the topics at hand. Explore more below from Chris Jackson, GCommerce President & Partner, and myself. Enjoy!
Hotels are facing a set of competing interests in the market that enjoy the benefits of large budgets, ability to scale, and share of consumers’ attention. These competing interests have invested heavily in designing user experiences that keep consumers engaged throughout the planning process, ultimately converting more business.
OTAs and sharing sites such as AirBnB are spending massive amounts of money to capture and retain share of attention, driving interested shoppers into compelling experiences that are designed to convert.
To combat this, it’s imperative that hotels focus their efforts to be in the places where OTAs and sharing sites are not strong. These are the low-cost, high-reach channels where hotels have a competitive advantage. The tools of that game are:
Content marketing uses a hotel’s intimate knowledge of the destination but combined with guest advocacy it can be massively amplified. Content can be crowdsourced, and the potential exposure can be exponentially magnified.
This also helps to address the precipitous decline in organic reach via social channels like Facebook. User-generated content, shared by the user, means hotels are able to reach an audience far beyond the typical means.
Combined, these strategies ensure hotels can reach and inspire guests at the right time and in the right way. Aspiration and experience are the key competitive advantages in today’s market.
Rising Cost per Acquisition
Phenomenal growth won’t hide your rising cost per acquisition (CPA) any longer, so it is critical to understand and manage your CPA. How can you combat a rising CPA? Adjust your KPIs and the way you measure them:
Predictive Analytics
Accurately predict customer behavior and buying patterns, and as a result, predict demand through Predictive Analytics.
Collective and shared data is far more powerful and useful than a single data report on a single hotel. Consider who you can partner with – airlines, golf clubs, spas, retail providers and your local tourism marketing board are all contenders.
Personalization
Connect with your audience! Focus less on selling your product and focus more on telling a story – sell the experience.
Micro-Moments
Billions of times per day, consumers turn to their search engine browser on their phone for “I want to know”, “I want to go”, “I want to do”, and “I want to buy” moments. Be prepared and targeted in your marketing efforts for when your product is presented during a micro-moment.
GCommerce is a digital marketing agency that works closely with hotel, resort, casino and restaurant clients to develop everything from website design to social media campaigns. Be sure to visit their site to learn more about their services and explore their work.
Every guest story is an opportunity for a hotel to unveil something new. Stories reach & inspire—they’re truly memorable, sometimes magical, and a lot of times, a bit of fun.
In a way, we’ve fallen in love with guest stories, and every day see firsthand the impact they’re making for hotels. That’s why we’re sharing them with you! Check out a handful of our recent favorites below:
“The best part of my experience was that my entire family came up to stay at The Shores for my graduation and all the staff was very accommodating.” – Allan C.
Allan put The Shores at the center of a special moment that was shared with like-minded travelers worldwide.
“I proposed to my fiancé on the beach while staying at Sea Venture.” – Doug K.
SeaVenture Pismo Beach Hotel’s current photo contest has topped 100 thousand friends and family reached and 1,200 warm leads.
“We loved the solitude! Every aspect of our stay was wonderful.” – Duane & Sharron P.
This tiny island resort in Roatan, Honduras just put its foot on the map thanks to their guests–building an incredible library of curated content along the way.
“Great service from your staff. Beautiful views from the property” – John H.
John shared a favorite moment to 228 friends and family, converting 22 of those reached into warm leads. Guests at Mary Lake Lodge Mountain Resort already introduced over 6,000 friends and family to the property since going live in May.
“Beautiful Chalet overlooking the water….can’t beat it! Staff was great, restaurant was amazing and the view was extraordinary! Plenty of room for the whole family. Loved our stay!” – Lauri R.
Lauri shared her view from a day on the lake, bringing the incredible experience and activities at Bass Lake to life!
“We visited the Sea Lions every day and night during our stay. It was great to hear them each morning as soon as we opened our balcony door.” – Arthur P.
Arthur currently sits at the top of Hotel Zephyr’s current contest. He shared to 519 friends 9 times so far, with 28 of his friends sharing on as well. This has driven 274 unique site visitors and 31 warm leads (and the contest is only half-way through!)
“Great bang for the buck! Open, clean environment with curious staff.” – Tsewang L.
Tsewang is just one of the 27 finalist in Lake Tahoe Resort Hotel’s first photo contest. So far, Tsewang and her fellow guests shared their stories to over 30 thousand friends and family, leading to 483 warm leads in just 3 months.
“The amazing Discovery Cove a must do for an Orlando visit.” – Jennifer D.
Jennifer’s story gives future guests a candid travel tip and also taps into the experience of the visit.
“Beautiful sunset on our last night” – Daniel G.
Ann Marie shared her story to 524 friends & family, leading to 171 unique site visits and 17 warm leads. Together, Daniel and fellow guests have introduced Grand View Lodge to over 19 thousands friends and family in less than a month.
Check back next month for even more. See any stories that stand out? Let us know!
HITEC 2016 wrapped up last week, and it was the perfect opportunity to have a bit of fun with our Director of Partnerships, Richard Dunbar by introducing his new-found colleague and friend, Flat Ricky. (One Ricky just wasn’t enough.)
Flat Ricky explored the conference, stopped by the booths of our many partners, and ended an eventful first day with a party hosted by Flip.to, Lanyon, NAVIS and Social Tables.
As our night was coming to an end, one thing became apparent—we were #MissingFlatRicky—and word spread quickly!
Turns out, our friends at Vista Cay had different plans for Flat Ricky, and an adventure in the making unfolded.
At the end of the day, Flat Ricky got a VIP tour of the town and was swept away once again. We’re still #MissingFlatRicky—but if you have any tips on where he might be, let us know at hello@flip.to! (Don’t worry, all tips remain anonymous.)
Advocacy platform leads travel tech with innovative application of artificial intelligence
Flip.to has unveiled Vision AI, the newest layer of their advocacy platform that helps hotels reach a global audience of travelers perfect for their brand.
This powerful new feature uses machine-based insights to let hotels better understand and effortlessly curate their vast, ever-growing library of guest-created content. This innovative use of artificial intelligence is the first of its kind in hotel tech. With Flip.to, hotels may now amplify their brand by delivering incredibly authentic, personal content to different segments of travelers and better convert them into future guests.
“Amazing tech lets us gather real insight on the guest stories we capture. What’s different is that for the first time, hotels can apply these insights to deliver content in a way that truly resonates with their future guests,” said Brian Kent, CEO & Co-founder at Flip.to. “Vision AI is the start of some pretty exciting new opportunities of real personalization at scale.”
Vision AI taps into machine-based learning using Microsoft® Cognitive Services. By processing visual data, Vision AI extracts rich information to return insights on content, image attributes, colors and more. Guest stories are automatically fitted with descriptions and tagged during the curation process, saving hotel marketers time and eliminating the inefficiencies of manual organization. Instead, hotels can easily search the authentic content their guests provide in seconds.
Faces AI, a component of the artificial intelligence by Flip.to, detects human faces and can identify attributes like age and gender in a guest story.
Vision AI and Faces AI make the impact of the advocacy platform for hotels even more potent. By thoughtfully applying artificial intelligence, Flip.to gives heightened context to the content and interactions of advocacy for hotel marketers worldwide.
“Flip.to is designed to capture warm leads with rich touch points across the entire guest journey. Vision AI takes that even further.” said Edward St. Onge, President at Flip.to. “It makes everything hotels are doing on our platform, as well as their others forms of marketing, even smarter and more compelling. The possibilities are limitless.”
Hoteliers worldwide use Flip.to to wield the power of a story well told and capture new guests. To begin reaching, inspiring and converting an entirely new global audience every day, take a tour or say hello.
It’s here! One of the biggest conferences of the year. We’re headed to New Orleans for the 2016 edition of HITEC. The days are full of innovation, insights, and a bit of fun. Here’s a cheat sheet of just a few of the places we’ll be. Say hello, or reach out and let’s get together.
Entrepreneur 20x
Morial Convention Center—Rivergate Room, 1–4 PM
Join our own president, Ed St.Onge, as he sits on the judges panel for the second year in a row at Entrepreneur 20x. You’ll hear pitches from innovative start-ups in hotel tech at this competition. Ed’s joining a host of hospitality veterans on the judges panel, from CIO’s and angel investors, to serial entrepreneurs and industry insiders.
HITEC Opening Reception — “A Night in ‘Nola”
Generations Hall – A Night in Nola , 6:30–9 PM
New Orleans Jazz, and classic Nola food and drinks? Say no more—we’ll be stopping by.
HITEC Exhibits, Booth #1615
Tuesday, 10 AM–4 PM / Wednesday, 10 AM–3 PM / Thursday, 10 AM–2 PM
The booth! We’ve got a ton of amazing things to share this year for Flip.to. To start, we’re unveiling our newest product update—Vision AI.
This powerful new feature uses machine-based insights to let hotels better understand and effortlessly curate their ever-growing library of guest-created content. This innovative use of artificial intelligence is the first of its kind in hotel tech. With Vision AI, hotels can now amplify their brand by delivering incredibly authentic, personal content to different segments of travelers and better convert them into future guests.
Stop by Booth #1615 to see this and other product updates, check out our brand new tour, and take a photo or two with the team. Just be sure to say hello! (We’ve even brought back the comfy couch.)
Tech Talks: Engagement Vs. Communications: What Are the Best Solutions?
Morial Convention Center, 11–11:15 AM
Industry veteran, friend-of-Flip.to, and all-around hotel tech expert Alan Young of Puzzle Partner will be sharing a bit of his knowledge in his tech talk on better hotel & guest engagement. Short but sweet, this is one you don’t want to miss.
Travel Trends that Matter with Google, GCommerce, & Flip.to
La Louisiane, 725 Iberville Street, 4–6 PM
If you registered early, you’re one of the lucky attendees! This sought-after event features insightful discussion on hospitality and travel marketing trends as told by Google, GCommerce and Flip.to. It’s not too late to join the waitlist! We’ll keep in touch if any spots open up.
Break the Ice with Flip.to, Lanyon, NAVIS and Social Tables
Bourbon Vieux, 503 Bourbon Street, 8–11 PM
Break the ice and snap a photo with a new friend while you mix & mingle with the industry’s best. Be ready to take part in our photo contest after the event—you could end with some sweet prizes. This event is by invitation—get in touch to request yours!
HSMAI’s ROC Conference
Morial Convention Center—Great Hall, 7 AM–6:30 PM
Our very own Ed St. Onge and Danielle Fierman will be onsite for the 2016 Revenue Optimization Conference. Be sure to stop by our sponsor in the Great Hall. Drop us line if you’d like to set up time to chat, or even just have coffee.
Super Session: M&A in the Hospitality Tech Sector: Who is Next? What Does it Mean?
Morial Convention Center, 9–10:30 AM
Our own Ed St.Onge takes the stage once again as part of Thursday’s Super Session: M&A in the Hospitality Tech Sector: Who is Next? What Does it Mean? Sit in as the industry’s best explore the world of Mergers & Acquisitions in hotel tech.
Ed joins a pane of other well-known names in hospitality: Larry Hall, managing director with Trillium Services Group, Alex Alt, president of Sabre Hospitality Solutions, Chris Hemmeter, managing director with Thayer Ventures, and Bob Post, CEO and president with thing5.
