HotelAdvocacy Archives - Page 6 of 7

Be a part of the future of hotel marketing and revenue management with RevPAR Hacking

Hot off the press from Flip.to and industry leaders, RevPAR Hacking is the ultimate guide to the impact of revenue culture. Not only will readers get insight from leading experts in their field, but they’ll also learn the tips and tools to put them at the forefront of hotel marketing and revenue management.

So what does it mean for a hotel to have a revenue culture?

By aligning collective goals, teams work together as they aspire to generate the most revenue—and the entire organization will reap the rewards. In fact, so will the guests, as there will be more resources available to serve their needs. A revenue culture spans everyone responsible for driving the hotel’s bottom line—marketing, e-commerce, revenue management and sales succeed by sharing revenue considerations at every level of their strategy.

To go further, guest data and revenue data should inform one another at every level. A comprehensive revenue approach to this degree will not only align your teams, it’ll also target the most profitable business for your hotel—the right guest at the right price.

In RevPAR Hacking, industry thought leaders open up on how they’ve created a growth-minded revenue culture that has set up their teams for success. These models shed light on the ‘hows’ and the ‘whys’ of revenue culture, but also why it’s a valuable (and inevitable) shift for hotels who continue to seek growth.

A revenue culture that aligns your hotel’s goals will be a key driver of success—your team, your guests, and your bottom line will all win.

See for yourself how RevPAR Hacking reveals the impact of revenue culture, plus the thoughtful approaches to get you there.

Seeing is believing

A sneak peek at Group Advocacy

There’s a lot going on behind the scenes here at Flip.to. Fueled by our very own bean-to-cup coffee machine, (more on that here,) our team of product designers and engineers are constantly working to enhance the platform and create a better experience for our users. Group advocacy is the latest example of this innovation, as we aim to weave advocacy into every level of the guest experience.

The new Group Advocacy is a big enhancement in a hotel’s ability to use advocacy with group business. Hotels can now easily import events, create and manage campaigns to target groups with specific incentives, track statistics across campaigns, and more.

So what does this all mean for our hotel partners? Well, now all of your hotels’ weddings, meetings, or corporate groups are stories ready to be told by these guests to their friends and family. And it’s through those stories that your hotel can reach more travelers worldwide, and deliver each one a unique, inspired experience that takes them down the path of becoming a future guest.

This is thanks to our integration with Lanyon Passkey—part of Lanyon’s Smart Hotel Cloud software—that lets hotels streamline and automate meeting and event bookings. Used by thousands of hotels, destinations, and meeting-planners worldwide, it’s easy to manage hotel accommodations for events of all sizes.

There’s more to follow, but enjoy a taste of Group Advocacy below. (For current customers, log in and take a peek at this new feature on your account!)

Making sense of social media—how to create the conversation about your hotel

Our very own President, Edward St. Onge, was recently featured on Global Hotel Network’s Perspectives column, a site that provides market insights and thought leadership to executives in the global travel and tourism industry. Flip.to is proud to be a member of the online network, and Ed himself sits on the GHN’s Technology Committee.

The column, Create the Conversation About Your Hotel takes a deep dive into the value hotels can see from social media, even as it’s constantly evolving.

Social media was born as a conversation between friends—users sign online to connect with their family and colleagues. It makes sense that hotels want to be a part of the conversation. But it’s important to do so in a way that doesn’t fall by the wayside. As Ed notes in his perspective, hotels often put time and money into posting uninspired content:

“This just adds to the social noise, getting lost in hundreds of other messages competing to gain exposure on your guest’s news feed—more than 1,500 at a time on average, according to Facebook.”

That’s a lot to compete with at any given moment! So how do you cut through the clutter? For hotels, the trick is advocacy. Ed adds:

“Advocacy is a game-changer for how hoteliers use social media. The content is real and shareable—we’re talking about authentic stories of guest experiences, amazing pictures taken at the hotel, and great examples of the hotel’s happy staff. A single guest can reach hundreds and sometimes thousands of potential future guests beyond the scope of your current fan base. How many new guests does your hotel reach every day? If handled correctly, these truly social shares can translate into real, trackable ROI for your hotel.”

With advocacy, hotels can truly tap into the potential that social channels bring to the table. For more, check out Ed’s full perspectives piece featured on GlobalHotelNetwork.com.

How to boost your hotel loyalty program with advocacy

Loyalty programs have become a necessity to compete for the fleeting interest of the frequent traveler. Hotels are increasingly using loyalty to attract the “right” guest, rather than just trying to fill rooms. Advocacy, on the other hand, can be as simple as a word of mouth referral or a powerful testimonial. Like loyalty, it can be used to attract the right customer—only this time, it does so by reaching like-minded customers through their social networks. But, in the end, not all loyal customers are advocates, and not all advocates are loyal customers. So how do loyalty and advocacy work together?

The time-tested approach of creating programs and incentives that reward loyal customers, though struggling, can still be effective. Re-thinking this model to combine advocacy with loyalty creates an environment in which there’s no incentive to book anywhere other than directly.

Flip.to is doing just that. By turning guests into engaged advocates, trusted brand connections are built, and frequent travelers become key promoters for your hotel. Here are some of our key findings to successfully bridge the gap between loyalty and advocacy:

Membership: For loyalty programs to flourish it’s crucial there be network growth over time. Members tend to stay longer, spend more, and return more frequently. Additionally, loyalty programs cost real dollars to implement, and hotels understandably wish to drive enrollments wherever possible. By integrating loyalty into a guest engagement or advocacy strategy, not only will network membership grow, but it will do so in a way that is largely automated and, therefore, far more scalable.
Engagement: Combined, a hotel’s guests have far greater reach than any marketing effort it could ever undertake on its own. Hotels that focus on driving engagement are able to put this massive reach to proper use. By putting loyalty points on the table as the incentive, a hotel can boost or maintain already high engagement while also directly linking loyalty and advocacy in the guest’s mind. It demonstrates that loyalty can be an engaging pathway for turning hotel guests into advocates and reinforces the value of the loyalty program for the guest.
Member Value: Measuring and understanding the value that loyalty program members bring back to the hotel is clearly important, and it can help define which enrollment initiatives should be pursued more aggressively. Guests who enroll in loyalty programs through advocacy initiatives, on average, return equal value to the hotel as those enrolled elsewhere. Considering the ease of implementation and the time-saving automation available through this approach, the integrated method can deliver real value to the hotel’s bottom line.
Automation: Behind the attractive veneer of any loyalty program there are real costs, both in hard dollars and human capital. Besides facilitating scale, automation can reduce these costs and free up the hotel’s associates for valuable guest interaction. An integrated approach to loyalty and advocacy means the member enrolls prior to arriving. The hotel is now capturing meaningful data about the guest before they even arrive, creating opportunities to enhance the guest experience and a compelling path to up-selling.

Both loyalty and advocacy have their place in a hotel’s toolkit. Combined, they represent something greater than the sum of their parts. By implementing a guest advocacy strategy that incorporates loyalty, hotels are able to engage with their guests in a natural and meaningful way that drives results. And the best part is that everyone walks away a winner!

5 ways to target the right guest for your hotel using advocacy

Advocacy works for all types of hotels—the friends, relatives & colleagues of your guests are the perfect demographic for your hotel to reach. Whether your hotel fits in the business, leisure, resort, limited service or luxury markets, you have the ability to make trusted introductions to entirely new audiences of future guests with an advocacy campaign.

Your guests are already sharing their travels—get them talking about their stay too. Check out some tips below on how your hotel can reach the right guest by marketing with advocacy:

Connect the right guest with the right incentive for the best engagement. Two glasses of wine may engage guests booking a romance package to advocate more than a flat discount off of food & beverage (perhaps better suited to a family). Likewise, business travelers may enjoy a complimentary room upgrade or loyalty points.
Tailor guest share messaging for your brand. Your guests have like-minded travelers in their networks. Don’t be afraid to play up your guest share to build stronger connections with potential future guests. Just remember to keep it conversational—this message is coming from your guests on your behalf, not the other way around.
Enhance your advocacy strategies to optimize results. Pre-stay, Post-stay, and Photo Advocacy are all great experiences to engage your guests at different times of their travel. For example, guests love sharing moments at spectacular leisure destinations. Adding Photo Advocacy would be a great fit for this type of property. Our advocology experts can help guide you through the process of putting the best campaign together for your hotel.
Engage top advocates even further. Some of your advocates have astounding reach! With the Flip.to dashboard, you can easily sort by top advocates. Keep an eye out at check-in for these notable guests (our handy front-desk guest-list email will help, too) and make their trip a bit more special. Building these connections convert your guests into even greater promoters of your brand (and even co-creators,) giving them further reason to continue to advocate for your hotel.
Don’t forget to share! When your guests supply your hotel valuable moments from their stay in the way of photos and quotes, share! These authentic moments are perfectly suited to share to your own network and reinforce what’s unique about your experience. Plus, it’s built right into the platform—click to curate in just a few moments.

It’s important to remember that when you target guests using advocacy, you have the ability to be strategic across campaigns, incentives, share messages, and more. This will further optimize your outreach across your different markets. These small efforts can mean a big boost in engagement and revenue for your hotel!

Collaborate with your guests at a higher level

For years hotels have focused on building relationships with their guests. But with top-notch guest service, is there more you could be doing to engage them? And what will the benefit be for your hotel’s bottom line?

The answer to the former is a resounding ‘yes,’ but to understand how to engage better, (and how this drives revenue) you first have to understand your guest better. Harvard Business Review’s recent article “What Apple, Lending Club, and AirBnB Know About Collaborating with Customers” gives insight on how to do it right. Below are some lessons learned that hit home with the Flip.to team:

Identify guest affinity for the best engagement. Transactors, supporters, and promoters may all be purchasers, but the sweet spot lies with co-creators. Co-creators are so engaged with the brand, that by sharing in creation, they receive value in return. They’re excited to share about your brand, advocating to their network on your behalf. In return, you may give them some special treatment to enhance their experience even more, (and even promote a higher level of co-creation.)
Convert guests into passionate brand advocates. When you understand your guests level of affinity, you’ll be able to cultivate these relationships and reach their valuable customer networks. For example, when guests advocate on your behalf, friends and colleagues trust their opinion more than any ad.
Drive results through engagement. According to HBR, “research shows that companies that facilitate a network of co-creators deliver shareholder value two to four times greater than companies that don’t leverage co-creation business models.”
Start at the top. This shift in creating value should be central to the brand. Not only will value increase, but you’ll see more engagement and innovation.

When your guests are creative, thoughtful and really love your brand, collaborate! Co-creation leads to really great things for both company and customer—everybody wins. It’s something we focus on daily in the world of advocacy.

Check out the full Harvard Business Review article here.

Flip.to unveils the right approach to “social” for hotels

Flip.to helps hotels engage future travelers with Photo Advocacy

ORLANDO, FL – June 3, 2015 – As Flip.to continues to unveil new layers of the advocacy platform for hotels, its impact is changing the landscape of social for hotels worldwide. As social media matures, challenges in the ability to see measurable results and the limitations implemented by many of the large networks have made it even more difficult for hotels to stay relevant. Flip.to is helping hotels be “social” in a way that’s natural, with significant, measurable ROI.

adrift-hotel-canoe — Guest stories create an unique, authentic experience for hotels

Being “social” revolves around the idea of people sharing personal experiences with friends and family- travel conversations that hotels have long tried to join. “Social media” has seemingly adopted the term “social,” but in fact is neither personal nor between friends, and is quickly starting to resemble another paid advertising channel for hotels. A core concept of Flip.to is that “social media” is a way to reach global audiences and spark conversations about travel between friends. Social media should be a point of distribution for hotels, rather than a destination where staff sink large amounts of time posting streams of uninspired content.

Advocacy gets people talking about your brand. When guests share brand experiences with their friends and colleagues, it is a more trusted and natural engagement than any form of paid marketing. With the launch of their new site, Flip.to unveils how hotels can tap into advocacy and do “social” and “social media” correctly, helping hotels earn direct bookings through their massive, untapped marketing force-their existing guests.

In addition to Pre-stay and Post-stay Advocacy, the new site, http://www.flip.to, debuts Photo Advocacy, which encourages guests to share memorable experiences. Perpetual photo contests provide the hotel with real, sharable content, customer quotes, and valuable insights from guests about their stay. This content is curated in just a few clicks, creating an ongoing stream of marketing material designed specifically for social use.

“Advocacy is completely revolutionizing the way hotels approach social media. Guests are already talking about their travels-Flip.to works with hotels to get their guests talking about where they are staying, too.” said Ed St.Onge, President of Global Sales and Marketing for Flip.to.

“A single guest can reach hundreds. The combined reach of your guests eclipses your existing fan base and their voice is far more authentic. Hotels need to start engaging new audiences in a more natural way, as ever growing social media sites create new hurdles for brands, and organic reach nears zero,” added St.Onge.

Flip.to creates a new channel of revenue by harnessing the excitement of travel, encouraging guests to advocate on the hotel’s behalf. From their new headquarters, Flip.to continues to hone in on their mission to help hotels earn new guests. The team is now also fueled by an amazing new touch screen, bean-to-cup coffee machine “… but are woefully lacking a ping pong table,” noted Jeff Weibel, Chief Marketing Officer.

Get to know your hotel advocates with search

Flip.to continues to expand the features in the newest Advocates section! This new addition to the account provides insights into your hotel advocates on an individual level.

Filter and sort to easily navigate your hotel advocates: All, advocates with Photos, or advocates with Quotes. A dropdown allows you to sort further by recent activity, top advocates, photos or quotes for curation.

From there, select any card to view details including connections, visitors and sign-ups. A series of stories is chronologically presented about their engagement with your hotel. Pre-stay, Post-Stay, Photo-Contest are all here, as well as other information that may have been captured, like the booking date and stay dates.

Introducing Advocate Search
Looking for someone? Now search for advocates by name, reservation number or email address. Click through result cards to navigate to individual advocate details.

Flip.to and Availpro partner to help hotels earn more guests and grow direct booking revenue

Flip.to partners with the leading booking engine and reputation management provider in France

ORLANDO, FL – April 2015 – Flip.to today announced its strategic partnership with Availpro, the leading booking engine and reputation management provider in France. The partnership was finalized with the successful integration of the Flip.to Advocacy Platform and Availpro’s multifaceted Smart Booking Engine®.

Hotels using using Availpro’s booking engine with Flip.to will now be able to tap into an entirely new channel that is truly social–guests sharing their travels with friends & family. Turning guests into a trusted marketing force with massive reach, paired with a unique personal experience for every social connection, leads to a significant, measurable bottom-line impact. Flip.to helps hotels grow direct bookings, build strong brand connections and vastly increase worldwide reach.

“We’re excited about the partnership with Availpro because it reflects the international appeal of the Flip.to platform and presents an opportunity to drive more direct business for hotels the world over. Availpro fits well with our approach to partner only with companies that we’d be happy to do business with ourselves,” says Richard Dunbar, Director of Business Development at Flip.to.

“When it comes to building brand awareness for hotels, social media is definitely an increasingly important tool to consider. We are thrilled to announce our integration with Flip.to and strongly believe it is a great opportunity for hotels using our Smart Booking Engine® to improve their online presence and convert new potential customers,” added Mathieu Verhaeghe, Partnership Development Manager at Availpro.

To find out more about how Flip.to can help create a significant, measurable impact for your hotel, please get in touch with Debi Moses at dmoses@flip.to or visit www.flip.to.

Flip.to turns 33 percent of guests into trusted advocates for Sedona Rouge Hotel & Spa

The Sedona Rouge Hotel has felt a significant impact from turning their guests into a powerful extension of their marketing team

Orlando – March 18, 2015 – With a world-class spa and red rock views, the Sedona Rouge Hotel in Arizona has felt a significant impact from turning their guests into a powerful extension of their marketing team. Flip.to has turned a full third of Sedona Rouge’s guests into advocates.

In just the first 3 months of switching Flip.to live, the 33% of guests who have spread the word about their upcoming trip have introduced the Sedona Rouge to over 54,000 of their friends, relatives & colleagues, which has led to 84 direct bookings.

“We have always known that our guests love our unique experience, but having guests share that experience with their friends and family at a rate of 33% is what surprised us,” said Ed Conway, GM of the Sedona Rouge Hotel & Spa. “It is such a natural experience for the guest that it is easy to see why we saw immediate results from the Flip.to platform. Working with Flip.to gave us an elegant way to help our guests spread the word at multiple touch points, in the right way, while making it really simple for me and my staff.”

The Flip.to advocacy platform encourages guests to share their excitement about their upcoming trip and where they’re staying with their social connections, ” said Raul Vega, Senior Director of Sales at Flip.to. “Flip.to then drives the guests’ friends and family back to the hotel’s website and serves up a unique, trusted experience that is proven to convert friends of guests into new guests. If you can do that while being simple, fun and visually compelling, it leads to huge results for hotels, as it has for Sedona Rouge.