KEN’S INSIGHTS INTO DIGITAL HOTEL MARKETING

(Posted 03rd January 2022)

How are you marketing your hotel Digitally?

Hi there, my Name is Kennedy Uduny. I’ve been marketing Hospitality stuff’ on the internet for let’s say 5 years now?
I’m a Marketer who loves helping people with hospitality tech, and rode the wave into design, community management and then consulting on digital for everyone from solo businesses to family owned businesses to chain hotels.

I’m currently sorting through and making available everything I have ever done and learned in the hotel digital marketing industry.

The Corona virus has messed up the Tourism Industry forcing the big boys to adapt to the new Digital trends or perish. I have answers to what is happening right now and why everything seems so off-kilter.

Welcome to Uduny’s Newsletter where we talk about:

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Digital Transformation and Impact of Covid-19

What are the trends that marketers need to take into account while securing successful continuity of their businesses provided an extensive overview of various industries and marketing technologies?

Uduny Dec 29, 2021

No angle of the marketing world changes faster than digital marketing. As new technology arrives and old dogs grandfathered out, it can be difficult to keep up with all of the new different trends in the industry.

As the current health crisis is changing consumer behaviour and marketing approaches in particular, what are the benefits of marketing technologies and key challenges in implementing them?

What are the trends that marketers need to take into account while securing successful continuity of their businesses provided an extensive overview of various industries and marketing technologies?

What the Digital sphere discovered since the first Covid-19 case was reported in Kenya was 2 different approaches – a couple of industries were overwhelmed with orders (groceries, household goods, pet supplies, pharmacy, and general merchandise) while a good chunk lacked orders and interactions (automotive, furniture, luxury, appliances, and hospitality where I have first-hand information). What a disruptor.

In the discovery and evaluation part of the journey, search engines, social media feeds, and influencers have become popular ways for shoppers to get product inspiration outside a brand’s properties.

In the buying part of the journey, there are new types of purchase points that have emerged. Mobile wallets are behind e-mail as a place to discover preferred products and make purchases. E-commerce sales in 2020 accounted for 14 % of total sales and these purchases are coming through social media.

The Pandemic has introduced a new environment, where unified channels and customer service are more important than ever. The market has been turned anti-clockwise – as non-essential businesses had to close their doors to help slow the spread of Covid-19, retailers and shoppers alike had to pivot overnight to a digital-only reality.

Digital sales for the technology savvy brands has of late reported growth of substantial percentage in 2020 compared to 2019 as traffic increased in their platforms at an alarming rate.

Marketing technologies however can help increase the effectiveness and efficiency of marketing activities. Companies who are the fastest and more flexible in adapting to the new reality will have a huge advantage in the market and will become industry leaders the others will have to follow.

For that, Digital Marketing is essential in this new race and has to be recognized as a market leader. It brings more business, new customers and more importantly, it creates and strengthens customer loyalty for the brand.

Marketing trends and ideas you need to consider:

The below Marketing trends and ideas needs to be considered if you are developing a strategy to penetrate this new era:

1. Understand the marketing assets you have and how they can now connect to your business goals
2. Implement working formulas that make the best use of your in house creative talents
3. Make your marketing goals based on data not assumptions

During these hard times I have discovered that companies move through three stages:

1. Stabilizing your company

2. Reopening your workplace

3. Growing your business

Companies are going through these phases at different rates, each having its own pace. Sometimes, they even have different teams or departments within the company working depending on which phase the company is going through. Within each stage, I believe it’s important to focus on solutions for your leadership, your employees, and your customers, so you can ultimately have that business continuity you’re looking for.

Most companies, need to stabilize during rapid unexpected change – focusing on employee health and safety, financial stability, and operational decisions. It’s all about managing the crisis as quickly as you can.

During this crisis, having new and regularly updated data is more important than ever. Building a data culture will help employees and customers understand why you’re making trustworthy decisions during COVID-19.

With more data sources and dashboards, leaders can make better decisions on stores, hotel room inventory, plants, regions, and product planning. In this phase, it’s critical that leaders are more visible and share as much as they can with employees on their perspectives and insights through all company calls and communications.

To empower employees, implement new digital tools and resources to enhance productivity. During this phase, provide learning tools so they can build new skills or adjust to a new work style.

Create personalized journeys across Digital channels when engaging your clients. Begin to realign products for the new digital world – thinking about how your customers will be able to interact with your business.

Once company leaders are transparent through the new processes and have created a data culture around decision making – it’s time to expand analytics across the market and economic trends to sense on-coming potential new crises and be prepared with the ‘Next to Normal’ plan that can be quickly put into place.

Happy new year Marafiki! Enjoy with friends & your family!

Who is Kennedy Uduny?

He is an experienced Content Marketer, Digital Media Specialist and Editor, currently employed as a Content Marketing Manager at Baobab Beach Resort and Spa where he is honing his skills in all aspects of marketing with a particular emphasis on digital marketing.

He is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree at Open University majoring in Business Administration, Business Management, and Marketing and Related Support Services.