This year’s Americas and Caribbean Online Marketing Strategies for Travel Conference was an enlightening experience, helping the audience look at strategies and metrics in a new way.

　　This year’s Americas and Caribbean Online Marketing Strategies for Travel Conference was an enlightening experience, helping the audience look at strategies and metrics in a new way;

　　Traditionally, we are used to reading through results from a campaign and agreeing with most or all of the information.

　　After all, our agencies are simply stating the facts, right? But what if I told you that sometimes approaching such findings from a different angle can help us learn more about our online marketing outcomes?

　　Below are a few valuable points I learned from the latest Eye For Travel Conference in Miami about rethinking your hotel’s analytics:

　　1. Conversion Testing: You may think your campaign is performing well already but I challenge you to try different iterations of the same message with different call-to-actions. Typically we find that adjusting some wording or changing the layout of a page can increase conversion rates while still delivering the same promotion/meaning! Conversion testing is all the hype these days and Sabre Hospitality has already had tremendous success with this! (Read all about this topic in our recent blog post “Test your website to increase conversions”)

　　2. App Download Metrics: 25% of all mobile native app downloads are only used once. If this is accurate, why do so many app companies brag about number of downloads instead of reporting on actual usage? For example, our very own TripCase app created by a few mobile geniuses recently reported that they are managing close to 20 million trips this year. Wow! No arbitrary figures on number of downloads or views of their app, just the facts.

　　3. Forget Focus Groups: Listen to your customers! One valuable resource of information comes from guest comment cards/surveys. Jerome Hiquet, VP of Marketing for Club Med Resorts noted that their #1 guest complaint wasn’t hotel noise or slow check-ins, it was the lack of wifi connectivity on the beach! It turns out guests of the hotels want the ability to call video-call with their loved ones and brag about their great vacation in real time!

　　I encourage you to take a look at all of your findings and think outside the box. Ask yourself if you are really measuring the success of a campaign or strategy accurately. But don’t stop there! Try to improve it even more. Twe

　　Lastly, basing the future success of your Online Marketing strategies on budget isn’t a good way to approach any new initiative.

　　Let’s face it, not all of us have budgets rivaling Hilton or Expedia. Instead, focus on getting the maximum ROI for whatever amount of money you do have. With a good ROI, you can continue to pool money into that campaign without worrying about your annual spends.