What Hotel Impossible Taught Me about SMS Marketing
Have you ever watched the Travel Channel’s Hotel Impossible? It’s a show where the host, Anthony Melchiorri, tries to help save hotels that are failing. Much of the time, he finds that they’re not clean, poorly maintained or there’s ineffective management. But he also finds that many hotels spend way too much time and money on marketing in the wrong place: social media. Here’s how it usually plays out:
Melchiorri asks about marketing and where their time and effort is going.
The hotel owner answers “social media” – Facebook primarily.
He shakes his head in frustration and the owner will defend themselves saying they have “thousands” of followers.
That’s when he hits them with the big question:
“How many bookings did you get from Facebook last year?”
Most don’t know the answer, some will guess they a get few.
He goes on to make the point that social media has its place, but it isn’t where you make money.
Episode after episode I see it: Struggling hotels paying a ton of money for social media marketing – and getting next to nothing from it. For the hotel, and many other industries, social media is more about brand awareness, lead generation and, at some level, relationships.
But there’s a channel that lets you build relationships, loyalty and make money – and that’s SMS marketing.
The Trouble with Social Media
A recent OFCOM report showed 77% of UK SMEs use social media as their primary digital marketing tactic. After watching Melchiorri, I started to wonder if there is a better way to invest some of that marketing money?
To answer that we need to change his question just a little bit to: “How much money did you make from social media last year?”
Perhaps you can answer that for your business. If you’re getting a high return on investment (ROI) then social is certainly working for you – just be sure you’re measuring ROI and not engagement, reach, or “likes”. Those are important, but don’t translate easily into an assessment of ROI.
A recent study by the Direct Marketing Association found that only 48% of marketers felt they received any return on investment. Another third basically said they weren’t sure. It’s possible to measure how effective your social media strategy is, but it can be complicated, especially for an SME that may or may not have the resources.
SMS Marketing Benefits
Now, contrast that with SMS marketing.
Mobile marketing, including SMS, has consistently been growing. One study showed 77% of marketers claim to have good ROI with SMS. That’s up 147% over the year before, and certainly higher than the 48% for social media.
In that same study, 50% said mobile marketing (including SMS) was directly linked to their primary revenue. And that would make Melchiorri very happy. That’s because another thing he does is remind the hotel owners that their objective is to make money. Isn’t that true for any SME?
So, if you’re not seeing great ROI from social media (or don’t know if you are), and you want to grow your revenue, consider using SMS marketing. While nothing in life is guaranteed, SMS is a better bet for completing sales than social media.
Even if your social media is doing fabulous, you might also want to start experimenting with SMS. Just think what could happen if you turned those thousands of Facebook fans or Twitter followers into buyers on your SMS list. That sounds like a win-win situation Melchiorri would love.
To learn more download our free “Hotel Marketer’s Guide to SMS Marketing“.
Related Articles
Do hospitality trends in 2016 include SMS messaging?
How Campsites Can Use SMS Messaging to Get New Business
The campervan and caravan industry grew 16% this past year. Campsite and holiday park owners can connect with the thousands of new travellers using SMS messaging. After all, 76% of travellers prefer to take their mobile on holiday rather than a friend.
Restaurants And Takeaway Businesses Increase Profits With SMS Marketing
Your customers are likely thinking about food at certain times of the day, and at those times their phone is almost certainly within arms reach. Using SMS marketing you can time your messages perfectly because you know that the time you send them is the time they get read, usually within 2 minutes.
Can Travel Agents Use SMS Messaging to Stay in Business?
“European travel agents don’t like it”. That’s a statement made by one of the gentleman at my table during the mCommerce Summit earlier this month. He is from Cruise America, a successful RV (camper) vacation rental company based in Arizona, but with 123 locations around the US. We were talking about his company and their online and mobile reservation options.
Two Companies Using SMS in Surprising Ways
In many ways, SMS messaging is so commonplace people don’t think about it. They just do it. For example, using SMS for mobile marketing in retail is a fairly standard use case whether you’re a company or the consumer. But there are always exceptions – those who innovate when it seems there’s nothing new to be had. Here are two examples of companies from the US using SMS in ways no one else is – yet.
3 Examples of Using SMS Messaging for Hotel Customer Satisfaction Surveys
Even great hotels sometimes have a mix up or some sort of problem that can affect a guest. And with social media and hotel review sites, chances are a disgruntled guest isn’t going to keep their complaints to themselves. Here are three examples of how to use SMS messaging to gauge customer satisfaction.
5 Ways Hotels Can Use SMS Marketing to Increase Brand Loyalty
More and more industries are tuning in to the advantages that SMS marketing can offer their business. SMS marketing is not only useful for acquiring new customers, it can be used to increase brand loyalty as well. This is particularly true for the hospitality industry, which faces challenges unique from other industries, in that they are on the front line when it comes to delivering customer service.
6 SMS Marketing Ideas for Your Restaurant
Enhancing Two-Way SMS Messaging with Autoresponders
SMS messaging can be a one-way, or a two-way affair. Sending coupons, sale notifications, or event announcements are all one-way messaging. The recipient doesn’t need to reply in order to use the information sent. In two-way messaging though, recipients can reply to your messages. And that makes it much more interesting, engaging, and potentially a lot more work to manage.
5 Ways the Travel Industry can Make Use of SMS Marketing
In order to appeal to new customers and interact with existing ones, businesses are always looking for new marketing methods. Whilst many companies are using traditional and online marketing techniques, these aren’t always effective. Email filtering, for example, means that many recipients may not even be aware that they’ve received contact from your company. As many email hosts provide in-built spam filters, it’s easy for email marketing content to be overlooked or ignored completely. SMS marketing, however, overcomes many of the obstacles associated with online and email marketing. Whilst potential customers may not see your company emails, SMS messages aren’t filtered in the same way. The delivery rate is, therefore, far higher for SMS messages in comparison to marketing emails.