Apr 7: The Rise of the Informed Consumer

As mentioned in the previous “Table of Eight” blog article, I wanted to share with you some of the key points and highlights of the presentation at our March HSMAI meeting. The talk by Armando Lopez with Navigant Marketing covered two basic areas: 1) The rise of the informed consumer and 2) Understanding electronic marketing tools. This article will cover the first of the two areas.

Armando pointed out that we are in the midst of an information overload – technology is confusing, complicated, and changes all the time. Amazingly, only 7 to 12 percent of one’s advertising budget is spent in online marketing; however it can offer the best value for your dollar.

The next generation of internet services and technologies (“Web 2.0”) is here now. In the travel industry, this refers mainly to user-generated content. Most people are familiar with Trip Advisor and IGoUgo, for example.

People post reviews on these sites to share their positive experiences, to “return the favor” (other reviews helped them), and to support good travel providers. People use these sites when taking a trip because it’s relevant, up to date and unbiased. In fact, 90% of people read reviews every time they take a trip (or very often).

Bottom line—use these travel site to learn about and improve your product as the next generation of internet users will be using these sites even more in the future.
If your hotel has good reviews, make it known to the world. You could put a link of your website’s homepage to these positive reviews. If you don’t have good reviews, work hard to boost up these ratings.