Your greatest marketing asset is right in front of you! We’re joined by award-winning marketer Marc Saunders, who will be advising our listeners on how they can utilise their hotel’s location to improve guest experiences. As the Director of Marketing at Splendid Hospitality Group (SHG), Marc has expertise across a wide property portfolio.

The hotel industry is increasingly competitive, with guest expectations at an all-time high. In this episode, we’re sharing how you can utilise your location to provide unique experiences to attract customers and gain loyalty.

On the Pack a Punch Podcast we make sure we give our listeners key takeaways that can be actioned and implemented straight away. In this episode, Marc discloses why your hotel’s location is your greatest marketing asset.

Show Notes

In our latest podcast, we spoke to the Director of Marketing for SHG, Marc Saunders. Marc recommends ways that you can utilise the uniqueness of your hotel locations to make them your greatest marketing asset. 

Marc’s first piece of advice is that no matter the location of your hotel, there is always a unique selling point that encourages bookings. Identify your customer segments and their reason for visiting, whether it’s corporate, leisure or something else. Once you have identified the needs of your guests, you can market to them in the right place, at the right time.

Marc also strongly encourages listening to the hotel staff. Working closely with the General Manager and their teams helps you to understand the local community and dissect the true essence of the hotel. Insider knowledge is crucial, and many of these people are local experts who know the area better than anyone else. Rather than looking online at the top attractions, the best way to discover the USP of your location is through a personal staff recommendation.

Finally, Marc is keen to emphasise the importance of partnerships. He advises not to go for the easiest, nearest or most obvious partner, but to spend time choosing value-aligned individuals or businesses. Understanding what the customer wants is essential, as well as giving the guests something they can’t get anywhere else.

Marc Saunders is the Director of Marketing at Splendid Hospitality Group. SHG has an impressive portfolio of 21 properties, ranging from independent boutique hotels to major brands like Accor and IHG. Marc has won multiple awards in his career, most recently being awarded HOSPA’s Inspirational Marketer of the Year.

The Pack A Punch Podcast is brought to you by Punch Creative, a full-service marketing agency in Leeds. Since 2007 we’ve been establishing brands, filling hotel rooms and making headlines for the hospitality industry. Get in touch today to give your brand some love.

Useful Links

Emma Rogers’ LinkedIn profile

Louise Wright’s LinkedIn profile 

Marc Saunders’ LinkedIn profile

Ultimate Giraffe Room 

What’s the key to increasing direct bookings and reducing cancellations? It might be customer journey personalisation! In this episode of the Pack a Punch Podcast we're talking about this hot topic in hospitality marketing. 

Our guest today is Michael De Jongh - Chief Commercial Officer at Avvio who has an extensive background in leading global sales & marketing functions for fast-growing technology firms like Sage plc. We sat down with Michael to talk about how personalised customer journeys play an important role in increasing direct bookings while reducing reliance on OTAs by providing customers with better experiences.

On the Pack a Punch Podcast we are keen to give our listeners actionable guidance and takeaways. Michael reveals 3 top tips to start utilising personalisation to increase direct bookings and reduce cancellations at your hotel.

Show Notes

Personalization is very varied. In this context, we're talking specifically for hotels. The experience at three to five-star hotels is highly personalised. You might be greeted y name at the reception desk and the higher up the star rating you go, the more tailored and personalised your experience becomes until it's much more than an overnight stay. It is equally important to personalise the online journey. Long before the guest steps foot in your property, you should be considering how you can personalise their experience on your website. 

Michael goes on to explain the power of AI in customer journey personalisation. We know that a first time visitor is unlikely to book during their first visit to the website and yet we’re screaming Book Now, Book Direct with our calls to action. Also, once a guest has booked, if they’re returning to the website we know they’re not there to book again, they’re there for research or potential upsells but we’re hitting them with the same Book Now, Book Direct messages. By personalising the experience for the guest and wherever they are on the customer journey you can greatly increase the conversion of your website and booking engine.

Avvio recently published a whitepaper about customer retention and cancellations. You can download and read the whitepaper here. Michael talks about how you’ll never be able to stop 100% of cancellations but by personalising each touchpoint and even enabling guests to cancel early in order to reset the room and give you an opportunity to resell it you can reduce your loss due to cancellations.

On the Pack a Punch Podcast we like to give our listeners actionable takeaways to help them with their own marketing. We asked Michael for his three top tips to start utilising customer journey personalisation. 

1. Focus on the guest. Ensure your website is keeping your guest engaged rather than focused on your brand.
2. Invest in digital marketing. Michael predicts cancellations will increase as we head out of the pandemic so it’s time to invest.
3. And finally, don’t underestimate the power or customer advocacy.

Have a listen to the last five minutes of the episode for his full response.

The Pack a Punch Podcast is brought to you by Punch Creative, a full-service marketing agency in Leeds. Since 2007 we’ve been establishing brands, filling hotel rooms and making headlines for the hospitality industry. Get in touch today to give your brand some love.

Useful Links

Emma Rogers’ LinkedIn profile

Louise Wright’s LinkedIn profile

Michael De Jongh’s LinkedIn profile 

Avvio Website

You NEED to know these tips! Wedding industry speaker, trainer and consultant, Kelly Mortimer advises listeners on how they can grow their revenue and attract higher budget weddings. With 20 years of experience in events and weddings, Kelly has helped businesses increase their revenue by multi-millions.

In the last few years, the pandemic has taken a toll on the wedding industry. To help you bounce back, we’re uncovering how to give your marketing the wow factor that grabs your audience’s attention.

On the Pack a Punch Podcast we are keen to give our listeners actionable guidance and takeaways that they can use to take their marketing to new heights. In this episode, Kelly reveals 3 insightful ways that you can attract more high-quality wedding leads.

Show Notes

In our newest podcast, we chatted to wedding sales expert, Kelly Mortimer. Kelly highlights three ways that she recommends in order to attract more high-quality wedding leads. 

Kelly’s first tip is to comb through your existing photography, making sure that they are the best images that you have and they portray your venue in the highest regard. If you are unsatisfied, reach out to couples who previously wed at your property and get in touch with their photographer. It is also a good idea to implement user-generated content on social media, training staff members to post videos and imagery that is on-brand and authentic.

Kelly also suggests planning for a photoshoot to gain aspirational imagery - an expense that is worth the return on investment. Dress your venue to the best of it’s ability, to make people fall in love with it. Kelly does not recommend using models and instead suggests showcasing the wedding team at work, to show the attention to detail that they have.

In her last piece of advice, Kelly tells listeners to create a luxury package. Often wedding venues create low-cost value packages, but you should stand out from the crowd. Create a higher-priced wedding option, for couples that crave the full VIP experience on their special day.

Kelly Mortimer is the creator of the Easy to Buy Method, The Next Level, The Wedding Sales Success programme and more. Kelly has worked on events for HRH the Queen, celebrities and has worked all over the world from Asia to the Caribbean and Europe. Kelly spent 10 years in destination weddings, followed by an incredible career in the luxury market in London which included Mandarin Oriental and Claridge’s. Before starting her own company, Kelly was Group Wedding Sales Director for 45 UK hotels. Today her clients include household brands such as Marriott, Hyatt and Hilton.

The Pack a Punch Podcast is brought to you by Punch Creative, a full-service marketing agency in Leeds. Since 2007 we’ve been establishing brands, filling hotel rooms and making headlines for the hospitality industry. Get in touch today to give your brand some love.

Useful Links

Emma Rogers’ LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emma-rogers-6824a7184/

Louise Wright’s LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/louise-wright/

Kelly Mortimer’s LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellymortimerweddingsales/

Kelly Mortimer’s Website: https://kellymortimer.com/