Email marketing, when executed well, is one of the most powerful sales media a small luxury hotel has in its marketing toolbox. The problem is, not that many hotels do it well and as a result fail to realize its full revenue generating potential.
We know of one small luxury hotel that generates well over $1 million a year as a direct result of their email marketing program. For every dollar they spend in email they generate $50 in revenue.
It pays to do it right. Here are 7 ways to help your email marketing program work.

Create a Voice – For email …

No one can guarantee your hotel will show up on the first page of a Google search for hotels in your destination, but that’s the goal every hotel must strive for. Why? Because research shows that if your hotel doesn’t appear on page 1 or 2, it is practically invisible. Few people look beyond the first two pages when doing a search.
A page 1 ranking can only be achieved with a concerted effort and an understanding of how search works today. A seismic shift in search occurred last year when Google introduced Panda, its new search algorithm. It made sweeping …

Over the past few weeks Joe Buhler and I have been having numerous Google+ conversations concerning the effectiveness of social media. Joe is a principal of buhlerworks, an expert in development and execution of social web marketing strategies.
Several conversations dealt with the many myths surrounding social media so I asked Joe to write a guest column on the subject for Hospitality Marketing Blog. For hoteliers simply dabbling in social media, here is your wake-up call.
Let us know what you think.
Madigan Pratt
Exposing Five Popular Myths of Social Media
By Joe Buhler
Myth #1 – Social Media is a passing fad and usage will …

Social media is becoming increasingly important in the hospitality industry. All the thought leaders in Internet marketing are pushing it and hotels are scrambling to adapt to the new social reality. Hoteliers need to step up social media efforts to master at least the key media – Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and now Google+.
But if you listen real closely the most influential social media professionals are delivering two very important messages:

“Social media is a customer engagement channel and not a distribution channel in hospitality” – Max Starkov, Smart Hotelier’s 2012 Top Ten Digital Marketing Resolutions

“What’s the ROI of social media? That’s …

Last month my blog post – “Can Your Hotel Afford to Ignore Google+?”  speculated that it was only a matter of time before Google started incorporating Google+ social signals into website rankings.
That time arrived quicker than I thought. Starting now smart hoteliers need to begin embracing Google+ as a major component of their Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Those who move quickly will have a significant competitive advantage over the laggards.
Rand Fishkin at SEOMoz provides a short video of things to come in search and addresses how important having a significant presence on Google+ will be to increasing your hotel’s SEO and …

“Today, the U.S.P. is perhaps the most misused series of letters in advertising. It has been picked up by hundreds of agencies and has spread across the country. It is now applied, loosely and without understanding, to slogans, slick phrases, strange pictures, mere headlines – in fact, to almost anything which some writers consider slightly different from what they find in competing advertisements.”
I didn’t write this. Rosser Reeves, Chairman of the Board of Ted Bates wrote it over 50 years ago in his seminal book, Reality in Advertising. The intervening years, and decades for that matter, haven’t added much clarity …

Earlier this summer when Google launched Google+, its social networking site, it was only open to individuals. Last month Google+ announced it was available to businesses and brands are beginning to embrace it.
Why? Right now it appears as though it is primarily a defensive move. Google won’t promise that Google+ will improve a company’s search rankings, but smart marketers are betting on it. They believe it is only a matter of time before Google starts incorporating social signals into website rankings. Having both social and search represents a significant advantage over Facebook. If you were running Google, what would you …

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – Madigan Pratt & Associates, a digital marketing and advertising agency, has extended its website expertise to Forest Hill, Maryland-based Werner Travel. The well-established travel agency selected Madigan Pratt & Associates to design a new website, which launched December 10.
“I am thrilled with the new website,” states Janet Werner, owner at Werner Travel. “It exceeds my expectations and I continue to receive positive feedback from my clients about it.”
WernerTravel.com is the fourth website that the agency has designed and launched this year. Each site is unique in its design and structure, and never based on a template. The …

Rosalie Bay Resort on Dominica retains Madigan Pratt & Associates for expertise in marketing luxury Caribbean hotels and resorts. The digital marketing agency will design a new SEO-optimized website and launch a fully integrated marketing program for the 28-room eco-luxe and wellness resort.
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – Madigan Pratt & Associates, specialists in hotel marketing, has been retained by the new eco-luxe Rosalie Bay Resort in Dominica for digital marketing, advertising and public relations efforts in North America.
Opened in November 2010, Rosalie Bay Resort is a 28-room eco-luxe wellness resort on the nature island of Dominica in the Caribbean. Named to the …

You have probably read countless blogs, attended numerous conferences and listened to endless sales pitches where Deal Sites explain their business models and the benefits they offer hotels. I have too. So what’s the bottom line – what’s the deal?
That’s exactly what I was thinking as I read a recent New York Times article which should be required reading for every hotelier thinking of using a Deal Site. The title says it all – “Coupon Sites Are a Great Deal, But Not Always For The Merchant.”
While the article focuses more on the retail industry many of the observations apply to …