Today, we’re going to take you through 10 key trends in modern revenue management. We will focus on current trends and strategies. These are the ones that we think are vital to strong revenue growth and growing your direct bookings, and they are the ones you should take advantage of if you want your profits to do more than just hold steady. Below you’ll find main trends and techniques.
1. Increasing Profitability
Increasing profitability is ultimately what we’re all trying to do. However, after challenging years where ‘heads in beds’ was almost the entire strategy, the focus today is shifting to ways to maximise your return on each channel in use. This includes both online and offline strategies.
Start by evaluating the true value and cost for each channel, and developing a clear strategy for your approach to each channel. Without the accurate cost of acquisition insights for each channel, you cannot know if the pricing strategy in use is actually the right and ultimately most profitable one.
2. Seizing the Moment with the Book Direct Movement
With heavy-hitters like Marriott, Hyatt and Hilton putting their book direct campaigns front and centre, the book direct message has been pushed to the forefront.
When you convince guests to book direct, you can encourage customer loyalty, which in turn raises the lifetime value of the guest.
3. Planning Ahead
Let’s plan ahead. Not just next month, but next year. Ideally, plot out the next 5 years! In a way, that’s no different to our lives outside of work. We need short and long term plans to keep us motivated and focused. Think about what’s needed to achieve your revenue goals, and how best to implement them.
4. Better Data (Tools)
For hotels today, there’s no shortage of data – in fact, there’s often too much, and the noise starts to outweigh the signal. Because of this, hoteliers are now focused on how to deal with big data. There is a need for robust reporting and analytical tools to support this. Hotels should attempt to build an integrated system that lets them see the true value of each channel.
5. Technology
When you’re making your plans, there is no shortage of tech options that are targeted at making revenue analysis and accurate decision-making an easier task. Your options range from revenue management systems to channel managers, benchmark reports, rate shopping tools, review systems and everything in between. See where your business intelligence gaps lay and research which systems help you best reach your goals.
6. Let’s talk about CPA (cost per acquisition)
CPA (cost per acquisition) is a fundamental metric to evaluating the real return on your investment. CPA is a crystal-clear measure of how your campaigns are truly performing. It is vital that you are looking at this metric, and understanding whether your CPA % result is positive or negative.
7. Mobile
According to a Criteo study, mobile accounts for most of the overall growth in travel bookings since 2014. The share of mobile bookings has increased from 12% to 23% from 2014 – 2015. More than ever, hotels need to make sure their message is clear on mobile and the user experience is optimal.
8. Embracing Collaboration
The importance of collaboration isn’t a new topic – but it’s key to growth. Think of it this way: if your left hand and right hand are working without a ‘brain’ – a collaborative, information-sharing center – between them, how can you expect them to work efficiently? Shared information is your hotel’s brain.
9. Sharing the Knowledge
Just as departments need to work together, you need to share knowledge with each other, challenge the norm and stretch your ideas further – which is a lot easier if you’ve got a couple of brains working together. Again, this applies to all aspects of revenue generation for your hotel!
10. Consume Industry News & Info
We are all busy, but it’s important to take a pause to read up on what’s topical in industry. Checking in with the big picture can help reassure you that challenges you are facing are not unique to your property, help you see what new tools are on the horizon, and glean insights into trends and potential items to research or implement.
See the full story at blog.netaffinity.com