by Sonya Taylor | Jul 21, 2022 | Hilton, IHG, Images, Marriott, OTAs
Do you ever feel like you are playing a game of whack-a-mole with your images when you go through a hotel renovation? The Hotel Renovation Scenario Your hotel just went through a beautiful renovation. You hired the best brand-approved hotel photographer in the...
by Stephanie Smith | Jun 17, 2022 | Content, Paid Marketing, Strategy
Your digital presence is more than just your hotel’s website. Studies show that people check between 7 and 35 sites before booking a hotel. Therefore, potential guests need to see you multiple times before your hotel is a part of their consideration set. Your...
by Sonya Taylor | May 22, 2022 | Paid Marketing, Strategy
Gas prices are rising at an alarming amount. And, our industry is noticing the booking window getting shorter and shorter due to travelers’ last-minute decision to get in the car and travel. Capturing last-minute demand aka walk-ins is still relevant. In fact,...
by Stephanie Smith | May 22, 2022 | Content, Strategy
Cogwheel Marketing’s Stephanie Smith and Cory Falter from the InnSync Show, a part of Lure Agency, discuss the importance of maximizing your brand’s marketing efforts. In this podcast, we attempt to demystify hotel brand marketing so hoteliers know where...
by Stephanie Smith | May 1, 2022 | Strategy, Vendors
Revenue Management + Marketing = The Perfect Match. ❤️ Cogwheel Marketing’s Stephanie Smith and Topline Revenue’s Connor Vanderholm sit down with Revenue Hub’s Trevor Grant to discuss how marketing and revenue management beautifully collaborate,...
by Stephanie Smith | Apr 21, 2022 | Content, Paid Marketing, Social, Strategy
Previously, we discussed who should be in charge of the social media for your hotel. Whether you are tasking your in-house team or outsourcing to an agency, resources must be determined to dedicate to social media. This includes resources of both time and money. Now,...
by Stephanie Smith | Mar 17, 2022 | Content, Social, Strategy
Defining and executing a social media plan is not for the faint of heart. Currently, hoteliers are short staffed in every department and sometimes social media is a last priority. But, if we have learned anything through the pandemic, it is not to forget or...
by Stephanie Smith | Feb 16, 2022 | Strategy
Stephanie Smith joins Susan Barry of Top Floor Podcast to talk all things metasearch, OTA effectiveness, and more. Podcast Highlights Stephanie Smith combined her love of hotels, her coder brain, and her knowledge of what was missing in the marketplace to create an...
by Stephanie Smith | Jan 25, 2022 | Hilton, IHG, Marriott, Paid Marketing, Vendors
Each brand has slightly different channels and opportunities within Koddi, but most are fairly similar. But, you need to understand WHEN and HOW to use each channel based on your hotel needs. You don’t have an unlimited budget, so choose wisely. Direct Media...
by Stephanie Smith | Dec 14, 2021 | Marriott
Stephanie Smith of Cogwheel Marketing and Connor Vanderholm of Topline Revenue joined Trevor Grant of Revenue Hub in December 2021 to discuss leveraging Marriott systems and all the fun acronyms that go along with each system. Specifically, they look at it from a...
by Stephanie Smith | Nov 20, 2021 | IHG, SEO
For as long as we can remember, IHG, which has brands like Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express and many others handled their SEO marketing efforts in-house. The title and meta descriptions were written by their team as they did not allow input from the hotel directly or...
by Stephanie Smith | Nov 9, 2021 | Strategy
In this podcast recording, Stephanie Smith, Founder of Cogwheel Marketing, and Trevor Grant of Revenue Hub, have an in-depth conversation about performing the proper marketing audit. Stephanie outlines why she feels the ideology around the digital marketing budget...
by Stephanie Smith | Oct 13, 2021 | Strategy
In September 2021, Stephanie Smith of Cogwheel Marketing and Melissa Kavanagh of Westgate Resorts did a joint presentation on “Defining Success in the New Market”. While Stephanie is an expert on branded hotels, Melissa covers the other side of the...
by Stephanie Smith | Oct 11, 2021 | Paid Marketing, Vendors
Tripadvisor continues to try to find ways to generate revenue, but how do you know which platforms are best for your hotel? The review-giant-turned-distribution-platform-turned-membership-program just rolled out its fourth program, Tripadvisor PLUS, and time will...
by Stephanie Smith | Oct 3, 2021 | OTAs, Paid Marketing, Vendors
Expedia TravelAds Sponsored Listings, Expedia Groups flagship performance product, has been a necessary paid media tool for hotels to secure premium and additional placement across Expedia Groups brands. When you run Expedia TravelAds, you get the Expedia network...
by Stephanie Smith | Aug 26, 2021 | Paid Marketing, Strategy
Ah, budget season! While all forecasts at this point are worthless, let’s focus on what we know today and make a plan that can be agile with what happens. Since every dollar is scrutinized more than ever before, you need to ensure each marketing dollar is...
by Stephanie Smith | Jun 19, 2021 | Content
While there are a lot of considerations for hotel marketers when putting together advertisements and campaigns, ensuring that they promote the company’s values surrounding diversity, equity, and inclusion continues to be top of the list. The conversation can be...
by Stephanie Smith | Jun 16, 2021 | Strategy
Stephanie Smith, Founder and Digital Matriarch of Cogwheel Marketing, joined Jack Lindemuth, consultant at Strategic Solution Partners, on Trevor Grant’s podcast, Revenue Hub, in May 2021. The topic was focused on hotel commercial strategy and digital...
by Stephanie Smith | Jun 5, 2021 | Paid Marketing, Strategy
In a previous post, we discussed how hotel marketers should think of more than just ROI when analyzing their marketing campaigns. When you expand your analysis outside of ROI/ROAS, you will find yourself analyzing more metrics and more guest touchpoints. Here are some...
by Stephanie Smith | Apr 9, 2021 | Social
As the economy gains traction, especially for hotel and restaurants, many areas are already seeing a staffing crunch. Leverage Facebook to load open jobs connected with your business page and reach a different audience than LinkedIn or Indeed. The roles that perform...
by Stephanie Smith | Mar 24, 2021 | Strategy
If you are measuring your marketing success today the same way you did last year, you are not providing the value that your external stakeholders and ownership expect and that your internal business partners, like sales and revenue strategy, deserve. It is not...
by Stephanie Smith | Feb 15, 2021 | Strategy
Hotel markets across the US are behaving differently. They are rebounding at a different pace. Even hotels within the same market are not seeing the same patterns. While you cannot predict the future, you still need a plan. A tiered plan will...
by Sonya Taylor | Feb 14, 2021 | Hilton, IHG, Marriott, Paid Marketing, SEO, Social, Strategy, Uncategorized
Was it the picture of our staff’s adorable dogs that interested you in this article, or was it the punny title? Regardless of your answer to that question, I can tell you with 100% certainty that if you are not pet friendly, you’re missing out on a “Mastiff”...
by Stephanie Smith | Dec 30, 2020 | Social, Strategy
Stephanie Smith of Cogwheel Marketing joined hospitality experts Max Starkov and James Siebold on eCornell’s webinar, Effective Digital Marketing During COVID-19: What Hospitality Managers Need to Know, hosted by Bill Carroll. During the webinar, they discussed...
by Stephanie Smith | Dec 3, 2020 | Strategy, Vendors
On November 18, 2020, Stephanie Sparks Smith sat down with Kristi White of Knowland to review hotel digital marketing and how to pivot for recovery. Highlights from this episode: Where Hotels Should Focus their Limited Marketing Dollars: Focus on in-market travelers....
by Sonya Taylor | Nov 30, 2020 | Hilton, Paid Marketing, Strategy, Vendors
NOTE: The following is our own independent information; we are not affiliated with Hilton and neither pay nor receive compensation from Hilton regarding the marketing opportunities described here. Any Hilton-related trademarks referred to here are used for...
by Sonya Taylor | Oct 15, 2020 | Hilton, IHG, Marriott
Safety is still paramount for those that are traveling today and putting guests at ease is a top priority. So, of the major brands (Marriott, Hilton, IHG), Cogwheel Marketing did a little research on which brand the best contactless opportunities for guests. All...
by Stephanie Smith | Oct 13, 2020 | OTAs
With the amount of uncertainty in the world due to COVID19, now more than ever hotels must fight for every dollar! There is no easy reservation today. One of the most overlooked ways hotels can reduce their losses is by ensuring the correct tax rates are reflected on...
by Stephanie Smith | Sep 25, 2020 | Strategy
Can we get back to in person meetings? I think everyone, at this conference especially, can appreciate that sentiment…. With that said, the virtual HSMAI DC State of the Industry meeting on September 24, 2020 was still jam packed full of great content. Ellen...
by Sonya Taylor | Sep 19, 2020 | Content, Marriott, OTAs, Social
Every webinar, training, and travel-related article has heavily leaned on the notion that making travelers feel safe while staying in your hotel or visiting your city is how we will get our occupancy back up. By this point, you surely have a pop up or landing...
by Stephanie Smith | Sep 7, 2020 | Paid Marketing
Hotel MetaSearch websites allow consumers to search for hotels then compare prices across many websites at the same time. If the hotel in question is in parity across all channels, the transaction likely goes to the top placed website. If the hotel is not...
by Stephanie Smith | Sep 2, 2020 | Paid Marketing
Buckle in kids, this is not a popular opinion. If you had asked me my opinions about MetaSearch pre-Covid, my response would be different. If you need a refresher on MetaSearch, this article explains what is hotel MetaSearch. But, today, cash is tight. Budgets...
by Craig Harkins | Aug 18, 2020 | SEO
The hospitality industry has been reeling from a series of body blows delivered by the COVID-19 pandemic. Recent earnings reports show that Q2 RevPAR is severely depressed as hotels are looking for ways to capture what market there is for travel. Now is a good time to...
by Stephanie Smith | Aug 16, 2020 | Strategy, Vendors
Stephanie Sparks Smith sat down with Holly Zoba of Influencer Sales to discuss how Marketing and Sales can and should work together. It’s not a new concept, so why can’t we do it? Click below to listen to short, but packed, 22 minute podcast: Some of the...
by Sonya Taylor | Aug 10, 2020 | Content, Paid Marketing, SEO, Social, Strategy
MozCon 2020 was like something we have never seen before; it was 100% virtual. Cogwheel Marketing uses Moz’s tools daily to research search volume, keywords, link discovery, track ranking performance and more. We make a point to attend MozCon yearly and always...
by Stephanie Smith | Aug 5, 2020 | Strategy
On July 22nd, AAHOA led a webinar of panelists as part of their ongoing learning series. The panelists were a group of hoteliers whose focus was in Sales, Marketing and Revenue Management, also known as Commercial Strategy. The Powerhouse of Panelists included:...
by Stephanie Smith | Jul 24, 2020 | SEO, Strategy
Google wants to suck you into their world, so you are dependent on them. And, hopefully spend more money in their world. Here are some free tools you can use to help make data driven decisions and understand trends for your market and specific location. Google Trends...
by Stephanie Smith | Jul 1, 2020 | Hilton, IHG, Marriott, Paid Marketing, Social, Strategy
There are plenty of articles telling you how to spend your money right now. While shortage of funds is obviously an issue, you have more limitations if you are a branded hotel like Marriott, Hilton, IHG or Hyatt. As each market rebounds differently,...
by Stephanie Smith | May 14, 2020 | Strategy
Long Live Lodging accomplished a first: a completely virtual hospitality conference on April 30th. There was a plethora of topics covered to discuss recovery and projections post-Coronavirus. Skip to the bottom for the full replay, or scroll through the highlights of...
by Sonya Taylor | May 7, 2020 | Strategy, Vendors
It is no secret that the hospitality industry is sitting in the front row on the struggle bus during this unprecedented time. If you’re finding your hotel having cash flow problems, we have found a few options for you to consider taking advantage of. Option 1:...
by Stephanie Smith | Apr 27, 2020 | Strategy
As we come out of this pandemic there is still a wait and see game as to which segments will start traveling first, and when. It is a commonly held theory that the transient drive market will be the first segment to start to venture out. There are hoards of kids...
by Stephanie Smith | Apr 1, 2020 | Strategy, Vendors
Oh my, so many resources, so many that think they know it all. Well, news flash, it’s a bunch of speculation. I put together a list of trusted resources and you can glean as you see fit. My Favorites Fuel Travel Crisis Management Resources – This is a...
by Stephanie Smith | Apr 1, 2020 | Hilton, IHG, Marriott, OTAs, Strategy
If you are in a circumstance where you need to temporarily close or suspend operations at the hotel, here is a checklist for hotels that lists the sites you can/should update with proper messaging. Download Printable ChecklistDigital Checklist for Temporary Hotel...
by Stephanie Smith | Feb 26, 2020 | Paid Marketing, Strategy
So often hotel GDS (Global Distribution System) ads go mismanaged or underutilized. Before running any campaign, be sure you have strong objectives and goals and that is communicated to marketing, revenue management, sales and your vendor. Define targeting parameters...
by Stephanie Smith | Feb 3, 2020 | Paid Marketing, Social, Strategy
If you have never run Facebook ads for your hotel, it is a low-cost option to try. You can get started with as little as $20 and do some testing. It is important to go into running ads on social media with a different mindset as compared to Expedia Travel Ads. When...
by Stephanie Smith | Jan 31, 2020 | SEO
For years, backlinks have been an integral part of search engine optimization (SEO) and the success of top website rankings in Google and other search engines. Hotels are no exception to this standard. Today, major online travel agencies like Expedia and Booking.com...
by Stephanie Smith | Dec 5, 2019 | Strategy
Prepping for the potential market slow down of the holiday season should have been in planning for months. If not, let’s learn from it and plan ahead for next year. When developing a marketing plan for the holidays, there are many factors, including your...
by Stephanie Smith | Dec 1, 2019 | Strategy
A hotel’s channel and its respective contribution from the various distribution channels is a sign of the health and diversity of your revenue. Yes, it varies by hotel location, brand, mix of sales and a variety of other factors. But, let’s discuss what distribution...
by Stephanie Smith | Oct 26, 2019 | Content, Hilton, IHG, Marriott, OTAs, Reputation Management, SEO, Social, Strategy, Vendors
You have to know your competition to beat your competition. There has been a debate for years, if not decades, about which is “better” – branded vs independent hotels. While we are not going down that road today, it is important for independent...
by Stephanie Smith | Sep 26, 2019 | Strategy
Now is the time to ask for funds for your 2020 hotel marketing budget. Here are some must-have digital marketing items to include and how to think through that process. Note for branded hotels: be sure you understand what the brand does for you, and what you need to...
by Stephanie Smith | Sep 14, 2019 | Hilton, IHG, Marriott, SEO, Social, Strategy
Stephanie Sparks Smith of Cogwheel Marketing was delighted to join the crew of Hospitality Digital Marketing on September 7, 2019. My savvy (and funny) co-hosts included: -Loren Gray of Hospitality Digital Marketing -Robert Cole of RockCheetah and PhocusWire -Ed St....
by Stephanie Smith | Aug 14, 2019 | Strategy, Vendors
HSMAI Roc Conference 2019 was held in Minneapolis in June 2019 and its focus is Hotel Revenue Management. While there were a lot of “ask yourself these questions” that got the wheels turning, there were very few “here are some solutions/things to try”. I agree that...
by Stephanie Smith | Aug 11, 2019 | Marriott, SEO, Strategy
There are likely many Marriott properties in your given market, and it is important to distinguish your hotel from other Marriott properties as well as other hotels in your competitive set. Doing Marriott SEO (Search engine optimization) is just one differentiating...
by Stephanie Smith | Jul 22, 2019 | SEO, Strategy, Vendors
MozCon is a yearly search engine optimization conference held in Seattle. I use their Moz Pro product for things like keyword research, rankings, link opportunity finder and crawl errors but this is by no means a paid post. Let me state up front: I do not do SEO...
by Stephanie Smith | Jul 7, 2019 | Hilton, Paid Marketing, Strategy
NOTE: The following is our own independent information; we are not affiliated with Hilton and neither pay nor receive compensation from Hilton regarding the marketing opportunities described here. Any Hilton-related trademarks referred to here are used for purposes...
by Stephanie Smith | Jun 27, 2019 | Vendors
Owner of Cogwheel Marketing, Stephanie Sparks Smith, has been an active consulting member of Cayuga Hospitality Consultants since Fall of 2018. This has allowed her to offer more comprehensive offerings to her clients. In June 2019, she became a partner to help with...
by Stephanie Smith | Jun 24, 2019 | IHG, SEO
IHG Brand websites received an upgrade with functionality that allows you to do custom call to action buttons on the home page. Located at the bottom of the home page, these buttons stand out with custom images and content. Even better, you can send them to a...
by Stephanie Smith | May 30, 2019 | Hilton, IHG, Marriott, OTAs, SEO, Strategy
Stephanie Sparks Smith of Cogwheel Marketing was interviewed by Russell L Edmond of Russell of Hotels on LA Talk Radio on May 28, 2019. Also available via Podcast from Russell of Hotels. Topics of discussion: Hotel digital marketing for branded versus independent...
by Stephanie Smith | May 20, 2019 | Content, Strategy, Vendors
Welcome to Part II of our hotel package strategy blog where we analyze package from a revenue management perspective. In Part I, we looked at hotel packages from a digital marketing perspective and answered the questions of Who, What, When, Why and Where. Now, we...
by Stephanie Smith | Apr 19, 2019 | Strategy
What do Superbowl champions and hospitality digital marketing organizations have in common? They both need: Winning playbook to beat the competition Great coaches to provide direction before during and after engagements Quarterback to execute a winning plan in real...
by Stephanie Smith | Apr 11, 2019 | Images, Vendors
My Unsolicited (Rave) PicMonkey Review I found out about PicMonkey at the Seattle Digital Summit. You visit so many exhibit booths it is hard to keep track. This one stuck. They offered me 3 free months. So sure, let’s give it a go. First, let me say I am PhotoShop...
by Stephanie Smith | Mar 27, 2019 | Content, SEO, Social
When developing a hotel package strategy, it is important to remember that building these offerings will not sell out a hotel. They may not even get bookings if not properly marketed. In a nutshell, hotel packages should showcase your proximity to demand generators,...
by Stephanie Smith | Mar 18, 2019 | Content, Social, Vendors
Last month, one of the Digital Summit’s was hosted in Seattle. Content strategy, along with AI and machine learning, were the hot topics on everyone’s radar. Cogwheel Marketing shares the top insights and cool statistics from the conference. 1 – Most people...
by Stephanie Smith | Feb 26, 2019 | OTAs, Paid Marketing, Reputation Management, SEO, Social
You don’t have to be a digital marketing expert to look at high level reports and find trends for your hotel. Briefly review monthly reports and start asking better questions of your vendors, partners and team. If you don’t have someone on your team with the skill...
by Stephanie Smith | Feb 22, 2019 | Content, Images, Paid Marketing, Reputation Management, SEO, Social
The “Old” Sales Funnel In every sales and marketing class, since the beginning of time, they show you a diagram of a sales funnel. It was shaped something like a cone or upside down pyramid, like this: Over time, the model was twisted for digital...
by Stephanie Smith | Jan 31, 2019 | Content, SEO, Vendors
Cogwheel Marketing attended the HSMAI Digital Conference in New York this January. Here are 10 interesting facts and useful (or useless) tidbits to take home with you. There were 150 billion searches last month with an average length 4 words in which 20% never been...
by Stephanie Smith | Jan 27, 2019 | Paid Marketing, Social
8 Simple Steps on How to Run a Facebook Ad Facebook has seriously awesome targeting parameters to get your business in front of potential customers that align with a business’ target market and need periods. The same cannot be said for Google Adwords or any other...
by Stephanie Smith | Dec 19, 2018 | Content, Images, OTAs
There is a lot of debate about not being overly dependent on your OTA (Online Travel Agency) partners and what it does to your profitability. But no one can deny the exposure they provide nor can any brand compete with their marketing budgets. It’s a necessary evil,...
by Stephanie Smith | Dec 11, 2018 | Content, Hilton, IHG, Marriott, OTAs, Paid Marketing, SEO, Social, Strategy
Where does the Brand Level Marketing Stop and Hotel Level Marketing Begin? You own or manage a franchised hotel under a specific flag. The brand may or may not have given you some marketing guidelines, or was wrapped up in onboarding training. Maybe your hotel just...
by Stephanie Smith | Oct 31, 2018 | Content, Hilton, IHG, Images, Marriott, OTAs, Paid Marketing, SEO, Social, Strategy
A new hotel opening or changing of flags has so many moving parts. As an owner or manager overseeing this transition, you are likely wearing multiple hats. Here is a hotel pre-opening marketing plan and checklist from a digital standpoint to ensure you are building...
by Brett & Sally Patterson | Oct 23, 2018 | Hilton, IHG, Images, Marriott, Vendors
Hotel photography rules and standards have changed quickly. Previously, any photographer could shoot your hotel. Resolution requirements, brand standards for photography, and images rejected by websites did not exist. Read these 7 tips to ensure your company has...
by Stephanie Smith | Oct 1, 2018 | Reputation Management, Vendors
If you represent a hotel management company overseeing multiple brands, here is some food for thought on having Revinate on top of Medallia as a review response management platform. (If you are someone only handling review responses for a single hotel, this article...
by Stephanie Smith | Sep 20, 2018 | IHG, SEO
IHG recently decided to make it a policy that vanity (or independent) sites were not allowed for certain brands, with a 3 month compliance. Brands don’t approve of vanity sites because they are hard to control, may cause guest confusion, lack of loyalty integration...
by Stephanie Smith | Sep 11, 2018 | Social, Vendors
For mini social media campaigns for hotels that don’t have large video budget, check out Slide.ly. This super cost effective platform called “Promo” lets you choose from millions of short, premium videos. Footage, (royalty free) music and editor are...
by Stephanie Smith | Sep 5, 2018 | Paid Marketing, Social
Everyone probably already knows this little trick, but I thought I would throw it out there. When you run Facebook campaigns, you can target reach, traffic, conversions, video views and the list goes on. This trick works best if you went after engagements. One of the...
