HSMAI DC State of the Union: Digital Marketing How to Pivot

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 Wilson at the HSMAI DC team were prepared to still put […]
Podcast: Aligning Sales & Marketing with Holly Zoba

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 podcast highlights includes: How the Sales team affects […]
MozCon 2020 Recap

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 walk away, or log off the virtual conference, with knowledge and insight into […]
AAHOA Webinar: Getting Back to Business: Tangible, Tactical Business Generation Ideas for Hotels

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: Stephanie Smith, Founder and Digital Matriarch at Cogwheel Marketing Susan Barry, President at […]
6 Free Google Tools

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 Google Trends allows you to explore top search […]
Recovery for Branded Hotels and Where to Put your Marketing Resources

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, the marketing for a flagged hotel looks different due to systems limitations. […]
Lodging Stream: Marketing for Future Guests

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 the discussion. Stephanie Smith of Cogwheel Marketing participated on the panel: Marketing for Future […]
Get Cash by Selling Rooms Now for the Future

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: www.WeTravelForward.com The “We Travel Forward” site is a directory […]
Hotel Strategies to Target Drive Market Post Pandemic

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 (and adults!) that need […]
Coronavirus Hospitality Resources

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 MASTER LIST with sorting functions and pulls […]