For new hotels, establishing an online footprint before they open their doors has never been so important. It’s vital that hotel operators generate buzz ahead of the big day, not only to ensure a house full of guests, but also so they can escape from the clutches of expensive OTAs garnishing their profits.
buuteeq, a specialist digital marketing provider for lodging operators, is offering a new product that helps hotels to do just that, and the results of its first ‘test’ campaign underline the benefits of generating buzz well ahead of opening day. Last August, buuteeq launched a new website and set about establishing an online presence for its first client, the MGM Grand Ho Tram Beach Resort in Vietnam, attracting more than 500,000 visitors within four months of going live – and all this despite being months away from its grand opening.
Ho Tram is not the first hotel to benefit from buuteeq’s full digital marketing service product, which includes the design and development of a full website, mobile site and social media profiles, a CMS for marketing assets, SEO and more.
What was remarkable was the speed in which buuteeq was able to establish a solid online presence for the Ho Tram Resort, setting up its websites and social media pages in less than one month and driving as many as 5,000 daily visitors after just two months. Its online presence only got bigger and bigger – by November, the main site was receiving in excess of 10,000 daily visitors – a number that’s still climbing even now. All of this helped to generate crucial early bookings that are so important for the success of any new hotel.
buuteeq's full DMS solution designs and markets beautiful, image-based websites
Brian Saab, buuteeq co-founder and chief marketing officer, said that these results emphasized the need for hotels to establish an online presence as soon as possible:
“The buuteeq powered desktop and mobile sites are quickly being linked to by popular sites and directories through referrals, and all this activity is helping to improve the long-term SEO prospects of the hotel,” comments Saab.
“The data shows us there’s an incredible opportunity for hotels to spread awareness and bookings by establishing a complete digital footprint early on, including mobile and SEO optimization. Putting up a simple static landing page or overlooking multi-screen optimization in the early days can cause operators to lose out on hundreds of thousands of opportunities to engage with potential guests as they work toward market entry.”
Ho Tram is just the first of many hotels that are expected to adopt buuteeq’s Cloud DMS platform in the coming months. MGM, its parent group, has already indicated its willingness to sign up with more of its properties, and in light of the results seen with the Ho Tram, we can expect that many more operators will be showing an interest.
