All about marketing and SWOT
Marketing of any kind of services can be challenging. How to market a product so people will be interested and would want to buy the product. People are more and more aware of their needs and wants and they will not settle for less. The customer tends to make decisions on buying a product or a service based on their perception of the value and satisfaction that the product or service delivers. From the company’s point of view the goal of marketing is to first build and then manage profitable customer relationships. In order to achieve this it is not enough only to first market the product and then sell it but make sure that the product being sold will meet the standards and be enough to fulfil the customer’s expectations. Therefore, the company must be aware and understand their customers; their needs, wants and demands. That is why many companies put a lot of effort and money into making different kinds of customer surveys analysing their customers’ behaviour and learning about the different way of delivering the superior customer value and satisfaction. Marketing is often thought to be only selling and advertising. However, marketing consists of many other functions that can be seen far more important than just the exchange of goods.
“Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners and society at large.” The hotel doesn’t not have a written marketing plan. The hotel is privately owned and does not have marketing department or clear marketing agendas. Not having a clear marketing plan affects hotel’s profitability, makes a hotel more vulnerable and not able to take advantages of new marketing opportunities, low demand seasons. Also, the management and the staff do not have a clear direction or goal that needs to be achieved. The current marketing situation should be assessed first and then new ideas to be developed with regards to hotel’s marketing services. The marketing plan should be realistic and applicable. For better result buy cheap essay.
Market segmentation
In marketing it is almost impossible to succeed by handling all the consumers as a big “one size fits for all” mass. Market segmentation recognizes that people differ in many ways like in their needs, attitudes and lifestyles.Through market segmentation companies divide their market into smaller segments. All of the segments have specific needs and by dividing the market those needs can be met more efficiently with products and services that match their unique needs.
There are many ways to segment a market. Different segmentation variables are used, both alone and together, in order to classify consumers into different segments. Kotler defines four major variables that are generally used in marketing; geographic, demographic, psychographic and behavioural variables.
Hotels usually use only one variable when segmenting travellers groups and that is the purpose of travel. By defining the purpose of travel hotels can classify many subgroups such as corporate/business clients, visitors on group package tours, independent and leisure vacationers. By acknowledging different segments, a hotel can target their services more effectively.
Relationship Marketing
Relationship marketing is a form of marketing that emphasizes customer retention and satisfaction. It switches the focus from the recruitment of new customer to the retention and recovery of existing ones. Relationship marketing differs from other forms of marketing in that it recognizes the long-term value of customer relationships and extends communication. The world of marketing today is more customer-centred. As companies must compete in a more competitive marketplace, they have to know their customers’ needs and wants in order to get new customers, then keep and grow them by delivering greater value for them.
Some customers are not interested in any type of relationship with any company; they simply look at the best quality, value and convenience available at the time of purchase.
Setting goals / marketing objectives
Objectives should be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and carried out within a set timetable. They can be set as strategic long-term objectives or if the objectives are smaller and set to be reached within a short timeframe they should still be integrated with the long-run company goals and strategy.
Internal marketing
Internal marketing recognizes the importance that employees have while encountering customers. It all comes down to delivering service quality in a way that the customer is satisfied. It starts from the marketing of the products prior the customer has even made the decision to make a reservation. But after the reservation has been made the customer-contact employees have the biggest role in delivering the promised product. In order for a hotel to succeed in delivering service quality it has to have motivated employees who know what they are selling. The goal of internal marketing is to attain the best possible professional skills available. To be able to sell the products and deliver the service quality it is not only important that the employees are trained and they have all the necessary information. It has also been shown that employees are more motivated when they are regularly informed about the company’s current situation and future plans. This makes the employees feel more involved with the company.
Distribution channels
The main objective of distribution in hospitality industry is relatively simple; to use different channels to find customers or more importantly to help customers find the company and make the booking or purchasing as easy as possible. There are numerous different channels that a hotel can use to reach their customers. When the hotel is choosing which channel to use it is important to know their target market.
It is most effective when the customer makes the booking directly with the hotel. This is more and more used with repeat customers who can for example make the next reservation for themselves as they are checking out. The internet has also brought new direct ways to be in contact with the customers.
Many times hotels use intermediaries in their distribution channels. This means that the communication is not directly between the company and the customers but there is some other company in between, for example travel agents or tour operators.
Development of information communications technology with the growth of the internet and powerful computerized systems has had a significant influence on the whole distribution network. The internet has both provided a direct channel between the customers and companies as well as increased the choice of different channels through which a travel booking can be made. The internet is getting larger part in direct marketing but at the same time new online intermediaries have emerged offering services similar to those of the traditional tour agents and operator. As a customer goes online to a website offering different flight and hotel bookings like booking.com or hotels.com they make a reservation there but do not pay the reservation to the website but to the hotel. The hotel then pays a commission to the website.
Benefits of using different distribution channels are that the company can more effectively reach their customer and they also provide convenient global access point for customers. Also it is more and more common when a booking is made that the customer has to pay for the accommodation immediately before arrival. This is an effective way to make advance sales, which is important when selling perishable products such as hotel rooms. Many distribution channels of course cost money to the company for example in a form of commissions.
Swot Analysis
The company gets relevant information about the current market place they’re in through the situational analyses. The gathered data is then used to form the SWOT-analysis, which stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. It is one of the first stages of planning and helps the company to focus on key issues and that why it is particularly helpful in identifying areas for development.
The SWOT- analysis is a combination of both the internal and external factors that are dealt with in the situation analyses. Strengths are usually accounted for as internal factors and are the company’s resources and capabilities that can be used as a basis for competitive advantage. The absence of certain strengths can be viewed as weaknesses, which are also accounted for as internal factors. Weaknesses can range from high cost structure to poor customer contact staff. Not all weaknesses can be removed but once identified the company should minimize their effects or remove them altogether where possible. Both strengths and weaknesses are often matters of perception, which makes them sometimes hard to identify. Consumer research is a good way to learn more about these internal factors so customer feedback should always be read and dealt with thoroughly.
Opportunities are usually accounted to be external factors researching the external environment of the company and may reveal new opportunities for development. For example there could be new technology coming up that could be useful for the company or maybe some competitor is ineffective or has gone out of business and has created an opportunity for the company to get some of their customers. A company should always be searching for ways to develop and think about the ways to do so. Changes in the external environment can also present threats to the company. The changes can include for example a new competitor in the market and more increasingly, as have been seen during the past years; international terrorism. Whatever the threats are it is important for the company to be aware of the threats for when something happens in the external environment that has an influence to the company, it is prepared for it.
SWOT analysis should be systematic, wide-ranging and creative and as such it has been proven to be invariably productive. The analysis should not be done by only one manager of the company but one should bring other managers as well as the staff into the process. This way the maximum amount of expertise and perception is drawn out.
Recommended approach
Hotels uses loads of different distribution channels to find customers. However, these need to measured Most of the bookings are received through different OTAs or wholesalers this making the commission/booking costs very high. In order to reduce that front office staff should be trained to collect all the required data from the guest on arrival, address, email addresses, etc. To introduce discount vouchers to the guests who books through third party in order to increase direct bookings. Theses should be given to the guests on arrival. Email marketing could be introduced as well.
Company already is using external SEO services for the website. However, Pay Per Click could be introduced during certain periods to attract more direct bookings and to give a bigger exposure to the website.
To develop customer loyalty program- discount on room rate or room upgrade/ chocolate/water on arrival.
Plan and develop marketing campaigns and special offers in advance. Market the campaigns on the website. Introduce 30 days advance purchase rate with a good discount in order to avoid demand uncertainty and to utilize unused rooms.
Encourage guest reviews and respond to them. Once the guest emails are collected from the guest to send them an email thanking for their stay and requesting to submit their review to Tripadvisor, etc.
To utilize the use of the hotel bar-special promotions, special lunch/dinner packages and promotions.
Strategic marketing planning success comes from an endless willingness to learn and to adapt the system to the people and the circumstances of the firm. It also comes from a deep understanding about the nature of marketing planning, which is something that, in the final analysis, cannot be taught. However, strategic marketing planning demands that the organization recognizes the challenges that face it and their effect on its potential for future success. It must learn to focus on customers and their needs at all times and explore every avenue which may provide it with a differential advantage over its competitors.