100 – Travel Media Group’s Suite Spot 100th Episode Celebration

Episode Transcript

Our podcast is produced as an audio source. Transcripts are generated utilizing speech recognition software package and human editing and might incorporate faults. Ahead of republishing rates, we check with that you reference the audio.

Ryan Embree:
Welcome to the Suite Location the place hoteliers verify in and we check out what’s trending in hotel promoting. I’m your host, Ryan Embree. Hello there every person. And welcome to the 100th episode of the Suite Spot. Thank you all for signing up for me. This is your host for the hundredth time, Ryan Embree I’m just so joyful that we finally built it to this episode. This is a extremely humbling expertise. You know, we begun this podcast, this electronic advertising and marketing podcast again in 2018. It is just so substantially guidance from Vacation Media Group and, my teammates around the several years. I recall the 1st episode when we were striving to make your mind up on the identify. We had, a pair unique names. We landed on the Suite Spot and right here we are at episode 100 four several years later, just some speedy points before we get commenced. And we unquestionably are gonna share some articles now, but this podcast is, streamed about SoundCloud, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Spotify. Now above this past, back again in 2021 and Stitcher as effectively, we have bought over 50,000 plays and 600 followers from these sites. So again, just so humbled and thankful for all of our listeners out there, wherever you are listening from. So nowadays with episode 100, this kind of a celebratory milestone, I figured what we do these days is it’s possible actually count down some of my favorite and seriously the most performed and well-liked tracks that we’ve experienced over these past a hundred episodes. We covered a great deal of subject areas when it will come to resort digital promoting. And it’s funny to hear again to some of the initially couple episodes. The subject make a difference in which we speak about on the Suite Spot is technologies is social media is reputation management for, for lodges, and this technological innovation evolved so rapidly. So appealing to go back again to those very first few episodes, to see what we were being chatting about and, and how that really bridges to currently and see how a great deal things alter. So let’s start out the countdown, the quantity a single. So we’re not gonna function backwards. We’re gonna commence at amount a single and function our way down. Range just one, in fact episode 84, how to industry your hotel’s breakfast alternatives. And we did not anticipate for this episode to be so popular, but it makes sense, appropriate? Just one of the points I know I’ve talked about on this podcast, just one of the points that truly improved the most throughout these, these last couple a long time with the pandemic is how a lodge serves breakfast to his guests. It’s a staple. It’s a thing that we’re all employed to as tourists coming to the property, viewing that breakfast buffet, viewing that waffle maker, at times that sizzling breakfast, that continental breakfast and how that’s definitely transformed, proper? And naturally it commenced with the pandemic of a health and fitness and security difficulty of hoping to lessen near make contact with amongst your company and your personnel. But then it is sort of also in 2021, 2022 has turn into a staffing difficulty, suitable? A whole lot of resorts even now are battling with this, and they’re not capable to personnel their breakfast place. They are not able to maintain up with the friends that are coming in and out cleaning right after them creating sure that the food stuff is currently being refreshed. So, you know, this episode, we took a deep dive into saying not only how to current market your breakfast options, but how to set the appropriate expectations of what your breakfast choices are now, mainly because there is just these kinds of a big spectrum there of in which accommodations are at. And some of that also is dependent on in which you’re found in the nation, right? We observed some elements of the country, that have been a large amount slower obtaining back again to estimate unquote usual and had limits at their motels. So it was more challenging for them to get back again to that breakfast that guest have arrive to enjoy. So if a traveler was traveling from one area of the region to an additional location, and they have been expecting this since all the accommodations in their region had been back again to standard that could lead to concerns. So this was a terrific episode, tremendous, tremendous well known, once again, sort of a shock, but you know, when you in fact sat down and think about it, truly not that shocking because of the historical past of the final couple decades, variety two was episode 94 and this, it definitely speaks to what I talked about at the commencing of this episode, proper? The evolution of factors like social media technologies, and how a great deal that variations just months or, or yrs in excess of many years, this episode was all about Instagram reels for motels, ideal? So we delight ourselves at Travel Media Group at becoming at the forefront of lodge, electronic marketing and advertising. We are the experts. And one particular of the items we search for is new styles, developments, and characteristics, specially when it comes to social media platforms, cuz which is what we do for resorts. We companion with them. We assist make tailor made information for lodges on spots like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram, ideal? We know how well known Instagram is, primarily with the more youthful travelers, millennials and gen Z. And 1 of the factors that Instagram experienced not too long ago introduced was Instagram reels. And this was a aspect that was genuinely pointed at TikTok, ideal? And they had been striving to maybe steal some of that sector share. These were these variety of 30 to second clips that consumers could share on Instagram type of like Tik Toks in get to possibly encourage items on home, advertise features, breakfast selections like we just talked about. So this was a new element that was not long ago released from Instagram. And this episode was unquestionably superb. We introduced someone from our social merchandise group on as a guest speaker to variety of wander us by way of how to use and what some most effective practices are for Instagram reels. Quantity three was episode 80, how to market place your hotel’s new renovations. Proper? So one particular of the things that we genuinely centered on for the duration of the pandemic for lodges was obviously how to get far more occupancy in a time exactly where travel just wasn’t happening, right? Other than out of requirement. But some accommodations made the decision to go a absolutely various route and shut down totally to truly do some new renovations, appropriate? To renovate that foyer or totally redo their rooms or amenities. And when we got out of the pandemic, they, we had these nearly model new accommodations, renovated motels that we have been looking on how to market and sector. So we shared some actually good ways, strategies and finest practices on how you can share on social media, develop some excitement, converse to that and your evaluate responses, your status management, due to the fact you’re only new for so very long. I remember that was just one of the important phrases that we were being conversing about. New is new for just a quick amount of time. So you want to just take gain of it even though you can. There’s seriously new renovations is some of the best instances to get these 5 star evaluations and genuinely put your finest foot forward out there with this kind of a huge, huge cash financial investment. We know, happen with renovation. Number four of our most well-known episodes ever on the Suite Spot. This was episode 86 scheduling your hotel’s 2022 social media calendar part one. So this was these a huge episode that we in fact had to do two pieces of it. And this is actually one of my most loved episodes. We had Aislynn Roberts on and she’s one of our group users from shopper achievements. And she speaks to resorts on a day by day basis hoping to find inspiration for them to come across posts about functions, neighborhood tales, features, seize bookings via social media. So what we made a decision to do was take a calendar, the 2022 calendar. And we went by means of each one year and started off to fill out that calendar, give thoughts for the summertime, the spring, the winter season and the fall to support hoteliers fill that calendar out with just remarkable content material. And all over again, this was just a person of my preferred episodes, truly just having innovative and, and sharing with resorts. Some really, actually one of a kind techniques to, to spur engagement on their social channels. Range 5 was episode 83 superior sentiment evaluation and reporting. Now this was with Jason Lee, our chief technological know-how officer, likely a single of the most recognizable voices on this podcast. He’s been with me innumerable instances. And the cause is, is since accurately what this episode was all about. A new rollouts for Travel Media Team, digital solutions for motels. So Jason and his product or service and advancement group had been really hard at do the job. Ended up basically diving deeper into insights and information from visitor suggestions. And this episode is all about that. Conversing about how we get that facts from guest critiques and how we provide that details again to the hotelier to make smarter operational and cash conclusion. So this was a genuinely wonderful episode undertaking a hundred podcast episode could not have been completed without having the aid of my advertising team and the aid of Vacation Media Group and listeners like you. So I want to thank you, but we’ve also had some visitors outdoors of the Travel Media Group organization, sign up for us, some genuinely large names in the field. I bear in mind we had a few episodes of Yan Phitom from STR in the course of the throes of the pandemic in which we talked to him about, you know, what was on the horizon. What was the STR knowledge stating to us which could supply clues? Since we had hardly ever been via one thing like that in the sector we’ve been by way of recessions before, but almost nothing, almost nothing like we saw the past couple years, oh, we had hospitality influencer. Rupesh Patel on to communicate about reputation administration and how crucial that is for his inns and, and what he’s carrying out appropriate now. Michael Curran from Aimbridge Hospitality and Kirk Petterson from Siteline hospitality. So some significant players from resort management groups just join us and, and give recommendations and tricks on electronic advertising and marketing. And I’m so thankful we have so many extra attendees not able to get to right now, but thankful for. So if you have not checked out some of all those episodes, make sure you do bring about they are pretty, very insightful. And by way of undertaking this a hundred episodes truly worth, we’ve also have some definitely one of a kind yearly episodes that we do every solitary 12 months that I have really occur to appreciate and are some of my favorites. A single of them is with our VP of merchandise and enhancement, Patrick O’Brien. He arrives on each calendar year and we glance at the leading five sentiment tags for accommodations throughout the region. You know, we’ve talked about cleanliness, which was a massive tag and topic for the duration of the pandemic, obviously, and Patrick not only shares this facts with us, but he also shares techniques that you can react to reviews as perfectly as leverage this info for your social media advertising and marketing and web-sites. A different annual episodes we do with is with our president Dana Sanger. We do a yr in evaluation at the end of each yr, just talking about the wonderful accomplishments that the Vacation Media Group team have achieved and, and milestones and ambitions that they’ve hit as nicely as the worth that we’re ready to offer for our hotel companions. We have been in hospitality, as I’ve described before for around 40 many years and, and have lodges that we work with across the nation. So this is a genuinely amazing episode to sort of replicate on all the items that we’ve done to assistance additional those partnerships and provide on new and current relationships in the industry. And then last yr in 2021, we had one of, I would say the coolest sequence. And this was being ready to listen to you, our audience, the listeners, the resort listeners out there, and what they have been equipped to do is share their stories of what we termed hospitality heroes. So we experienced a, a variety of episodes that we did in this series just to figure out some of people hoteliers that went above and past throughout what somebody argued the toughest time for our business. And there were just some incredible, remarkable stories. And it was just this kind of an honor to share people in excess of a channel on a discussion board like this. And with that, I am very fired up to announce that we are performing a 2nd series, which is heading to be named Hospitality Trailblazers, the place we are gonna acquire some of the greatest and loudest voices in the lodge sector. And we’re gonna invite them on the Suite Spot. We’re gonna converse and we’re gonna select their brain, talk to them what they believe about what is what’s on the horizon. What they believe are some recommendations and methods. When it arrives to electronic internet marketing for their administration group, we are gonna have some actually, genuinely excellent friends and I am tremendous stoked about it. So you are hearing about it here. To start with more aspects to occur about Hospitality Trailblazers. This is our next sequence that we have completed to form of actually amplify the voices of our business. Since all over again, we, we, we’re this kind of a tight knit group, but all over again, as we wrap up now, I just wanna thank anyone. My Journey Media Group workforce, my advertising and marketing workforce for all the difficult get the job done that they’ve place into this, a hundred episodes is no straightforward feat. I wanna thank you. The lodge listeners and invite you. I know if you’ve been listening to us for some of these episodes would invite you to go away us a overview. We’d adore to listen to your opinions and comments about what we’re executing, ideas about what you’d like to listen to for our upcoming a hundred episodes. So this is Ryan Embree signing off for the hundredth episode. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And we will talk to you following time on the Suite Spot. To join our loyalty program, be positive to subscribe and give us a five star looking at on iTunes. Suite Place is developed by Vacation Media Group. Our editor is Brandon Bell with address artwork by Barry Gordon. I’m your host, Ryan Embree, and we hope you loved your stay.