📌 Hospitality Highlights: 24th June 2024
✨ Stay Ahead with the Latest Trends in Marketing, Travel, and Food & Beverage
Welcome to this week’s newsletter. I’m Dawn Gribble, your host. I'm on a mission to bring you the latest actionable insights to help you Delight Guests and Drive Growth.
A New Look for Hospitality Highlights
As you may or may not be aware, I'm neurodivergent with ADHD, Autism and a whole load of other letters; this means, among other things, that I have a hyper-active focused mind on topics I love, i.e. Hospitality and Marketing Strategy, but it also causes physical burnout and has a significant impact on my mental health. This means that sometimes I have great days - but others not so much. (Learning to unmask and talk about this after 40 years of trying to be ‘normal’ is tough!)
Hospitality Marketing Hub allows me to share my experience and insights to help others in the industry despite my complex health limitations. This new format will allow me to focus more on the deep-dive articles, answer the questions you send me, and keep you up-to-date with the latest news and insights you need to stay ahead of the competition.
On that note, I’d like to say thank you for your continued support; it means so much to me. I hope you enjoy the new look!
☕ Let’s Check In!
🧰 VIP Member Resources
Instagram Strategy Series
Part One - The Platform
Part Two - Content Creation
Part Three - Community Management
Part Four - Growth Strategies
Part Five - Mistakes to Avoid
Bad Marketing:
This is what we sell
This is how it works
This is what comes with it
Great Marketing:
This is the problem/goal you have
This is how we can solve/achieve it
This is how we’re different from everyone else
🚀 Marketing News
📹 Instagram Trials Audience Feedback for Unpublished Reels (SMT)
🚫 Meta's AI Training: Your Posts Aren't Optional (FB)
📱 Google to Stop Indexing Non-Mobile Sites from July 5th (SEL)
🔍 Google Analytics Update Enhances Paid Search Attribution (SEJ)
📰 Research Reveals Most X Users Depend on the App for News (PR)
🖌️ Google Ad Manager Update Grants Publishers More Creative Control (SEL)
📊 Instagram Tests Creator Insights for Brands' Profile Performance (BA)
🎥 YouTube Introduces Editing for Longer Videos & Comment Management (YT)
💬 Reddit Rolls Out Updated Conversation Ads (RE)
📧 LinkedIn Expands Newsletter Creation with New Features (LI)
🍽️ Restaurant Marketing News
🍔 McDonald's McTalkie Toy Sparks Frenzy in China (KR)
💸 Starbucks Surprises with Value War Entry (RB)
🍗 KFC Encourages Belief in Its Chicken (TD)
🏅 White Castle's Success Continues with Customer-Focused Marketing (GR)
🥙 German Doner Kebab's First Campaign Brings Doners to Light (CL)
🎭 Netflix to Open Foodservice Venues (NRN)
🍟 McDonald's $5 Meal Deal Sparks Summer Pricing Battle (AK)
🛎️ Hotel Marketing News
🏨 Premier Inn Ad Highlights Diverse Guest Experiences (CL)
🎤 Luxury Hotels Offer' Gig-Tripping' Packages Ahead of Swift's Tour (FO)
🔮 Nobu Hotel Santorini Hosts "Holistic Astrology Retreat" (LT)
💼 Report: Hilton Crowned Most Valuable Hotel Brand (HB)
📈 Majority of Hotel Guests Read Reviews Before Booking (HN)
🔧 Sofitel New York to Undergo Major Refurbishment in Brand's 'New Era' (HM)
🥢 Accor's "100 Bites of Singapore" Campaign Wins Silver Award (TD)
🌱 Novotel to Reduce Meat and Fish Options in New WWF Deal (FS)
🧁 Food & Beverage Trends
🏈 How Dr Pepper Surpassed Pepsi with Football-Themed Marketing (MD)
🍓 Wendy's Unveils Triple Berry Frosty as Summer's Top Flavour (RN)
🌶️ Denmark Recalls Korean Ramen for Excessive Spiciness (FB)
🍸 World's Largest Vodka Bottle Arrives in London (WP)
🎪 Jägermeister Increases Presence at UK Festivals This Summer (DB)
🍺 Heineken Offers' Beer Insurance' During Euros (TD)
🥤 Dunkin' Interns Star in New Iced Drink Ad (MP)
🎉 Nutella Celebrates 60 Years with Global Smile Campaign (MR)
🍟 French Fry Frozen Yogurt: The Latest Food Trend (16)
🚗 Uber UK Launches' Sponsored Items' on Uber Eats App (IR)
🌴 Travel Trends
️✈ Bogus X Accounts Impersonate Major Airlines (TV)
🌍 UN Tourism Welcomes 39 New Affiliate Members (HN)
📈 Türkiye's Travel Sector Reaches Record Heights (IE)
💼 Study Highlights Spending Shifts Among Chinese Travellers (MD)
🧳 Business Travel Resurges with a 'Bleisure' Focus (BM)
🏖️ Brussels and Munich Become Top Summer Travel Destinations (FO)
👀 Hospitality Industry Insights
🍽️ New York Cracks Down on Black Market Restaurant Resellers (RH)
💆 Hotel Wellness Investments Surge: Latest Top Performers (SK)
🤖 McDonald's Continues AI Exploration After Retiring Drive-Thru Assistant (TD)
☕ Marriott and Starbucks Collaborate in New Loyalty Initiative (MD)
🏠 Barcelona to Ban All Short-Term Rentals by 2029 (SK)
🛵 Food Delivery Workers Criticise' Greedy Apps' Over Tips and Safety (NY)
🌎 Growth in Globally Influenced Restaurants Reflects Demand (NR)
🏩 Hilton Plans to Double Lifestyle Hotels to 700 in Four Years (HN)
🏢 Hyatt's Expansion Continues with Record Pipeline of 129,000 Rooms (HY)
⭐ Dawn’s Picks of the Week
📱 BrewDog Founder Launches Social Media Marketing Platform (BD)
🎮 Disney Expands CTV Strategy with 'Advergaming' (MD)
🚫 Restaurant Near St. Louis Bans Patrons Under 30 (NYT)
⚠️ Instagram Clarifies Reach Restrictions on Engagement-Bait Posts (MN)
🚚 Taco Bell Gifts Street-Legal Food Carts to Small Businesses (FB)
👪 Parents’ Views on Children's Exposure to Unhealthy Food Marketing in Digital and Retail Spaces (SD)
❓ Ask Dawn Gribble
This Week's Question comes from Susan T.: We're not getting the results we expected with email marketing. How can we improve?
If your email marketing strategy fails to deliver the results you hoped for, it might be time for a check-up! Here are 7 tell-tale signs your email marketing campaign could use some improvement:
📉 Low Open Rates: Are your email open rates consistently below industry averages? This could indicate that your subject lines aren't compelling enough to entice recipients to click.
📈 High Unsubscribe Rates: Are subscribers opting out of your emails in droves? Excessive unsubscribes may suggest that your content isn't engaging your audience or that you're sending emails too frequently.
🖱️ Poor Click-Through Rates: Are recipients opening your emails but failing to click on your links? Lacklustre click-through rates could signal that your content isn't engaging or relevant enough to prompt action.
📪 High Bounce Rates: Are a significant number of your emails bouncing back as undeliverable? This could be due to outdated or inaccurate email addresses in your list, or worse, being marked as spam.
🎨 Inconsistent Branding: Does your email design vary drastically from one campaign to the next? Inconsistent branding can confuse recipients and dilute your brand identity.
🎯 Neglected Segmentation: Are you sending the same generic emails to your entire subscriber list? Neglecting segmentation means you're missing out on opportunities to deliver targeted, personalised content to specific audience segments.
📈 Lack of Testing and Optimisation: Are you simply sending emails without testing different elements or analysing results? Without ongoing testing and optimisation, you're likely missing out on opportunities to improve performance and maximise ROI.
Email marketing is a powerful tool for engaging and converting leads, but it requires careful planning, execution, and monitoring to be successful. Recognising and addressing these signs of poor email marketing health can optimise your campaigns for greater impact and success.