Data accuracy biggest barrier to personalisation for hotel and travel marketeers

A survey from Travel Technology Europe reveals that many hotel and travel companies want to embrace greater personalisation in their marketing but are being held back by data accuracy issues.

Over half (51%) of respondents reported getting accurate customer data to be a challenge. When asked: What challenges do you face in personalisation? – the findings were as follows:

51% – Having accurate customer data

44% – Getting the right mix of marketing and IT

44% – Identifying customers at the right times

35% – Building links between products

32% – Privacy and compliance challenges

15% – Overcoming company silos

5% – Don’t face any challenges

The rapid growth in marketing technology solutions and the merging of marketing and IT skills appears to be a further challenge for four in ten (44%) hotel and travel companies as they struggle to get the right mix of marketing and IT.

Four in ten (44%) hotel and travel companies are also struggling to identify customers at the right times.

Richard Baker, head of sales and marketing, Inspiretec and speaker at Travel Technology Europe commented: “At its best personalisation drives loyalty and keeps customers coming back for more, at its worst personalisation is intrusive and damaging to the bottom line.

“To get it right personalisation requires a careful blend of IT and marketing skills to make sure that the data is accurate but that the human touch is still there. At Travel Technology Europe I’ll be revealing the findings of an Inspiretec study that highlights best practices to help companies reach their goal of delivering personalised customer experiences.”

Measuring social media impact a challenge

Another marketing challenge that hotel and travel companies face is measuring the impact of content marketing. With more and more travel companies investing in content marketing, many are dissatisfied with how they track the impact of their content marketing, including social media.

Over a quarter (27%) of respondents said they were dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with how they track the impact of their content marketing with a further 34% saying they were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied.

David Chapple, event director, Travel Technology Europe, commented: “A lot of time and energy goes into creating great content for digital marketing but many travel companies are unsure of how best to measure the value they are getting from it. Content marketing doesn’t always lead to direct sales so it requires its own tracking techniques and tools. We will be hearing from the experts at Travel Technology about how you move from a “spray and pray” approach to having discernible metrics that demonstrate that your content strategy is working.”

Speaking sessions on marketing technology at Travel Technology Europe at Olympia Grand from 21-22 February 2018, will include:

No leisurely feat: How to design and deliver effective content, 21 February at 14:40 – 15:20
Keynote: The personal touch: what personalisation really means in travel, 21 February at 11:15 – 12:15
Personalise This: How Europe’s hotels can regain ownership of their guests, 21 February at 11:15 – 11:45
Tech Huddle: Why GDPR is good for personalisation in the travel industry and how you can get prepared, 21 February at 15:30 – 16:15
Redesigning your mobile strategy – preparing for the next iteration of mobile
22 February at 14:40 – 15:20

Online registration is now open.

Visit: http://www.traveltechnologyeurope.com/visiting/register-for-free to apply for a free visitor pass.