How to Market your Hotel & Restaurant in the Digital Age? (8 Practical Tips + A Case Study)

It’s an exciting and historic time to be in Manila, where the entire food, travel, and lifestyle industry is booming in the Social Media Capital of the World.

While the internet penetration has reached 50% in Manila, there is still a big gap with only 10% penetration of hotels and restaurants engaging in digital marketing.

Digital is not a fad, not a strategy, or not just a tool. We are in the Digital Age, which is a shift from the traditional ways of the Industrial Age. Digital is a mindset and a paradigm shift on the way we engage brand consumers and clients.

Thank you to the Hotel and Restaurant Association of the Philippines for inviting me to share my knowledge on “How to Market your Hotel and Restaurant in the Digital Age.”

I received such an overwhelming appreciation of my talk that I decided to share the presentation with you.

Here are 8 practical tips and a case study to empower your business to compete in the digital age…

(Note: Please tweet me @antondiaz or tag me @ourawesomeplanet in Instagram or Facebook if you are sharing or quoting this presentation.)

Your brand is defined by the look and feel of your Instagram feed.

You can use Instagram as a social media like most businesses do in Manila such as @mcdo_ph, or you can use it to define the essence of your brand like the global @mcdonalds. You can use IG as a venue for creative expression, subliminally engaging the millennial generation.

Take the time to curate the Instagram feed for your brand.

You can influence what Google’s first page says about your brand.

Create your own website, facebook, and social media pages.
Take ownership of your business on Google Maps.
Work with restaurant portals like Zomato.
Engage the top food bloggers and reviewers appearing on the first page of Google.

Engage influencers like how you would treat your friends.

I hate it when PR companies approach you and rudely ask how much the cost of a blog post or social media post is. They treat you like a media channel and a KPI waiting to be added to their report.

Remember, “What other people say about you is more important than what you say about yourself.”

Meet us at our events like the Ultimate Taste Test on Sept. 12 at Glorietta. Be a part of our community by actively participating and getting to know us.

Influencers have the power to amplify your message. Develop a long lasting relationship and not just a one-time engagement.

Treat us like a person, get to know us as a friend, and we will be more than happy to help you market your business. A commercial transaction is a bonus.

You have to hire creative and digital savvy Millennials (age 18 to 35) to power your marketing and online engagement.

If you are from the Baby Boomer generation, it would be hard for you to keep up with the latest developments in technology and you won’t have the right context to engage the online community.

Indeed, being young is a competitive advantage in the digital age.

Also, don’t forget about the Gen X-ers, most of whom are now in their 40’s–a significant life stage defined by reunions, mid-life crisis, health issues, and leaving a legacy.

Gen X has all the money and financial power to help you be successful.

Lastly, the kids now are the key decision makers on where the family travels or eats next.

Remember that they are ruling the internet, so engage them during their formative years.

Madrid Fusion Manila aims to create Manila as the Culinary Capital of Asia! Believe and join us in this culinary revolution happening in the next 5 years.

The first Madrid Fusion was so successful that Joan Roca of El Celler de Can Roca, the number #1 restaurant in the world, and Narisawa, the number #1 chef and restaurant in Asia are coming over for the second Madrid Fusion on April 7-9, 2016.

Filipino Food is indeed the next global sensation!

Can you believe that the Filipino booths composed of Pepita’s Kitchen Truffle Stuffed Lechon, Bale Dutung’s Sisig, and Paul Chi’s East Side Truck were the top 3 stalls during the World Street Food Festival in Singapore?

It was so successful that K.F. Seetoh of Makansutra Fame is bringing the World Street Food Festival to Manila on April 20-24, 2016!

Early this year, I joined the Ben Chan group to Japan and visited Maisen, Marugame Seimen, and Pablo Cheesecakes, who are all set to open in Manila in 2015.

I asked the CEO of Pablo what his motivation was for agreeing to have his first international expansion in Manila. He said that Japanese people believe that Manila is Singapore 8 years ago. If you know Singapore would be an Asian Tiger wouldn’t you have invested 8 years ago as well?

Related Blog Posts:

In the recently concluded World’s 50 Best, two Asian Restaurants made it to the Top 10–Narisawa of Japan at #8, and Gaggan of Bangkok at #10. We are now entering the Asian Century and most of the restaurant innovations in the next few years will happen in Asia.

Also, this year Antonio’s won the #48 spot in Asia’s 50 Best. We will have more Philippine restaurants in the World’s 50 Best in the next 5 years.

We are entering the Mobile Social era with more Filipinos connected on social media via mobile.

Is your business designed to engage the mobile community on these mobile social platforms?

Subscribe to the Food Public Chats on Viber–Our Awesome Planet x Manila’s Foodies and Food Talk PH by Gourmet Society.

Engage in the Viber public chat discussions and let me know if you want to be added as a chat participant. Text me +63 917 5683627.

Quick tip: Make sure to take the time to craft a unique message per social media channel. Most people hate it when companies post the same message in Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

Value your connection to the unique audience in your different social media channels.

My friend Mark Wiens of Migrationology.com with 200,000+ subscribers on YouTube says that 2015 is the age of Video.

Google shared in last year’s Travel Blogger Conference in Sri Lanka that video consumption is growing in an exponential double-digit rate because of the tablets and the big screen form factor of the new smartphones.

Cisco made a bold prediction that global mobile data traffic will increase nearly tenfold between 2014 and 2019 and 80% of which will be video.

Are you ready for the mobile video era? Can you identify the apps above? (see answer at the end)

We recently launched Our Awesome Planet TV. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/user/antondiaz

Finally, we are also in the Golden Age of Travel in 2015 and beyond, where the cost of travel is going down and a lot of innovations are revolutionizing the mode of travel, accommodation, and travel experiences.

As more and more global travellers discovery Manila, we need to be able to provide meaningful experiences, uber-luxury vacations, and a taste of the local soul.

(Source: Allison Busacca, BBC Travel Editor Keynote speech in TBC Asia Sri Lanka Conference)

The biggest obstacle is that our internet bandwidth is one of the most expensive and one of the slowest in Asia.

Also, road traffic congestion will worsen. Imagine if the MRT stops due to bad maintenance and we have Skyway construction happening at the same time. I won’t be surprised if we will have the worst traffic in Asia.

But these problems could also be opportunities in the digital age. It encourages more people to shop online, dinner time is now 8pm going to 9pm like in Spain, and mobility will be limited to your immediate vicinity.

Club Balai Isabel Case Study

We worked with Club Balai Isabel to help them transform their digital and destination marketing, with the key insight…

This is how their Instagram feed was before:

Instagram feed now:

Facebook is used as an engagement and feedback mechanism on what the online community wants.

Videos are now gaining higher reach and engagement.

Finally, marketing isn’t just about selling anymore but orchestrating awesome experiences for people.

Conclusion

The businesses who cannot adopt will definitely lose in the near future.

The business decisions on how much budget you allot to digital this 2015 has a lasting impact on the survival of your company.

It was an honor to talk to the Hotel and Restaurant Association of the Philippines community.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to contribute and have a positive impact to the food and travel industry.

This is a historic moment and we will look at 2015 as the year that made all the difference…

Disclosure: I wrote this article with my biases, opinions, and insights. Read Our Awesome Planet Complete Disclosure Policy here.

P.S. Answer: (L to R clockwise) Taste Made, Periscope, YouTube, FB Video, Beme, Snap Chat

ULTIMATE TASTE TEST 2015 TICKETING MECHANICS:
1). Tickets for UTT 2015 will only be sold online.
2). Payments may be made through bank deposit or online via PayPal, or payments may also be made at the Creative Juice office at the 2F of Fun Ranch in Pasig. (Monday to Friday 9-5pm).
3). BANK DEPOSIT. Tickets reserved online may be paid for through bank deposit made to the following account:
Account name: Creative Juice Communications Inc.BDO Acct. No. 0308032191
A copy of the deposit slip together with the name of person who filed the reservation should be sent to Creative Juice via email at tickets.creativejuice@gmail.com for reservation to be considered confirmed.

2 thoughts on “How to Market your Hotel & Restaurant in the Digital Age? (8 Practical Tips + A Case Study)”

Glen says:

August 21, 2015 at 12:35 pm

Very inspiring ahya 🙂 Hoping to collaborate with you in the future.-glen, pengyow.com

Lombok Wander says:

August 25, 2015 at 2:16 pm

Nice info !

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2 thoughts on “How to Market your Hotel & Restaurant in the Digital Age? (8 Practical Tips + A Case Study)”

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