Digital Marketing Plan for Hilton Hotels and Resorts

This report analyzes the digital marketing plan of Hilton Hotels and Resorts, focusing on the use of digital marketing in the hospitality industry. It discusses the importance of consumer insight, the rise of online consumer power, and the effects of negative publicity. It also explores the use of digital platforms, tools, and channels within the hospitality industry, and the opportunities and challenges of digital hardware. The report concludes with a discussion on monitoring and assessing techniques used to evaluate the effectiveness of digital marketing strategies.

Digital Marketing Plan

Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................3
LO1..............................................................................................................................................................3
Digital Marketing Within the Hospitality Industry...................................................................................3
Use of digital marketing by hospitality industry......................................................................................3
Importance of consumer insight..............................................................................................................4
Rise of online consumer power...............................................................................................................4
Shifting focus to consumers.....................................................................................................................4
Effects of Negative publicity....................................................................................................................4
Tracking and monitoring different devices..............................................................................................5
Gaining competitive edge........................................................................................................................5
Growth of macro moments.....................................................................................................................5
LO2..............................................................................................................................................................5
Digital Platforms, Tools and Channels used Within the Hospitality Industry. .........................................5
Role of digital marketing in relation to 7'Ps.............................................................................................5
Types of digital tools................................................................................................................................7
Consumer Life Cycle Stages of Technology Adoption..............................................................................7
Growth of online booking and e-commerce............................................................................................8
LO3..............................................................................................................................................................8
Opportunities and challenges of digital hardware...................................................................................8
Omni-Channel Marketing........................................................................................................................9
Marketing Plan:.......................................................................................................................................9
LO4............................................................................................................................................................10
Monitoring and Assessing Techniques used to evaluate Effectiveness of Digital Marketing Strategy...10
Measurement of digital campaigns.......................................................................................................10
Insights..................................................................................................................................................12
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................................12
References.................................................................................................................................................13

Introduction
Marketing is the process through which goods and services manufactured are promoted,
sold and distributed to the consumers in a market. Digital marketing includes all marketing
processes achieved through the use of digital technologies or the internet. Due to the
advancement of technology in the late 90’s and the global adoption of internet, marketing
through digital technologies provides numerous advantages to marketers and entrepreneurs alike
(Chaffey and Ellis-Chadwick, 2019). In this report we will analyse the digital marketing plan of
Hilton Hotels and Resorts an international chain of hotels and resorts which is the flagship brand
of hospitality giant Hitlon. The business was founded in 1919 as Hilton Hotels and operates
currently from its headquarters in Virginia, USA. Having been in operations for over a hundred
years, the Hilton Hotels and Resorts has had opportunities to expand its business into
international markets. Currently the hotel and resort chain operates around 586 establishments in
85 different countries spanning six continents.
LO1
Digital Marketing Within the Hospitality Industry
Digital marketing encompasses all marketing processes and channels that are required by
marketers in order to advertise and promote goods and services through the use of digital
technologies or the internet. The external environment in which digital marketers operate is
convoluted and ever evolving. The digital marketing environment consists of a combination of
internal and external drivers or factors, all of which can influence the operations, productivity
and performance of a business organisation.
The main key distinction between digital and traditional marketing approaches is that
digital marketing is achieved through the use of digital technologies or through the internet. Due
to the global adoption of the internet along with the recent boom in availability of technology
around the globe, it has become nigh necessary for marketers to use digital tools to aid them in
their operations.
Use of digital marketing by hospitality industry
Same can be said marketers operating in the hospitality industry. Digital marketing
provides various advantages and benefits to marketers that traditional channels just don’t provide
such as it allows marketers to advertise, promote goods and services to a wide range of people all

around the globe, at very little costs incurred when compared to traditional marketing approaches
(Kannan, 2017). Digital marketing also engages and interacts with the consumers as part of the
marketing approach. These are the primary reasons marketers within the hospitality industry opt
to implement digital marketing approaches to their marketing strategy. Digital marketers also
choose to use digital marketing as a way to increase their brand value and perception in the
market amongst their competitors.
Importance of consumer insight
Though today in the digital age a lot of data about consumer behaviour is available,
consumer insight is still of tremendous use to marketers in aiding their attempts to mass market
to consumers, as consumers themselves are best sources to gain product information and
marketing strategies from.
Rise of online consumer power
As the internet allows far more freedom to consumers in terms of comparing goods and
products online along with their prices and read reviews, this gives the consumers of the digital
age far more power as compared to their elder counterparts. This is a major impact of the
widespread use of digital marketing and has also affected both hospitality industry and Hilton
Hotels and Resorts as consumers flock to websites to compare different hotels, their prices,
amenities, services provided, accessories included down to whether the hotels even provide
personal gyms, swimming pools and parking spaces.
Shifting focus to consumers
This has driven digital marketers of Hilton Hotels and Resort to shift their focus onto the
sort of customer experience they provide through their operations and towards building a better
and well recognised brand name in the market, which consumers will want to associate
themselves with (Kasilingam and Thanuja, 2020).
Effects of Negative publicity
As most interactions between the businesses and consumers on the internet are transparent and
out there for everyone to see, for example through online reviews, hospitality businesses
nowadays have to be extra careful in their approach to fulfilling the expectations of the
consumers they service. Accidental unfriendly interactions between the consumers and
businesses on the internet have a tendency to go viral, generate unfavourable headlines while

showcasing the business in a negative image and have a massive impact on the brand image of
the organisation in the market and its day to day operations.
Tracking and monitoring different devices
In order for today’s digital marketers to effectively market to the consumers through the
internet and gain a competitive advantage for their business over its competitors, marketers need
to make use of certain digital marketing tools such as Google Analytics, Hootsuite etc. in order
to aid them in their digital marketing operations.
Gaining competitive edge
These marketing tools track and record various consumer metrics which prove invaluable
to marketers in improving their business marketing strategy and gaining a competitive edge over
their competitors in the market.
Growth of macro moments
Micro moments is the habit of people increasing turning to their phones for short duration
of times. This trend is of huge benefits to hospitality marketers as it ensures increasing number
of people will keep coming back to view their promotions and advertisements.
LO2
Digital Platforms, Tools and Channels used Within the Hospitality Industry.
There are various digital platforms, tools and channels available to Hilton Hotels and
Resort’s marketers on the internet to facilitate their digital marketing operations. These platforms
include online websites, multiple social media platforms, smartphone applications, emails etc.
Marketing through these digital platforms also allows marketers to generate additional revenues
simply during their marketing process through the use of online paid advertisements and other
methods. Digital marketing has such a huge impact on the marketing operations in general that it
can also be incorporated into the famous 7Ps of marketing mix strategy. The way digital
marketing is incorporated in the traditional marketing mix consisting of 7Ps is as follows:
Role of digital marketing in relation to 7'Ps
Product: Digital channels of marketing allow hospitality businesses and marketers to showcase a
wide range of products and services that they offer to the public on their websites. Consumers

can browse through and select chosen goods at their leisure after looking through all the possible
available goods.
Price: Digital marketing allows hospitality businesses and marketers to implement various
distinct pricing strategies for their products in order to maximise their profitability all year round.
Through digital marketing, businesses can offer special limited time discounts and offers to
customers in order to move stored inventory of particular goods and products (Minculete and
Olar, 2018). Digital marketing also allows marketers to introduce bundled packages which
combine popular and unpopular products for sale to consumers at a competitive price.
Place: Digital Marketing allows marketers to promote and advertise their products to consumers
irrespective of their geographical vicinity or location. This is another major advantage of digital
marketing as it allows for marketers to mass market to consumers all around the globe
effectively and efficiently.
People: Digital marketing also places huge emphasis on the kind of service people receive as
unfriendly interactions between people and hospitality businesses on the internet have massive
impact on the business’s brand value and reputation in the market amongst its competitors.
Through digital marketing the rise of power people possess over hospitality businesses on the
internet has increased.
Promotion: Digital Marketing also is extremely influential in aiding marketer's efforts to
advertise and promote their goods and services. As the internet provides marketers access to
millions of consumers to promote their goods and services to via multiple methods such as social
media platforms, websites, emails, YouTube etc., the promotion and advertisement operations of
marketers are improved.
Process: Though in traditional marketing mix the process relates to the delivery operations, in its
digital counterpart process encompasses the entire process a consumer has to go through to in
order to make a purchase online. Marketers try and improve this User Experience (UX) in order
to better service their clients.
Physical: The physical evidence is also evident in digital marketing approaches in the form of
online reviews and comments which have a massive impact on any hospitality business’s

operations and profitability. These physical attributes assure the consumers of the authenticity of
goods and services provided online.
Types of digital tools
Hilton Hotels and Resort’s digital marketers can make use of various different digital
platforms and channels to aid them in their operations such as emails, social media sites,
smartphone applications, online websites etc. Choosing any particular approach depends on the
marketing strategy of Hilton Hotels and Resort and the consumer base it is trying to service.
Social Media platforms allow for mass marketing to millions of potential consumers over the
internet. Through social media platforms digital marketers can directly engage and interact with
their customers in order to increase their conversion chances (De Pelsmacker, Van Tilburg and
Holthof, 2018). Social media platforms also allow celebrity endorsements which are an effective
marketing method. Websites also allow customers to browse through all available goods and
products for them to choose from at their leisure and make purchases whenever required.
Websites also allow marketers to showcase their products to the public in whichever way they
wish and provides more control to the marketers in their marketing approach.
Consumer Life Cycle Stages of Technology Adoption
Customer technology adoption life cycle is a model that evaluates the acceptance or
adoption of innovative and new technologies by people in various distinct groups based on their
social, cultural, geographical or psychological similarities:
Innovators (2.5%): Fastest category of consumers to adopt an innovative technology. They are
bold in nature taking on big risks head on in hopes of getting bigger rewards.
Early Adopters (13.5%): Second fastest section of consumers to adopt an innovation. They are
more cautious than innovators.
Early Majority (34%): Customers belonging to this section adopt an innovation over varying
degree of duration with the duration lasting longer than pervious categories.
Late Majority (34%): Customers in this category adopt innovation after a majority of the market
has already adopted said technology. They are sceptical and cautious in nature (Hasyati and
Suzianti, 2018).

Laggards (16%): Last one to adopt innovative technology in a market. These consumers have an
aversion to change irrespective of the numerous advantages new innovative technology provides
them.
Growth of online booking and e-commerce
Because of the digital revolution of the 2000s and the global widespread adoption of the
internet, e-commerce and online booking within the hospitality industry have increased
significantly. Global consumers can now check out establishments in detail, avail various online
discounts and offers and plan their entire trip on the internet which has massively increased the
productivity and profitability of industries in the hospitality market. Reviews and comments on
online websites assure the customers of the kind of service they are expected to get in return
which further increases the productivity of hospitality industry and Hilton Hotels and Resorts.
LO3
Opportunities and challenges of digital hardware
Using digital channels of marketing provides the marketers of Hilton Hotels and Resorts
multiple opportunities and some difficulties as well. Digital marketing allows marketers to
effectively market to large sects of consumers at significantly low input costs through the use of
social media platforms and online websites. Digital marketers can then use digital monitoring
and tracking software to record various metrics which when analysed provides Hilton marketers
with valuable information about their marketing strategy and how they can improve it. On the
other hand, digital marketing also presents the Hilton marketers new challenges because of using
online channels such as the immense risks to Hilton Hotels and Resort’s brand value and
reputation in the market amongst its competitors (Chaffey and Smith, 2017). Accidental
unfriendly interactions between the business and customers on social media have a tendency to
go viral, attract negative headlines from the press and damage Hilton’s brand reputation. As
Hilton’s competitors have also switched to implementing digital channels of marketing, this also
presents as a challenge to Hiltons marketers to keep creating unique and relevant advertising
content to market to consumers.
Hilton’s marketers can implement digital tools of marketing tools using two different
marketing platform channels named multi-channel platforms and omni channel platforms.
Through multi-channel platforms marketers can promote and advertise using multiple different

digital channels simultaneously such as social media, smartphone apps, websites etc in order to
market to the widest possible range of consumers on the internet. Each individual channel’s
marketing strategy is independent from other channels, possess their own goals objectives and
functions in isolation from the rest.
Omni-Channel Marketing
Contrastingly, through omni channel marketing, marketers focus their marketing efforts
to deliver consistent, engaging and interactive promotional content to the consumers via multiple
digital channels but the key difference here is that the marketing strategy used in these platforms
is integrated to provide customers a streamlined experience. Omni channel provides customers
with a seamless experience across multiple platforms (Payne, Peltier and Barger, 2017). An
example of this within the hospitality industry is a consumer finding the exact same hotel on his
laptop which he discovered on while browsing Facebook. This is possible through the seamless
integration of distinct digital platforms within omni channel marketing.
Marketing Plan:
Aim/Objective: The aim of this marketing plan to implement digital marketing into the
marketing operations at Hilton Hotels and Resorts using various digital media channels.
Digital Marketing Campaign: The management of Hilton Hotels and Resorts has decided to
promote and advertise their services to the public in the market using digital marketing channels
through the use of websites and social media platforms.
Website: Hilton Hotels and Resorts has created an official dedicated website on the internet in
order to better market to and service customers. Through the website customers are now able to
browse through the multiple suites and deluxe rooms, choose and purchase according to their
needs.
Digital Marketing Channels: There exist multiple digital channels which Hilton marketers can
use:
 Content: Creating and distributing useful, relevant, appropriate, consistent and engaging
content is of immense value to marketers in order to effectively market digitally.
 Social Media Marketing: Use of social media allows Hilton marketers to market to
millions potential customers without incurring significant costs.

 Search engine Optimization: SEOs allow Hilton markets to better attract customers to
their websites and ensures interest customers can always find Hilton Hotels and Resorts
at a click (Baye, De los Santos and Wildenbeest, 2016). Pay Per Click: PPC ensures Hilton marketer’s promotion efforts through websites yields
some revenue through the use of paid advertisements.
Understanding Different Marketing Metrics: Hilton marketers can use digital tracking software
through which they can monitor their digital marketing efforts, store and analyse the data in
order to improve their marketing strategy.
Visitors Analytics: Visitor Analytics is a digital software which Hilton marketers can use to
record various metrics to aid their approach.
Conversion Rates: Conversion rate is a marketing metric which tells us how many customers
made a transaction on the website out of total visitors.
Revenue per Keyword: This ensures the Hilton marketers marketing content keeps generating
revenue.
LO4
Monitoring and Assessing Techniques used to evaluate Effectiveness of Digital Marketing
Strategy
Hilton marketers can use digital software in order to monitor and record data in real time
about the performance of their marketing strategy on various digital platforms such as social
media, online websites. There are present multiple digital software such as Google Analytics,
Visitors Analytics, Hootsuite etc. which monitor, record and store various marketing traffic,
conversion, revenue metrics and key performance indicators (KPI) for marketers to analyse in
detail in order to identify the weaknesses of their marketing strategy and implement necessary
changes in order to successfully convert consumers in the market. These digital software track
Hilton marketers return on investment on their marketing efforts using various digital platforms
for their operations (Saura, Palos-Sánchez and Cerdá Suárez, 2017).
Measurement of digital campaigns
The main digital marketing conversion metrics which Hilton marketers record and
analyse are as follows:

Conversion Rate: This metric informs the marketers how many consumers performed a
monetary transaction on their websites out of the total number of consumers that visited the
website.
Cost Per Lead: This metric is the ratio of a marketing campaign’s conversion rate to the
respective costs attached through marketing to bring that consumer to make the transaction
(Stewart, Blair and Kuse, 2016). It details the marketers if their marketing strategy is profitable
or not.
Bounce Rate: This metric updates marketers on the number of consumers who upon visiting
their website or social media pages immediately left indicating that they didn’t find anything
relevant.
Average Page View Per Visit: This metric tells the marketers how long a visiting consumer
stayed on their website or pages suggesting how engaging and interactive the consumers found
promotional and marketing content to be.
Average Cost Per Page View: This metric informs the marketers about the costs incurred by
their marketing campaign’s multiple process for every page view by an individual customer on
online websites or social media platforms.
Average Time on Site: This metric details the marketers about the average duration of time
individual customers visiting their websites tend to stay indicating how much of the marketing
content on the website they found to be engaging and interactive.
Rate of Returning Visitors: This metric tells the marketers about the number of visiting
customers who are returning for a second a consecutive time suggesting how popular their online
websites and social media pages are amongst the customers in the market.
Revenue Metrics: In the end the failure or success of a digital marketing campaign can be judged
by analysing its revenue metrics which informs the marketers whether their entire marketing
campaign was profitable or not and how marketers can improve their strategy to achieve better
results (Ailawadi and Farris, 2017).

 Return on Investments (ROI): This metric details the marketers of their total return in
terms of customers converted to conducting a transaction from the total number of
customers who visited their online website.
 Cost to Acquire a Customer (CAC): This metric tells marketers about their total
marketing costs invested for acquiring each individual paying customer for a specified
duration of time.
Insights
In order to convert a greater amount of incoming traffic into paying customers, Hilton
Hotels and Resort’s marketers should make sure they analyse the bounce rate, conversion rate,
average page view per visit, average time on site and rate of returning visitors digital conversion
metrics. Analysing these conversion metrics would allow Hilton Hotels and Resort’s marketers
to identify the areas in their marketing strategy that need to be improved upon and which areas of
marketing strategies they are achieving their objectives and goals.
Conclusion
This report evaluates the opportunities, difficulties and impact of marketing through the
digital channels within the hospitality industry. The report identifies various digital platforms,
tools and channels that are applied within the hospitality industry. The report also organises
various digital marketing activities through a marketing plan and assess ways through which
marketers can monitor, record, store and analyse data about their digital marketing operations.

References
Books and Journals
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Kannan, P.K., 2017. Digital marketing: A framework, review and research agenda. International
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Chaffey, D. and Smith, P.R., 2017. Digital marketing excellence: planning, optimizing and
integrating online marketing. Taylor & Francis.
Payne, E.M., Peltier, J.W. and Barger, V.A., 2017. Omni-channel marketing, integrated
marketing communications and consumer engagement. Journal of Research in Interactive
Marketing.
Baye, M.R., De los Santos, B. and Wildenbeest, M.R., 2016. Search engine optimization: what
drives organic traffic to retail sites?. Journal of Economics & Management Strategy. 25(1). pp.6-
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Saura, J.R., Palos-Sánchez, P. and Cerdá Suárez, L.M., 2017. Understanding the digital
marketing environment with KPIs and web analytics. Future Internet. 9(4). p.76.
Stewart, D.W., Blair, M.H. and Kuse, A.R., 2016. 17 The Marketing Metric Audit
Protocol. Accountable Marketing: Linking marketing actions to financial performance, p.121.
Ailawadi, K.L. and Farris, P.W., 2017. Managing multi-and omni-channel distribution: metrics
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