It seems like today’s well-connected travelers literally have the world at their fingertips. With a touch or a click, they can easily access hotel pricing and availability to book on the spot. Enter Dynamic Rate Marketing (DRM). This next-generation marketing technique gives hoteliers the ability to adjust rates in real-time based on demand and availability, providing value to both the hotel and the traveler. With the addition of DRM as a marketing tool, hotels are seeing more direct hotel bookings, better conversion rates, and (cha-ching!), more revenue for their ad-spend.
Exactly how does DRM work? Hoteliers can insert their real-time hotel inventory availability and pricing into marketing messages via display advertising, meta search, and email marketing. This gives consumers searching for hotel options access to the most accurate information in order to seamlessly click and book. Put into practice, DRM gives hoteliers an innovative new way to satisfy a potential guest’s demands—for instant, accurate hotel pricing–with the ability to respond in real-time to changing market conditions and comp set behavior.
Is your property equipped to handle DRM? Capabilities for implementing a DRM structure vary based on different property management and central reservation systems. Cloud-based hotel PMS solutions, such as the SkyTouch Hotel OS® platform, are equipped to help hotels of all sizes in the DRM arena by offering a built-in Best Available Rate (BAR) pricing strategy in order to automatically respond to changes in the market and maximize revenue.
The DRM phenomena is also pushing a powerful trend toward direct online bookings and away from OTAs. While many of the larger and mid-size hotels are rising to the level of OTAs, smaller properties are seeking out marketing technology partners to help them implement and track DRM initiatives. The result? More direct online bookings, less OTA commissions to contend with, and a greater ability to meet customer demand while standing behind a fair price.
The final piece of the DRM puzzle involves ongoing analysis and strategic management – two critical factors to the success of any marketing campaign. If hoteliers are diligent in their efforts, they will achieve a consistent base of business in perfect sync with performance data and other external factors. Therefore, it’s essential to continually study behavior and performance to refine accordingly. Doing so will help hoteliers ensure a healthy return on their DRM investment.
