Sojern Unveils Latest Digital Advertising Platform for Hoteliers

Sojern, a provider of digital marketing solutions, announces that its enterprise-grade technology and data science powering marketing campaigns is now available to independent hotel and chain properties as a subscription. A commission version of the same offering from Sojern, known as “Pay On The Stay,” has been used by more than 8,000 hotels so far.

Developed to solve the unique problems hotels face in managing digital advertising campaigns across channels like search, metasearch, display, Facebook and Instagram, Sojern’s digital marketing solution for hotels automatically optimizes and manages campaigns that drive traffic and bookings directly to a hotel website. Additional benefits like free ad creative, translation services and local market demand insights are also included.

By 2022, it is estimated that 70% of hotel booking transactions will be done online. The rise of low-cost web based tools has made it easier than ever for a hotel to manage its presence on the Internet. But even with a website and online booking engine in place, how do hoteliers identify, understand and influence travelers to visit their websites and book a room?

Even as online bookings increase, how can hoteliers reduce their reliance on online travel agencies (OTAs) for bookings? Sojern aims to solve this by providing hotels of all sizes with highly-targeted advertising across the most popular digital marketing channels.

"Sojern's subscription offering has been great for us, has significantly increased not only traffic to our website but also our direct bookings. We also get access to a wide range of data insights available to us at any time allowing us to take a more strategic and informed approach to our marketing. I can say with confidence that Sojern's solutions for hotels have really delivered results for our property,” says Andres Blasco, Melia Bali Hotel.

Fiona Neo, Director of Sales and Marketing, Montigo Resorts, Nongsa says, "We found that we were only reaching those customers who visited our website. We wanted to reach potential new guests, advertise through multiple channels, and have improved visibility across those channels. Sojern was successfully able to activate marketing campaigns across multiple online channels using Google Marketing Platform. With access to real-time travel search and booking information, we have been able to reach those looking for travel in the region, and target them with highly personalised adverts inspiring them and ultimately encouraging them to book directly on our website. We have already seen some great results including S$583,043 in direct booking revenue from online display advertising and in only five months, SEM has delivered over S$75K in direct revenue. With the most effective marketing strategy possible, we are so excited to be able to target the right audience resulting in an impressive ROI."

Powered by the same technology Sojern originally developed for its enterprise clients, Sojern now offers its digital marketing solutions for independent hotels and chain properties in two different ways:

• Subscription, or Pick Your Plan™, is priced at a fixed fee each month, and customers pull from their marketing budgets to leverage Sojern’s branding and performance marketing solutions to drive web traffic, build brand awareness, or overcome seasonality.
• Commission, or Pay On The Stay™, customers work with Sojern as part of their overall distribution strategy to drive direct bookings through digital channels. Sojern takes on the risk of running digital campaigns and hotels only pay for bookings.

When considering a commission versus subscription payment model for marketing services, Wendy Norris from Valencia Hotel Group says, "Not only did we have more control with our marketing spend with Sojern's subscription offering, but the Sojern platform allows us to easily monitor and measure our results. We needed to reduce our rising commission expenses that were driven by cost per acquisition (CPA) campaigns and OTAs, and Sojern was able to provide access to Meta and reduce our commission expenses by moving away from the CPA model. Sojern allows us to deliver ROI, results and data that allows us to make key decisions that are performance based."