E-MARKETING IN HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY PROSPECT'S

AND CHALLENGES
Overview of E-Marketing

• The term 'digital marketing' was first used in the 1990s. In the 2000s and the 2010s, digital
marketing became more sophisticated as an effective way to create a relationship with the
consumer that has depth and relevance. While the term 'digital marketing' may not have been used
until the 1990s, digital marketing itself has roots to the mid-1980s when the SoftAd Group, now
ChannelNet, developed advertising campaigns for several major automobile companies, wherein
people would send in reader reply cards found in magazines and receive in return floppy disks that
contained multimedia content promoting various cars and offering free test drives.
• The rapid evolution of digital media has created new opportunities and avenues for advertising and
marketing. Fueled by the proliferation of devices to access digital media, this has led to the
exponential growth of digital advertising.
Background of Study

• Hilton Nairobi hotel, situated in the city's central business district. The hotel is in close proximity
to local attractions including the House of Parliament, major international companies and
organizations, prime shopping malls and the famous local curio shops which are all within walking
distance from the hotel. The hotel begun its operation in 1969 Known for its iconic architecture,
Hilton Nairobi features modern hotel rooms with spectacular city views. Enjoy relaxed settings
and an array of amenities including soundproofed windows and WiFi. The hotel offers luxurious
suites and executive rooms which both offer additional space and exclusive access to the
Executive Lounge, which offers complimentary food and beverages throughout the day.
Statement of Problem

• Inn the recent technological world the Marketing industry is experiencing a lot of challenges with
rapid growth of innovation and new ways of attracting massive sales most of the organizations are
adopting new methods of doing things inorder to gain a stake in the market which has made major
business to divert attention into implementation of Digital marketing as a form of creating
awareness and knowledge to its clients but above Digital marketing it is still a major challenges to
the organizations which is making its implementation to be a major hindrance into the
organizations.
 Purpose of Study & Objectives of the Study
• The purpose of the study is to establish motive and realize the challenges facing the digital marketing into the
hospitality industry in Kenya, and come up with recommendations for the identified challenges posed.

• The general objective of this study is to identify the major challenges facing digital marketing
implementation on the hospitality industry. This will be achieved through the following objectives.
• To determine the mode used in digital marketing of the organizations product and its effects.
• To understand the target group with different brands.
• To establish and choose appropriate channel of digital marketing.
• To establish appropriate link and network with clients.
Research Hypothesis
• Digital marketing has a bad and good reputation. And half-baked metrics such as click-through
rates (CTRs) still paint a picture of inefficacy and failure. Plenty of evidence shows that the Web is
the most cost-effective branding medium available, but the Net’s reputation will need to be rebuilt
one success at a time. The Marketing department is the integral part of the business that
incorporate this techniques and they are in the position to escalate information to the Top
management if the system will work or fail and seek for further support from the other department
ensuring there activities runs effectively.

Significance of Study
• A thorough analysis of the marketing strategy and its current performance will help the
researcher discover where the biggest marketing opportunity lies. This will allow many
organizations to focus on improving the areas that need the most attention and integrates
the most vital tool in increasing their sales, which will make marketing far more effective and
efficient tool of spearheading it’s growth.
Conceptual Framework

• Simple conceptual framework linking the challenges poised to digital marketing and the outcomes

Causal factors
Right Technology
Social Media Management
Managing Websites
Marketing Integration
 

Intermediate effects
Training the Team
Securing Enough Budget
Targeting Content for an International Audience

Outcomes
Bad Reputations
Electronic customer relationship management
Traditional advertising dollars
Definition of terms

• CTRs Click through Rates

• Social networking sites (SNSs) have been widely recognized as an important category of
social media (Donath& Boyd, 2004; Harris & Rae, 2009; Lin & Lu 2011; Ulusu, 2010). SNSs are
considered as the next great wave in technology, business, and social life (Donath& Boyd, 2004).
Through these websites, users have opportunities to express themselves, exchange
information and knowledge, establish social network ties, and even develop and maintain
social relationships (Ellison, Steinfield, & Lampe, 2007). Online social networks (OSNs) offer
organisations direct access to a plethora of information about their networks of connections
and provide the means by which to create two-way, business-to-consumer (B2C),
information channels. Instead of traditional impersonal and one-directionadvertising,
organisations can establish a personal and two-way communication medium, by accepting
members and having friends on these platforms (Hopkins,2012).
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK REVIEW

Right Technology

• According to the Standard English dictionary it states that the right technology is the branch of
knowledge that deals with the creation and use of technical means and their interrelation with life,
society, and the environment, drawing upon such subjects as industrial arts, engineering, applied
science, and pure science.

• Finding the right technologies is the most biggest concern for marketers. Oftentimes, this is
because feedback on technology is scattered. Marketers might turn to colleagues, friends in the
industry, and/or analyst reports to figure out which technologies best fit their needs -- only to find
that feedback is spread across emails, social media, and so on from people of varied reputability.
looking for a tool, software, or piece of technology to solve a specific marketing problem, where
do you go to find it?
Social Media Management

• The common challenges to your business as a result of social media may include deciding upon
what kind of content to upload to social media, how often, and in what formats. Additional
concerns involve choosing a team or individual to lead and execute a social media strategy, and
maintaining accountability.
• Solution: To overcome the inherent challenges of running a successful social media campaign,
start with process, then input strategy. This means refocusing on a disciplined process for
execution, management, and accountability, and later focusing on content
Training Your Team

• Marketers found training their team to be the fifth biggest challenge this year. Whether it's training
them on the concepts and tools they'll be using every day or making sure they're achieving their
full potential, the struggle was real across the board. 
• To combat this, I’ll share some tips I’ve used during my trainings to make sure the concepts and
tool tips stick and have a lasting effect on your team and your marketing. 

Managing Your Website

20.1%

45.2%
Internet Journals Tv advert

34.7%
Most Used mode of Communication

• The researcher also carried out research with aim of establishing the most used system of
communication in cretring customer wreness within nd outside the country. The research compared
three modes, that is, Internet, Tv adverts, Journals. The respondents were asked to arrange these three
destinations in the order of visit starting with the most visited. The results are indicated below in the
figure 4.3
• Figure 4.3: Most used mode of communication.

• Figure 4.3 show that Internet is the most mode used for communication to clients through the use of
facebook, yahoo, websites and ecetra with 45.2% followed by Journals and magazines which is 34.7%
lastly, Tv advert by 20.1% used mode. The findings of the research indicate that over 40 percent of the
respondents used the internet as the quickest way of marketing its products and services to its clients.
SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Introduction
• This chapter contains summary of the study findings, conclusions drawn, and recommendations
arising from the study

Summaryy
• Digital marketing is the way you communicate and send your product or service message to your
customers through the online channels, and the main digital marketing channels are social media:
“anything that relates to the two way of communications,” video advertising, contents marketing,
digital direct marketing, and mobile advertising.
• The main tasks that digital marketers deal with on a daily basis are choosing the best channels to
promote their client’s business, to utilize these channels to get the best of to gain the highest reach, to
coordinate between publishers or suppliers of online services and the client. And also to generate
digital marketing plans and then launch the digital campaign based on these plans.
Conclusion

• The impact of digital marketing on business in general will minimize the marketing costs by transforming
from traditional/offline marketing to a mix of offline and online marketing with a focus on the online
marketing, and the cost per unique users will decrease. For example, the 10,000 JOD investments on an
offline advertisement will attract less than 6,000 users, but with the same amount of money online, at least
100,000 users will be attracted and consequently may be interested in your product.
• Online marketing also will increase your product and awareness of your business because in Jordan and
worldwide the online marketing channels are the highest reach.
• Promoting your business online eventually will lead to an increase in product sales because you do the right
targeting. If you placed your ads in a newspaper, you don’t know who will read your ads, or if you placed an
outdoor sign in The University street-Amman, you don’t know who will see your ads. With digital marketing
you do 100% true targeting, so your product will be profitable and you will reach more people.
• Brands can now be direct sellers, content producers, bloggers, tweeters and even friends without having to
rely on media to deliver those messages. Consumers can seek out those brands, connect with them through
social networks, tweet about them, and instantaneously let all their friends know what they think about them
or what they plan to buy.
Recommendations

• Digital marketing is the twenty-first century palette for communications, branding, and advertising
campaigns, a tool with virtually infinite possibilities, uses, and outcomes. However, we both know
that marketing an organization or business online is not without its various limitations and
difficulties. For one reason or another, you may need help with your online strategies for marketing
in this regards organisations are being advised to not rely heavily on rankings as a barometer of
progress, and similarly, avoid creating multiple pages of weak content just to generate search traffic.
Instead, focus on a consumer-centric approach that will build your word of mouth marketing, and use
a multi-attribution report to see how many assisted conversions are a result of organic site visitors.
• Every marketer faces different challenges. Although they typically share similar goals, some
teams are stuck on hiring top talent, while others are having trouble finding the right technology for
their needs.
• Whatever the case may be, there’s always at least one area that one can stand to improve. In other
words, there’s always room to optimize the various components of your strategy and turn digital
marketing into an even more effective revenue generator.