{"id":1718,"date":"2018-04-24T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-04-24T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.motionpoint.com\/?post_type=blog&p=1718"},"modified":"2018-04-24T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2018-04-24T00:00:00","slug":"beyond-booking-sites-how-to-serve-global-travelers-with-unique-localized-co","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.motionpoint.com\/blog\/beyond-booking-sites-how-to-serve-global-travelers-with-unique-localized-co\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Serve Global Travelers with Unique, Localized Content"},"template":"","blog_categories":[9,107,15],"resource_categories":[37,30,24,35,33,26,21,23,32,22,17,29,18],"targeted_localized_audience":[],"document_categories":[],"class_list":["post-1718","blog","type-blog","status-publish","hentry","blog_categories-marketing-strategies","blog_categories-translation-technology","blog_categories-website-translation","resource_categories-content-type-blog-post","resource_categories-business-goal","resource_categories-role-business-strategist","resource_categories-content-type","resource_categories-business-goal-global-expansion","resource_categories-industry","resource_categories-topic-international-marketing","resource_categories-role-marketer","resource_categories-business-goal-optimize-performance","resource_categories-role","resource_categories-topic","resource_categories-industry-travel","resource_categories-topic-website-translation"],"acf":{"blog_short_description":"Localizing your website, social media and other digital marketing content can tell your business\u2019 story in compelling ways\u2014and drive business.","news_inline_styles":"","blog_video_id":"","article_body":"

Much like customers living in your flagship market, today\u2019s international customers don\u2019t want to go on \u201ctrips.\u201d They want experiences they can remember for the rest of their lives. They also want very specific amenities\u2014the features your hotels are uniquely positioned to provide.<\/p>\n

Third-party and first-party booking solutions can help hoteliers reach those international customers. But the best way to showcase your properties\u2019 unique characteristics with travelers\u2014and drive more traffic to whatever booking solution you use\u2014is to localize your website in different languages.<\/p>\n

Your social media and other digital marketing content can also tell your business\u2019 story in compelling ways. Localizing this content reaches global customers where traditional marketing cannot, and delivers a powerful, persuasive narrative. <\/p>\n

Smartly Serving Global Customers<\/h2>\n

Using third-party booking websites is a fine way to generate business from customers in all markets. But operating a first-party booking engine on your own translated hotel site creates opportunities to better educate prospective global customers, tell your story in ways that capture the imagination, and drive more revenue. <\/p>\n

Hoteliers are incentivizing customers to book directly on their websites, where they won\u2019t sacrifice sales commissions\u2014up to 20%, in fact\u2014to third-party providers. They\u2019re especially directing customers to smartphone apps and the mobile web. According to Google<\/a>, mobile conversion rates on travel sites grew nearly 90% between 2014 and 2015.<\/p>\n

This is an especially smart play for hoteliers courting international customers.<\/p>\n

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Many Asian and Latin American markets have more mobile-first travelers than the U.S. does.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Having a localized smartphone app, available to global customers to directly book with your company, can be a key driver for future business. Countries such as Thailand, China, Indonesia, Brazil, Malaysia and Spain all have much higher percentages of mobile-centric travelers<\/a> than the U.S. does. In fact, 40% of all digital travel sales<\/a> will be generated through mobile devices by 2020. In 2016 alone, 25% of Hilton\u2019s business<\/a> was generated through its smartphone app or website.<\/p>\n

Social networks are also a powerful and persuasive source of information for global travelers. Hotel marketers regularly monitor Google Analytics and Facebook Insights<\/a> to see what content interests customers. They\u2019re quickly adapting to Facebook\u2019s and Instagram\u2019s algorithmic preference for video content, for instance.<\/p>\n

This extraordinary shift in how customers research and book travel can empower hospitality companies to take greater control of their narratives in global markets<\/b> by localizing their content in ways that embrace creative, persuasive, world-class translations\u2014distributed across many channels.<\/p>\n

The Power of SEO and Story <\/h2>\n

Don\u2019t forget to think seriously about SEO in all the languages your customers may be speaking, too.<\/span><\/p>\n

As we recently wrote<\/a>, global users\u2014especially in markets that aren\u2019t familiar with your company\u2014aren\u2019t likely to look for your hotel or brand by name. They\u2019ll instead use aspirational search terms such as \u201caffordable hotels in Madrid near Prado Museum\u201d or \u201cresort hotels in Orlando with shuttle to theme parks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Your translated content, for use in all channels, should be as evocative and imaginative as the content for your flagship market. Look for web and digital translation solutions that can accurately detect your SEO-rich digital content (like website metadata) and localize them for global customers.<\/p>\n

This content can certainly be used to populate your information that appears on third-party booking sites. But it should also be distributed across your other channels in global markets\u2014including your website and social networks.<\/b> This guarantees that your translations meet your specific needs and marketing goals.<\/p>\n

You can also optimize your translated website\u2019s contents and UX to match your global customers\u2019 expectations<\/b>. For instance:<\/p>\n