Benchmarking your property against your competitors is one of the most important tools in developing a robust direct channel strategy. With real-time analytics and never-before-seen insights, BenchDirect transformed the direct booking landscape and allowed hotel brands to not only compare their end results but also gain a clear understanding of how they came to be.

As a hotelier, the amount of data and insights that BenchDirect provides you is key in understanding both yourself and your competition. But even the most experienced hotelier can be unsure about how to analyze these results and identify where to make improvements to their direct channel strategy. That’s where the Ultimate Hotel Benchmarking Checklist comes in. A handy guide explaining how to evaluate your hotel’s direct channel performance step by step so you know exactly where to focus and what you need to do.

At its core, benchmarking is a two step process of learning and then acting upon what you’ve learned. Let’s dive into some of the guide’s best practices and see how you can take your direct channel to new heights by turning BenchDirect insights into actions.

1. Search distribution by stay date below average? Encourage more bookings on specific dates.

By analyzing your hotel’s upcoming calendar and identifying specific dates when there is a clear dip in demand compared to the market, you can easily build exclusive offers around these dates to give occupancy rates that extra boost. Imagine you spot you are running low on reservations during the month of May. What action can you take here? Displaying a Layer on the homepage allows you to specifically highlight offers that entice lookers to book on the specific dates you are trying to sell. If the package makes as big of a splash as the example below, those direct bookings will come sailing right in!

Homepage offer encouraging reservations for the month of May— Photo by The Hotels NetworkHomepage offer encouraging reservations for the month of May— Photo by The Hotels Network
Homepage offer encouraging reservations for the month of May— Photo by The Hotels Network

2. Mobile Conversion Below Average? Tailor your user experience for mobile devices and get creative!

Mobile dominates online traffic to hotel websites, with recent data trends indicating that an incredible 75% of traffic volume comes from a handheld device. But has your hotel taken the necessary steps to optimize the mobile experience? Your site may look amazing on a laptop, but are you seeing lower than average conversion rates on mobile?

It’s crucial to tailor the user experience and messaging for mobile traffic and look for creative ways to increase sales on this device. By utilizing targeting options, you can display carefully curated and unique offers that are only visible to your mobile audience. Inliner messages appear as native content and don’t overload the UX, something vital for a good mobile experience that is engaging and drives conversions.

Example of a mobile-only offer displayed via an Inliner — Photo by The Hotels NetworkExample of a mobile-only offer displayed via an Inliner — Photo by The Hotels Network
Example of a mobile-only offer displayed via an Inliner — Photo by The Hotels Network

3. Noticing disparity frequency above average? Combat price disparities on the spot.

So you’ve got all the elements for a great website, and things should be going smoothly. But looking at benchmarking data, you notice that your hotel rates are getting undercut by OTAs and metasearch engines more often than those of your competitors. What can you do to prevent this from negatively impacting your direct conversions? Activate an ingenious solution known as Price Match.

With this feature, your hotel can fight against price disparities in real time by implementing it directly in the booking engine. Whenever a price disparity is detected, the user is presented with a discounted rate to match it. One click on the special offer link and the discount is automatically applied to combat the lower rate. By effectively stopping other offers in their tracks, you will easily discourage users from third-party sites and boost your direct bookings instead.

Price Match inliner showing rates at competing sites vs. your best offer— Photo by The Hotels NetworkPrice Match inliner showing rates at competing sites vs. your best offer— Photo by The Hotels Network
Price Match inliner showing rates at competing sites vs. your best offer— Photo by The Hotels Network

The tips above are just some of the great ways you can take action with your benchmarking insights and bring your direct channel strategy to a whole new level.

THN’s Ultimate Hotel Benchmarking Checklist was carefully curated to go hand-in-hand with your direct channel analytics so you can make the most out of your data. Ready to get started? Download the full guide today.

About The Hotels Network

The Hotels Network is an innovative technology company working with over 20,000 hotels around the globe. Boasting an international team of specialists with deep expertise in hospitality, product design and consumer marketing, the company offers clients a full-stack growth platform to power their direct channel. By leveraging a series of integrated tools and analytics, hotel brands can attract, engage and convert guests throughout the user journey.

In addition to price comparison, reviews summary and a full suite of personalization options, THN's Predictive Personalization product harnesses machine learning techniques to predict user behavior and then automatically personalizes both the message and the offer for each user. The company's benchmarking product, BenchDirect, is the first of its kind for the direct channel, providing hotels with never-before-seen competitive data.

THN is proud to have been recognized for the company's product innovations, rapid growth, and unique workplace culture for the second year in a row, most recently named the Best Direct Booking Tool for 2024 in the prestigious HotelTechAwards.

For more information about THN, visit https://thehotelsnetwork.com/en or contact [email protected].