Every Monday we bring you our weekly round-up blog to share last week’s interesting articles and blogs on marketing, social media, hotel distribution and other hospitality topics that we thought were worth sharing. This blog links to a few highlights from last week’s news.

Travel Agents

Many travelers today turn to the Internet to book their flight and hotel reservations sites. Is there still value to booking trips through a travel agency? As agencies reposition themselves as expert advisors capable of handling complicated needs and itineraries, a  growing number of travelers are starting to understand the value that travel agencies can bring. Agents can also help when bad situations occur during your trip:
Travel Agents Know Something You Don’t

 

Email and Social Media

What are the benefits of integrating your email marketing with your social media efforts and how can you best do this? Many integration opportunities are out there by using, for example, SMS and asking your guests to share and connect:
9 Ways to Integrate Email and Social Media Marketing

 

Mobile Marketing

Forecasts show that the number of people with smartphones will be close to 40% of the world’s population by 2015. This article offers tips to help you create a successful mobile marketing strategy for 2012:
How to Make Your Mobile Marketing Succeed in 2012

 

Social Media

Radian6 recently published a useful e-book offering 30 ideas that could help you with your 2012 social media plan. Learn, among other tips, how to gather competitive intelligence and how to lead the conversation as a thought leader:
30 Ideas for Your 2012 Social Media Plan

 

Organic Search

The rules and influences for organic search change so rapidly it can be hard to keep up with the best ways to get results. Be careful with your search strategy and be aware that this process will be forever on the move. This article provides some tactics and tips to make sure you keep up with the latest trends in the marketplace and know what your audience is responding to:
Relevant Search Tactics: Doing What Comes Naturally

 

*Image source: OPEN forum