Lodging Interactive, CoMMingle capitalizing on 10 years of success

January 17, 2012 | Hotel Marketing

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The award-winning interactive and social media marketing agency for the hospitality industry is positioned for another banner year in 2012, with new partnerships, programs and toolkits to be unveiled in the coming months for hotels.

German Philosopher Albert Schweitzer said: "Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful." Lodging Interactive, an interactive and social media marketing agency exclusively servicing the hospitality industry, and its subsidiary CoMMingle, a social-media marketing consultancy, is proof that happiness and success go hand in hand. Coming off a banner year of accomplishments and award winning web designs for its customers in 2011, the 10-year young group is elated over incremental company growth, and each attributes its successes to the winning online campaigns created by a team of dedicated hospitality professionals. New business partnerships, financial service models, mobile website offerings and content management toolkits to be unveiled in 2012 position Lodging Interactive and CoMMingle for another monumental year.

"It takes a team to be successful, and at Lodging Interactive and CoMMingle, we are fortunate to have a team of more than 50 highly skilled web experts who truly like working with our customers and each other," said D.J. Vallauri, Lodging Interactive President and CEO. "Couple that with more than 650 hotels, resorts, spas and restaurants around the world who depend on us for website design and management, social media marketing, mobile marketing, and measurement and accountability services, and it's easy to see why we are happy to come to work every day. Sprinkle in top honors achieved, such as the 2011 Interactive Media Award and Travel Weekly's 2011 Magellan Award for website designs, and we are ecstatic. 2012 is truly going to be the year of social media and mobile marketing, and Lodging Interactive and CoMMingle are eager to serve."

According to Vallauri, both companies grew substantially in 2011, over 2010. Lodging Interactive acquired 50 new clients in 2011, and CoMMingle followed close behind with 40 full service clients.

2011 Services Optimize Success
As a Lodging Interactive and CoMMingle partner, hoteliers achieved significant success last year from new services introduced for social media content enhancement, search-engine optimization and managing customer reviews:

- CoMMingle by Lodging Interactive introduced its Social Media Connector Toolbar for hotels. The service enables hotel websites to "pull in" social media website content maximizing on-site visitor time. With this tool, properties can present their social media content and user generated reviews on their own websites maximizing their website visitor retention.

- A new search engine-optimized Mobile website was rolled out designed to build guest loyalty while driving new revenues. In addition to the mobile site -- that ensures proper content rendering on all major cell phone devices, including iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, Google smartphones and more -- a new Mobile SMS Text service was designed so hotels can create and schedule mobile communications in a complete turn-key approach.

- A new Guest Review System designed for hotels, restaurants and spas made its debut. The GRS enables hospitality companies to manage and display consumer reviews on their own websites. The web-based review-management system empowers hotels to collect their own guest reviews and post management responses on their websites. It also allows consumers post their comments and score their hotel experiences based on service attributes. Additionally, consumers can share their guest reviews on their Facebook wall and to their network of friends. Hotels are notified in real-time of new guest reviews and have the ability to validate guest stay information before reviews are posted on their website.

"It's an exciting time to be a Lodging Interactive and CoMMingle partner," Vallauri said. "In 2012 we will introduce new services for both lines of business, as well as launch new breakthrough business models for hotels. Anyone looking to better plan, socialize, engage and measure in 2012 will find that we have the focus, expertise, longevity and results they need. It's going to be a very Happy New Year with Lodging Interactive and CoMMingle as your online marketing partner."

Related Link: Lodging Interactive