Marketing Strategy with Focus on Operating Model

Marketing Strategy with Focus on Operating Model for the Marketing Team
I work in the strategy department in hospitality company that own and operate a few hotels in Saudi Arabia, specifically in the Makkah and Jeddah.
A newly appointed Marketing & Public Relation requested me to develop a 2023 Marketing Strategy, the needs to mainly focus on forming the marketing
team from scratch since they previous team members were let go or moved to other depatment ]s
19:46
However after the Pandemic business have picked up and now we have to build am team
I have shared a questionnaire document with the Marketing Director to assist with
Marketing Strategy Questionnaire

1. Is the marketing strategy going to cover all Elaf Group businesses (Hotels, Travel, Umrah)? Or it is direct toward a specific one?
2. Directed towards all Elaf group business. Currently hotels sector accounts for 85% of total revenues for the group.
3. What business objectives does the marketing strategy need to support?
4. Financial growth and profitability
5. Grow brand equity
6. Improve customer experience
7. What metrics determine success or failure? KPI’s, Scorecards, Bookings
8. KPIs for overall performance and business objectives
9. Within certain KPIs there could be certain metrics that determine success such as number & value of bookings, clicks, views, engagement stats, etc…
10. What was the marketing strategy like pre-pandemic?
11. Does not apply… no access to pre pandemic plans.
12. What does your competitive landscape look like?
13. What positioning and messaging will work for your customers?
14. Who is going to implement the marketing strategy? (In-house, Outsources, Hybrid)
15. The implementation will be lead by the corporate marketing team. External subject matter experts will be contracted with for execution i.e. advertising agency, digital agency, social agency, PR agency etc…
16. Briefly provide the existing and to-be: roles & responsibilities, size (FTEs), distribution, organization structure and any systems, specific access, and/or any dynamic that haven’t been mentioned for the marketing team.
17. Corporate marketing structure:
18. MKT & PR Director
19. Digital Marketing Manager
20. PR & Events Specialist
21. Marketing Coordinator
22. Currently all marketing function are centralized. For further growth and better business support, a combination of Central and decentralized responsibilities and roles will need to be mapped out.
23. How does Elaf Group collect and analyze customer feedback?
24. From several online platforms and programs i.e. OTAs such Booking, google accounts, Social media post and direct messages…
25. We have currently launched a GMS system and plan to roll out NPS surveys
26. What does Elaf Group website and social media presence look like?
27. All social and digital presence have been re-launched during the previous year.
28. Continuous improvements will be needed to be UpToDate and not be late with latest technologies and lacking behind competition.
29. How does Elaf Group handle online reviews and ratings?
30. Negative reviews are escalated and forwarded to concerned departments for corrective actions
31. Each property has access on google and OTA platforms to reply to positive and negative reviews
32. What is Elaf Group market share?
33. Who is your target customer?
34. For hotels, business travelers, leisure, and religious travelers visiting the 2 holy cities
35. For travel corporate clients and individuals as secondary
36. What are the top three things that are most important to your target customer when considering a stay in one of your hotels?
37. How does your product or service address them?
38. How does your target customer perceive your hotels & services compared to your competitors?
39. How does existing customers typically follow up after a stay (e.g., by leaving a review, returning for future stays, recommending friends, etc.)?
40. Combination of all of the above
41. What are the most common barriers your target customers face when considering a stay (e.g., price, availability, convenience, etc.)?
42. Availability would be considered the major barrier
43. How do your target customers typically engage with your hotel after a stay (e.g., social media, email marketing, surveys, etc.)?
44. Social media and email marketing.. surveys will be implemented soon with the introduction of the GMS solution
45. What marketing channels have you used in the past (e.g., social media, email marketing, paid advertising, etc.)?
46. All of the above in addition to trade shows and forums as well as PR
47. What are your top three marketing priorities for the next 2023?
48. What are the key differentiators of Elaf Hotels, and how will we highlight those in the marketing strategy?
49. Local company
50. 40 yesrs of experience
51. Knowledge of the and knowhow of Saudi hospitality
52. What are the potential growth and expansion opportunities in the market?
53. What are the main messages and value propositions you want to communicate to your target customers?
54. How will you build and maintain strong relationships with your target customers?
55. How will you monitor and respond to your competitors’ marketing efforts?
56. What is the overall goal of the marketing strategy (e.g., increase sales, increase brand awareness, etc.)?
57. Positively contribute to revenue maximization
58. Increase brand awareness and equity
59. How will you create personalized and engaging staying experiences for your target customers?
60. Do you currently have a loyalty program? Can you provide a short summary of the program?
61. Launched in February 2023. Please refer to www.elaf-first.com
62. What is the percentage of customers who stays at your hotels are enrolled in the loyalty program?
63. What is the timeline for implementing the marketing strategy? and when do you expect to see results?

Sample Solution