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Background
Considering attendees travel long distances and stay for multiple days, it is assumed that many attendees of conferences and trade shows require accommodation when attending Partner Events. The HotelMap Essential Integration is the minimum requirement needed in order to benefit from the HotelMap platform. It has been designed to ensure Attendees are made aware that the Event has a hotel booking service without creating additional workload for event marketing teams.
Mission Control
All required code and design assets are available in your HotelMap Mission Control at https://HotelMap.com/missioncontrol. Sign in with your work email address.
Essentials checklist
Integrated 'Hotels Page'
The hotels page is a dedicated hotel booking web page on each event's website. It contains the HotelMap script that has been created for each individual event, and it adapts to each user's own language and location.
"HOTELS" link in top-level navigation
It is essential that users do not need to hunt for the hotels page. For this reason, it is a requirement that there is a HOTELS link in the top-level navigation. Google replicates header and footer navigation in search results, so having this link also helps to ensure that there is a HOTELS link in the event's search results.
The standard HotelMap registration integration inserts hotel deals at the end of the event registration process. Pease note, this insertion is after the attendee has completed the registration process. Data for exhibitors and attendees who do not go through the registration process, and data from attendees from the prior year, can be inserted into the system through an API or encrypted data upload process.
Additionally, the system automatically emails delegates in their own language post registration and at designated intervals. It does not continue to email once a hotel booking has been made or if the attendee says they do not require accommodation. The focus with this integration is on attendees who are travelling from afar.
Organic and paid search results
This applies only to the existing search optimisation and paid search that you are already doing for your event. It does not require you to spend any money on search advertising but merely to include 'Hotels' within these campaigns and initiatives as standard.
Retargeting code in event website footer (all pages)
The retargeting code enables event specific hotel deals to be presented to event attendees who have visited the event's website, completed registration or searched the event's hotel deals but have not completed their booking.
Site-wide website banner and/or content promotion (all pages)
A site-wide banner or content panel that briefly mentions hotel booking for the event in a consistent location on every page of the event website. This does not need to be large and it can also be a standard website banner.
Email snippet
HotelMap Mission Control will provide a small content snippet (see below) to be inserted into all emails sent to exhibitors and visitors during the marketing phase of an event. This snippet should be inserted by default in all mailers.
Customer Service (HotelMap Agent Centre)
Another good habit is to ensure that the event's customer service, sales and operations teams always sign off web chats and emails with a simple call to action relating to the event's hotel booking. HotelMap Agent Centre makes it very easy for customer service teams to access the correct content and links for each event. "Have you booked your hotel yet?"