DIGITAL BENCHMARK REPORT 2018 - ReviewPro...SERVICED APARTMENT DIGITAL BENCHMARK REPORT 2018 3 N ew trends are entering the marketplace and brands need to pay attention or risk being

SERVICED APARTMENT DIGITAL BENCHMARK REPORT 2018 1

DIGITAL BENCHMARK REPORT 2018Compiled by

£299

Much has changed in the 18 months since our last Digital Benchmark Report. Although the degree of digital marketing undertaken by competing brands still varies, more are now embracing the opportunities for engagement that digital provides. As their understanding grows, their reluctance to invest in digital marketing recedes.”


New trends are entering the marketplace and brands need to pay attention or risk being forced aside. With the need to become

more visible and reach more potential guests, tomorrow’s digital marketing will advance emerging technologies as consumers demand a more integrated experience. To that end, a number of underlying megatrends are driving the growth of digital.

True understanding of the customer journey

Data-driven marketing is a powerful tool, but how that data translates to the customer journey will be paramount in digital marketing success in 2018. Data-driven businesses that use machine learning to serve more relevant experiences for their customers are better positioned to take share away from their competitors. The winners will be those that strive first to use data to know where potential guests will be on every step of their purchasing path, learn what appeals to them, and target market based on their preferences along their journey.

Conversational user interfaces

Conversational interactions, such as Amazon’s Alexa and Google’s Assistant, chatbots and others, will continue to find their place in consumers’ daily routines and lives. It’s extremely natural and will allow for brands to interact with consumers that want information, or to transact, or just to be entertained.

Voice marketing

Google says that 20% of mobile searches are voice searches, and that number is only going to increase as consumers get used to asking Alexa, Siri and their smart fridge for insight on what to buy. Marketers need to prepare by creating digital content that captures these types of searches, and advertising in non-traditional places (like sponsoring smart-fridge recommendations).

Blockchain

Blockchain has the potential to disrupt apartment distribution. The question is whether this nascent technology will compete or complement the existing ecosystem. From advanced loyalty programmes to disintermediation strategies, regaining control over room inventory and guest data is a priority for branded and independent apartments. Blockchain technology could theoretically guarantee an open door to travel distribution, thereby solving the problem of inventory access. No more minimum volumes or exorbitant integration costs; virtually zero cost of guest acquisition and reduced dependence on OTAs. In the very near future we will discover what a blockchain-enabled future looks like and what opportunities blockchain gives hoteliers to get closer to the customer?

I hope that you find our 2018 Digital Benchmark Report of intertest and value to your business.

Piers Brown@servaptnews#[email protected]

Welcome - Piers Brown

Attention is a currency, conversation is the original user interface. Building a personalised connection with prospects will be critical for digital marketing in 2018. Digital will no longer stand alone as a separate discipline, but will become integrated in real life experiences.

If your brand would like to sponsor the Serviced Apartment News series of industry reports, or are interested in commissioning a more detailed focus on a specific aspect within the sector, please contact [email protected] to discuss.

4 SERVICED APARTMENT DIGITAL BENCHMARK REPORT 2018

In this third edition we again look at the advances made by leading sector brands, but this time over a three-year period and concentrating on how serviced

apartments are using social media and their comparative online reputation scores.

Social media audience figures have been compiled by Travel Intelligence Network and the benchmarking of serviced apartment brands based on their online reputation was carried out in conjunction with ReviewPro, leaders in Guest Intelligence solutions for the hospitality industry.

The research for this report was carried out between December 2017 and January 2018. It therefore represents a snapshot-in-time of serviced apartment brands’ digital marketing strategies. Wherever possible we have compared each brand’s social media reach by individual social networks and benchmarked their online reputations.

ReviewPro aggregated 548,800 online guest reviews published during the 12-month period from 1 July 2016 to 30 June 2017.

The analysis was driven by the GRITM, ReviewPro’s industry-standard online reputation score, which is used by thousands of hotels worldwide as a benchmark for reputation management efforts. The data used was based on reviews from 175 Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) and review sites, in 45 languages.

The study included 43 of the serviced apartment brands covered in this report. When the volume of properties for a specific brand was too high, the analysis included data for a random subset of 50 properties. Where applicable, we have also included rankings and scores for brands from last year’s study by way of comparison. The following areas were analysed:

• Global Review IndexTM (GRI) by brand• Guest satisfaction performance based on other Key

Indexes: Service, Value, Location, Cleanliness and Room• Review volume by language, country and review source• Average review statistics per property

Much has changed in the 18 months since our last Digital Benchmark Report. Although the degree of digital marketing undertaken by competing brands still varies, more are now embracing the opportunities for engagement that digital provides. As their understanding grows, their reluctance to invest in digital marketing recedes.

It will be fascinating to see how far the serviced apartment sector travels in the coming months and years.

Mark HarrisDirector, Travel Intelligence [email protected]

Methodology - Mark Harris

Ever since we launched the Digital Benchmark Report in 2015, serviced apartment brands’ use of digital marketing and social media in particular has increased spectacularly.


The research for this report was undertaken by Adam Harris of Sheffield Hallam University and Nikki Hockey of Travel Intelligence Network. Adam compiled the social media audience figures and Nikki carried out the desk research.

Additional sources

Criteo – Travel Flash Report 2018Eye for Travel– Does Virtual Reality Have a Place in Travel?Forbes – Seven Mobile Marketing Opportunities for The Travel IndustryGoogle – How people use their phones for travelHVS – Social Media Marketing in the Hotel Industry – trends and opportunities in 2017The Apartment Service – Global Serviced Apartment Industry Report 2016-17We are Social/Hootsuite – Digital in 2017

List of charts & tables

Fig 1 Emerging technologies in travelFig 2 % of serviced apartments bookable on lineFig 3 Serviced apartment booking channelsFig 4 What content do mobile travellers crave?Fig 5 The rise of the mobile app empowered travellerFig 6 Daily active users on social media channels over timeFig 7 ADR directly attributed to occupied room nights generated by social media activityFig 8 Top performing serviced apartment brands by social media followersFig 9 Instagram -brands with biggest % increase 2016 vs 2018Fig 10 Instagram – top brands by followers & % increase 2016 vs 2018Fig 11 Twitter - brands with biggest % increase 2016 vs 2018Fig 12 Twitter – top brands by followers & % increase 2016 vs 2018Fig 13 Facebook - brands with biggest % increase in Likes2016 vs 2018Fig 14 Facebook – top brands by Likes & biggest % increase 2016 vs 2018Fig 15 LinkedIn - - brands with biggest % increase 2016 vs 2018Fig 16 LinkedIn - top brands with biggest % increase 2016 vs 2018Fig 17 Pinterest - brands with biggest % increase 2016 vs 2018Fig 18 Pinterest – top brands with biggest % increase 2016 vs 2018Fig 19 Top brands by total social audienceFig 20 Serviced apartment brands by total social media audience (as at 31.01.18)Figs 21 - 28 Examples of serviced apartment social media postsFig 29 Top 10 performing brands overall (reputation management)Fig 30 Average Scores by individual criteria (reputation management)Fig 31 Top 10 performing brands by Service (reputation management)Fig 32 Top 10 performing brands by Value (reputation management)Fig 33 Top 10 performing brands by Location (reputation management)Fig 34 Top 10 performing brands by Cleanliness (reputation management)Fig 35 Top 10 performing brands by Room (reputation management) Fig 36 Top 10 review languages (reputation management)Fig 37 Top 10 review countries (reputation management)Fig 38 Top 10 review sources (reputation management)Fig 39 Average review data [by property per year] (reputation management)Fig 40 Summary of ReviewPro rankings of brands (reputation management)

Disclaimer

Every effort has been made to ensure that the data contained in this report was accurate as at 1st February 2018. However, neither Serviced Apartment News nor Travel Intelligence Network accepts any responsibility for any inaccuracies contained herein.

GRITM is based on all reviews whereas the volume of reviews analysed for other Key Indexes (Service, Value, Location, Cleanliness and Room) is lower because not all OTAs and review sites give guests the option to rate each department. The source distribution of a brand’s reviews impacts their performance on department level.

List of charts, sources & acknowledgements


Introduction - digital marketing in hospitality

We live in a digital world. Over half the world’s population – 3.75 billion people - are now internet users. Global users were up 8% in 2017 over 20161.

Nearly two-thirds of the world’s population now uses a mobile phone and half of all web traffic now takes place on smartphones and other mobile devices, whilst the number of social media users is growing over 20% a year. In fact, one-third of the world’s population now uses social media every month whilst mobile social media use is growing by 30% year on year. 55% of all active connections are from smartphones.

Against this background of growing and inexorable adoption it is hardly surprising that digital marketing is transforming the way in which the hospitality engages with its consumers.

Fig. 1 Emerging technologies in travel

Artificial Intelligence is the mega-trend driving technology, data and analytics. Aside from domestic applications such as Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri and Microsoft’s Cortana, travel and hospitality sector brands have already deployed AI-driven voice-activated technology. TripAdvisor already uses chatbots in messaging apps like Facebook messenger; Hilton uses them in their front of house service whilst the Dorchester Collection uses chatbots to analyse customer data.

AI is set to have a big impact on the travel and hospitality industries, thanks to AI voice technology’s ability to search and book flights or act as a concierge service. The technology won’t replace human interaction, but like mobile and the internet before that, it will further fragment an already fragmented distribution landscape.

The strategic challenge (and opportunity) for hospitality brands is to communicate the brand experience. Travel brands have witnessed the success of Virtual Reality (VR) in the gaming industry and are now aiming to emulate it. Facebook’s purchase of Oculus Rift shows where VR could yet find its natural home.

As their customers find new ways to make more informed travel and accommodation choices, and as Generation Y consumer give way to Generation Z, hospitality brands will have to adapt their digital marketing strategies to meet customer expectations driven up by the capabilities of new technology.

Machine learning / AI

45%

27%

Augmented reality / Virtual

Chatbots and natural

language processing

14%

Internet of things

9%

Blockchain

3%

Robotics

0%

Other

3%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

DIGITAL MARKETING BY NUMBERS

• 42% of global travellers use their smartphones to plan their trips.

• 70% check online reviews before booking.2

• 32% of online travel sales will be made by mobile by 2020.3

• 148.3 million people use the Internet to book accommodations, tours, and activities.

• Over 50% of travellers check social media for travel tips.4

1 We are Social/Hootsuite – Digital in 20172 http://www.justluxe.com/luxe-insider/trends/feature-1965252.php 3 https://www.ipro-software.com/blog/mobile-trends-travel-industry/ 4 http://www.cmo.com/features/articles/2017/5/5/15-mind-blowing-stats-about-digital-trends-in-travel-hospitality-tlp-ddm.html#gs.mZOilLs


Distribution challenges Fig. 2 % of seviced apartments bookable on-line

Source: Global Serviced Apartments Industry Report 2016-17

The conflict between serviced apartment operators who want to distribute their inventory to fill space at the highest possible price and buyers who want access to as many operators as possible through as few systems as possible, continues to rage.

The reality of distribution, to which digital marketing is intrinsically linked, is that occupancy comes at a price averaging between 15% and 24% for Online Travel Agents (OTAs) like Expedia or Bookings.com, or the Global Distribution Systems on which most Travel Management Company (TMCs)5 rely.

As a result, hotel chains have focussed their efforts in direct sales channels by investing heavily in TV and their own digital channels to reduce distribution costs and leverage consumer loyalty.

With Corporate procurement of serviced apartments maturing, the sector’s Achilles’ heel is increasingly its shortcoming in online availability and booking processes that are anything but seamless.

As Fig 2 shows, at the start of 2017 28% of serviced apartment inventory was still not bookable online, although this was an improvement of 6.78% from 18 months previously6.

The distribution landscape for serviced apartment brands is fragmented. Of the 72% of operators that are bookable online, 81.39% of operators receive up to half of all bookings through their own sites. OTAs account for up to a third of bookings for 66.03% of operators (up from 60.04% in 2015), whilst GDS accounts for a similar proportion of bookings for 93.65% of operators. As Fig 3 shows below, after the GDS, direct bookings, OTAs and TMC/RMC non-GDS bookings deliver similar volumes.

0% 10% 20% 30%

Not bookable on-line

40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

2015/16

2016/17

Bookable on-line

5 Global Serviced Apartments Industry Report 2016-17 (The Apartment Service)6 Global Serviced Apartments Industry Report 2015-16


Fig 3 – serviced apartment booking channels

% OF BOOKINGS 0 – 30% 31 – 50% 51 – 70% 70 – 100%YEAR 2015/16 2016/17 2015/16 2016/17 2015/16 2016/17 2015/16 2016/17

Direct website 62.12% 56.59% 14.56% 24.80% 10.61% 10.85% 12.33% 4.65%

OTAs 60.04% 66.03% 22.6% 12.26% 13.21% 15.09% 3.77% 4.72%TMCs/RMCs 70.83% 64.83% 12.5% 17.58% 10.42% 10.99% 6.3% 6.59%Via GDS 94.44% 93.65% 5.55% 3.17% 0% 1.58% 0% 1.58%

Source: Global Serviced Apartment Industry Report 2016/17

Part of the problem is one of identification. It is not clear from many apart-hotel or extended stay property names that they are serviced apartments. Instead they become lost in alphabetical hotel listings unless the browser recognises the brand or a descriptive word such as ‘apartment’ in the name.

Effective distribution dictates that serviced apartment brands have the systems in place to optimise the conversion of consumer interest into action. However, the knock-on effect of serviced apartments’ slow adoption of simple, easy to use and seamless booking experiences available to consumers from both branded hotel sites and OTAs is that the sector’s growth potential is being restricted.

The Millennial generation will shortly dominate the workplace, with Generation Z coming into the market place too. These consumers are digital natives and are totally reliant on digital technology. They demand slick systems that enable them to make informed choices and offer choices that are personalised to their individual tastes.

Mobile in travel

Fig 4 What content do mobile travellers crave?


The number of mobile device subscriptions has risen sharply over the last ten years. At the end of 2016, 65% of the world’s population (4.8 billion) were mobile subscribers. By 2020, this will have risen to 5.7 billion - 73% of all humanity7.

Mobile has transformed travel and hospitality, becoming the focus for bookings and customer engagement. As HCS puts it, “the vast reach and worldwide interconnectivity of mobile devices make them a suitable platform for commerce. As mobile device penetration rates strengthen globally, consumer engagement through this platform is only expected to strengthen.”

Sector brands are spending more in marketing through mobile. In fact, according to eMarketer, 63% of digital travel advertising spend already goes to mobile and is rising rapidly.

Research by Criteo found that 33% of serviced apartment booking now come from mobile, compared to 39% of hotel and 22% of air bookings. 20% of serviced apartments booked via mobile come from smartphones.

Most searches now take place on mobile devices, so brands are investing in mobile SEO, using responsive web pages to optimize the layout of web content to the screen size of the browser; sticking to one concept per page and using terms that are relevant to a particular topic together with simple graphics.

Customer satisfaction and brand affinity also increases when user experiences are personalised, providing brands collect relevant information to develop customer profiles. For example, Marriott’s app records users’ amenity preferences such extra towels and pillow firmness.

Mobile also enabled location-based services. Back in 2014, Ipsos found that 88% of people make local searches on smartphones, while 61% want mobile search results customized to their immediate location. Mobile helps users to avoid queuing to check-in at hotels, airports and car rental desks, thereby improving guest satisfaction. Mobile offers local insight and options too through local area guides and activity booking tools, making for a richer and more rewarding traveller experience. Arriving at a hotel after the restaurant has closed means searching for a nearby options, directions and the means to book without having to find the concierge.

Fig 5 – The rise of the mobile app empowered traveller

Source: Amadeus

7 https://www.hvs.com/article/8049-Social-Media-Marketing-in-the-Hotel-Industry-Trends-and-Opportunities-in-2017


Whilst mobile wallets and payments are growing in adoption, some commentators believe they will be responsible for a 360-degree change in consumer buying habits and expectations. Interestingly, a Sabre survey showed that over half of travellers said they would prefer to check into hotels using a mobile app. A Deloitte study found that 13% of hotel guests already use mobile payments for their hotel bills.

No wonder eMarketer predicts hoteliers will increase their 2018 budgets for digital marketing and social media strategy in a bid to grow consumer awareness and attract more guests.

More and more travel brands are creating ‘mobile moments’ to engage customers. In January 2018 Skift reported8 that consumers now spend over five hours a day on their mobile devices, making premium mobile content a priority,

“Beyond function and utility, relevant mobile moments will turn users into members. Brands become market leaders when they reinvent consumer touchpoints and create new ways to add value on-the-go. Data-targeted email coupons or real-time app notifications are ways in which mobile moments can surprise and delight. Innovative mobile ad formats also create a huge impact. Immersive ads, for example, can transport consumers to a virtual vacation through interactive 360 views of the beach or a selection of tropical drinks through augmented reality components. Ultimately, the mobile experience must be easy to navigate, personalized, and convenient.”

However, the mobile revolution still has some way to go – especially in the UK. 54%9 of British travellers are unhappy with the travel industry’s slow adoption of mobile technology and half of UK holidaymakers want to see more mobile check-ins in airports, hotels, and when hiring transport.

In 2017, three quarters booked their holidays online. 48% of UK travellers want to use interactive tech, such as augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), to preview and interact with destinations before they book10.

ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT MOBILE

• Mobile is still growing steadily, especially for Online Travel Agencies.

• Tablet usage keeps declining across all travel categories.

• Combining booking data can help make up for lower mobile performance.

• Up to 80% of last-minute bookings are made on mobile devices.

• Mobile is the majority for travel advertisers with a booking app.

• App sees slightly more booking dollars per transaction than mobile web.

• The conversion rate on app is 5 times higher than on mobile web.

Source: Criteo Travel Flash Report

AIRLINES & TMCS ON MOBILE

• 36% of airlines feel they are not investing enough in mobile.

• 35% of airlines believe having a mobile strategy is very important for successful business.

• 95% of airlines intend to invest more in mobile.

• 78% of TMCs believe having mobile strategy is very important for successful business.

• 33% of TMCs feel they are not investing enough in mobile.

• 100% of TMCs intend to invest more on mobile in 2017.

Source: Travelport

8 https://skift.com/2018/01/17/why-marketers-need-to-focus-on-the-big-picture-of-traveler-engagement/ 9 http://mobilemarketingmagazine.com/uk-holidaymakers-mobile-tech-innovation-travel-sector-apadmi 10 http://www.information-age.com/technology-elevating-travel-industry-new-heights-123469680/


Mobile & socialAlmost 80% of social media time is now spent on mobile11. Social media enables brands to stay connected with their customers.

Traditionally, many accommodation brands have relied on promotional content to engage with their customers through social media. In contrast, Hyatt Hotels uses user-generated content (UGC) to engage with its customers through social media12.

The #InAHyattWorld campaign was intended to highlight the brand’s hospitality values. Employees would perform random acts of kindness for guests and post them on the Hyatt Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts. Once guests started to join in by sharing their own experiences, the hashtag went viral across multiple platforms resulting in Hyatt developing a microsite dedicated to UGC, populated with 89,000 Instagram images from over 575 Hyatt hotels and resorts.

Meanwhile Marriott Hotels has been incentivising its rewards programme members by awarding 2,000 bonus points for referring their hotels to family and friends. Using the social sharing platform Chirpify, members who connect their Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts receive points for each account connected. This social sharing also enables Marriott to leverage its most engaged users by rewarding those who share branded content – using relevant campaign hashtags – in exchange for bonus reward points.

Fig 6. Daily active users on social media channels over time

Q1 2014 Q3 2014

802

Q1 2015 Q3 2015 Q1 2016 Q3 20160

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

1000

1100

1200

1300

Num

ber o

f use

rs (M

illio

ns)

Time period

1227

600

319255

20046

158

Source: Facebook Inc, Instagram Inc, Twitter Inc, Snap Inc 2017

11 https://marketingland.com/facebook-usage-accounts-1-5-minutes-spent-mobile-171561 12 https://www.translatemedia.com/translation-blog/social-media-travel-industry/


OTAs vs. socialHotel and serviced apartments continue to struggle to compete with Online Travel Agents (OTAs) when it comes to digital marketing. That’s no surprise given that the Priceline Group (owners of Booking.com and Kayak) spent a record $3.5 billion on marketing in 2016.13

During the same period Expedia spent $4.3 billion – up almost $1 billion on the previous 12 months. The collective outcome is that travellers are bombarded with so much advertising content that they turn instead to travel bloggers and YouTubers for guidance. Unlike brand advertising, bloggers’ views tend to be regarded as more impartial. 70% of consumers are influenced by bloggers or digital influencers when making a purchasing decision.14

In 2017, Bridgestreet Global Hospitality announced the launch of an OTA for serviced apartments, aimed at the business travel market, heralding this as “the next phase of its ongoing plan to connect the sharing economy with the extended-stay travel market”.15

Digital marketing, especially linked to social, has given the hotel guest a real voice. “Hotels are listening more closely to the feedback of their guests – online and face-to-face. For hotels, reputation is what matters and what guests say about hotels after they have departed,” says Nikki Forster, PwC Leader of Hospitality and Gaming.16

Arguably there is no more powerful tool than social media in raising brand awareness and engaging with customers. In a hotel environment, brands can connect with guests before, during and after their stays.

With the proliferation of social media, platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and personal blogs are now commonly used to comment on peoples’ experiences, including which hotels they have stayed at. “To be at the competitive edge, hotels need to be involved and engaged with their audience by taking part in online discussions, building an increasing awareness around its brand, as well as forging existing relationships with loyal and potential customers.

Thanks to social video, YouTube is now the second largest search engine after Google. On average, people spend 15 - 25 minutes per day on YouTube, making the channel very influential. However, it isn’t just bloggers who have influence on our travel and accommodation choices, Consumers’ personal social networks on social media have a major impact too.

83% of consumers use social networking, video or photo sites for inspiration17 so accommodation providers need to have a social strategy in place to drive bookings. Facebook claims that people spend five times more on their platform than on other travel-related sites.

Fig 7 – ADR directly attributed to occupied room nights generated by social media activity

Lower than the hotel’s overall ADR

The same as the hotel’s overall ADR

Higher than the hotel’s overall ADR

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

60%

Source: Penn State University

13 https://www.tnooz.com/article/priceline-group-3-5-billion-advertising-2016/ 14 https://www.travelport.com/blog/how-social-media-has-impacted-travel-industry 15 http://www.servicedapartmentnews.com/home/news/2017/2/22/bridgestreet-launches-business-travel-ota16 https://www.pwc.co.za/en/press-room/social-media-hotel.html 17 http://digitalvisitor.com/social-drives-accommodation-bookings/


The introduction of dynamic ads on Facebook and Instagram allows brands to tailor their adverts to specific consumer behaviours, targeting users more likely to spend longer on a landing page instead of just clicking through.

According to Penn State University’s May 2016 study U.S. Hotels and Social Media: Objectives, Reporting, Measurement and Results hotels are strengthening their presence across these platforms to increase room reservations (61%) and guest satisfaction scores (59%)18.

Further research by Penn State shows that, by the end of 2016, travel and hospitality brands are the third most responsive industry in the US on social media. 46% of messages received required a response from the brand. And, as Fig 7 shows, the average daily rate from social media-generated bookings does not abstract from overall achieved ADR.

New video formats such as live video, 360-degree video (and photos) are now available across Facebook (Facebook Live), Instagram (within Instagram Stories) and Twitter. Live video allows brands to create engaging content at a fraction of the cost of more polished productions, for example showcasing behind-the-scenes or live event experience. Instagram continues to grow. Between June 2016 to December 2016, Instagram increased its monthly active users from 500 million to 600 million. The launch of Instagram Stories (a Snapchat-like feature that allows users to post photos and videos that disappear 24 hours later) has been followed by a new shopping feature, both of which create new opportunities for accommodation providers.

DO’S

Keep it short – shorter posts with pictures of relevant links get more attention and engagement.

Respond & engage – take the opportunity to respond to feedback; thank your guests and followers. Do not ignore them.

Be genuine and natural – talk in a conversational way to your followers. Connect with them – you are not a robot!

www.critonapps.com

DON’TS

Sell all the time – it will only annoy your followers. Share valuable content, not just your sales pitch.

Go passive – social media marketing requires frequent posting. Sporadic activity could harm your brand.

Criticise guests – negative feedback can feel unjustified but criticising the guests will make things much worse.

HOTEL SOCIAL MEDIA – DO’S AND DON’TS

18 https://www.hotelmanagement.net/sales-marketing/real-time-guests-interactions-are-causing-hotels-to-take-notice-social-media


Social and serviced apartmentsWe have been tracking the social media activity of the leading serviced apartment brands since 2015.

Fig 8 – top performing serviced apartment brands by social media followers

Ranking Facebook Twitter Instagram Pinterest Linked In

1 Mercure Apartments Jumeirah Living Jumeirah Living Smart City Jumeirah Living

2 Residence Inn Staybridge Suites Mercure Apartments Jumeirah Living Ascott The

Residence

3 Jumeirah Living Residence Inn Ascott The Residence Staybridge Suites Pierre & Vacances

4 Pierre & Vacances Protea Hotels Yays Homewood by Hilton Fraser Hospitality

5 Staybridge Suites Homewood by Hilton Zoku Zoku Protea Hotels

6 Candlewood Suites Candlewood Suites Residence Inn Silverdoor Oakwood Worldwide

7 Homewood by Hilton

Extended Stay America Protea Hotels Pierre & Vacances Extended Stay

America

8 Extended Stay America Pierre & Vacances Go Native Citybase Staybridge Suites

9 Ascott The Residence Cheval Residences Cheval Residences Protea Hotels Residence Inn

10 Citybase Ascott The Residence Pierre & Vacances Fraser Hospitality BridgeStreet Global

Hospitality

Fig 8 shows the highest-ranked serviced apartment brands by number of followers across the five leading social media platforms. The results show that the brands performing best tend to do so across multiple platforms. This is in marked contrast to 2015, when brands restricted themselves to Facebook and Twitter.

The social platform that has seen the greatest growth in engagement by serviced apartments is Instagram. 14 brands have more than doubled their Instagram followers since 2016, with the top performing brands shown at Fig 9. Many, however, are starting from a very low base. For example, House of Fisher’s 3,967% increase represents 122 followers, compared to top performers Jumeirah Living with 132,000 followers.

The brands to combine growth and volume are Yays (+994%), Mercure Apartments (+ 822%) and Go Native (+482%). However, as Fig 8 shows, there is a large disparity between the reach of the first and tenth placed brands in terms of overall audience, with Pierre & Vacances chalking up 2,550 followers.

Fig 9 – Instagram -brands with biggest % increase 2016 vs 2018

Followers (+%) Posts (+%)1 House of Fisher 3967 1 Suite Novotel 22002 ATA Hotels 2404 2 ATA Hotels 15133 Staycity 1335 3 Staybridge Suites 5894 Yays 994 4 ResidHome + Sejours et Affairees 5635 Mercure Apartments 822 5 Fraser Hospitality 3736 Go Native 482 6 Adagio Aparthotels 2447 Saco 374 7 ResidHotel 1418 Homewood by Hilton 290 8 Marriott Executive Apartments 1259 Derag Livinghotels 227 9 Smart City 114

10 Zoku 195 10 Vision Apartments 114


Fig 10 – Instagram – top brands by followers & % increase 2016 vs 2018

Followers at 31.01.18 2016/2018 (+%)1 Jumeirah Living 132,000 1222 Mercure Apartments 21,500 8223 Ascott The Residence 13,500 24 Yays 7,112 9945 Zoku 5,369 1956 Residence Inn 5,332 927 Protea Hotels 3,984 428 Go Native 3,817 4829 Cheval Residences 3,654 71

10 Pierre & Vacances 3,550 u/k

The picture on Twitter is very different. Once again, the brands showing the most growth tend to be those starting from a lower base. Vision Apartments have grown their Twitter audience by 141%, which equates to just 356 followers.

By contrast the biggest serviced apartment brands on Twitter are split between those seeing significant, and very small growth. Jumeirah Living are biggest sector brand by followers, having notched up 87,600 – up 11% since 2016. Only three other brands in the Twitter top ten – Extended Stay America (12,000 followers, up 62%), Homewood by Hilton (17,400 followers, up 53%) and Protea Hotels (18,600 followers, up 19%) have seen double-digit growth.

This may reflect a shift in emphases to other social networks on the part of some brands, but Jumeirah Living have achieved significant growth across multiple networks, suggesting that the brand could be allocating comparatively more resources – or expertise – than its competitors.

Fig 11 – Twitter - brands with biggest % increase 2016 vs 2018

Followers (+%) Tweets (+%)1 Vision Apartments 141 1 The Sebel 1352 The Apartment Service / Roomspace 66 2 Vision Apartments 1013 Extended Stay America 62 3 The Apartment Service / Roomspace 994 House of Fisher 57 4 Extended Stay America 945 ResidHotel 54 5 House of Fisher 866 Homewood by Hilton 53 6 ResidHotel 567 Staycity 50 7 Homewood by Hilton 548 Citybase 49 8 Staycity 469 Go Native 48 9 Citybase 40

10 Apple Apartments 39 10 Go Native 40


Fig 12 – Twitter – top brands by followers & % increase 2016 vs 2018

Followers at 31.01.18 2016/2018 (+%)1 Jumeirah Living 87,600 212 Staybridge Suites 24,400 53 Residence Inn 19,500 54 Protea Hotels 18,600 195 Homewood by Hilton 17,400 536 Candlewood Suites 12,600 97 Extended Stay America 12,000 628 Pierre & Vacances 11,800 u/k9 Cheval Residences 6,040 4

10 Ascott The Residence 5,224 6

This picture is mirrored on Facebook, reinforcing the perception that efforts are being made to exploit other channels at the expense of the biggest social platform in the world.

Whilst Crossland has enjoyed most growth, their overall audience does not dent the top ten, which is headed by Mercure Apartments with 558,540 likes. Across the top 10, three have seen their Facebook audience grow; Jumeirah Living has seen a 43% rise in Facebook followers to 309,263. Extended Stay America and Ascott The Residence make up that trio with 78,995 (up 86%) and 62,318 (up 29%) respectively.

Fig 13 – Facebook - brands with biggest % increase in Likes2016 vs 2018

Growth in Likes 2016/2018 (+%)1 Crossland 13642 Yays 1323 The Apartment Service / Roomspace 1234 Derag Livinghotels 1125 ResidHotel 916 ATA Hotels 917 Extended Stay America 868 Staycity 839 Adagio Aparthotels 72

10 Zoku 58


Fig 14 – Facebook - top brands by Likes & biggest % increase 2016 vs 2018

Likes at 31.01.18 2016/2018 (+%)1 Mercure Apartments 558,540 152 Residence Inn 385,629 13 Jumeirah Living 309,263 434 Pierre & Vacances 132,531 u/k5 Staybridge Suites 108,344 66 Candlewood Suites 98,256 07 Homewood by Hilton 88,200 228 Extended Stay America 78,995 869 Ascott The Residence 62,318 29

10 Citybase 50,507 -1

For serviced apartments, LinkedIn is fertile ground for growing social audiences. Jumeirah Living again head the top ten of sector brands with 233,055 followers, followed by Ascott The Residence and Pierre & Vacances. Every top ten brand has seen double-digit growth in LinkedIn followers although 2016 figures are not available for Pierre & Vacances or Frasers Hospitality.

There is a large gap between the LinkedIn reach of Jumeirah Living and other top ten brands; the leaders outstripping their nearest challengers almost six times over.

Fig 15 – LinkedIn - brands with biggest % increase 2016 vs 2018

Followers (+%)1 Vision Apartments 4152 Homewood by Hilton 2203 Mercure Apartments 1554 Yays 1115 Zoku 836 AKA 697 Residence Inn 568 ResidHotel 559 Staycity 55

10 BridgeStreet Global Hospitality 53


Fig 16 – LinkedIn - top brands with biggest % increase 2016 vs 2018

Followers at 31.01.18 2016/2018 (+%)1 Jumeirah Living 233,055 242 Ascott The Residence 39,398 353 Pierre & Vacances 15,007 u/k4 Fraser Hospitality 12,134 u/k5 Protea Hotels 10,782 126 Oakwood Worldwide 10,337 217 Extended Stay America 9,081 218 Staybridge Suites 7,085 169 Residence Inn 6,214 56

10 BridgeStreet Global Hospitality 5,353 53

To date, Pinterest is the most under0uised social platform for serviced apartment brands. Smart City have the biggest presence on LinkedIn (3,776 followers), reflecting the brand’s focus on the business user. Once again Jumeirah Living ride high in the top ten, boasting 3,255 followers as at the end of January 2018.

Fig 17 – Pinterest - brands with biggest % increase 2016 vs 2018

Followers (+%) Pins (+%)1 BridgeStreet Global Hospitality 200 1 Smart City 18202 Vision Apartments 142 2 ResidHome + Sejours et Affairees 3823 Yays 133 3 Extended Stay America 554 Mercure Apartments 65 4 AKA 225 Citybase 39 5 Marlin Apartments 46 House of Fisher 38 6 Residence Inn 27 Zoku 37 7 Candlewood Suites 18 Extended Stay America 36 8 Nomad 09 Candlewood Suites 21 9 Park & Suites 0

10 Jumeirah Living 16 10 Suite Novotel 0

Fig 18 – Pinterest – top brands with biggest % increase 2016 vs 2018

Followers as at 31.01.18 2016/2018 (+%)1 Smart City 3,776 -12 Jumeirah Living 3,255 163 Staybridge Suites 779 44 Homewood by Hilton 357 u/k5 Zoku 332 376 Silverdoor 310 77 Pierre & Vacances 261 u/k8 Citybase 205 399 Protea Hotels 190 3

10 Fraser Hospitality 178 u/k


Top performers overall

As Fig 19 shows, the serviced apartments brands with the largest social audiences are Jumeirah Living (765,179 followers/Likes), Mercure Apartments (581,538) and Residence Inn (416,792).

However, the gap between Jumeirah Living and the tenth-largest brand – Protea Hotels – is substantial, again suggesting a disparate level of resources being deployed on social by their respective owners.

Fig 19 – Top brands by total social audience

Total social audience (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest & LinkedIn) as at 31.01.181 Jumeirah Living 765,1732 Mercure Apartments 581,5383 Residence Inn 416,7924 Pierre & Vacances 163,1495 Staybridge Suites 143,3076 Ascott The Residence 120,4407 Candlewood Suites 114,9848 Homewood by Hilton 113,6409 Extended Stay America 100,986

10 Protea Hotels 66,824

The full analysis of serviced apartment brands’ reach by network, from 2016 to date, can be found at Fig 20.

Fig 20 – serviced apartment brands by total social media audience (as at 31.01.18)

BRAND YEAR FACEBOOK TWITTER INSTAGRAM PINTEREST LINKEDIN

Likes Check-Ins Followers Tweets Followers Posts Followers Pins

Adagio Aparthotels 2015 8,344 24,170 452 197 no data no data 1,508

2016 23,119 71,184 834 607 608 266 3,159

2017 (Sept) 34,507 92,182 994 903 436 38 4,046

2018 (Jan) 39,684 Removed 1,064 944 544 38 17 246 4,602

Adina Apartments 2015 4,872 0 no data 258 80 no data 603

2016 7,890 - 274 300 608 266 1,092

2017 (Sept) 8,607 - 327 322 no data 1,229

2018 (Jan) 8,704 - 348 327 1,075 333 1,299

AKA 2015 Unknown

2016 4,039 94 3,262 3,379 1,270 373 138 498 2,000

2017 (Sept) 5,212 Removed 3,480 3,614 2,270 487 151 498 3,040

2018 (Jan) 5,619 Removed 3,516 3,691 3,246 543 152 498 3,377

Apple Apartments 2015 2,503 299 1,741 628 88 29 22 46 90

2016 4,489 2,004 3,274 919 689 1,888 54 214 205

2017 (Sept) 6,117 3,598 4,701 1,291 1,135 430 60 214 280

2018 (Jan) 6,144 Removed 4,561 1,284 1,119 430 62 214 287

Ascott The Resi-dence

2015 37,151 0 4,524 10,200 3,679 237 234 173 15,187

2016 48,450 - 4,938 11,100 13,300 797 145 173 29,222

2017 (Sept) 59,046 - 5,210 11,400 13,100 1,105 no data 36,392

2018 (Jan) 62,318 - 5,224 11,400 13,500 1,180 39,398


ATA Hotels 2015 2,667 325 255 377 no data 21 155 2,575

2016 5,135 44,368 394 487 23 - 23 92 3,793

2017 (Sept) 9,098 69,358 480 839 435 91 no data 4,726

2018 (Jan) 9,794 Removed 499 943 576 118 4,979

BridgeStreet Global Hospitality

2015 Unknown

2016 1,056 56 2,763 4,700 184 27 8 176 3,500

2017 (Sept) 1,270 89 2,951 5,460 162 80 22 849 5,124

2018 (Jan) 1,388 Removed 3,054 5,654 270 179 24 849 5,353

Candlewood Suites 2015 34,375 16 10,400 1,911 12 4 no data 1,899

2016 98,130 240 11,600 2,329 161 1 19 31 3,139

2017 (Sept) 98,445 301,524 12,300 2,438 223 17 23 31 3,581

2018 (Jan) 98,256 Removed 12,600 2,444 271 23 23 31 3,834

Capri 2015 2,865 8,984 353 64 515 26 no data no data

2016 4,978 16,855 294 539 684 104 669

2017 (Sept) 5,431 22,519 410 606 768 105 2 0 772

2018 (Jan) 5,911 Removed 406 608 789 106 2 0 821

Cheval Residences 2015 4,678 377 no data 361 667 71 646 140

2016 16,138 624 5,804 6,824 2,138 1,116 no data 804

2017 (Sept) 21,326 885 5,908 9,658 3,470 2,102 127 878 1,013

2018 (Jan) 21,240 Removed 6,040 10,500 3,654 2,383 129 878 1,064

Citadines 2015 62,497 4,031 1,970 1,608 125 110 no data 83

2016 26,035 - 3,434 2,241 no data 1 1 no data

2017 (Sept) 30,263 29,665 3,683 2,380 1,008 230 1 0 229

2018 (Jan) 30,773 Removed 3,984 2,462 1,141 228 1 0 252

Citybase 2015 52,213 30 1,476 3,671 434 83 84 312 342

2016 51,199 - 2,080 4,965 no data 148 824 569

2017 (Sept) 50,786 - 3,100 6,150 738 474 199 1,113 704

2018 (Jan) 50,507 - 3,108 6,437 775 541 205 1,274 739

Crossland 2015 Unknown

2016 530 1,506 - - - - - - -

2017 (Sept) 6,720 7,505 - - - - - - -

2018 (Jan) 7,757 Removed - - - - - - -

Derag Livinghotels 2015 1,346 245 353 286 Unknown 103

2016 1,609 312 614 450 164 82 40 90 197

2017 (Sept) 3,387 349 426 467 456 155 16 90 254

2018 (Jan) 3,411 Removed 427 512 536 198 15 90 276

Extended Stay America

2015 26,706 - 936 2,449 16 1 31 130 5,608

2016 42,496 - 7,390 4,412 no data 89 141 7,525

2017 (Sept) 67,204 - 10,600 5,474 691 47 115 141 8,724

2018 (Jan) 78,995 - 12,000 5,903 789 82 121 141 9,081

Flying Butler 2015 158 8 143 115 no data no data 57

2016 206 17 2,036 487 303 22 165

2017 (Sept) 216 21 1,893 495 293 27 no data 187

2018 (Jan) 216 Removed 1,909 530 303 33 189

Fraser Hospitality 2015 Unknown

2016 24,042 145 2,300 3,271 719 400 Unklnown

2017 (Sept) 24,541 169 2,453 3,439 1,076 272 178 980 10,823

2018 (Jan) 31,188 Removed 2,500 3,540 1,342 350 178 980 12,134

Go Native 2015 961 129 1,128 2,705 Unknown 851

2016 3,451 746 1,834 3,815 656 400 59 384 1,267

2017 (Sept) 3,500 774 2,677 4,311 3,989 572 66 384 1,483

2018 (Jan) 3,503 Removed 2,708 4,348 3,817 604 66 384 1,578


Halldis 2015 Unknown

2016 14,749 43 1,097 2,328 Unknown

2017 (Sept) 11,935 44 1,134 2,406 484 140 137 449 743

2018 (Jan) 8,800 Removed 1,137 2,409 517 161 141 449 1,009

Homewood by Hilton 2015 59,835 125 6,450 12,700 299 - no data 2,288

2016 72,523 - 11,400 13,600 739 - 348 501 1,500

2017 (Sept) 82,742 21,545 16,200 14,900 2,293 132 359 501 4,575

2018 (Jan) 88,200 Removed 17,400 15,300 2,884 189 357 501 4,799

House of Fisher 2015 917 76 362 1,912 no data 241 357 119

2016 931 91 565 2,619 3 - 37 477 206

2017 (Sept) 964 98 839 5,546 66 81 52 498 254

2018 (Jan) 967 Removed 885 6,145 122 169 51 498 266

Jumeirah Living 2015 Unknown

2016 216,026 - 72,200 5,061 59,500 595 2,800 4,100 187,355

2017 (Sept) 284,076 - 83,400 5,120 115,000 655 3,215 4,088 215,869

2018 (Jan) 309,263 - 87,600 5,311 132,000 688 3,255 4,088 233,055

Marlin Apartments 2015 1,124 655 1,149 792 664 65 6 35 790

2016 1,549 725 1,494 981 633 133 no data 980

2017 (Sept) 2,093 797 1,962 1,200 1,325 298 7 35 1,146

2018 (Jan) 2,149 Removed 2,018 1,376 1,552 458 6 35 1,196

Marriott Executive Apartments

2015 Location Specific 91 863 Location Specific 581

2016 1,132 229 175,000 1,297 Location Specific 1,408

2017 (Sept) Location Specific Location Specific 1,601

2018 (Jan) 1,739

Mercure Apartments 2015 Location Specific no data Location Specific no data no data

2016 487,472 2,168,293 1,718 1,290 2,332 63 20 40 575

2017 (Sept) 529,181 2,839,693 2,538 1,747 18,300 900 31 40 1,206

2018 (Jan) 558,540 Removed Location Specific 21,500 1016 33 40 1,465

Modena Residence 2015 no data 354 1,113 152 163 79 8 -

2016 24,049 145 2,299 3,271 - - - - -

2017 (Sept) 25,545 169 2,453 3,439 - - - - -

2018 (Jan) 31,189 Removed 2,500 3,540 - - - - -

Nomad 2015 Unknown

2016 1,639 825 125 163 150 129 no data 1,008

2017 (Sept) - - - - - - - - -

2018 (Jan) - - - - - - - - -

Oakwood Worldwide 2015 1,307 - 1,080 303 no data - - 6,223

2016 6,420 - 1,432 626 5 1 - - 8,562

2017 (Sept) 6,475 - 1,638 751 - - - - 9,942

2018 (Jan) 6,511 - 1,686 812 - - - - 10,337

Park & Suites 2015 21,252 - 206 429 Unknown 806

2016 Unknown

2017 (Sept) 39,742 - 1,545 1,292 865 191 26 1,085 1,307

2018 (Jan) 39,697 - 1,540 1,435 908 234 30 1,149 1,490

Pierre & Vacances 2015 103,498 - 7,057 4,543 261 114 158 852 5,677

2016 Unknown

2017 (Sept) 127,570 - 11,300 6,840 4,876 322 259 913 14,279

2018 (Jan) 132,531 - 11,800 6,996 3,550 378 261 913 15,007

Protea Hotels 2015 17,896 260,418 11,800 5,626 706 8 163 497 6,903

2016 24,025 534,835 15,600 6,530 2,807 274 184 497 9,623

2017 (Sept) 32,263 736,068 17,800 6,741 3,678 367 189 497 10,477

2018 (Jan) 33,268 Removed 18,600 6,805 3,984 385 190 497 10,782


Quest Serviced Apartments

2015 - - - - - - - - 1,555

2016 52,915 2,358 - - - - - - 2,626

2017 (Sept) 788 365 - - - - - - 3,121

2018 (Jan) 942 Removed - - 101 2 9 19 3,620

Residence Inn 2015 379,299 337,997 16,800 4,308 567 232 132 16 3,974

2016 382,601 707,084 18,500 6,051 2,772 506 116 976 3,996

2017 (Sept) 385,801 1,024,919 19,300 6,978 5,135 663 116 976 5,956

2018 (Jan) 385,629 Removed 19,500 7,101 5,332 699 117 976 6,214

ResidHome + Se-jours et Affairees

2015 848 1,662 - - - - - - -

2016 1,133 3,109 - - - - - - -

2017 (Sept) 1,263 3,210 - - - - - - -

2018 (Jan) 1,300 Removed - - - - - - -

ResidHotel 2015 1,464 - 78 203 no data - - 681

2016 1,966 - 123 299 15 0 - - 120

2017 (Sept) 3,148 - 208 308 16 0 - - 148

2018 (Jan) 3,764 - 190 309 18 0 0 0 186

Roomzzz 2015 Unknown

2016 23,519 2,295 3,243 3,140 456 48 40 195 471

2017 (Sept) 24,565 4,253 3,435 3,432 585 71 - - 567

2018 (Jan) 25,732 Removed 3,508 3,539 691 63 - - 590

Saco 2015 2,115 34 1,959 4,212 no data 42 8 944

2016 2,310 44 2,995 7,869 217 89 51 8 1,404

2017 (Sept) 2,929 - 3,606 9,109 908 338 52 8 1,807

2018 (Jan) 3,339 - 3,700 9,240 1,029 421 53 8 1,929

Silverdoor 2015 846 94 2,199 7,942 no data 261 1,944 894

2016 984 173 2,417 8,940 205 232 290 2,100 1,411

2017 (Sept) 1,118 343 2,719 10,000 311 423 309 2,108 1,658

2018 (Jan) 1,149 Removed 2,812 10,500 394 484 310 2,115 1,762

Skyline Worldwide 2015 519 4 446 679 no data - - 276

2016 601 15 611 913 143 130 - - 572

2017 (Sept) 652 25 728 1,151 390 269 - - 681

2018 (Jan) 652 Removed 703 1,151 399 269 - - 701

Smart City 2015 631 22 2,004 814 no data 104 113 267

2016 6,469 - 4,457 2,791 3,174 352 3,800 514 1,814

2017 (Sept) 6,521 42 4,186 2,885 2,317 389 3,777 625 1,847

2018 (Jan) Unknown 4,132 2,885 2,424 389 3,776 625 1,857

Somerset 2015 Unknown 28 103 52 3 - - -

2016 27,589 - 145 20 62 52 - - 4

2017 (Sept) 31,507 - Unknown

2018 (Jan) 32,669 -

Staybridge Suites 2015 90,330 10,141 21,300 4,212 77 - Unknown

2016 102,164 17,862 23,200 4,821 1,898 137 750 309 6,109

2017 (Sept) 108,096 423,069 24,100 4,989 2,556 165 761 309 6,961

2018 (Jan) 108,344 Removed 24,400 4,997 2,699 174 779 315 7,085

Staycity 2015 4,616 - 1,353 1,321 5 11 1 6 435

2016 6,138 - 1,728 1,715 48 19 no data 783

2017 (Sept) 9,187 - 2,308 3,169 534 98 66 198 1,082

2018 (Jan) 11,262 - 2,593 3,446 689 131 64 198 1,211

Suite Novotel 2015 33 - 33 - - - - - 14

2016 no centralised account

2017 (Sept)

2018 (Jan)


Please note that the above figures are for a central, branded presence only and do not include figures for location-specific pages, posts or pins.

The Apartment Service /

Roomspace

2015 281 19 1,156 615 58 74 3 5 665

2016 447 22 1,306 952 77 74 5 5 1,016

2017 (Sept) 989 - 2,084 1,285 95 74 5 5 1,185

2018 (Jan) 998 - 2,173 1,387 100 74 5 5 1,233

The Sebel 2015 Unknown 2 - 95 23 3 39 Unknown

2016 no centralised account

2017 (Sept)

2018 (Jan)

Towne Place Suites 2015 15,270 95,002 211 30 - - 53 90 1,123

2016 22,489 211,138 871 437 no centralised account 128 36 1,127

2017 (Sept) 23,694 280,347 1,046 739 - - 1,299

2018 (Jan) 27,144 Removed 1,082 811 - - 1,357

Vision Apartments 2015 Unknown

2016 3,545 75 148 264 358 87 12 5 106

2017 (Sept) 3,668 88 297 467 437 153 31 96 333

2018 (Jan) 4,494 Removed 356 525 492 186 29 96 546

Waterwalk 2015 Unknown

2016 530 320 1,073 467 - - - - 173

2017 (Sept) 659 466 1,059 478 - - - - 219

2018 (Jan) 685 Removed 1,058 482 - - - - 237

Yays 2015 Unknown

2016 373 - 157 343 650 118 6 84 92

2017 (Sept) 843 - 171 406 7,143 183 11 74 156

2018 (Jan) 866 - 179 424 7,112 265 14 74 194

Zoku 2015 Unknown

2016 5,883 1,144 1,206 614 1,821 134 243 43 1,243

2017 (Sept) 8,544 3,723 1,524 834 4,458 230 314 43 2,037

2018 (Jan) 9,315 Removed 1,546 855 5,369 250 332 43 2,270

KeyLikes / Followers Facebook & Twitter The number of people who automatically see what the brand

place on their Facebook / Twitter Page

Check-Ins Facebook Each C-I is a customer saying that they have been to the location

Tweets / Posts Twitter & Instagram The number of items that a Brand puts on their Social Media

pageLinkedIn Numbers LinkedIn The number of people who have publicised that they work for

the brand


How serviced apartments are using social

Most serviced apartment brands post only semi-regularly on social media, reflecting the comparative lack of resource allocated. They social to talk to their customers (primarily on Twitter), and do not overload the customer with information.

Some of the best performing (in terms of follower numbers) brands mainly most pictures of their locations (Fig 21) whereas others concentrate simply on replying to customer queries (Fig 22). The latter approach encourages perspective customers to follow the account knowing that any questions are more likely to be answered.

Fig 21.

Interestingly, there seems to be little correlation between the type of content posted by serviced accommodation providers and the size of their social audiences. A normal way in which page traffic can be boosted is the inclusion of hashtags as these ensure that the post appears on the hashtag thread which people search for when they are looking for information about a certain thing, e.g. Business Travel. However, several brands are using paid-for posts on Facebook to ensure maximum reach (Fig 23).

Fig 22

Fig 23

1. Button for giving a post a Paid Promotion

Fig 24

The Facebook post from Candlewood at Fig 23 employed the hashtag “#thesuitelife”, placing the post on the same hashtag thread which is linked to the popular children’s TV show The Suite Life of Zac and Cody, thereby exposing the thread to a bigger audience. This post achieved 3,300 likes.

SilverDoor (Twitter) - 2,812 Followers + #businesstravel thread



Fig 22

Fig 23

1. Button for giving a post a Paid Promotion

Fig 24

The Facebook post from Candlewood at Fig 23 employed the hashtag “#thesuitelife”, placing the post on the same hashtag thread which is linked to the popular children’s TV show The Suite Life of Zac and Cody, thereby exposing the thread to a bigger audience. This post achieved 3,300 likes.




Fig 25

The tweet at Fig 26 from Staybridge Suites includes the mention of pets as well as a picture with a dog in the background. This combination attracts twitter users not necessarily looking for a serviced apartment. Some people simply search social media for pictures of pets and this would appear in a search for the word “pets”. These users forward the tweet to their followers, thereby boosting the popularity of the post.

Same brands share items over different social media platforms. Both Residence Inn and Ascott the Residence have the same posts on both their Facebook and their Instagram pages (Figs 27 & 28), enabling them to drive followers on both platforms and achieving consistency of content. However, this approach does have a downside in that potential followers might ignore an account if they do not want their social media timeline to be dominated by a particular brand. Nearly all of the Top 10 serviced apartment brands that use Instagram post pictures to promote their locations or simply to cover topics that will get their account to appear on somebody’s “suggested” section.

Fig 26


Fig 27

To appear in a “suggested” section, a post needs to incorporate words that are in post that people ‘like’ regularly. For example, the picture posted by Residence Inn on both Facebook and Instagram was captioned “No matter the vintage, wine always pairs best with company. Start mingling, get #InnTheMix”.

Fig 28

By using the words ‘wine’ and ‘vintage’, this post will appear on the ‘suggested’ section of those users who normally like posts containing those words, prompting them to look at the account in more detail. There are plenty of people who just use Instagram to look at pretty pictures, which is why the pictures that brands post must be well-crafted or professional shots.

By posting appealing images, brands increase the likelihood of being followed by more consumers simply because pages with substantial following have an associated curiosity factor.


Online reputation management - methodologyGRITM is based on all reviews whereas the volume of reviews analysed for other Key Indexes (Service, Value, Location, Cleanliness and Room) is lower because not all OTAs and review sites give guests the option to rate each department. The source distribution of a brand’s reviews impacts their performance on department level.

For this 3rd Digital Benchmark Report we have again worked with ReviewPro to create online reputation rankings.

ReviewPro aggregated 548,800 online guest reviews published during the 12-month period from 1 July 2016 to 30 June 2017. The analysis was driven by the GRITM, ReviewPro’s industry-standard online reputation score, which is used by thousands of hotels worldwide as a benchmark for reputation management efforts. The data used was based on reviews from 175 Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) and review sites, in 45 languages.The study included 43 of the serviced apartment brands covered in this report. When the volume of properties for a specific brand was too high, the analysis included data for a random subset of 50 properties. Where applicable, rankings and scores for brands from our 2016 report have been included by way of comparison. The following areas were analysed:

• Global Review IndexTM (GRI) by brand• Guest satisfaction performance based on other Key Indexes: Service, Value, Location, Cleanliness and Room• Review volume by language, country and review source• Average review statistics per property

Best performing brands overallThis year AKA, one of the most luxurious brands in the world offering long stay lodging, leads guest satisfaction for serviced apartment brands. The improvement year-on-year is significant, with the brand’s GRITM increasing from 92.8% to an impressive 94.4%.

Cheval Residences ranks second with a GRITM of 93.5% and Roomzzz takes third position, with a GRITM of 92.1%.

The GRITM performance of the Top 10 brands continue to improve each year, with five brands achieving a score above 90% versus only three brands the previous year. The new entrants into our Top 10 are Jumeirah Living, Capri and Marriott Executive Apartments. In addition to performing strongly across all individual criteria such as Cleanliness, Jumeirah Living goes straight into fourth place for overall guest satisfaction with a GRITM of 91.5%.

Fig 29 - top 10 performing brands overall

Ranking Brand GRI™ Previous Rank (Score)1 AKA 94.4% 2 (92.8%)2 Cheval Residences 93.5% 1 (93.3%)3 Roomzzz 92.1% 3 (91.3%)4 Jumeirah Living 91.5% 12 (87.6%)5 Fraser Residence 90.1% 4 (89.8%)6 Capri 89.2% 12 (87.6%)7 Modena Residence 89.2% 6 (89.3%)8 Marriott Executive Apart-

ments88.5% 11 (87.7%)

9 Homewood by Hilton 88.3% 10 (88.5%)10 Saco 88.2% 7 (89.1%)


Best performing brands by individual criteria

As well as overall guest satisfaction scores (GRITM), ReviewPro also evaluated guest satisfaction performance for other key indexes: Service, Value, Location, Cleanliness and Rooms. Although the average GRITM is relatively stable year-on-year, it is interesting that the average scores for each of the key indexes decrease. The ranking order however remains the same, with guests who stay in Serviced Apartments being most satisfied with the Location and least satisfied in terms of perceived Value.

Fig 30 - Average Scores by individual criteria

Criteria GRI™ Previous ScoreGRI™ 83.5% 83.4%

Location 86.7% 87.4%Cleanliness 85.8% 87.2%

Room 83.2% 84.4%Service 81.8% 83.8% Value 81.2% 81.7%

Top 10 brands by ServiceThe following table shows the brands that are achieving the highest level of guest satisfaction in terms of Service. The Top 3 brands are the same as last year with Cheval Residences taking the top spot again with a score of 95.6%, followed by Jumeriah Living (94.1%) and AKA (93.9%). The new entrants into the Top 10 for service are Roomzzz and Staybridge Suites.

Cheval Residences, offering unparalleled luxury in the heart of London, provides consistently high levels of excellence across all categories, ranking first for Service, Location and Room and ranking second for Value and Cleanliness.

Fig 31 - top 10 performing brands by Service

Ranking Brand Service Previous Rank (Score)1 Cheval Residences 95.6% 1 (95.4%)2 Jumeirah Living 94.1% 2 (93.5%)3 AKA 93.9% 3 (93.3%)4 Marriott Executive Apartments 92.9% 9 (90.3%)5 Roomzzz 92.3% 11 (88.8%)6 Saco 92.0% 4 (91.3%)7 Fraser Residence 91.1% 8 (90.4%)8 Modena Residence 90.6% 7 (90.9%)9 Homewood by Hilton 90.6% 5 (91.0%)

10 Staybridge Suites 89.5% 13 (88.4%)


Top 10 brands by Value

Consistent with trends in other hospitality segments, Value continues to be the category where most serviced apartment brands struggle to achieve a score above 90%. The Top 10 line-ups, however, looks very different from last year.

Roomzz jumps from third to first place with a score of 91.5% and Cheval Residences from seventh to second place with a score of 90.3%. The improvement in performance by Cheval Residences is particularly noteworthy given the upscale nature of their properties.

Fig 32 - top 10 performing brands by Value

Ranking Brand Value Previous Rank (Score)1 Roomzzz 91.5% 3 (90.2%)2 Cheval Residences 90.3% 7 (87.4%)3 Jumeirah Living 88.9% 10 (87.1%)4 Fraser Residence 88.4% 9 (87.2%)5 Saco 88.0% 1 (91.0%)6 Staybridge Suites 87.5% 12 (86.5%)7 Homewood by Hilton 87.1% 4 (88.2%)8 Marriott Executive Apartments 87.0% 11 (86.8%)9 Oakwood Worldwide 86.8% 17 (85.0%)

10 Capri 86.2% 14 (85.8%)

Top 10 brands by Location Location is an area where serviced apartment brands consistently perform well, with all of the brands in the Top 10 once again scoring above 92%. For the third year running, Cheval Residences differentiates itself from competitors in terms of guest satisfaction with Location, scoring an extremely high 97.7%. AKA and Saco show a marked improvement in Location scores to take second and third place respectively.

Fig 33 - top 10 performing brands by Location

Ranking Brand Location Previous Rank (Score)1 Cheval Residences 97.8% 1 (97.7%)2 AKA 97.4% 4 (95.7%)3 Saco 97.3% 5 (95.3%)4 Roomzzz 94.0% 2 (96.2%)5 Mercure Apartments 93.9% 12 (92.6%)6 BridgeStreet 93.2% 3 (96.0%)7 Ascott The Residence 92.4% 11 (92.6%)8 Homewood by Hilton 92.3% 14 (92.0%)9 Quest Serviced Apartments 92.0% 20 (88.6%)

10 The Sebel 92.0% 6 (94.5%)


Top 10 brands by CleanlinessCleanliness is another area where serviced apartment brands continue to excel. Compared to last year’s figures, the scores of the Top 10 brands for Cleanliness are higher this year, ranging from 96.1% to 91.9% versus 95.6% to 91.8%.

For the second year running, Jumeirah Living tops the ranking with a score of 96.1% followed closely by Cheval Residences. Marriott Executive Apartments shows significant improvement in this area, jumping from eighth to third place.

Fig 34 - top 10 performing brands by Cleanliness

Ranking Brand Cleanliness Previous Rank (Score)1 Jumeirah Living 96.1% 1 (95.6%)2 Cheval Residences 95.9% 2 (95.5%)3 Marriott Executive Apartments 94.4% 8 (92.6%)4 Saco 94.2% 3 (95.4%)5 AKA 93.9% 14 (91.2%)6 Roomzzz 93.8% 7 (93.7%)7 Capri 93.6% 13 (91.5%)8 Fraser Residence 93.0% 6 (93.7%)9 Modena Residence 92.5% 20 (89.8%)

10 Staybridge Suites 91.9% 10 (91.8%)

Top 10 brands by Room

Although the ranking order changes quite significantly, nine of the Top 10 brands are the same as last year, with the only newcomer being Capri in sixth place. Cheval Residences moves up the ranks to take first place with a score of 95.4%. Guests are also impressed with the Rooms at Jumeriah Living and Roomzzz, who score 94.6% and 92.3% respectively. Overall, however, it appears that the level of guest satisfaction with rooms is decreasing. While last year the scores of the Top 10 brands in the Room category ranged from 97.6% to 90.0%, this year the range is from 95.4% to 89.9%.

Fig 35 - top 10 performing brands by Room

Ranking Brand Room Previous Rank (Score)1 Cheval Residences 95.4% 3 (94.0%)2 Jumeirah Living 94.6% 2 (94.4%)3 Roomzzz 92.3% 6 (92.6%)4 Saco 91.7% 8 (91.0%)5 Staybridge Suites 91.4% 10 (90.0%)6 Capri 90.8% 14 (88.8%)7 Homewood by Hilton 90.7% 7 (91.3%)8 Fraser Residence 90.5% 4 (93.5%)9 Marriott Executive Apartments 90.0% 9 (90.3%)

10 AKA 89.9% 1 (97.6%)


Review volume by languageThe following chart shows the most common languages used to write reviews for the service apartment brands included in this study. The languages included in the Top 10 are the same as the previous year, with relatively little change in the weight of each one. Somewhat surprisingly, the percentage of reviews written in Chinese decreases from 11% to only 7%.

Consistent with review statistics for other accommodation segments, ReviewPro’s analysis shows that English is the preferred language, accounting for 61% of the reviews written (versus 55% the previous year). This said, accommodation providers worldwide still need to understand the observations and feelings conveyed in reviews written in a variety of languages if they are to successfully improve the experience they offer.

Fig 36 - top 10 review languages

62.1%

11.6%

English

French

Chinese

German

Spanish

Italian

Arabic

Dutch

Portuguese

Japanese

6.5%

4.4%

3.2%

2.2%

1.9%

1.4%

1.2%

1.1

0.0% 10.0% 20.0% 30.0% 40.0% 50.0% 60.0%

Review volume by countryAlthough the study is based on reviews written by guests from around the globe, as with last year just 10 countries account for approximately 70% of the total number of reviews. Once again, the United States ranked highest in terms of review volume from guests. France moves up to second position while the United Kingdom moves down to third place. Analysing feedback from guests by country is important for accommodation providers to be able to adapt their offering to suit the needs of guests from different cultures.

Fig 37 - top 10 review countries

14.5%

14.1%

United States

France

United Kingdom

Australia

Germany

Italy

Spain

Saudi Arabia

Singapore

South Africa

12.2%

11.7%

4.7%

2.9%

2.7%

2.7%

2%

1.8%

0.0% 2.0% 4.0% 6.0% 8.0% 10.0% 12.0% 14.0% 16.0%


Top 10 review sourcesBooking.com continues to be by far the most common source of online reviews in this study followed by TripAdvisor, whose share is lower than average compared to other accommodation segments. TripAdvisor typically generates an extremely high volume of reviews so there is a clear opportunity for serviced apartment brands to go to TripAdvisor’s Management Centre (www.tripadvisor.com/owners) to claim or create a listing for each of their properties and encourage guests to leave reviews.

While more than half of reviews are published on Booking.com, the below chart shows that it is important for serviced apartment brands to manage their reputation on multiple channels to maximize revenue. The results also highlight the growing importance of Google reviews, representing almost 10% of reviews versus only 3% last year. Facebook still only accounts for 3% of reviews but compared to <1% last year, the volume is increasing.

Fig 38 - top 10 review sources

48.8%

16.8%

Booking

TripAdvisor

Google

Hotels.com

Ctrip

Agoda

Expedia

Facebook

IHG

Marriott

9.3%

6%

3.6%

2.8%

2.8%

2.6%

2%

1.3%

0.0% 10.0% 20.0% 30.0% 40.0% 50.0% 60.0%

Average review statistics by propertyOn average, the serviced apartment properties in the study receive 402 online reviews per year versus 462 the previous year. The percentage of positive reviews increases from 68% to 72%, indicating that most guests are happy with their stay. However, 28% of reviews for serviced apartments are still neutral or negative, reinforcing the opportunity that exists for brands to leverage Guest Intelligence to drive operational and service improvements to boost guest satisfaction.

Fig 39 - average review data (by property per year)

402 288(72%)

74(18%)

40(10%)

42%

#Reviews(Total)

#PositiveReviews:

#NeutralReviews:

#NegativeReviews:

%Management Response Rate:


The importance of responding to reviewsResponding to reviews, both positive and negative, shows potential customers that you listen and care about what guests think and can positively impact their booking decision. For the serviced apartment brands in this study, managers respond online to an average of 42% of reviews versus only 37% last year. This indicates that the level of engagement with review sites is increasing but that there is still room for improvement.

It is advisable for accommodation brands to respond to online reviews as quickly as possible, giving priority to negative reviews which can seriously damage your reputation. In addition to responding to reviews, it is essential to have a clear process in place to act on the feedback provided to ensure that any issues identified are resolved for future guests as well.

1. Reviews were classified as follows: Positive (score between 80% - 100%), Neutral (score between 60% - 79%) and Negative (score of 59% or less).

Summary of ReviewPro rankings of brands

Fig 40 - summary of ReviewPro rankings of brands

Brand GRI™ Service Value Location Cleanliness Room

AKA 1 3 13 2 5 10

Cheval Residences 2 1 2 1 2 1

Roomzzz 3 5 1 4 6 3

Jumeirah Living 4 2 3 11 1 2

Fraser Residence 5 7 4 27 8 8

Capri 6 11 10 30 7 6

Modena Residence 7 8 14 15 9 13

Marriott Executive Apartments 8 4 8 14 3 9

Homewood by Hilton 9 9 7 8 13 7

Saco 10 6 5 3 4 4

Ascott The Residence 11 21 21 7 11 17

Fraser Suites 12 14 24 18 12 14

Staybridge Suites 13 10 6 13 10 5

Mercure Apartments 14 26 26 5 31 23

Oakwood Worldwide 15 17 9 20 14 16

Staycity 16 12 15 23 20 20

Residence Inn 17 19 19 25 21 19

Yays 18 13 16 32 19 11

Fraser Place 19 18 11 19 17 15

BridgeStreet 20 25 12 6 32 25

Somerset 21 16 18 22 15 26

The Sebel 22 24 27 10 23 22

Adina Apartments 23 22 25 12 26 21


Apple Apartments 24 35 39 17 33 33

Derag Apartmenthotels 25 20 28 21 24 29

Towne Place Suites 26 23 20 29 18 18

ATA Hotels 27 29 34 36 25 28

Quest Serviced Apartments 28 15 23 9 22 24

Candlewood Suites 29 28 22 26 16 12

Citadines 30 27 29 16 30 30

Suite Novotel 31 30 31 34 27 27

The Apartment Service/Roomspace 32 36 17 41 29 34

ResidHome + Sejours et Affairees 33 33 30 33 34 32

Protea Hotels 34 31 33 28 28 31

Go Native 35 34 41 31 35 37

Adagio Aparthotels 36 32 35 37 36 35

ResidHotel 37 38 37 35 40 38

Marlin Apartments 38 39 38 39 38 36

Park & Suites 39 40 42 40 42 41

Extended Stay America 41 37 36 38 39 40

Smart City 42 43 43 42 43 42

Crossland 43 42 32 43 41 43


Report conclusions

Although the opportunities afforded by digital distribution and marketing continue to drive change in the travel and hospitality sectors, serviced apartments are struggling to keep up.

So what conclusions can be drawn from this analysis?

1. Serviced apartment operators must deliver seamless booking experiences if they are to reap the full benefit of digital marketing.

2. The distribution landscape is highly fragmented, not helped by the emergence of hybrid operator/agent brands through which individual properties can be represented many times over. This present a barrier to corporates who need to know who they are contracting with.

3. AI and VR are the up-coming technologies that will drive digital marketing in the next decade.

4. Mobile is a bona fide distribution channel for which brands are starting to develop ‘mobile moments’ with which to engage users.

5. OTAs increasing market share amongst serviced apartment operators, though mainly for apart-hotel products.

6. The serviced apartment sector continues to enjoy a fraction of the social reach of hotels and airlines.

7. The serviced apartment brands with the biggest social networks are still those who are part of a larger hotel group with the existing infrastructure and audiences for non-apartment brands that can be mined.

8. Too many serviced apartments are under-exploiting the opportunities from social, due to either strategic, resource or financial constraints.

9. Those sector brands who are investing in social are tending to restrict their focus to one or two platforms. There is very little growth amongst serviced apartment brands on Facebook despite this being the largest social network globally.

10. Instagram provides new opportunities not yet being mined by most brands.


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DIGITAL BENCHMARK REPORT 2018 - ReviewPro...SERVICED APARTMENT DIGITAL BENCHMARK REPORT 2018 3 N ew trends are entering the marketplace and brands need to pay attention or risk being