Article contents
I. How do categories work on Hotel Tech Report?
Think of the categories on Hotel Tech Report like you would think about optimizing your search presence on Google--the question to ask yourself is 'what question would a hotelier ask that I want to be found as the answer to?'. So for example if you want to be able to be found by hoteliers looking for new upselling software, you'll want to make sure you are listed in that category. To view the full list of categories, please visit the main dropdown navigation menu on Hotel Tech Report.
Want to change the primary category for one of your products? Reach out via the live chat to request a change
II. Why do I need to have a profile in each category that I want to be visible in?
While product bundling provides hoteliers with convenience and cost benefits, it also adds complexity and confusion in the buying process by lowering hoteliers' general level of understanding around what products a vendor offers and what those products actually do.
For example, what if a vendor offers a PMS and a booking engine and their PMS is outstanding but the booking engine hasn't been improved in a decade?
That is why we have carefully curated the categories on Hotel Tech Report to help hoteliers more easily determine which products are the best fit for them.
You must have a profile in each category that you wish to be visible and generate leads. Only once you have a profile created can you begin to gather reviews, improve your ranking, boost visibility and generate leads in that category.
III. How do hoteliers benefit from category level profiles?
Simpler Discovery: When a hotelier is looking for email marketing software and they go to this category on HTR, they will be able to find HotelCRM by EzHotel.
Better Insights: Since HotelCRM by EzHotel has its own profile, it also has its own targeted and more specific reviews from users of the software that aren't lumped into the feedback about EzHotel's digital agency services.
More Transparency: By having a separate listing, hoteliers can learn about the product or service that is relevant to them and their needs, rather than a mouthful about all of EzHotel's offerings.
IV. How do vendors benefit from category level profiles?
More Qualified Leads: When a hotelier reaches out to EzHotel from the HotelCRM's profile, EzHotel has more information about what the customer wants which means they can be more targeted in their sales efforts.
Increased Customer Education: Instead of having to educate customers during initial discovery calls, incoming leads already know about the specific product that they are interested in and understand how it works, what its benefits are and what users' think about it.
Shorter Sales Cycles: Increasing customer education helps qualify leads which in turn shortens your sales cycles. By the time a customer has reached out through Hotel Tech Report, they will already understand the nuances of your product and will be further down the purchasing funnel with more targeted questions to find out if your product is a good fit for their property or portfolio.
Unbundling of Product Associations/Reputation: Maybe one of your products has a great reputation and another is a newer release that you've been working through the kinks on. Unbundling your products and services on Hotel Tech Report allows each product to speak for, and sell, itself based on its own value proposition and merits. In this example. maybe EzHotel isn't a top competitor in the digital agency category but HotelCRM is highly rated in the email marketing category.
V. How do I get listed in more categories to increase my visibility
To get listed in additional categories and make sure you are discoverable to hoteliers searching for those solutions, you may register additional products. Once registered, we will create your profiles within 48-hours and you will receive a notification email that your profiles are ready along with access to your vendor dashboard. (Note: The one time new profile creation fee is waived for Premium Members).
VI. Can I create multiple profiles within the same category?
The short answer is no, HTR does not allow for multiple products within the same category given the structure of the site as mentioned above.
While you may have different modules, add-ons or versions of your product that could potentially fit in the same category, these should all be marketed, promoted and communicated within your single unified profile within the category (either via features, screenshots, product description or pricing models).
To make the site easier to navigate for hoteliers and be able to more easily understand the hotel tech landscape, profiles are a representation of a company and that company's ability to service a core need for hoteliers. For example, if you offer multiple ways to message guests (eg. text messaging, messaging via app, etc), this should all be marketed within a single product profile within guest messaging so as to not confuse hoteliers. This also helps make it easier to maintain, manage and optimize your profiles in addition to collect reviews (vs. if users go to leave a review and see multiple products in the same category it confuses them about which to review).
There are no benefits to having multiple product profiles within a single category, only downside risks which is why this restriction is in place to optimize the site both for hoteliers/buyers and vendors managing their profiles and presence.
Still have questions?
If you have specific questions about your company's listings or want to suggest a new category, feel free to reach out directly via HTR's onsite live chat.