Indeed, in this age of AI, do we need highly specialized experts in SEO, GEO, social media, paid search, analytics, etc? Or we need hotel marketers who understands how all the pieces fit together?.

Here is my take.

Are we over-specializing in hospitality digital marketing? The well-known idiomatic proverb “Jack of all trades, master of none" provides the answer to this question.

Twenty years ago, a hospitality digital marketer could become a Jack of all trades. I was one of them. Not any more! Digital marketing has become so complex, so technology-driven that it requires highly specialized knowledge and expertise.

At my company NextGuest, now merged with Cendyn, we had 150 top notch specialists, masters of their trade in specialized departments: account managers, SEO, Content Marketing, Search Marketing, Online Media, Social Media, CRM, Analytics, Website Design, Digital Media Design, Front End Developers, Software and Application Developers, Project Managers, etc.

The Executive Team and account managers must understand the big picture, of course, should be able to “connect the dots” and develop the strategy and tactics for each of the above departments and each and every client and situation.

This is done through analysis of the hotel pain points and its current digital assets, past successes and failures, identifying the right tools, technologies and approaches, and ideation of an action plan to remedy the situation and achieve the property’s objectives.

But the actual execution of the action plan and its components must be done by specialists - masters of their field of expertise.

Max Starkov
Hospitality & Online Travel Tech Consultant & Strategist

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