Jacksonville University Inn: Marketing Recommendations

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Introduction

Jacksonville University Inn is a motel located in Jacksonville, Alabama. It is a relatively small business featuring basic motel services and accommodations, including comfortable rooms for one or two people, free parking, all the basic electronics, as well as showers and other amenities (“Welcome,” 2021). A proposed service for the University Inn involves outsourcing its HR functions, including payroll, training, recruitment, and others.

Product Overview

Services offered to Jacksonville University Inn include outsourcing of payrolling, training, and recruitment processes, among others. Payrolling includes taking over the company’s accounting procedures, which can be done by professional outsourced accountants working with numbers (Edvardsson & Oskarsson, 2021). Training will be conducted utilizing professional training facilities and schools (Edvardsson & Oskarsson, 2021). Finally, recruitment outsourcing is a traditional practice implemented by many companies. Its objective is to have the HR firm deal with the initial recruitment process in adherence to the prerequisites for the candidates as outlined by the client company (Edvardsson & Oskarsson, 2021). This practice allows for saving time and effort doing the advertising, selection, and vacancy closing on one’s own.

Customer Profiling

When it comes to advertising, customer types Jacksonville Inn should focus on include believers, achievers, and thinkers. Believers value consistency and stability of the environment, and utilize advertising as a proper channel of information, provided it is honest (Manolica et al., 2021). Television and commercial advertisements can be used to reach them. Achievers are the second group of customers who value hard work and technology. Appropriate channels for these customers include work applications, low-cost videos on Youtube, and Sharepoint (Manolica et al., 2021). Finally, thinkers are the most well-researched group, as they often make plans ahead of time and can be reached via TV and social media.

Messaging

When pitching ad information to the customer, delivering all the necessary details in a message is important for successful decision-making. Jacksonville University Inn could offer between the choice of two HR outsourcing companies – Insperity and ADP (“List of the top,” 2021). They are some of the best providers in the region, with ADP being more awarded than their competition. ADP is the recommended option, as it has both the credentials and an effective helpdesk to assist with any inquiries. It is possible to bring the prices down by instigating competition between Insperity and ADP due to the similarities in their offerings, and the vulnerable position of the former before the latter.

Customer Demographics and Psychographics

The target customer demographic is that of the middle class, which constitutes 52% of the total US population (“The path to recovery,” 2021). The potential for the poor class or the wealthy to be interested in the Inn is lower but still possible. The hotel is aimed at all demographic types, including Boomers, Millennials, X, and Z (“The path to recovery,” 2021). The psychographic types, when connected to demographics, show that Boomers tend to be believers, whereas the two other generations have both achievers and thinkers among their midst.

Customer Relationship Management

The proposed software to utilize in CRM is Sales Cloud, provided by Salesforce, which offers support to B2B and B2C operations (“10 best CRMs,” 2021). Another tool for managing customers is Dynamics 365 Sales, which allows for managing channels and partners (“10 best CRMs,” 2021). In addition, it will enable setting up personal accounts, actively using KPI, and tracking customer satisfaction. Overall, the goal of University Inn would be to guide and extend the customer lifecycle for every individual visitor.

Target Audience and Competition

The target audience for outsourcing companies includes the hotel segment in Jacksonville, which is looking for businesses to assist them in hospitality, payroll, and recruiting. The demand for these services has risen after the start of the COVID-19 epidemic “The path to recovery,” 2021). The competition in the industry is high, but so is the demand for qualified personnel. Hiring unproven specialists and companies is risky, as it is possible to suffer losses due to poor performance. As such, the demand for proven HR services is high, which drives the prices up.

Societal Marketing

Generations X – Z have become the primary travelers changing societal marketing approaches. Millennials and Gen Z, for example, are some of the most socially conscious customers to be found, who care about how a business contributes to the community and the environment (“The path to recovery,” 2021). They believe in entrepreneurial honesty and dedication to social causes, such as sustainability, fair employment, etc. (“The path to recovery,” 2021). The University Inn would need to incorporate these parameters into its branding strategy.

Creative Message

Some of the potential elements for the creative message to incorporate into advertising on different platforms include cleanliness, online capabilities, internet services, and maintenance (Ashley and Tuten, 2015). Some of the other elements to include in the message involve community support, charity, environmental friendliness, etc. (Ashley and Tuten, 2015). Dedication to cleanliness, COVID-19 protection, and safety should also be highlighted.

Segmentation Application

The segment of small single-location hotels would be interested in outsourcing HR personnel due to having lower profit margins while not being able to sustain their own dedicated personnel to perform the same functions (Khan et al., 2018). In addition, they cannot perform as efficiently as outsourced HR. At the same time, small hotels would have a weaker bargaining position due to being restricted to one location.

Gap Analysis, Benchmarking, and Competitive Advantage

The gaps identified in the competition in relation to the University Inn are related to gaps, costs, and performance (Rodrigues-Diaz et al., 2018). When compared to Hilton hotels, which are found in Alabama, the Inn is at a disadvantage because it did not outsource its HR yet, meaning that the hotel cannot focus as much on its value proposition. Sleep Inn Oxford, located in Jacksonville, has not optimized its expenditures by outsourcing “List of the top,” 2021). The University Inn has an opportunity to get an advantage over this competitor by outsourcing first.

Competition, Segmentation, Positioning, Lifetime Value

The main competition in the area comes from the local university inns. The University Inn is in a lower-price segment aimed at the middle-class public, thus making competition with Hilton not as prevalent. It can position itself as a high-value proposition to the market for an affordable price (Rodrigues-Diaz et al., 2018). Additional propositions could include aiding the community and engaging in a socially responsible manner. The lifetime value offered could be achieved by offering loyalty plans to frequent stayers.

Differentiation

Jacksonville University Inn can differentiate itself from its competition through several propositions of value. Some of these include efficiency, reliability, responsiveness, and tangibles. Efficiency can be presented through fast and reliable Wi-Fi as well as cloud services (Fan et al., 2021). Reliability – through laundry cleaning and access to. Tangibles include the overall look and room service, which needs to be renovated. Finally, responsiveness relates to how quickly the Inn adapts to the changing environment to ensure high quality of service (Fan et al., 2021).

Distribution

The Inn acknowledges the importance of a marketing channel of distribution as one of the elements of the marketing mix. Many individuals are looking for hotels online and make their decision long before arriving there (Lei et al., 2021). Therefore, the Inn has to go digital and advertise itself on a number of websites. Some of these include Google, Facebook, Instagram, and others (Lei et al., 2021). Working with large tourist agencies will help tap into their distribution channels.

IMC: Integrated Marketing Communications

Some of the potential marketing communications for the company could be advertising, direct marketing, the use of customer data, and targeted advertising. They all make part of the IMC, which can significantly boost sales (Uğurlu, 2020). Some of the disadvantages could include the perceived intrusiveness of the practice. At the same time, many services nowadays utilize customer data to modify their offerings, leading to the population becoming increasingly used to their data being evaluated. Therefore, it is a prospective venue for strengthening a brand name and getting traction.

Competition and Boosting online Presence

In order to defeat the competition, the Inn has to present itself to the customer as the first option they see. To do so, the company needs to boost its online presence. The three strategies outlined include the promotion of the direct website, presence in social media, and direct marketing (“The path to recovery,” 2021). The website would offer customers more information directly, bypassing third parties. Social media would spread awareness about the Inn, while direct marketing would bring in potential customers.

Pricing

Since the motel is aimed at the middle class, the prices should reflect accessibility at a modest price range. The proposed prices should be within the 100 dollars a day price range to remain competitive versus other similar university hotels, such as Oxford (“Welcome,” 2021). The hotel should also include additional amenities extra payment to appeal to a wider variety of clients.

Perceived Value

The perceived value for customers would come from the number of conveniences offered for an affordable price. For practically-inclined individuals, it would be access to showers, microwaves, comfortable beds, and a small fridge (“Welcome,” 2021). At the same time, technologically-inclined customers would appreciate fast internet and access to cloud services (“Welcome,” 2021). Added value could come from the realization they are helping the community and the environment.

Margins and Sales Volume

Sales volumes and margins would be directly tied to tourist seasons and based on how many people visit the hotel. Prices would be smaller during lull seasons to attract more customers to break even, while during high seasons, it will be possible to increase them without losing the competitive edge. At the same time, special offers can be given to long-staying individuals and for special events, such as the honeymoon.

Conclusion

Jacksonville University Inn is a small hotel providing accommodations for middle-class customers at an affordable price. To improve its competitive positioning, it should outsource its HR duties to a dedicated company and free up personnel for other duties. The marketing strategy should focus on online presence, direct marketing, and building up one’s own website.

References

10 best CRMs for hotels in 2021. (2021).

Ashley, C., & Tuten, T. (2015). Creative strategies in social media marketing: An exploratory study of branded social content and consumer engagement. Psychology & Marketing, 32(1), 15-27.

Edvardsson, I. R., & Óskarsson, G. K. (2021). Outsourcing of Human Resources: The Case of Small-and Medium-Sized Enterprises. Merits, 1(1), 5-15.

Fan, J., Wei, X., & Ko, I. (2021). How do hotel employees’ feeling trusted and its differentiation shape service performance: The role of relational energy. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 92, 102700.

Khan, Y. H., Hakeem, S. M. A., & Naumov, N. (2018). The use of branding and market segmentation in hotel marketing: A Conceptual Review. Journal of Tourism Intelligence and Smartness, 1(2), 12-23.

Lei, S. S. I., Nicolau, J. L., & Wang, D. (2019). The impact of distribution channels on budget hotel performance. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 81, 141-149.

List of the top Jacksonville human resources companies. (2021).

Manolica, A., Topciu, I. T., & Roman, T. (2021). Values, Attitudes and Lifestyles Based Typologies as Predictors for Consumer Impulsiveness. Ovidius University Annals, Economic Sciences Series, 21(1), 582-591.

Rodríguez-Díaz, M., Rodríguez-Voltes, C. I., & Rodríguez-Voltes, A. C. (2018). Gap analysis of the online reputation. Sustainability, 10(5), 1603.

The path to recovery for US hospitality. (2021).

Uğurlu, K. (2020).The Emerald Handbook of ICT in Tourism and Hospitality. Emerald Publishing Limited.

Welcome. (2021).

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