Blog Library
This page contains links to helpful blog posts written by Inntopia staff. These blog posts are a good resource for Commerce and Marketing Cloud users to compliment training, brush up on topics, and trigger new ideas for getting the most out of the Inntopia system.
Commerce Users
Overview
The blog posts in this section offer short, easy-to-understand "lessons" on the main concepts of the Inntopia Commerce platform.
- Introduction: A Short, Plain-English Explanation of Inntopia Commerce
- Lesson 1: A Way to Sell All Resort and Hotel Products
- Lesson 2: Sell Different Types of Resort Products in One Place
- Lesson 3: Sell Online or Over the Phone
- Lesson 4: Start a Booking Online, Finish on the Phone (or Vice Versa)
- Lesson 5: Shoppers See Real-Time Inventory from Your Systems
- Lesson 6: Sell Products from Multiple Systems
- Lesson 7: The Other Systems Don’t Have to be Your Own
- Lesson 8: Create and Manage Additional Products Directly in Inntopia
- Lesson 9: Products Created in Inntopia Don’t Have to Have a Price…Here's Why
- Lesson 10: You Can Customize the Entire Inntopia Commerce Checkout Process
Accounting
- Don’t Zone Out While Generating Supplier and TA Payables – Get the inside scoop on running the Supplier and Travel Agent Payables Report.
- Learn to Love the Current Due to Inntopia Report – Learn how to run, read, and manage your Current Due to Inntopia payables report.
Call Center Agent
- Are You or Your Agents Using the Comparison Tool? – Boost customer booking experience with the Comparison Tool.
- Explore the Itinerary Timeline – Learn about the information provided within the Itinerary Timeline.
- Making Your Deposit Schedules Work for You – Explore how to set up deposit schedules and understand how they calculate.
- Your Operation Will Love This New Siriusware Feature – Inntopia can now process line-item cancellations that downstream to Siriusware.
Commerce (CRS/RMS)
- Automated Guest Credit Notifications – Help guests redeem credits by reminding them of the value and expiration date.
- Inntopia Commerce Feature: Copy Promotions – Save time by copying previously used promotions.
- Password Reset Tips – Learn four tips to quickly reset your Inntopia RMS or CRS password.
General
- 2020 Features Recap: Commerce Edition – Review some of the awesome features that were added to the Commerce platform in 2020.
- Allow Guests to Opt-In to SMS Communications During Checkout – Learn how to allow guests to opt-in to text message communications directly from the Inntopia Commerce checkout path.
- Alternative Approaches to Season Pass Sales – Consider these alternative approaches to season pass sales that can also be applied to other products you sell.
- Commerce Pre-Season Checklist – Winter 2020/21 – Review our Commerce checklist to make sure your system is ready when those first flakes start to fly.
- Covid-Related Features Ready to Implement – Inntopia has these important features already available, so you can implement now.
- Cyber Week: The Biggest Sales Opportunity of the Year – Increase revenue during Cyber Week with these four considerations.
- Five Simple Strategies to Increase Revenue from your Drive Markets – Consider these five things to adjust to the behaviors of your drive markets.
- Five Ways Innovative U Makes Your Organization More Efficient – Learn about how Innovative U can play a vital role in training your staff.
- Why Hotels and Resorts Should Probably Run “Prime Day” Promotions – Four good reasons to offer deals on Prime Day (even if you're not Amazon).
- Your Browser Might Just Need a Refresh – Find out how to clear your browser cache to improve your website's performance.
Lodging/Activity Supplier
The Basics
- The Five RMS Features You Should Be Using Right Now – Read about essential features of Inntopia RMS designed to make your life easier.
- Lodging Suppliers: What Else Can You Offer Me? – Identify non-lodging products lodging suppliers can sell to guests.
- Market Your Products, Promote Your Deals, and Aid Your Guests with Direct URLs – Use a direct URL to promote products in email campaigns or call to action buttons on your website.
- Making Deposit Schedules Work for You – Explore how to set up deposit schedules and understand how they calculate.
eCommerce
- Five Tips to Maximize Your eCommerce Potential – Create a well-designed eCommerce store using these five key components.
- Winter is Coming! Is Your Site Ready? – Find out how Inntopia can assist you prior to launching your winter products.
- Five Easy Ways to Turn Lookers into Bookers – Five tips to improve your online photos.
Promotions and Bundles
- Why Doesn’t My Promotion Display Properly Online? – Learn which settings ensure successful promotion display.
- Why Won’t My Promotion Calculate Correctly? – Find out which configuration ensures correct promotion calculation.
- Don’t Overlook Your Blackout Dates! – Learn how to use blackout dates to communicate to a guest when a promotion is available.
- Why Isn’t My Product Bundle Working? – Understand product bundle basics and review configuration to ensure proper display.
- Want to Use Yielded Products in Promotions and Bundles? Now You Can! – Learn to use pricing families to sell products within promotions and bundles.
- Offer the Guest an Experience, Not Just a Package – Learn to create "experiences" by offering additional activities, extra amenities, and exceptional service.
Revenue Management
- Revenue Management, Part 1: The Basics – Learn about Revenue Management and commonly used acronyms.
- Revenue Management, Part 2: Market Conditions and the Impact on Decision Making – Review the six market conditions to consider when managing rates.
- Revenue Management, Part 3: Forecasting and Planning –The how to, the differences between, and the impact of market conditions for forecasting and budgeting.
- Revenue Management, Part 4: Strategies and Processes – Culminate all the information to determine your strategy, identify your goals, and create processes to achieve those goals.
Tour Operators/Resellers
- Resellers: Have You Been Coordinating with Your Suppliers? – Learn why, as a reseller, it is important to coordinate with your suppliers.
- Resellers: Coordinate Promotions with Your Suppliers – Five tips to make the most out of your promotions.
* New blog post available
Marketing Cloud Users
General
- Marketing Cloud: Where Do I Build My Query…Insight or Acoustic? – Three questions to consider when choosing the tool in which to set up your query for generating a targeted list.
- Marketing Cloud: Guest Types and Traits 101 – Learn how Guest Types and Traits can help you build queries.
- Marketing Cloud: Building Queries Using the Events and Passes Tables – Understand the difference between the Events and Passes tables and when each one is the right table for your query.
- Quick Insights with List Builder Demographics – Learn how the Customer Demographics view provides a better understanding of the audience you’re creating before you sync these lists to your marketing channels and roll them into live campaigns.
Email Deliverability
- Deliverability Best Practices – Best practices to ensure your content reaches your guest's inbox and to avoid potential problems before they snowball.
- Four Practical Tips for Sparkling Email Deliverability – Stay on top of deliverability to prevent issues and keep your lists problem-free.
- Nine Questions to Ask Before Hitting Send – Nine essentials to review in your email template before you send it to your guests.
- How Do I Get My Logo to Appear in Emails? – Include logos on your emails listed in your guest's inbox.
Personalized Marketing
- A Simple Approach to Personalizing Arrival Day Campaigns During the Holidays – Combine arrival day campaigns with holiday messaging to create a strong campaign.
- Automated Guest Credit Notifications – Help guests redeem credits by reminding them of the value and expiration date.
- Build loyalty without the overhead of a full program with a Loyalty Recognition campaign – Set up a simple campaign that recognizes organic loyalty.
- Five Simple Strategies to Increase Revenue from your Golf Resort’s Drive Markets – Consider these five things to adjust to the behaviors of your drive market.
- Give your Guest Experience Team the Tools to Turn Every Guest into a VIP – Use Inntopia Marketing Cloud data outside of your marketing department to elevate customer experience.
- How Many Confirmations Do Hotels Have to Resend? – Having to resend confirmations can be time consuming. Learn how Inntopia’s Next-Gen Confirmations can help ease that burden.
- How to Resend a Booking Confirmation in 23 Seconds – Reduce the pain point of sending confirmation (booking or cancellation) with Inntopia Marketing Cloud.
- Introducing Next-Gen Confirmations: High Performance, Worry-Free Booking Confirmations – Booking confirmations are the most important messages hotels and resorts send to guests. Learn how Inntopia Marketing Cloud has just improved them.
- Taking Personalized Marketing to the Next Level with #Microbranding – Personalize messaging to guests within a single campaign using Inntopia Marketing Cloud.
- The 2023 Ultimate Guide to Resort Marketing Automation – Explore 26 campaign ideas, filled with tips and examples, curated by Inntopia's extraordinary team.
- Why Email Performance Benchmarking is Such a Big Deal for Resorts – Learn more about Inntopia Marketing Cloud’s new Email Performance Benchmarking Dashboard.
Reports and Dashboards
-
Pass Scan Detail Report with AI-driven Analysis – Explore incredible insights, including scans over time, a scan map showing where those scanned guests are based, and key trends, such as pass grouping and day of week scan counts.
Acoustic
- Marketing Cloud: Where Do I Build My Query…Insight or Acoustic? – Three questions to consider when choosing the tool in which to set up your query for generating a targeted list.
- Top Five Classic Reports in Acoustic – Dive into five reports that will help you learn more about your email performance and your audience.
- Analyzing Audiences with Performance Insights in Acoustic – Gain valuable insights into your audiences using the Performance Insight visual widgets.
- Four Hidden Features in Acoustic – Check out these four underused features in Acoustic that can have a big impact on your marketing efforts.
Good To Know...
- Take Your Marketing Cloud Queries to the Next Level With the Fields Tab – Learn how the Marketing Cloud Fields tab can provide custom reporting dashboards.
- Three Must-Do Tips for Pushing Season Pass Sales – Three great ways to optimize your pass sales campaigns using these free features in Inntopia Marketing Cloud.
* New blog post available