TravelClick recently reported that hoteliers plan to boost their investment in web marketing in 2012.

TravelClick recently conducted a study that found hoteliers plan to boost their web marketing presence substantially in 2012. Mobile and social media marketing campaigns will receive large portions of rising budgets.

Forty-three percent of hotels included in the study plan to increase their online marketing spend, 34 percent don’t plan to alter the amount they spend and only 3 percent said they would cut their marketing investment.

While more than one-third will not be increasing their budgets, many said they will shuffle their spending to hit growing marketing audiences.

“Not only are hoteliers increasing budgets for mobile websites and marketing, but they are also increasing staff in areas such as social media. Hoteliers are recognizing how important mobile and social media are to guests, and they have begun to put more resources toward creating and maintaining these channels,” Jason Ewell, vice president of ecommerce for TravelClick, said in a release.

In general, hotels will boost their mobile presence to leverage the growing use of smartphones. However, content marketing is a growing trend that could help hotels improve their web presence across all devices and channels. Developing original, informative content can encourage link sharing and improve a hotel’s standing on SERPs.

The real estate industry has similarly seen the value of content marketing this year, and Brafton reported on Tuesday that the industry will likely invest more in content marketing initiatives moving forward.

Joe Meloni is Brafton's former Executive News and Content Writer. He studied journalism at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and has written for a number of print and web-based publications.