Kelley Ellert

Kelley Ellert is the Director of Marketing for Defender Resorts, Inc. based out of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. She is a graduate of the Ball State University School of Journalism and has worked in the travel and tourism industry for more than nine years.

Your Guests Don’t Care About Buzzwords

Marketing Fundamentals That Impact Guest Experience We’re drowning in buzzwords, stitched together like Frankenspeak™ masterpieces, just familiar words repackaged for…

2 weeks ago

Welcome to Hospitality Innovation In Action: Putting Excellence in Motion

Welcome to the first "Hospitality Innovation In Action" column, a new recurring series dedicated to exploring innovations making real differences…

1 month ago

Right-Sized Innovation: Making ARDA’s Industry Vision Work for Any Resort

When ARDA released its latest “Navigating the Future of Timeshare” report, it painted an exciting picture. Partnerships, technology, enhanced owner…

2 months ago

The Price of Not Apologizing—And a Witty Way to Prevent Backlash

After recently experiencing several poor customer service experiences where an apology would have massively diffused the situation, I was wondering…

4 months ago

Actionable Strategies for Marketing Independence

Marketing dependency is a dangerous gamble, especially for resorts that thrive on consistent customer engagement and bookings. Avoiding a single…

7 months ago

The Dangerous Gamble of Marketing Dependency

The common phrase “don’t put all your eggs in one basket” originated in 1605 in Don Quixote when author Miguel…

9 months ago

Making Marketing Happen

Advice for making marketing plans that actually get implemented Have you ever devised a marketing plan that never quite materialized?…

11 months ago

How to Prioritize Your Marketing

Unless your company exists in a magical land where money doesn’t matter, you can’t implement every marketing tactic. Yes, someone…

1 year ago

Tactics & Tools to Help Make a Big Marketing Impact

Small to non-existent marketing teams can function and make a big impact thanks to the variety of tactics and tools…

1 year ago

Stories in Hospitality Marketing

One of the marketing industries most respected voices and teachers is Seth Godin and his book “All Marketers Are Liars…

1 year ago