All Consultants / Susan Barry

Susan Barry

Commercial Strategy

Atlanta, Georgia, United States
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B2B marketing and commercial strategy for the hospitality industry. We help hotel owners, management companies, brands, investment groups, and vendors market, sell and price to and for each other. While retainer engagements are most common, ask about special projects -- we love weird!

Key Consulting Services

  • B2B marketing
  • Commercial strategy
  • Brand messaging from print to social
  • Content marketing + LinkedIn
  • Special projects

Expertise

Susan is an expert at marketing and hospitality commercial strategy, including sales and revenue management, and she has worked with dozens of companies and 250+ hotels in 75 markets and five countries. The types of projects that are the best fit are B2B, helping companies sell and market to or work with each other, rather than B2C, helping companies attract consumers. Some examples are: content marketing strategy and execution, fractional asset management for hotel portfolios, hotel transition sales assessments, brand messaging ideation and deployment, market supply and demand analyses, copywriting, and B2B marketing/franctional CMO services. While retainer engagements are most typical, short-term projects are welcome!

Background

  • Susan has led Hive Marketing as President and Queen Bee since 2009. Prior to founding Hive, Susan led the sales, marketing, and revenue disciplines in several new build openings over ten years with Starwood in Denver, CO; the DC market; and Atlanta, GA, winning Starwood's "Hotel of the Year" and helping reimagine the Westin brand along the way. Susan spent several years as an off-premise caterer before embarking on her hotel career, and she can safely confirm that hotels are much more fun.

Professional & Other

Susan has been named to lists like the Top Hospitality Social Media Influencers and Top 100 Most Powerful People in Hospitality, but she is most proud of the awards won by her podcast, Top Floor, including being named a Top 30 Hospitality Podcast by the International Hospitality Institute and a "14 Must-Listen Hotel & Hospitality Podcasts for 2023" by HotelOperations.com. Top Floor is about the future of hospitality and is available wherever you like to listen.

Susan is a graduate of Florida State University, where she majored in thinking she would become a novelist before falling in love with the hospitality industry. Susan was a founding board member of She Has a Deal, a first-of-its-kind hotel investment pitch competition, and participated in the Castell Project. She is a member of Female Founders in Hospitality.

Industry Associations

Susan's Latest Articles & Case Studies

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Susan Barry

Case Study: B2B Marketing for Management Company

By Susan Barry Jan 19, 2023

The Challenge: Sharing a TrevPAR Success Story This mid-sized hotel operating company had outperformed other similar businesses during the pandemic in total...

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Susan Barry Joseph Cozza

Cayuga Hospitality Consultants Discuss Future of Events

By Susan Barry & Joseph Cozza Jan 19, 2023

Cayuga Hospitality Consultants got together with other members to talk about their area of expertise, projects, and work as well as current...

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Susan Barry

Stress Test Before You Invest: Hotel Demand

By Susan Barry Jan 19, 2023

The pandemic has created challenges for hotel owners like none they have ever seen.  STR reports that U.S. hotel profits fell almost...

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