The highly competitive hotel industry took a massive hit during the pandemic but is starting to bounce back. As travel resumes and people begin to leave home more, the number of dollars being spent on hotel stays is still smaller than in pre-pandemic years. To capture a good share of those dollars, it is more important than ever to market aggressively, competitively, and creatively. While this might sound simple, it isn’t because hotel marketing, at the very least, ranges from ensuring who your target audience is to partnering with local businesses.
We’re going to take a look at some marketing tactics that are popular in the hotel industry. But the key takeaways apply no matter what industry you’re in.
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Providing Good Food
Usually, when someone visits a hotel, aside from considerations of bed and bathroom, their ultimate goal would be to eat good food. I mean, who would visit a hotel and not expect good food? And of course, isn’t making the best food what hotels stand for? But making good food doesn’t just mean the hotel has to hire the best chefs!
The hotel has to look at the target demographic, the area they are in, the food their regular customers prefer, the climate, the season, and so on. For instance, in the area of your hotel, find out if your customers tend to be vegetarian or meat-eating. This is a very basic consideration that can be accommodated. But if you didn’t know that 40% of your customers were vegetarian, you might never think to offer such options. the list just goes on! While some might like shrimp, others may be allergic to shellfish. Others might find it repulsive, and while some might find burgers boring, others might make it their staple when visiting the hotel. And don’t forget pizza. So, while making tasty food is very important, keeping in mind the flavor/food preferences of your customers is just as important various other factors is also just as important.
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Providing Satisfactory Experiences
Satisfying your customers with a high-quality experience is the number one priority in any business. In the hotel business, the guest experience, these days, starts with your website. It must be attractive, informative, and easy to use, with a simple booking function and easy-to-find contact information.
The check-in experience is equally crucial. Friendly personnel, a smooth process, and clear information about hotel amenities help guests feel right at home. It’s also an opportunity to impress with premium details. One such detail is the key card sleeve. A hotel key card sleeve printed with a key message, logo or signature colors, and artwork is a great way to illustrate your hotel’s attention to experience before the guest even gets to their room.
If every detail of the stay delights your guests, they become your marketing street team, recommending your hotel to friends and leaving great reviews for future travelers to read when choosing a place to stay.
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Personalized and Customized Messages
Your email list is one of your most valuable marketing assets. To make the most of it, you want to send out messages to your target audience containing useful information that resonates with them and entices them to book a stay.
Different messages resonate with different audiences, so you’ll want to use any available customer data to customize your messages to groups or even individuals. If you know their demographic information, how often they travel and which amenities they use, you can build messaging that makes them feel like you’re talking directly to them. In fact, if you make sure to personalize emails with the recipient’s name, you will be talking to them!
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Create Authentic and Creative Content
Content is a vital component of any marketing strategy. It can help potential guests find your website, show them how your brand aligns with their lifestyle, and ultimately lead to conversions.
Adding a blog to your website can be one of the most cost-effective and efficient ways to differentiate your brand and deliver content that resonates with your audience. Creative posts that answer visitors’ questions about amenities, local attractions, and travel tips add value to a website visit. And they make your hotel stand out as a helpful, welcoming place that knows what your visitors want and need. Check out these four inspiring examples of hotel content marketing.
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Promote With Brand Ambassadors
Working with brand ambassadors, also known as influencer marketing, is one of the best ways to reach a larger audience. Brand ambassadors, or influencers, are social media personalities with substantial followings. They can be guests or even hotel staff, but more often than not they are social media personalities. The key to success is finding popular influencers whose topics and followers align with your brand. For example, influencers who have built brands around travel have audiences who are also may also be interested in travel. When they post about your hotel or share your content, it can help build positive brand awareness among people who are generally interested in staying in hotels. And if the influencer they follow features it, followers they may become interested in staying at your hotel.
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Incentivize Your Loyal Customers
Creating incentive programs is getting much easier with the advent of applications that help you manage these interactions with your customers. You can get up and running fairly quickly with one of these popular apps. And as mobile device usage continues to grow, the time you invest in getting started will pay off with increasing participation in your program.
Rewarding your loyal customers with extra amenities or free nights not only makes them feel important and appreciated, but it also encourages them to keep coming back. And if they really enjoy the perks, they may tell friends and family about it.
Conclusion
These strategies tactics can help take your hotel marketing game to the next level. In the highly competitive hotel industry, you want to use every means possible to increase your brand awareness. Every room you book is an opportunity - to create a loyal customer, to increase your word of mouth, and build your business.
