Hotel Marketing Ideas

35 Hotel Marketing Ideas to Make Your Luxury Hotel Stand Out

By: Frank DePino | March 15, 2024

If you’re wondering how to improve your hotel marketing plan, you’re not alone.

Achieving optimal results requires a tactical blend of solid marketing fundamentals with fresh, innovative ideas designed to draw in travelers.

A hotel marketing strategy is a strategic blueprint designed to amplify a hotel’s brand presence, allure potential guests, and increase bookings and revenue. It outlines specific marketing objectives, target markets, positioning, and tactics to achieve these goals. The plan typically includes a detailed analysis of the hotel’s competitive landscape, customer segments, and market trends. It incorporates various marketing channels such as digital advertising, social media, SEO, public relations, and partnerships to effectively reach and engage potential guests, drive direct bookings, and enhance the hotel’s overall visibility and reputation in the industry.

This guide to hotel marketing will expand on the above tactics as well as share a multitude of others to grow your business.

By the time you’re done reading, you’ll have a solid understanding of which areas of your hotel’s digital marketing strategy to focus on first.   

Luxury hotel website design

1. Define Your Goals

The most critical aspect of any hotel marketing plan is establishing the desired result or objective of the strategy.

Let’s say your goal is to increase overall bookings by 15% in the next quarter or perhaps you aim to boost online reservations by 30% over the next six months. Whatever your objectives may be, these goals should be clearly outlined prior to initiating your marketing plan.

This outline serves as your roadmap, providing direction as you plan how to market your property.

For instance, if your objective is to enhance online reservations, you might invest more heavily in digital marketing strategies such as SEO, targeted email campaigns, or social media advertising. On the other hand, if the aim is to increase overall bookings, a more holistic approach encompassing both offline and online marketing tactics may be suitable.

These clear objectives help make decision-making easier as your plan develops, ensuring every tactic aligns with your overarching goals.

2. Analyze Your Market

Every hotel aims to position itself within a specific market segment. It’s critical to zero in on the desired market you want your hotel to place in, so you can know your intended audience. Most hotels fall into market categories such as budget, family-friendly, boutique, and luxury. 

For instance, let’s take the example of a boutique hotel nestled in a bustling city. By meticulously curating a distinct atmosphere and offering personalized services, this hotel aims to cater to discerning travelers seeking an intimate and luxurious experience. From its unique interior design to bespoke amenities, every aspect is carefully tailored to attract guests seeking a sophisticated and one-of-a-kind stay.

By understanding and targeting the desired market, the hotel can effectively tailor its marketing strategies to resonate with its intended audience, fostering a strong brand identity and driving bookings from those seeking a refined and exclusive hospitality experience.

3. Know Your Competitors

To defeat the competition, you have to know what they’re doing. 

Leave some time in your digital marketing plan for researching what your local competitors are up to. Don’t automatically copy them, but wait and see how their tactics play out. 

If your competitors make a misstep and fail, you know better than to try that tactic yourself. 

When your competitors succeed, ask yourself why. Then think of how you can do what your competition has but in your own way, and better. 

For example, if a local hotel had a smash hit with a campaign that entails freebies, then you might begin offering your guests free continental breakfasts.

4. Develop a Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

After discovering what market you wish to place your hotel in, it’s time to identify the methods you can sell your hotel to this market. Pause for a while and examine all the distinctive features and qualities that set your hotel apart from the rest. These selling points should be things that most other hotels in your market don’t have.

For instance, let’s consider a boutique hotel with a captivating story. One of your unique selling propositions (USPs) could be the rich historical significance of the building housing your hotel. Share the captivating narrative behind the architectural masterpiece or the intriguing story of the land on which it stands.

By weaving these exceptional elements into your marketing efforts, you can create a compelling allure that resonates with travelers seeking an immersive and culturally enriching experience.

Your hotel’s history and origin story become powerful tools to engage guests and leave a lasting impression, setting your boutique hotel apart from others in the market.

5. Identify Your Target Audience

Who is your target audience?

Your audience, dictated by factors like age, gender, income, and location, comprises the people who will be staying in your hotels. Depending on the type of hotel you own, you may want to divide your audience into segments.

For example, if you own a luxury hotel, you’ll need to focus on people who have similar demographics, such as age, income, needs, and demands.

On the other hand, if you manage a budget-friendly, family-oriented hotel, your focus may shift toward different demographics. You would want to concentrate on families with children, looking for economical stays with convenient amenities. This could include middle-income earners who prioritize kid-friendly facilities, convenience, and good value for their money.

Thus, understanding your audience segmentation can drastically impact your marketing efforts and overall success.

6. Reconnect and Re-engage

If you haven’t done so recently, comb through your guest records. Reach out to those who have stayed at your hotel within the last year or even in the last six months, calling or emailing them. 

Ask them a series of questions about their demographics, geographics, and–most importantly–psychographics, or motivations and behaviors that drive their purchasing decisions. 

Once you collect this data, segment your audience based on pain points, age, location, gender, occupation, income, marital status, etc. 

Now, when you go to launch your Facebook ads, you can select audience segments that you know will be receptive to your message. Your campaign will be more successful right out of the gate, and you can avoid needlessly wasting money on ads that reach the wrong audience. 

Hotel receptionist processing an online hotel reservation received through the hotel website

7. Define Your Budget

The next step, after formulating a hotel marketing strategy, involves determining the budget you are willing to allocate toward the execution of this strategy. It may be helpful to assign each sector of your strategy a dollar amount and to allocate more money to sectors that are likely to generate more revenue.

It’s best to divide your digital marketing hotel plan into several sectors, rather than placing your capital all on a single method of advertising. You’ll also want to keep your advertising budget somewhat flexible, as unforeseen costs may arise during your campaign.

After outlining the specific financial requirement for your marketing plan, closely examine your budget to ensure it accommodates the funds allocated for your marketing initiatives.

8. Develop a Brand Identity

Branding is all about creating an identity for your hotel.

To do this, you need to understand what your customers want and how you’re going to give it to them better than anyone else can. Ensure you develop a cohesive brand that will be easily recognizable and memorable: learn more about hospitality branding!

You may also want to take time highlighting your hotel’s location, whether it is near historical sites or public transportation, which can lend to customers easily being able to reach other venues.

Take all of this information and determine how you will capitalize on it. A hotel located near a conference center, for example, can capitalize on amenities that cater to business-to-business clients who may be in the area for a conference. In the same way, a boutique hotel with a beautiful view can promote the view to couples looking for a wedding venue.

Promote a Lifestyle, Not a Hotel

While you want to define your hotel brand to appeal to the right audience and create a distinctive identity, remember that people will buy into a lifestyle more so than a building with bedrooms in. This is especially true when marketing your hotel on social media, but it also goes for website content. 

Tap into a desirable lifestyle that will appeal to your target customers. For example, you could focus on images of happy couples enjoying luxury bottles of wine in your restaurant rather than close-up images of the bed linen.

Millennium Tower responsive website design

9. Build a Beautiful and Strategic Website

The days of travel agent brochures are long gone, and instead, your website serves as your digital catalog for prospective customers. For this reason, it is absolutely vital that you have designed a website that accurately represents your hotel and the message you want to convey to visitors. 

A luxury boutique hotel with a boring and basic website is not going to fill people with confidence that they are going to get a luxury experience at your venue. Your website needs to be sleek, visually attractive, and functional. It is absolutely worth every penny to pay a professional web designer to build a website for your hotel because your website is essentially the middleman between you and your customer. 

Even if you have a number of excellent hotel marketing strategies to drive traffic to your website, this will be a wasted effort if people don’t want to stick around on the website and immediately look elsewhere. 

Note: Remember to prioritize speed over style!

We are living in a time of convenience. We know what we want, and we want it now, or ideally yesterday! If your website is slow to load, then don’t expect visitors to sit around and wait. Prioritize a website that runs smoothly and efficiently, even if this comes at the cost of style. 

10. Local SEO

Local SEO is the process of optimizing your Google Business Profile, finding local keywords, and creating locally relevant content. It optimizes your visibility in Google search results, positioning your site effectively to reach your audience in your area.

This is the best way to get your site in front of people. In fact, over 75% of consumers in the United States, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom use Google when looking for local hotels.

For instance, let’s consider “The Ritz Paris” a luxury hotel in Paris. To enhance its Local SEO, “The Ritz Paris” should ensure its Google Business Profile is comprehensive, featuring its address, amenities, and high-quality images.

Using keywords like “luxury hotels in Paris,” or “5-star hotels near the Louvre,” in their website content, blog posts, and meta descriptions, would heighten their visibility in local searches.

Crafting engaging content about local attractions like “Gourmet Dining at The Ritz Paris,” or “Paris Fashion Week at The Ritz,” helps boost local relevance.

Mediaboom shows how to use content marketing within a blog

11. SEO Content Marketing and Blog

Both SEO and content marketing are great ways to increase hotel business. SEO is focused on ensuring your hotel has a prominent place in an online search, which is incredibly important. To illustrate this fact, consider that Google processes 5.4 million searches per minute. Clearly, staking your claim at the top of a search result is fundamentally critical to the success of your hotel.

Furthermore, content marketing is fantastic for engaging potential users. It comprises developing and sharing valuable information in order to attract and engage a certain audience, ultimately leading to profitable customer behaviors. As an example, you can advertise the amenities offered by your hotel, local attractions, and other pertinent insights.

It may be utilized in the hospitality industry to express the hotel’s narrative, services, and local attractions that tourists can enjoy while staying there. Blogs play a crucial role in this strategy since they provide a place for offering thorough information on topics such as local gastronomy, cultural events, tourist options, and insider advice. This enhances not just the reader’s experience, but also the hotel’s SEO, drawing more people to the website.

Let’s take as an example the “St. Regis Florence“, an Italian luxurious hotel. They could publish blog posts like “A Guide to Florentine Cuisine: Dine Like a Local at The St. Regis Florence” or “The Renaissance Charm: Exploring Florence from St. Regis,” showcasing the local culture, cuisine, and attractions.

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12. Exhibit the Uniqueness of Your Hotel

Since you’ve taken the time to establish brand awareness, now you can focus on what makes your hotel unique, which is our next tip for how to improve hotel marketing. 

Every hotel has something special about it. Perhaps your hotel is family-owned and operated over generations. Your building could be historical or in a historical district. Maybe there’s something about your hotel’s design and/or architecture that makes it stand out.

Even your excellent customer service or room styles can be unique!

Take some time to meet with your hotel staff and determine the qualities that make your hotel the only one of its kind around. 

Once you know what that special something is, then whenever you market your hotel moving forward, think of how you can focus on your unique elements. You won’t always be able to, so don’t feel like you must shoehorn your uniqueness. That can get tiring fast.

What you can do is write a paragraph (or even a few sentences) about your unique element in your website description on your homepage or about page. Include it in your social media bio. Write a blog post about it, or even make an explainer video (why not both?). 

Feature gorgeous photos of your hotel on your website and across social media. Offer virtual tours on your website so visitors can get a feel for the hotel before they ever officially set foot on the threshold. 

All along, you’re differentiating your hotel from the competition in a way that they can’t do. After all, your competitor’s hotel doesn’t have what yours does and vice-versa. 

13. Showcase Your Location

Your location is integral to your hotel. In some cases, it could even be the unique element of your hotel, especially if you’re located in a historic district or an unconventional place. 

Celebrate your hotel’s location in your marketing. This ties you to local community and can also help in building your brand and increasing awareness. 

If your hotel has conference halls or a spacious ballroom, then maximize the use of your entire building. Host corporate events, weddings, or social events on a local scale. 

Here’s a great piece of content to produce on your blog: a travel guide to your area. Who knows it better than your hotel and the locals who live and work in the area? 

The travel guide can be an invaluable resource to tourists who are visiting the area and don’t know which places to visit. Even long-term residents could possibly learn a thing or two thanks to your knowledge.

A travel guide makes an enticing opt-in form or lead magnet as well. 

14. Be Mobile Friendly

Mobile devices have supplanted their desktop counterparts as the primary means of users conducting an internet search. As such, you absolutely must ensure that your website is optimized for mobile users and that you take advantage of mobile marketing. Take care to ensure that your website is easy to navigate, runs fluidly, and provides all the necessary information when using a mobile device to secure bookings.

The map shows NYC restaurants that a hotel could partner with, based on local collaboration

15. Destination Marketing

Destination Marketing is about highlighting your location’s appeal to attract more visitors.

Normally this type of marketing is very specific. For the most part, this type of marketing aims to make the location seem more attractive than other alternatives boosting the number of people who travel there.

For instance, if your hotel is located near a popular hiking trail, your destination marketing could focus on the adventure and natural beauty of the trail. Share stunning photos and customer testimonials of the experience on your social media platforms and website.

16. Email Marketing

Email marketing keeps your guests updated about your hotel’s special promotions, events, and news. This is also a great way to encourage repeat bookings.

According to Hubspot, email marketing is estimated to reach almost 11 billion by the end of 2023.

Using your website as a vehicle to collect contact information, you can begin sending targeted emails to your new subscribers to engage with them, nurture the relationship, and hopefully inspire repeat bookings.

Outside of nurture campaigns, you can also use email marketing to send press releases and newsletters. When your hotel has a new event going on or you plan to build a new wing or modify existing rooms, your email subscribers will be the first to know about it.

You can send promotional emails as well, such as those encouraging your customers to try the new seasonal menu at your in-house restaurant. When your hotel runs discounts and deals, you might offer exclusive coupon codes to your email list.  

Update Your Customers with Deals and Offers

Try to keep your email marketing to a minimum. Otherwise, you risk being resigned to the junk mailbox or receiving the dreaded ‘unsubscribe.’ Keeping your email marketing short and to the point will help to ensure your communication gets read and digested. Lead with promotional offers you are running, and tempt bookings with discounts and deals. 

Entertaining Monthly Newsletter

Keep in touch with customers with a monthly newsletter that has an entertainment focus as opposed to a clickbait vibe. Readers can quickly see through marketing emails that are targeted at securing bookings, so be a breath of fresh air in their inbox and aim to brighten their mood with an amusing anecdote or exciting upcoming local event.

Millennium Partners custom website design

17. Monitor Reviews and Reputation Management

Proper oversight of your hotel’s online reputation is key.

Be sure to actively monitor what customers are saying about your hotel – display gratitude for positive feedback, and take all reasonable steps to rectify any customer complaints. Online reviews are immensely influential in a customer’s purchasing decision, and you need to be sure that you are taking all the necessary steps to imbue your hotel with an exemplary reputation.

Many customers conduct online research before selecting a hotel. In fact, Google did a study that showed 87% of individuals clicked on businesses that had customer reviews of 3 stars or higher. Encouraging online reviews can be as simple as asking for them.

Having someone to manage your online reviews is as important as generating them. The reviews help to build your reputation, and the way you respond to a negative or fake review is as important as how you respond to a positive one.

For more information on hotel reputation management – and the best way to perform it – take a look at this wonderful piece to gather all the tools you need for success.

Send Out Emails or Texts after Each Visit

Following up with a client after they have stayed at your hotel gives you the opportunity to resolve any issues and listen to feedback. This is a key learning opportunity for your business, but it also allows you to display your thorough commitment to customer service and also keep your brand awareness high.

Respond to Reviews You Receive

Any reviews posted online about your hotel, whether positive or negative, should receive a personal response. This is an opportunity to thank visitors for their stay and take on board any constructive criticism. 

You should also remember that any response you make can be witnessed by other viewers, so use it as a chance to display how well your hotel resolves conflict or show the appreciation that clients have taken time out of their day to rate your hotel. This will help to define your hotel brand and show visitors that you value them.

18. Remarketing and Retargeting Ads

Remarketing and retargeting, often confused, have distinct roles in marketing: they both aim to re-engage previous website visitors, but their methods differ:

  • Remarketing is when you attempt to get past guests’ attention so they come back. It typically refers to email-based strategies, re-engaging customers who’ve shown interest in a product or left items in their shopping cart.
  • Retargeting is when you try to get new customers through digital marketing. It primarily uses cookies and displays ads to keep your brand visible to your audience after they leave your website.

While remarketing focuses on re-engaging known prospects through direct communication, retargeting casts a wider net to re-attract bounced traffic.

Hotel Business means the hotel, resort, extended stay lodging, other hospitality business, and any and all businesses that in the good faith judgment of the board of directors of HMC are materially related businesses.

19. Experienced-based packages

These are packages that provide unique experiences that guests can’t find in other places. A package that includes a guided tour of local landmarks or a cooking class with a top-rated chef are both good examples. 

Our last tip on how to improve hotel marketing is possibly the most important. Focus on the customer experience in everything you do, even before the guests arrive.

Personalize a guest’s stay as much as you can. Curate a music playlist for different sectors of your hotel, such as the lobby versus the elevator versus public areas like a restaurant. Use the music to establish various moods.

For example, you want to relax, quiet music in a hotel lobby to put your guests at ease. In an upscale restaurant, you might opt for classical music to create that posh atmosphere. 

When your guests check out, issue them a survey via email or text message asking about their stay. Encourage your customers to leave reviews by incentivizing them with discounts for future stays. 

20. Provide Late Check-Out and Early Check-In

Offering a degree of flexibility with regard to check-out and check-in times has an appreciable impact on customer satisfaction. Travelers are often weary and their plans can change for a multitude of reasons, resulting in undue stress. Show them you care and appreciate their position by providing them with modified check-in and check-out times. While there must be limits to these modifications, allowing guests to arrive early and/or leave late will no doubt bolster customer satisfaction.

21. Use Dynamic Pricing

As is the case with nearly every business, your hotel’s bookings will fluctuate throughout the year in accordance with increased or decreased customer travel. As such, implement dynamic pricing to not only boost bookings during quiet times but also capitalize financially on the busy season. Be sure to conduct the necessary research to help determine which price points are appropriate and will serve to drive further business.

22. Promote Your Hotel’s Food and Products

Hotels are more than just a place to sleep. Guests often eat, swim, exercise, and indulge in relaxation services within the hotel during their stay.

As such, it is critical that you effectively promote these offerings to entice customers to book with your hotel. Highlight the various culinary options available to guests, whether it is in your restaurant or in-room dining.

Furthermore, promote (when applicable) your gym, pool, and spa as a further means of showcasing the offerings available to guests.

23. Promote and Automate Upselling

Upselling needs to be a core component in your efforts to increase hotel business. When a customer books a stay at your hotel, entice them with further offerings. These can be in the form of room upgrades, additional services, rooms with special and unique features, and other various add-ons. Customers may not be fully aware of all that your hotel offers, and you need to be sure to present them with additional opportunities available throughout their stay.

24. Implement and promote eco-friendly practices.

Green marketing is when businesses focus on sustainable and environmentally friendly practices. You can do this for your hotel by incorporating sustainability into your culture at work. Instead of using keycards, use a phone app, go paperless in the office, and use power-saving light fixtures and bulbs.

Some hotels and travel agencies have created their own applications to help guests book.

24. Mobile App

This app should provide guests with personalized recommendations for local attractions, restaurants, and events, as well as hotel amenities and services. In today’s market, if you do not have a mobile app, you’ll likely lose customers. Most people are using their mobile phones for almost everything, including getting into their rooms.

25. Pet-friendly amenities

People no longer see their pets as just pets, but they are now considered part of the family, and offering them special treatment is one way to attract new guests. Offer things such as pet-friendly rooms, dog-walking services, and on-site dog parks.

Here are some popular amenities that hotels can offer in their hotel marketing strategies:

  • Pet-friendly rooms – designate specific rooms or floors that are pet friendly and come equipped with amenities such as pet beds, water and food bowls, and pet-friendly flooring.
  • Welcome treats – show your guests you love to have their pets thereby having a bowl of pet treats. This not only welcomes your guest but sets a positive tone for their stay.
  • Dog walking areas – Provide designated areas for dog walking that are highlighted in your marketing materials.
  • Pet concierge services – offer services such as grooming, pet sitting or dog walking services. Collaborate with local pet service providers to enhance the range of options available for guests.
  • Information on local pet services – provide information on nearby pet-friendly parks, veterinary clinics, pet stores, or other pet-friendly attractions. Guests will appreciate having local resources and recommendations available.
  • Pet-friendly policies – clearly state your policy on pets, including any size or breed restrictions as well as any additional fees or guidelines for pet behavior. Guests will appreciate having a clear understanding of expectations so they can make an informed decision on if they should bring their pets with them.
  • Social media and marketing collateral – show off your pet-friendly hotel experiences through social media marketing, on your website, and through marketing materials. Share guest stories and pictures of their pets enjoying their stay to create an emotional connection.

26. Pop-up Hotel

A pop-up hotel springs up in unexpected locations such as a beach, mountain, or city park. This can generate buzz and attract attention from travelers looking for unique experiences. This creative marketing concept provides a temporary accommodation that combines artistic, immersive experiences with innovative marketing strategies.

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27. Personalized experiences

This takes customer data and insights and personalizes the guest experience and can include things such as recommending local activities and restaurants based on your guest’s preferences. A few ways to add personal experiences to your guest’s stay are to:

  • Pre-arrival surveys – send guests pre-arrival surveys to gather information about their preferences such as room temperature, pillow type, dietary restrictions, preferred amenities, or if they are celebrating a special occasion, then use this information while setting up their room.
  • Welcome amenities – surprise guests with personalized room amenities based on their preferences. This could include their favorite snacks, a bottle of water, a personalized note, or something they showed an interest in.
  • Personalized recommendations – provide guests with personalized recommendations of local attractions, restaurants, or activities based on their interests and preferences. This can be done through a dedicated concierge service or by a mobile app.
  •  Spa and wellness experience – customize spa treatments or wellness experiences based on your guests’ preferences and needs. Offer personalized massages or facials.
  • Special occasion celebrations – offer things such as an upgraded room for anniversaries, birthdays or weddings, and then do surprise touches such as room decorations, personalized cakes, flowers or a romantic set up.
  • Post-stay follow-up – follow up with your guests after their stay to gather feedback and express appreciation. Send a personalized email or thank you notes and consider offering them incentives for future stays.

28. Influencer Collaborations

Partner with social media influencers who have a strong following in your target market to promote your hotel to their followers. You can use influencers for a wide range of things, such as holding influencer-hosted events or meetups, exclusive promotions and giveaways, and leaving reviews and testimonials.

29. Live Chat

Live chat is a quick and easy way for your guests to get their questions answered. It also helps you to have a more personal online presence. Having a live chat helps your accommodation answer any unusual or specific questions potential guests may have.

There are many benefits of offering live chat, such as:

  • Real-time support –  live chat allows potential guests to get their questions answered immediately instead of having to wait for an email response or being put on hold during a phone call.
  • Convenience and accessibility – consumers can reach live chat from anywhere at any time. It eliminates the need for customers to visit a physical location or make a phone call.
  • Personalized interactions – live chat provides a chance for personalized interactions with customers. Agents can address the customers by name, reference their previous stays and respond to their needs based on previous experience.
  • Increased sales and conversions –  Live chat can impact sales and conversions positively. This is done because agents can proactively engage website visitors and offer recommendations and resolve any concerns the guest may have immediately.

30. Virtual Reality (VR) Tours and Experiences

Virtual reality is a great hotel marketing idea that allows a potential customer to learn about your accommodations and local attractions you may have. This provides guests with an immersive and interactive way to explore your hotel and create an emotional connection.

Here are some ways VR tours can benefit your hotel marketing strategy:

  • Immersive Exploration – VR tours and experiences allow for guests to explore places and environments they wouldn’t know about normally.
  • Interactive Engagement – VR experiences can be interactive, allowing for guests to interact with objects and navigate the spaces, enhancing the feel of the experience and making it feel more personal.
  • Realistic Visualization – when guests can see and interact with their surroundings, it makes them get a feel for the area, creating an emotional attachment.
  • Marketing and Sales tool – You can provide your guests with virtual property tools and show them the unique amenities that your location offers.
Hotel Receptionist is engaging with Guest queries.

31. Use Dynamic Pricing and Adapt it to Seasonality

Dynamic pricing is when you change your prices based on factors such as demand, supply, competition, and seasonality. This helps your business increase revenue, profit and increase customer satisfaction and loyalty.

32. Loyalty Programs

Creating a loyalty program is a fantastic method to encourage repeat business. Customers who regularly stay at your hotel deserve to be recognized and celebrated, and a loyalty program is the perfect means to do so. Offer room discounts, complimentary meals, room upgrades, and free use of amenities to encourage customers to return to your hotel.

Furthermore, implement a points system as part of this process and clearly outline what is achieved through the accumulation of points. Doing so will give customers something to work toward and will be a great motivator in their booking with you in the future.

Reward Guest Loyalty

You can help to entice past visitors back to your hotel by offering loyalty schemes. This can be a percentage saving on their next trip or a points system where they can accrue awards based on how many nights they stay. 

This is a great hotel marketing strategy to build a loyal customer base, as they will keep coming back if they feel like they are getting something in return. You should also market any reward programs to lure new customers to your hotel and use this as an opportunity to show customers that you appreciate their business. 

33. Local Partnerships

Partner marketing can build strong partnership brands using their partner’s customers. This can be done with local restaurants, bars, and tourist attractions.

You can offer to host events for local businesses, display promotional materials and offer discounts to employees of local businesses.

It is a reasonable assumption that your hotel is equipped with at least one large meeting or gathering space. Take advantage of your spacious facility and host events! Corporate gatherings, wedding receptions, speaker engagements, and festive activities are all viable options to consider.

Not only will the events generate increased income, but you will also secure the bookings of event attendees.

That’s a win-win!

Co-Promote Each Other

Local businesses are an invaluable untapped source of new customers for many hotels. Work to build relationships with other businesses in your town and promote each other on social media, by word of mouth, or by having each other’s business cards on display. This is an easy hotel marketing strategy that won’t cost you anything and can only have a positive impact on all involved.

Contests

Running contests on social media is a quick and effective way to reach more people. Plenty of social media users will gladly share your post online if they stand a chance to win a free stay at your hotel because it costs them nothing and takes a mere second. This will help you to increase brand awareness and become visible to more potential customers

Promote Your Town

Every town has something to offer visitors. Even if your town has no attractions, then it can be a ‘rural and peaceful getaway.’ Enhancing the reputation of your town and bringing it to the attention of a broader audience will help you attract more hotel visitors.

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34. Use Customer Relations Management (CRM)

CRM is an incredibly effective tool to properly manage all your engagements with customers, both present and future. The capabilities of CRM software are profound – they can track a plethora of customer information, including emails, phone numbers, documents completed, and so much more. The gathering of this data is automatically analyzed and presented to you in an accessible, helpful manner, thereby allowing you to engage your customers in a targeted, impactful manner. Do yourself a favor and invest in an effective CRM program to increase hotel business.

35. Measure Your Success

The last step of hotel marketing is to measure the success of various types of advertising. Track different metrics like website traffic, booking conversions, and social media engagement to discover which tactics have the greatest ROI.

At regular intervals, sit down with this information and determine what aspects of your hotel marketing plan you continue, and which aspects you may no longer need to successfully bring revenue to your hotel.

Remember, having multiple sources of information is key, and it may take some analysis to discover which advertising methods bring in the most customers.

Feeling overwhelmed by the complexities of crafting a dynamic and successful hotel marketing plan?

That’s where MediaBoom steps in.

With our experienced team of marketing professionals, we can take the pressure off your shoulders and assist you in developing an effective strategy tailored to your hotel’s unique needs. Let’s turn your vision into reality together.

Don’t navigate this journey alone: reach out to MediaBoom today and take the first step towards transforming your hotel into a top-tier choice for travelers.

The marketing specialist is managing the hotel's online reputation

Bonus Tips to Increase Hotel Revenue

Having covered sales and business, let’s now turn our attention to some ideas to increase hotel revenue.

Use Booking Software

In today’s technology-driven world, using booking software is a no-brainer. Not only will booking software make it incredibly simple for your guests to book at your hotel, but it will also free up some of your time as well. In addition, booking software will serve to collect user information for future use, allowing you to quickly and effectively follow up with your guests to solicit feedback and encourage repeat visits.

Foster Direct Reservations

While booking software certainly has its place in your overall strategy, it is nonetheless equally important that you foster direct reservations. When a potential guest calls to make a reservation, ensure that the process is as pleasant, easy, and engaging as possible. This is also a fantastic time to perform in upselling as you have the opportunity in real-time to explain further offerings provided by your hotel. Direct reservations also allow you to showcase your exemplary levels of customer care and support, so be sure to handle each call with care!

Don’t Be Too Flexible with Your Cancellation Policy

Securing bookings plays an undeniably large role in your ability to plan for the future, both financially and in terms of resources needed. With that said, you can’t be too lax about your cancellation policy – after all, you were counting on that guest staying at your hotel! Be sure to clearly outline your cancellation policy and display it on your website, and third-party booking tools, and share it verbally when taking a direct reservation.

Furthermore, establish a timeframe in which a guest can cancel their reservation without penalty, and also decide on what the financial penalty is should a customer cancel after that window closes. While some customers may express frustration, take solace in the fact that you appropriately shared your cancellation policy, and don’t be swayed by customer dissatisfaction.

Increase the Range of Services Offered

There are numerous areas in which your hotel can offer additional services, all of which will help to increase hotel business. Examples include coin lockers, luggage storage (perhaps for a per-diem cost), and transport to the airport (which is always appreciated by guests). All of these not only present as convenience items for guests, but they also stand to generate further business for your hotel.

Dynamic pricing is a great way to entice visitors to your hotel during a low season.

How to Increase Hotel Sales and Revenue in a Low Season

As mentioned previously, certain times of the year will naturally result in slower business for your hotel. This is completely normal and should be factored into your operations. With that said, there are ways to mitigate these times and generate business.

Again, dynamic pricing is a great way to entice visitors to your hotel during a low season. Promote special pricing through online advertisements, social media, as well as through more traditional advertising avenues.

Also, keep tabs on any local events or gatherings that could be enticing to potential travelers. Consider partnering with the organizers of these events and explore ideas to offer discounted admissions to visitors.

Low seasons cannot be avoided, but they need not be stressors for your hotel. Think holistically about ways in which to drive traffic to your hotel during a low season and keep those bookings coming!

The Importance of a Digital Marketing Strategy for Your Hotel

As we mentioned in the intro, the hospitality industry now affords the average consumer more options than ever. What should make a customer choose your hotel compared to the multitude of others they could book with?

Your hotel has qualities that make you, and we’ll delve into those later. However, without digital marketing, you won’t ever get a chance to showcase your uniqueness. 

Here are some reasons a digital marketing strategy is so integral for hotels.

Builds Brand Awareness

Name recognition is important to today’s consumers, but not every hotel is a Hilton or Holiday Inn. 

Establishing your mark in the hotel industry requires having brand awareness. Through digital marketing, you can find your brand voice, which is exemplified in everything from your logo, your choice of colors, and your tone when communicating. 

Once you know your brand and you solidify it, you can spread your brand through advertising, building a social media following, or partnering with other businesses. 

The hotel owners have noticed an increase in traffic to social media and the website

Increases Social Media and Website Traffic

Of course, knowing about your hotel is not enough. You want leads to find your hotel online and ideally book through your website. A digital marketing campaign can create an influx of website (and social media) traffic. 

Once these visitors land on your site, you can use opt-in pop-ups, lead magnets, and other marketing tactics to capture the lead’s contact information and engage with them.  

If your hotel isn’t already on social media, then you risk being left behind by the competition. You need an active presence on the platforms your audience members use most, from Facebook to Twitter and Instagram.

Use features built into social media platforms such as Instagram Stories and Facebook Live to post live tours or other videos of your hotel. Perhaps you offer behind-the-scenes looks into how your restaurant menu is prepared or sneak peeks into what a new room design looks like.

Your event planning staff could start their own podcast. You can work with influencers to establish brand ambassadors for your hotel. Even the staff in your hotel can work as hotel ambassadors to spread the word about your hotel and what makes it special. 

Elevates Your SEO

SEO dictates where your website appears in the search engine rankings. If you’re wondering how to improve hotel marketing, it begins with better SEO

After all, if you’re on page three or four of the rankings, no one is going to find you. Your leads will have chosen their hotel based on the listings on page one.

Boosts Your Bookings

Through these combined measures and the tips we’re going to share in the next section, your hotel should see an increase in bookings. Maintaining your digital marketing will allow for more consistent lead generation and thus sales. 

Elevate Your Luxury Brand Today

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Seeking to elevate your luxury business? Let Mediaboom guide you. Secure your exclusive, free consultation with our luxury marketing experts today.

Hire a Luxury Marketing Agency Now

Knowing how to improve hotel marketing will increase your rate of bookings and lead to many more benefits for your hotel. You’ll strengthen your brand, establish a presence across social media, engage and nurture through email, and solidify your local roots.

Hiring a hotel marketing agency catalyzes your online presence through the strategic use of digital marketing tools. By using a hotel marketing agency, you will reach your marketing goals.

Contact Mediaboom today to start working on your new hotel marketing strategy.  We will work with you to help plan the hotel’s marketing strategies and effectively increase brand awareness.

By: Frank DePino

Frank DePino is Principal and Founder of Mediaboom. Since 2002, Frank has led Mediaboom’s award-winning staff of creative and technical professionals, building the most effective marketing and advertising solutions for its clients.

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