In today’s world, almost everyone relies on the Internet, and this is especially true for the hotel industry.
For your hotel to stand out, it is important that people can easily find you online. It all depends on how successful you are with digital marketing.
When people start searching for hotels, they often turn to Google or social media to read reviews. Next, most will check the hotel’s website to learn more before making a reservation.
So, a strong online presence is key to attract more potential guests and fill your empty rooms.
This is why it is so important to have a hotel website that is easy to use and well designed. And this is not that much of a tough task.
You can ensure that your site is easy to use and looks great by getting help from a reliable website design and development company. This helps keep potential guests interested in what your hotel has to offer, making them more likely to book a stay.
To make all this work, digital marketing can be a magical way to help your hotel stand out in the industry.
Digital marketing for hotels is the best way to catch the attention of new guests.
With the right approach, your hotel can rank high on search engines and attract your ideal customers.
So, getting more bookings is just a few clicks away, you just need the right digital marketing strategy for hotels and the right partner to get there.
In this guide, you will learn how digital marketing can bring success to your hotel and many more, so stay tuned.
Table of Content
- What is Digital Marketing For Hotels?
- Why Digital Marketing For Hotels Is Important?
- 6 Digital Marketing Strategy For Hotels To Attract More Potential Guest
- Email Marketing
- Paid Advertising
- Online Reviews
What is Digital Marketing For Hotels?
Digital marketing in the hotel sector means using the internet to promote your hotel and attract more potential guests.
It is especially helpful for hotels of all sizes, be it a 5-star hotels or small hotels as it is more affordable and easier to manage than traditional marketing techniques like TV or newspaper ads.
Digital marketing for hotels helps you get quick feedback on your services and how well your ads are doing.
A good digital marketing strategy for hotels include paid marketing, social media marketing, email marketing and search engine optimization (SEO) to make sure your hotel appears when the audience searches online.
Here as you delve deeper into the article you will learn about the best and easiest way to help your hospitality services grow.
Why Digital Marketing For Hotels Is Important?
By using digital marketing for your hotels, you can give your potential guests a special and personalised experience. This can bring more people to your hotel, increase your revenue and many more.
Let’s see, in how many ways digital marketing for hotels can make a difference to your brand, no matter its size:
Enhanced Visibility
Digital marketing helps your hotel get noticed online by more and more people.
By using digital marketing techniques, you can improve your chances of being found by potential guests. This means more people will know about your hotel and what it has to offer.
Improved Brand Reputation
You can build and maintain a good reputation by constantly improving your digital marketing strategies for hotels.
As a strong online presence, coupled with positive reviews from happy guests, helps build trust and credibility with new customers.
Improve Customer Engagement
Digital marketing allows you to interact with your customers in real-time and provide personalised experiences.
Social media platforms let you respond to customer questions and feedback, showcase their services, and build strong relationships with guests.
Increased Revenue
Good digital marketing can bring more visitors to a hotel’s website or physical location, which means more bookings and more money.
By promoting your services through various online channels, you can attract more guests and increase your revenue.
6 Digital Marketing Strategy For Hotels To Attract More Potential Guest
The hotel industry today is dynamic and very competitive. From the rise of Airbnb-style operators to the global covid pandemic that caused an estimated $935 billion loss to the global tourism industry, the challenges of the past decade have put marketing efforts in the spotlight.
More than ever, effective digital marketing strategies for hotels are critical for these businesses. Whether you are launching a hotel, looking to increase bookings, or want to boost your brand, digital marketing is the way to go. As I already mentioned It’s affordable and has the potential for massive reach.
By implementing the digital marketing strategy for hotels like this, you can effectively promote your hotel and attract more guests.
Content Marketing
Have you noticed one thing?
Any hotel that is leading in this digital age has one thing in common and this is only amazing content that connects them directly with their guests.
That is why creating valuable content is a great way to attract and engage your potential guests.
This can include blog posts, videos and travel guides that are interesting to your target audience.
For example, you can write about local attractions, travel tips or events happening near your hotel.
By doing content marketing, you are not only promoting your hotel, but you are also helping to provide a better experience for your guests, making them feel connected to your brand.
Website Optimization
The first place your guest visits to learn more about you, is your website.
It’s like the front door to your hotel on the Internet.
So, it should be easy to use, fast loading and optimized for search engines so that people can find you easily.
As everyone likes to visit a well-designed website that makes it easy for them to book a room.
Most importantly your website should be mobile-friendly.
Because most of your guests book hotels on their phones, so your site should look and work well on mobile devices.
Social Media Marketing
As you read above billions of people spend a lot of time on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter.
Being active on these platforms helps you connect with your guests.
You can share photos and videos of your hotel, promote special offers, and respond to guest inquiries on social media platforms.
This helps build a relationship with your visitors and keeps your hotel at the top of their minds when they think about where to stay.
But then the most difficult question arises that;
How Do I Find the Best Social Media Platform for My Hotel Online Marketing Goals?
Which social media platform is best for your hotel?
Where will you find the most success in the shortest time?
It would be nice to have a clear answer.
But! There is no one solution that fits all. However, you can get an idea of the best platform by knowing a little about all the platforms.
Social Media Platforms
Before Going for any platform, you should familiarise yourself with the most popular social media platforms, like:
Facebook: With more than 2.9 billion monthly active users, Facebook remains the most popular platform. Allows you to share information, communicate with guests, and create events.
Instagram: The perfect visual platform to showcase beautiful destinations and luxury hotel lobbies. It’s also great for encouraging guests and influencers to share their own experiences.
X (formerly Twitter): Known for short, quick updates (280 character limit), good for quick communications and conversations.
YouTube: Allows hotels and guests to create video content that can provide information and inspiration. It’s perfect for showcasing your hotel’s best features through engaging videos like vlogging.
Pinterest: This is the most effective visual platform that helps build your brand image through images and ideas.
TikTok: A video-sharing app with 170 million users in the US and 1.04 million active users world wide, most of whom are under 34. It’s a great app for creative and fun content.
WhatsApp: With more than 2 billion active users worldwide, and predicted to surpass 3.14 billion by 2025, this messaging platform is excellent for taking guest communications to new heights.
Social media is always changing, so keep an eye on new trends and features.
Email Marketing
Email might not seem exciting as the latest social media platforms but it is a powerful tool for marketing. Studies show, for every $1 spent on email marketing, you can earn $38 in return, which is an amazing revenue.
And with today’s technology it is easy to personalise emails, target specific groups, and track how well your emails are working.
Email marketing is very effective, so with the help of email marketing, you can stay in touch with your past and potential guests by building an email list.
You can send newsletters, special promotions and personalised offers directly to your guests.
For example, you can inform them about upcoming events or special discounts, making them feel valued and encouraging repeat visits.
Paid Advertising
Using paid advertising on platforms like Google Ads and social media can increase your hotel’s visibility.
By investing in PPC ads you can make sure your brand stays on the top of the mind of your guests who have shown interest but have not booked yet.
It is an important part of digital marketing for hotels because it helps your hotel appear at the top of the results right when people are looking for the places to stay.
Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is especially useful because it lets you target specific groups of people searching for accommodation in certain areas or who are looking for the special experiences offered by your hotel to the guests.
This drives more traffic to your website and may lead to more bookings at your hotel.
Online Reviews
There are many places travellers can leave reviews, including:
- Tripadvisor
- Google reviews
- Booking.com
- Expedia
- Hotels.com
- Trivago
When it comes to online reviews, there are three key things you should focus on:
Increase Positive Reviews
Good reviews lead to more bookings and higher profits. Nearly 81% of travellers say they are more likely to book a hotel with a higher review rating. A higher rating can boost occupancy and revenue per available room.
To get a higher rating, you must do the following things:
You must provide excellent service that guests will want to rave about.
Ask departing guests to fill in a feedback form.
Direct those who leave glowing feedback to post their reviews online, especially on platforms where you need more positive reviews.
Limit Negative Reviews
No one wants to stay in a dirty hotel room, and 90% of travellers will avoid booking hotels if they see the word “dirty” in online reviews.
Running a hotel is difficult, and there will always be complaints.
However, good communication can solve many problems before they become negative online reviews.
Always Monitor And Respond To Reviews
It is very important to always monitor and respond to reviews. Whether the review is good or bad, responding shows that you care about your customers and stick to your values. It’s a great way to demonstrate your commitment to excellent service and that you take feedback seriously.
When you respond to a bad review in a kind way, you may make that dissatisfied customer feel better, and may even change the opinions of other people who read it. And when you respond to a good review, it can make your business look better.
By implementing digital marketing strategies for hotels and staying up to date with the latest trends, you can attract a large number of potential guests.
But if you are unsure about which marketing strategies to use, you can hire the best digital marketing agency like Geek Master to help you out.
Using Data-Driven Digital Marketing Strategy for Hotels
As hotel occupancy rates rise and global demand increases, hoteliers face challenges to reposition, redirect and revitalise their brands to meet new demands in 2024.
In this section, we’ll explore how you can use data-driven digital marketing strategies for hotels to address these challenges.
Forward-Looking Market Insights
An important lesson learned from the last years is the need for forward-looking business intelligence data. Traditional travel trends and booking behaviors have been disrupted in 2020 and 2021, making historical data less reliable for hotel strategies like pricing.
While historical data still provides useful context, real-time, forward-looking hotel occupancy data should now be the focus of your pricing strategy.
You need to rethink how you trade now and in the future by evaluating constantly changing market data and evaluating which channels are performing best.
Channel Performance Data
Another lesson from the pandemic is the importance of a multi-channel approach in planning for recovery.
For example, in some markets, bookings through travel agencies are on the rise as travellers seek out experts to understand the ever-changing rules of travel.
By monitoring the performance of the channels that influence demand for your assets, you can create a successful multi-channel distribution strategy.
Clear visibility into changing traveller booking patterns and behaviours on each channel allows you to ensure relevant content is available and easily findable across different booking channels, allowing you to confidently strategize pricing accordingly.
Understanding where a business comes from allows you to better allocate resources and shift marketing efforts to the most profitable channels.
Destination-Based Data Analysis
You can better identify and engage consumers who are actively searching for a room in their area by leveraging data like Google search information specific to their destination, including market audience segments and detailed demographic information.
With these insights, you can identify travellers who are most likely to book based on solid data and craft more relevant messages and incentives that have a greater impact on your target audience. Always, try to use Google Search Audiences to target the right guests for your hotel.
Take Advantage Of Guest Travel Data
Analysing the digital experience throughout the traveller’s journey is critical to acquiring the next generation of digitally savvy customers.
The hotel guest journey allows you to map all the steps or touchpoints your guests go through during the booking process or website navigation.
These online interactions leave a trail of data that your brand can use to understand your guests’ needs and wants, anticipate their expectations, and personalise their web experience.
By focusing on these data-driven strategies, you can better navigate the challenges of today’s travel environment and position your brands for success in 2024 and beyond.
Advanced Hotel-Specific Digital Marketing
You can use different digital marketing strategies for hotels to stand out online and attract more guests.
But here are some simple yet effective ways to do it.
It will not only attract new guests but also encourage repeat visits, making it a win-win for your hotel.
Digital PR and Publishing
Being featured in famous travel magazines like Travel & Leisure & Condé Nast Traveler can make a hotel more popular and trusted.
This can be done by sharing interesting stories about the hotel, hosting events for the media and getting press coverage. These actions help to increase the hotel’s credibility and attract more guests.
- Offer Unique Stories: You should focus on creating compelling stories that grab attention. It could be about a unique guest experience, an innovative service or a special event at the hotel.
The only goal is to make the story interesting enough to grab the attention of travel writers and editors.
- Host Media Events: Invite journalists, bloggers, and influencers to visit your hotel to experience it firsthand. It could be an excellent way to gain coverage.
You could organise special tours, host press dinners, or even a complimentary stay at the hotel. The goal is to give them something memorable to write about.
- Secure Press Coverage: By consistently reaching out to media outlets and forming relationships with journalists, you can secure press coverage that highlights your hotel’s brand.
This type of coverage can make your hotel more appealing to potential guests.
Local SEO
It is important to make sure your hotel shows up in local search results when people look for places to stay in your area.
This means optimising your hotel’s Google My Business listing, getting listed in local directories, and encouraging guests to leave positive reviews.
These steps will help your hotel appear in area accommodation searches, which will bring in more potential guests.
- Optimise Google My Business Listings
Make sure your hotel’s Google My Business profile is complete and up-to-date.
This includes having accurate business information, high-quality images, and responding to customer reviews. A well-optimised profile increases the chances of the hotel appearing in local search results.
- Obtain Local Citations
Local citations are mentions of your hotel’s name, address, and phone number on other websites and directories.
Having consistent and accurate citations across various platforms help search engines trust the hotel’s location information, which can boost your local search rankings.
- Encourage Positive Reviews
Positive reviews on platforms like Google, TripAdvisor, and Yelp not only build trust with potential guests but also improve the hotel’s visibility in local search results.
You can encourage your satisfied guests to leave reviews, which can significantly enhance the demand of your hotel in the industry.
Content Creation
As you read above, creating engaging content about the hotel and its surroundings can attract more guests.
This can include organising virtual tours, sharing guest testimonials, and providing local guides. This type of content shows off hotel amenities, nearby attractions and encourages people to choose your hotel.
- Virtual Tours
You can offer virtual tours of the hotel, which allows potential guests to explore the hotel online. This helps them have a better understanding of what to expect and increase the likelihood of booking.
High-quality, interactive virtual tours can highlight your hotel rooms, amenities, and unique features.
- Guest Testimonials
You can share real guest experiences through testimonials, reviews, and case studies to build trust and credibility.
When potential guests see positive feedback from others, they are more likely to choose you. You can share these testimonials on your hotel’s website, social media channels, and other marketing mediums.
- Local Guides
Create content that highlights the local area to enhance the guest experience and inspire bookings. This could include guides to nearby attractions, restaurants, and activities.
By positioning the hotel as a gateway to the local culture, hotels can attract guests who are looking for more than just a place to stay, they’re looking for an experience.
Social Media Management
As you read above how much of the population is active on social media, so it becomes important to be active on social media to connect with the guests.
You can respond to comments, share photos and stories from guests, and run fun contests or giveaways. This interaction creates a sense of community and loyalty among followers, making them more likely to choose the hotel to stay.
To manage your social media effectively, it is crucial to:
Consider Your Audience
It’s important to understand your ideal guests: who they are, what platforms they use most, and what type of content they prefer. By knowing your audience, you can make an informed decision about where to focus your digital marketing efforts and budget.
Think About Goals and Processes
Next, think about your goals and how each platform can help you achieve them. Also, consider these practical aspects:
Investment: How much time and money will you need to invest to use the platform effectively?
Employee experience: Do you have employees who already know and use any of the platforms?
Posting Frequency: How often will you need to post on each platform?
Tools: What integration and management tools are available?
These factors will help you decide where to focus your energy. Keep in mind, it’s better to do one or two platforms well than to spread yourself across all of them.
And if you’re still facing difficulties in achieving your hotel’s marketing goals.
Then, Geek Master can help you by providing digital marketing services for hotels to achieve great results in no time.
Influencers Marketing
Digital marketing for hotels is all about getting attention online. One of the great ways to do this is to work with social media influencers. These are people who have a lot of followers on platforms like Instagram or YouTube.
Influencers can help your hotel gain attention in a short time by exposing it to their large audience.
Their reach and influence can drive significant interest and visibility for your hotel. This approach is effective across various industries, much like the strategies used in healthcare influencer marketing, which highlight the broad applicability of influencer tactics in engaging diverse audiences.
As you know, staying at a hotel is often seen as a special treat, a bit of luxury, or a one-of-a-kind experience, and influencers are good at making their followers see a hotel as a must-visit destination.
Therefore, teaming up with influencers can help your hotel become more popular online.
They can showcase your hotel, destination, or your guests’ experience in a way that is more likely to yield positive results.
How to Boost Online Visibility with Digital Marketing for Hotel Campaigns?
You can boost your hotel’s online visibility through digital marketing for hotels, focusing on the three Cs: consistency, creativity, and competition.
Consistency
Always post regularly and make sure your messages match your brand’s personality. People should recognize your hotel from what you post.
Creativity
Be a little creative to stand out because there’s a lot happening on social media. Your posts need to catch people’s attention.
Competition
You don’t always need to come up with new ideas. Look at what other hotels are doing to get inspiration for your content.
Here are some simple ideas to help you get started:
- Update your Facebook page cover image and description to reflect your brand, like SIXTY Hotels does.
- Share guest photos and reviews on Instagram and Facebook Stories.
- Start a Facebook Group to share behind-the-scenes content and details about upcoming promotions.
- Tweet out positive testimonials from guests.
- Create a unique hashtag to share user-generated content that fits your brand, like #FairmontMoments.
- Live stream events, sunrises, or quick tours of your hotel.
- Run an Instagram hashtag contest to encourage users to create content and gain followers.
- Create a Facebook event page to promote special events.
- Share helpful local content from restaurants, tourist spots, and attractions on Facebook.
- Collaborate with travel influencers on TikTok to reach younger audiences.
When you plan your social media strategy, think about how often and when to post, how to monitor what people are saying about your brand, how to respond, and how to direct users toward booking.
Another important aspect is influencer marketing, which involves working with people who have loyal followers on social media. These influencers can endorse your hotel, making it more trustworthy to their followers.
To use influencers effectively, find people who fit your brand and message.
Check if they have worked with similar hotels and if their audience matches your target guests. You can contact them directly through social media or their business contact information if they have one.
Boost Your Online Presence with Digital Marketing Services For Hotels
Hotel marketing can feel overwhelming at first, but with a little practice and experience, you can quickly create high-quality hotel marketing campaigns that generate results from day one.
Marketing is super important for helping hotels like you to get more bookings and make more money. It involves understanding what travellers want, using the right tools, and making decisions based on good information.
At Geek Master, we specialise in creating digital marketing strategies for hotels. Our expertise can help your hotel not only reach its marketing goals but also go beyond them, improving both visibility and guest satisfaction.
