Anyone who owns, operates, or works in a hotel knows that it’s not a piece of cake.
The hospitality industry is unique in that its product is both tangible and intangible. Its tangibility includes things like a nice, comfortable bed and a delicious continental breakfast. Intangible things include the good feelings enjoyed by your clientele—thanks to measures your staff has taken to achieve that peaceful experience.
That satisfaction is not impossible to achieve. Every hotel should have a solid hotel marketing strategy in place that keeps sales high, customers happy, and staff properly trained. Keep reading for the top features of a great plan.
1. Reliable Branding
The thing about hotels is that if they nail it on the first impression, they may just have a customer for life. That one guest may continue to use that one hotel every single time they travel, and maybe even tell all their friends, family, and coworkers about it.
That’s one of the many reasons why consistent branding is significant to your advertising campaign. Your brand should be memorable, noticeable, and easy to find in the slew of options. When that one guest’s friends Google your hotel’s name, there should be no confusion about which it is.
Focus on a comprehensive advertising approach that favors this consistency.
2. SEO for Hotels
Hotel internet marketing is absolutely vital for the hotel industry.
After all, when was the last time you picked up the phonebook before booking a stay somewhere? That’s right—you probably used the internet, whether on your cell or computer. That’s where search engine optimization, or SEO, comes into play.
SEO consists of several components that work together with a similar mission: to increase your hotel’s exposure online, encourage readers to take action (i.e., book a stay), and get your hotel to appear in search results. That way, when someone needs to plan a trip, your hotel will come up in the search engines—hopefully, accompanied by a user-friendly website and easy-to-find contact information.
If your hotel marketing strategy doesn’t include an SEO campaign, you can guarantee it’s falling behind in the SERPs!
3. Reputation Management
Just like a good impression makes a customer for life, a bad impression has the power to do some long-lasting damage.
A hotel’s reputation is arguably one of the most important aspects of its being. Why? Because it’s an intimate space where people shower, bathe, sleep, and relax after a long flight. Because of that, a superior level of hygiene and cleanliness (among other perks) is expected.
That’s only one small part of reputation management. It mostly includes tasks like managing online reviews and the hotel’s general internet presence. What do your guests have to say about their visits—and do you have a course of action planned for if you get a bad review?
Does Your Hotel Marketing Strategy Have These Features?
If not, it’s time to give them some weight.
Reputations are hugely important for hotels. They’re the places people seek comfort when traveling—and because of that, it’s crucial to maintain a consistent and reliable source of stability. Having these features set in place can offer you an advantage in dealing with any branding issues, marketing setbacks, and more.
Once you’re done fine-tuning your hotel marketing strategy, keep scrolling our page for more business advice like this.
