12 tips for successful hotel marketing
12 tips for successful hotel marketing
What impression does my hotel make? What can I do to ensure that the hotel beds are fully occupied? More and more hoteliers are asking themselves these and other questions these days. The answer is: hotel marketing. Founded by hotel and tourism experts, TourSol is the right partner when it comes to marketing affinity for your hotel.
But what does hotel marketing actually mean? We have summarized the best tips for you. Let's start with an explanation of the term.
What is hotel marketing?
Hotel Marketing specifically addresses the requirements within the hotel industry. This refers to all activities that help hotels to be successful on the web and reach the top. The marketing concept for the hotel is sophisticated and should meet people where they are. It should inspire, leave a positive impression on guests and ensure more hotel bookings.
Hotel marketing takes place online, offline and in person. Hotels also need to maximize their presence through website traffic, social media, emails and other marketing channels. Emotions and passion are also part of being a hotelier. Marketing in the industry is very diverse. For example, the entrepreneurial focus can be divided into strategic and operational marketing.
Strategic marketing
Strategic marketing forms the basis for operational marketing. Strategic marketing is about developing a marketing strategy for the hotel. Marketing and corporate goals are defined here. As a service provider, we at TourSol can take over the strategy development with special marketing tools for you or optimize it together with your marketing agency.
Operational marketing
Operational marketing is based on the strategy. The focus here is on the rapid sale of services and products, so that operational marketing quickly implements the development strategies in order to achieve the company's long-term goals.
As you can see, strategic and operational marketing are simply inseparable. Strategic marketing defines the goals that operational marketing executes with tactical marketing activities.
The basics for targeted hotel marketing
The following basics are essential for good hotel marketing. This way you are sure to score points with your guests.
1. define your target group
One of the basics is to define the target group precisely. What expectations do your hotel guests have? What content should be integrated into the website? The more precisely the target group for your hotel is defined, the more precisely you can implement the strategies and measure their success.
2. establish your brand message
A brand message should be established so that the hotel expert is always at the customer's side. This should specifically express the needs of the guests, then the range of services can be built on this. In this way, the right marketing strategy can increase sales.
3. your website is the flagship
Basically, the hotel website is the figurehead of the company and should be expertly and professionally designed.
4. SEO optimization
SEO optimization is another foundation of marketing. The aim is to position the website as well as possible and to address the target group ideally and directly. Excellent content is a must for SEO optimization. At TourSol, we know exactly which content is well received and can advise you individually.
5. success analysis
With a success analysis, you can get an optimal overview of the company. Seconds often decide whether a potential guest chooses this hotel and a success analysis shows hoteliers to what extent their marketing is already successful. The intuitive booking processes make a good conversion rate possible.
Our tips for your hotel marketing strategy
You should definitely consider these tips, as they will help you to develop a successful marketing strategy:
1. responsive website
Responsive web design enables the uniform display of website content. The layout is designed so flexibly that it offers the same user-friendliness on the desktop or laptop, tablet and smartphone and the content can be accessed quickly and conveniently.
2. experience concept
Every hotel can score points online with an experience concept. Based on a careful analysis of the hotel and the target group, the hotel's offer and services can be designed to best suit the target group. Addressing the target audience in a targeted manner is just as important as an authentic offer that matches the hotel's philosophy. The more individual, the better!
3. tracking and reporting
There is no success without tracking, reporting and analysis. What led to success? What was unprofitable? Without looking at this, there will be no good results.
4. personal social media marketing
Personalized social media marketing turns the campaign into a sales channel that is profitable. Social media advertising starts with YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, etc. Customers watch videos about the hotel, see guests coming in and out and more. Social media advertising has become an integral part of marketing strategies in the hotel industry.
5. use evaluation options
It is important to ensure that the review options are used. Customer reviews are possible via Google, the booking portals, your own website, travel catalogs and also meta search engines. A good concept and efficient review management can work wonders here.
6. good presentation
A good presentation on the Internet and in the booking portals will make the hotel part of success stories. It's all about the moment when the traveler chooses your hotel. Many channels efficiently show how to present the hotel well. Organic Google search, Google ads, local SEO, social media, YouTube, newsletters, booking engines and messenger services all deliver good results.
7. local as opposed to international
Local SEO is used to optimize the findability of the respective local hotel. This is often a free opportunity to draw attention to the hotel and significantly increase local search results with targeted measures.
8. customer journey: the be-all and end-all
This refers to the path a customer takes before finding and getting to know a hotel. From the offer to the resulting booking, the traveler goes through many phases and experiences a number of moments. These phases characterize this process. They represent important points of contact between the hotel visitor and the hotel. During the customer journey, all channels are addressed and checked for the right content.
9. top-class recommendations
If a hotel has premium quality, the website should reflect this. Optimal quality management constantly checks the functionality and user experience. High-caliber recommendations can of course also appear in customer reviews if prominent people have already visited the hotel and rated it positively.
10. cooperation with online travel agencies (OTAs)
Those who work with online travel agencies for marketing can often enjoy fast bookings, as an online travel agency has a wider reach of potential guests and can therefore advertise your hotel far and wide. The crucial point here is constructive cooperation with the OTAs.
11. consistently market with targeted campaigns
Targeted campaigns are useful for marketing a hotel well. The benefits are always emphasized and the hotel owner has the opportunity to address specific topics via the campaign. Clearly defined target groups are called for here and the campaigns help to concretize all marketing measures in a defined period of time.
12. customized marketing messages
Tailor-made marketing messages also play an important role in the optimal marketing of a hotel. Sometimes the peak season in particular is heavily advertised and therefore requires a flexible and agile partner.
The TourSol recommendation
When it comes to hotel marketing, there are many tactics and approaches that will bring your business to the forefront of the internet, attracting many customers and generating bookings. With our marketing tips, resounding success should be possible for every season in the hotel industry. We at TourSol, as experts in the tourism and hotel sector, support you with advice, complete solutions and targeted marketing measures that are perfectly tailored to your business. With us, you are guaranteed to be on the road to success and always have a reliable partner at your side.
