With an estimated 187,000 hotels worldwide, your hotel digital marketing strategy is critical to making your property stand out. But with all of the channels out there, which ones should you tackle?
Today, the Philadelphia-based digital marketing experts at Forge Apollo are sharing our top tips for a successful hotel marketing strategy.
1. Create High-Quality Visual Content
Outside of repeat bookings, potential customers rely on your hotel imagery to evaluate your accommodations. Using high-quality content pays off, as the following statistics show.
- One study found a 15% increase in conversions when hotels used high-quality images on their website.
- A TripAdvisor study found that travelers were 225% more likely to book on listings with at least one photo.
Don’t limit your brand to still imagery, either. Video content brings rooms, amenities, and experiences to life to help boost bookings.
Plus, brands can get abundant content from a single video shoot with a video production partner like Forge Apollo. For example, one resort used a single shoot to get more than 245 assets for use across marketing materials. The assets portrayed the various experiences visitors could have at the resort, from quiet and calm to active and fun.
2. Prioritize Your Website
Most digital marketing efforts lead back to your website, so creating an engaging design and positive user experience should be priority number one. In fact, 60% of customers book their hotel rooms online.
Make room types, booking options, amenities, and other information easy to find and interact with. Like your hotel, the design should fit your brand and modern expectations.
For example, Forge Apollo’s website design team re-designed this website for The Grand Victorian Spring Lake after it joined ICONA’s Boutique Collection to both improve user experience and make its branding fit with the larger brand.
3. Appear in Search from All Angles
90% of travelers research online for a trip. That research typically starts on search engines like Google, so optimizing your brand to appear in those searches is vital.
Let’s consider the following ways your hotel may appear in search when a user seeks out hotels in your area.
SEO
Search engine optimization (SEO) configures on-page elements, like technical setup and copy, and off-page factors, like local listings, to improve search visibility for keywords and phrases related to your business.
In other words, when someone searches for a hotel in your area, SEO helps your website appear in the organic results.
Optimizing the technical elements of your website, creating new content, and managing local listings (which we’ll get more into below) are must-haves to stay competitive in organic results.
Local Listings
A Google Business Profile allows users to see essential information about your hotel, like rates, features, contact information, and more, without ever leaving the search results page.
Other listings also make your hotel seem more legitimate to search engines and users by displaying consistent information across the web.
PPC
Search engines also have sponsored slots available. While SEO is “free,” it is a long game without guaranteed results. With Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, hotels can bid to appear in searches that are the most valuable to their brand.
4. Use Personalized Email Marketing
Staying in your customer’s email inboxes can be valuable. According to Litmus, email marketing can produce an ROI of $36 for every $1 spent.
Email marketing for hotels can include special offers, packages, suggested itineraries in the area, and more.
However, be sure that your strategy establishes value with the customer and doesn’t come off as too pushy with sales.
Personalization
83% of travelers are willing to share personal information if it results in more personalized experiences. Hotel email marketing is a great place to utilize personalization.
For example, email family-friendly dining options to people booking with children before their stay. Or, share a romantic anniversary package with someone before their anniversary.
5. Maximize Social Media
Many consumers take travel inspiration from social media. Hotel social media marketing especially can allow them to envision an escape.
Both paid and organic social channels are the perfect place to share the high-quality content we mentioned earlier. Rather than sharing empty rooms and amenities, show people enjoying them.
Plus, social media offers a unique opportunity for influencer marketing. Working with influencers in your niche may be the perfect way to attract more travelers to stay with you.
Hotel Digital Marketing from Forge Apollo
Forge Apollo is your brand’s unfair advantage when marketing a hotel. We offer a unique combination of digital marketing strategies and high-quality visual content to fuel them due to our combination of a digital and video production team. Contact us today for help building your hotel marketing plan.
