10 Hotel Marketing Strategies to Drive Bookings and Awareness

You’re in good company.

Every hotel team in hospitality is toiling to increase awareness and boost bookings for their property, even as travel becomes more and more competitive.

In addition, there have never been more channels and guest touchpoints, requiring an effective omnichannel marketing strategy to maintain, and grow, market share.

In this blog post, we share ten practical, actionable hotel marketing strategies form our team of experts that have proven to drive bookings and awareness for our hotel and resort clients.

Optimize Your Website Experience

Your hotel's website is often the first point of contact between your property and potential guests. It's crucial that your site is optimized for both search engines and user experience.

Actions than can immediately improve your website’s experience:

• Have a mobile-friendly, responsive website.
• Assure your website has a fast load time.
• Utilize headings and subheadings to organize content.
• Include your most important pages in your navigation.
• Create unique page titles and metadata for every page of your site.
• Have a standalone contact and a location page.
• Weave your target keywords throughout the site.
• No-index thin content.
• Utilize site maps.

By conducting an SEO audit of your hotel website on a regular basis and constantly making improvements, you put your property in the best position to rank high and flow for users without friction.

Be Strategic with Social Media

Social media is a powerful tool for reaching a large audience and building relationships with past, present, and potential guests.

Be active on platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Post updates about your hotel, share user-generated content, and engage with followers.

Social media posts, however, should never be a shot in the dark. Every published word, every shared image should be personalized, relevant, and speak to your frequent hotel guest profiles, such as:

• Young families
• Couples
• Business travelers
• Groups of friends
• Larger family reunions

Need inspiration? Potential post ideas for your hotel’s social media might include:

• Use “stories” or “reels” to go behind the scenes and showcase team members.
• Create posts that promote special deals and offerings.
• Share area guides and highlight local attractions.
• Showcase positive reviews from guests.
• Include relevant hashtags.

Partner with Local Businesses

Partnering with local businesses can help your property reach new audiences and increase bookings. For example, you can partner with a local brewery, winery or distillery to craft a “stay and sip'' room package for your guests or negotiate with a local tour company to secure discounts on activities for hotel guests. Collaboration also creates a sense of community.

When trying to identify the most practical local partnerships, consider:

• Location (What businesses are within close proximity?)
• Guest's Interests (Are they passionate about shopping? Theater? Sports?)
• Trends (What's new, unique and hot in our market?)

Market with Micro-Influencers

Cristiano Ronaldo has more than 535 million followers on Instagram, but it may be tough to secure a partnership with the Portuguese footballer and get your property in front of his massive audience. Instead of going big, think micro.

Micro-influencers are bloggers and social media users just like you and me who have cultivated small but mighty followings within a niche market. Through hard work and consistency on their part, micro-influencers have built a following of anywhere from a few hundred to tens of thousands of followers who look to their trusted Instagrammer or blogger for honest product and brand recommendations.

Because of that heightened consumer trust, brands should take the opportunity to establish mutually beneficial partnerships with relevant micro-influencers. Brands can partner with micro-influencers to endorse their products or repost branded content in exchange for goods or payment (if you’ve ever seen an Instagram post with #ad included somewhere in the caption, then you’ve seen brand-sponsored content), but more often than not, leaving the micro-influencer to their own expertise in creating original and honest content is a brand's best bet.

For some micro-influencers, the increased exposure they’ll receive from the exposure to your brand’s audience as they build their following is payment enough. Building mutually beneficial relationships with brand partners who don’t require a monetary reward is an effective way to create a micro-influencer campaign for budgets of all sizes.

Click here for three ways Screen Pilot has partnered with micro-influences to promote hotels and resorts.

Invest in Google Ads

Use pay-per-click (PPC) advertising on Google as part of your omnichannel strategy to reach potential guests when they are searching for hotels in your area. For hotels to stay competitive in the digital era, this really is a must.

Some tips for utilizing Google PPC Ads effectively in 2023 include:

• Research Keywords: Conduct thorough keyword research to identify the keywords and phrases that your potential guests are using to search for luxury hotels. Use these keywords in your ad copy and targeting options to increase the relevance of your ads to potential guests.
• Target Affluent Areas: Use geographic targeting to reach potential guests in affluent and high-earning areas who may be more likely to travel and stay at hotels and resorts.
• Use Ad Extensions: Use ad extensions such as location, call, and site link to provide more information about your hotel and make it easy for potential guests to take action.
• Create Ad Groups: Create ad groups for different types of luxury hotel services such as spa, room upgrades, restaurant, and events. This will help you to target a specific audience and increase the chances of conversion.
• Use Remarketing: Use remarketing to target guests who have previously visited your website but haven't booked yet, by showing them ads for your hotel when they visit other websites. This can help to increase the chances of conversion.

Craft Creative Offers and Packages

Work with your team to create unique offers and vacation packages. These can be tailored to different types of guests and can include incentives such as room upgrades, spa treatments, and dining experiences.

Ideas for special offers:

• For Romantics: A getaway package that includes a couples massage and a candlelit dinner.
• For the Family: A package that includes children's activities and discounts on family-friendly amenities.
• For People with Pets: Luxury sleeping accommodations for the furry ones and pet-friendly amenity such as snacks or treats.

By offering these types of packages, you can differentiate your hotel from competitors and attract guests who are looking for a unique, personalized experience.

Additionally, by offering different packages for different needs, you can attract more of your ideal guest profiles. These special offers and vacation packages can be promoted through email marketing, social media, and your hotel's website to reach potential guests.

Roll with Video Marketing

Video marketing is one of the top trends for hotel marketing in 2023 for a reason. Nearly 72% of customers say they would rather learn about products and services through video than any other format.

With the major boom of video-sharing apps like TikTok over the pandemic, it’s more important than ever to show up where your customers are searching and spending their time. Need inspiration for content creation?

• Share high-quality videos that showcase your hotel's amenities.
• Feature location-specific content and guides.
• Offer hotel virtual tours.
• Showcase a behind-the-scenes look at hotel events, dining and entertainment.
• Include relevant hashtags.

Create videos that line up with every stage of the customer journey and attract new guests by releasing entertaining and relevant content. For example, if a frequent guest profile is a foodie couple, some content to create could include:

• Top 10 Must-Try Restaurants in [Location]
• Insider Guide to [Name of Festival]
• Best Food Tours in [Location]

Some best practices and things to keep in mind when using video marketing for hotels include:

• Quality Counts: Use high-definition video and professional equipment to create visually appealing and engaging videos that showcase your hotel and its amenities.
• Showcase an Experience: Use video to give potential guests a sense of what it's like to stay at your hotel. Showcase the guest rooms, public spaces, and amenities in a way that makes them want to book a stay.
• Embrace Variety: Create a variety of videos, such as virtual tours, testimonials, and behind-the-scenes footage, to keep your audience engaged and give them a sense of the hotel's personality and culture.
• Use Storytelling: Use video to tell a story about your hotel and its unique selling points. This can help create an emotional connection with potential guests.
• Optimize for the Web: Optimize your videos for the web by adding captions and subtitles and by compressing the file size to ensure that your videos load quickly.

Highlight USPs on Your Website

As obvious as it sounds, it's important to revisit your property’s "unique selling points" regularly and review your website to be sure it prominently and repeatedly showcases these superlatives.

Examples of unique selling points for hotels can include:

• Location: Being located in a prime spot, such as a city center or a waterfront, can be a major selling point for guests.
• Amenities: Having amenities such as a spa, fitness center, or rooftop pool can attract guests looking for a special experience.
• Local Culture: Highlighting the hotel's connection to the local culture, such as featuring local art or offering cultural activities, can attract guests interested in immersing themselves in the destination.
• Environmentally Friendly Initiatives: Being environmentally friendly by using sustainable practices and promoting eco-friendly activities can appeal to guests who prioritize sustainability.
• Pet-friendly: Offering pet-friendly services, such as providing pet beds and bowls, can attract guests traveling with their furry friends.
• Food and Beverages: Offering unique and locally sourced food and beverage options can be a major selling point for guests looking for a culinary experience.

Spotlight Your Location

Marketing your hotel's location is an essential, and relatively easy, way of attracting and retaining guests.

One effective way to do this is by highlighting the local attractions and experiences that are available to guests. This can be shared through social media posts, website content, and email campaigns. For example, you can create videos or photos showcasing nearby landmarks, museums, and shopping districts. Additionally, you can partner with local businesses to offer package deals and discounts to guests.

Another effective strategy is to create a blog or a section on your website that highlights the best things to do in the area, and feature lists of favorite places to eat, drink and visit from locals, maybe even hotel team members.

Optimize Your 'Google My Business' Listing

Optimizing your Google My Business (GMB) profile is crucial for hotels looking to increase their visibility and attract more guests and is considered an essential part of local SEO optimization.

GMB is a free tool that allows businesses to manage their online presence across Google, including search and maps. To optimize your GMB profile, start by verifying your business and ensuring that all of the information, such as your address, phone number, and website, is accurate and up to date.

Add high-quality photos of your hotel, including images of the exterior, guest rooms, and common areas. These photos will help to give potential guests a better idea of what to expect when they stay at your hotel. You can also include information about your hotel's amenities, such as a pool or a fitness center, to help attract more bookings.

Additionally, you can use GMB to monitor and respond to customer reviews, which can help to build trust and credibility with potential guests. By optimizing your GMB profile, you will increase your hotel's visibility and make it more likely to appear at the top of search results when people search for hotels in your area.

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Marketing a hotel in 2023 require more diversification and creativity than ever. In order to create an effective strategy that consistently drives direct bookings, you need to stand out among competitors on your website, in the content marketing that you share, in personalized ads, and throughout all your brand's digital touchpoints.

Ultimately, the brands that have creative and comprehensive omnichannel strategies and personalized content will rise as those who invest solely in stale SEO campaigns and generic content production struggle.

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