As the weather begins to cool off, people are already hatching their next vacation destination ideas, which means it's time for those in the hotel marketing industry to prepare for heightened consumer interest in the new year. So in that spirit, here's what hotel and resort marketers can do to maximize their bookings in 2016.
Secret sauce. Value proposition. Differentiator. Whatever your organization calls it, you need to effectively communicate why someone should choose you over the competitor. This is true in any business, but especially so in the hospitality industry. More than ever before, hotels chains are owned by larger conglomerates, and the amenities offered have become cookie-cutter and predictable.
Travelers have come to expect things like free wi-fi and continental breakfasts, making it the marketer's job to highlight what it is that makes your property stand out. It could be an adults-only pool, a grocery delivery service or a complimentary limousine service, but it must be an offering that distinguishes you from the rest, and it must be communicated clearly and thoroughly to your audience through all of your marketing channels.
Sure, you may not be able to control what every past visitors post about your hotel online, but there are ways to steer the online conversation in a direction that's beneficial to your organization. Here are a couple tips:
When you go to buy a car you kick the tires and take a test drive. When you buy a pair of shoes you try them on, press on your big toe and walk around for a bit. But when you are making a destination purchase such as a hotel, the only human sense you can appeal to is sight. So for this reason, visuals should play a significant role in your hotel marketing strategy.
High-quality images of your rooms, views and common areas are great, but you might even want to go a step further. What about full 360-degree video tours? Or a drone video that shows off your entire property? Or even testimonial videos of travelers enjoying themselves in your pool or at your lobby bar? As we always say, video has the ability to take people places and show them things, and this can be especially effective for destination purchases such as hotels.
Telling a marketer to connect with his or her audience is like telling your kids to look both ways before they cross the street: they've heard it a thousand times but it's always worth repeating. And this is specifically true for hotels. Does your hotel cater to families? Couples? Singles? Business travelers? College-aged people?
These groups have drastically different needs and desires, and having the amenities that fit your target demographic is of little value if these amenities aren't communicated in the right way at the right time to the right people.
Identifying your audience affects everything you do! So don't let it slip through the cracks.
Repeat after me: Be transparent about pricing. Be transparent about pricing. Be transparent about pricing.
Marketers have always had a tendency to avoid being forthright about pricing, and although the strategy is with sound intentions, more and more marketers are seeing the benefits of being open and honest about how much their offerings cost. This is especially true when it comes to digital marketing. The most popular question people ask (when it comes to any product, really) is "how much does it cost," which means there's a lot of opportunity to connect with searchers if you provide answers online.
Not only that, but price is often what separates leads into being either qualified or unqualified. If you don't provide pricing, you're wasting your time marketing to people who will ultimately never stay at your property.
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The weather is cooling down, which means hotel interest is heating up. Are you prepared?