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What if your hotel marketing wasn’t actually reaching one of your core demographics?
The “bread and butter” for a very successful hotel is to have plenty of travelers visit your establishment. Unfortunately, hotels don’t always focus their marketing on travel seekers. And they end up losing out to the competition.
The good news is that it’s not too late to change your approach to hotel marketing. Keep reading to learn everything you need to know about marketing your hotel brand to travelers!
Like any other business, a hotel needs to understand its core demographic. And you then need to tailor your hotel marketing to that demographic.
That may sound obvious enough, but ask yourself: if you are marketing to “travelers,” what does that mean? What do you imagine when you imagine a traveler walking through your door?
Some who travel are looking for luxury and expect plenty of amenities. Other travelers may include families on a budget trying to make the most of their vacation. It’s difficult for you to appeal to both sets of travelers at once, so now is the time for you to choose who your core demographic is so you can develop a hotel marketing strategy.
We mentioned a couple of the standard travelers above. But what are the different kinds of travelers you should consider marketing to?
These travelers are usually lower to middle class and travel with children. They want to get the biggest bang for their buck and, ideally, stay close to somewhere either scenic (like the beach) or convenient (like the heart of a big city).
These travelers are usually middle to upper-class travelers willing to spend more money on special amenities. They likely travel many times each year and are looking for a hotel that offers an unforgettable experience.
While they may have more money, this group will be more interested in family-friendly features and staying close to nearby family-friendly attractions.
Think of these as your core three kinds of travelers. Obviously, people travel for other reasons, including everything from research to the enjoyment of repetition (like the people who just love coming to the same hotel each year out of nostalgia). There are also those who love to travel solo and create new adventures for themselves.
You can always market to more than one demographic. But it’s important to have core demographics in mind before you develop new hotel marketing ideas.
Obviously, our guide is focusing on how you can appeal to travelers. These are usually people just passing through your town. But depending on where your hotel is located, you shouldn’t underestimate the power of the staycation.
Sometimes, you have locals who just want to escape for a night or two. It helps if you are located near a beach or other major attraction. But it’s not uncommon at all for married couples to stay in a hotel in their own city, giving them a taste of a romantic getaway without having to go anywhere.
Long story short? While most of your marketing strategy should appeal to travelers coming from far away, you should also devote some time and attention to local marketing. Focus on local SEO, use Google My Business, and consider advertising your hotel on local radio and TV stations as well as local social media groups.
Because there are so many different kinds of travelers, people will be booking hotels at different times. Some of them will book weeks or even months ahead and some won’t book until they drive into your city.
Fortunately, there is a hotel digital marketing strategy that can appeal to all travelers. And it starts with a website that gets right to the point!
Your website should have professional, high-quality photos that show off the different features of your hotel. Customers should be able to explore and book rooms are available from every page, and you should describe the rooms and their features in plain and direct language.
That may sound simple, but a shocking number of hotels waste customers’ time with walls of text describing their hotel, all while making it hard to book a room. This will send travelers over to the competition’s website unless you ensure your own site gets to the point very quickly.
Sometimes, there is a pleasant overlap between hotel marketing strategies for travelers and marketing strategies for everyone else. And part of that overlap is the need to personalize whenever possible.
Make sure staff greet travelers by name. And make sure your website allows travelers booking a room to make special requests. This is the basic stuff you can start doing right away (if you’re not already doing so).
You can take things further by investing in good CRM software. This will help you keep track of which types of rooms travelers have booked before, what their previous preferences were, and even what room service foods they ordered.
When these travelers come back, you can make custom recommendations based on previous preferences. They will be impressed by this personalization and be more likely to stay with you again in the future.
You don’t necessarily have to reinvent the wheel with your different hotel marketing strategies. Some of these strategies revolve around the classic wisdom of meeting your customers where they live.
These days, though, we effectively “live” online. And to really market your brand to travelers, you need to have a robust social media presence.
On the most basic level, it’s worth it to invest in ads that customers will see on platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, and TikTok. Travelers still regularly access social media, and you never know which ad will convince someone to stay with you.
But you can also create your own business pages on these platforms and create your own content (especially video content) users love. This helps turn your most loyal customers into brand ambassadors that will tell fellow travelers how awesome your hotel is.
Now you know the best hotel marketing tips to appeal to travelers. But do you know who can help you reach more travelers than ever?
Here at MRKT, we specialize in building and innovating brands. To see what we can do for your hotel and its brand, simply contact us today!
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