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    Tag: hotel digital marketing

    How to market for the travel industry

    Posted on by Alex Wilks

    Are you ready to get your digital marketing efforts recognized within the travel industry? If so, you aren’t alone. With spring quickly approaching people are starting to research and book their yearly travel plans. This means that you need to be ready for those searching for cheap travel deals, flights, and hotels. Here are some ideas on how you can win over consumers.

    Monitor search stats

    Leisure travellers go on a couple of trips per year, which means they must do regular research before those vacations can be booked. Each month, search engines such as Google and Bing see millions of searches using keyword varieties pertaining to many types of travel. 

    Here are some that have proven to be most popular:

    • Airline tickets
    • Airline reservations
    • Hotel and motel reservations
    • Vacation packages
    • Car Rentals
    • Cruises

    Since most customers plan ahead when booking a trip, it’s important that you plan your digital marketing strategies well in advance. Whether you manage an airline, a luggage company, or hotel digital marketing, all efforts should be catering to months ahead, while also considering last-minute travellers. 

    Understand the customer journey

    While it would be great if shoppers searched for a travel-related keyword, saw your paid search ad, clicked, and immediately purchased, the reality is that each customer journey is far more complex than that. In fact, one person may have hundreds of interactions with travel brands while researching a single trip. 

    Here are four key moments where you should aim to win over your customers using your chosen digital marketing strategies:

    • The dream stage: This is where those who are thinking about planning a trip find ideas and inspiration on where to go and what to do. While it isn’t easy to capture conversions during the dream stage, you can make an impact that will help them to consider your product or service when it’s the booking stage. 
    • The organizing stage: Once people get past the dream stage, the organization stage is where they’re in deep consideration mode. The destination has been selected and the next steps are choosing a hotel or airline to book, often based on location, cost, and timing. While there’s not much you can do to change the cost and timing as an airline, with hotel digital marketing, you can amp up your creativeness to excite shoppers about your location. 
    • The booking stage: Now that customers have made their decision, they’re ready to make reservations. This would be a great time to upsell your other services. For example, if you operate a hotel, perhaps tour packages, room upgrades, dinner reservations, and/or massage packages would be options to market at this point. 
    • The experience stage: Tied into the booking stage, the experience stage is where you have an opportunity to offer further interactions with your customers. Whether this is a further chance to upsell a service, offering a discount for a later time, or waiting until the service has been performed and asking for a review, the experience should never go overlooked. 

    After two years of limited travel through a global pandemic, people are thinking more and more about how they will be using up their vacation time. By understanding the above key moments you can influence the customer journey and increase your digital marketing conversions.

    Target the right audience

    The demographics of your target audience should be a strong consideration in your digital marketing efforts. Whether your product and/or service caters to families, seniors, or women versus men, things like age and income are also very important. For example, if your hotel wants to promote family travel, we recommend targeting women between the ages of 35 to 49. This is because they’re often the ones doing most of the research and booking. Also, be sure to write your ads or other hotel digital marketing efforts from the perspective of the buyer person to create emotion that will encourage clicks and conversions. 

    Is your business ready to welcome travellers again? Drop a comment below to share your plan with us. 

    How do you digitally engage with your hotel guests?

    Posted on by Alex Wilks

    hotel digital marketing

    Digital marketing for hotels is more than simply advertising your accommodation online — it’s about building a relationship with potential and prior hotel guests. In most cases, an engaged patron can often become a recurring guest because they have found value in sharing their experience. By taking the time to build up a committed engagement strategy, you’re upholding the standard within your industry and giving people an opportunity to feel appreciated. So, if you’re looking to power-up your guest engagement, the following tools can help you deliver superior results within your hotel digital marketing.

    Offer a mobile check-in & check-out

    Sometimes the first steps towards guest engagement begin before your visitors even make it through your doors. Giving them the option to check-in through their mobile device has many advantages like speeding up the check-in process, reminding them about their check-in times so that you can ensure their hotel room is nicely groomed and it also gives you an excuse to request their email during the booking phase. In other words, your guests will value the convenience of bypassing the front desk and seizing a full day of opportunity.

    Build a digital guest survey

    Engaging with your guests starts from the moment they book their accommodation and should aim to continue well after they check-out from their stay. It’s all about finding a helpful, yet, not annoying balance. When you’re experiencing with hotel digital marketing, sometimes the most effective way to advertise your business and build a report with your guests is by encouraging a survey at the end of their stay. Often when you leave a physical survey sheet in hotel rooms it can get misplaced, go unnoticed and even be forgotten, but when you email your guests an interactive survey, it gives them the opportunity to choose a time and a place that works best for them.

    Utilize your social platforms

    The best part of social media, other than the fact that most people have it, is that it’s less intrusive and in-your-face than other hotel digital marketing strategies. While a reminder email for some people is a simple nudging gesture, for others it’s a bothersome way of networking. Posting across your social accounts allows you to reach the right audience and also gives you opportunities to create connections long after your visitors have checked-out. It’s even possible to reach people that are interested in accommodation at your location but haven’t quite made a reservation yet.

    Implement a loyalty program

    When you’re looking for innovative ways to promote your hotel, a great way of encouraging engagement, and future bookings, is by implementing a loyalty program for your guests to sign up for. Once they have stayed at your hotel, send them a coupon with a discount that can be used towards their next stay. While they may not be in the area anytime soon, this strategic move simply shows that you appreciate their support and that you’re looking forward to being their first choice in the future.

    If you’re looking for a team to manage your hotel digital marketing strategy, we can help you get started on the road to success.

    Are there any other pressing ways that you can digitally engage with your hotel guests? Tell us in the comments section below.

    Why is digital marketing important for hotel sales?

    Posted on by Alex Wilks

    hotel digital marketing

    Both vacationing and traveling for work are done a little differently in 2019. At one time a physical advertisement would have been enough to attract the attention of potential guests, but those traditions are quickly losing their ability to make meaningful impacts. This is why we’re promoting and strongly emphasizing on growing your company through the use of a digital connection. In fact, more than ever before, businessmen and women, families, couples and solo travelers are booking their flights, accommodation and even travel excursions online; almost as if the entire customer lifecycle has switched over to a more digital world. So, if you’re a medium-sized hotel chain that’s looking to heighten the reach of your target market or a small Bed and Breakfast that’s looking to gain some recognizable traction, then you’ll want to learn how digital media can significantly boost your booking numbers.

    So many people spend time in the digital world

    The modern-day traveler is accustomed to being connected to technology. So, naturally, that means that there is an influx in people taking the time to scan through their social media channels for travel inspiration. Wouldn’t it be great if a revelation sprang to their minds after they saw your company’s digital advertisement?

    Keeping that in mind, it was reported in 2018 that 57% of hotel bookings occurred online, half of which were processed through the use of a smartphone. Further, this means that Gen Z, Millennials, Generation Xers and even possibly Baby Boomers are slowly catching onto this sophisticated way of travel booking. So, if you’re aren’t developing or constantly tweaking your digital marketing strategy, you run the risk of losing reach to these prospecting guests.

    Digital media is an easier method for booking

    Your hotel chain absolutely needs an easy-to-use, eye-catching booking system that makes the customer feel both comfortable giving out their credit card credentials, while also excited at your choice of visual design and photo features. After all, it’s your responsibility to get your guests excited about their experience.

    That being said, it’s important to understand that when someone selects a destination as their vacation hotspot, they have many choices in terms of accommodation. So, why should they go with you? By making your booking process an enticingly fun, care-free experience, you’re locking in your guest’s approval and potentially even encouraging them to spread the word about their stay. Keep in mind that your hotel digital marketing strategy should accelerate your guest’s experience, so, think carefully about how your website is built and how your social media channels are curated — consider engaging information that entices prospecting travelers to make a booking.

    Digital media is a great space to flaunt your brand

    Hotel digital marketing is the perfect opportunity for you to express what your brand is all about. There are many social media platforms where you can spread the word about your hotel, allowing you to connect with current or past guests and even effectively attract new clients. Just keep in mind that formulating a digital marketing strategy takes a lot of time, brainstorming and patience and might require the help of a social media or digital media manager embellish unique branded content. Remember, this is a creative space where you should feel comfortable sharing beautiful images, engaging photos and even thought-provoking stories. Hire someone who understands your image and your undying need to put your hotel on the map.

    It’s time to take advantage of digital media and communication with your audience, share historic insights, write interesting content, take incredible photos and encourage a connective memory that your guests will never forget.

    Can you think of an example of a hotel digital marketing strategy? Share with our readers below.