Hotel Digital Marketing Strategies to Get More Bookings in 2020
1. Be reachable online
2. Advertise on Metasearch Engines
3. Interact via social media and videos
4. Run Ads everywhere
5. Don’t forget email marketing
1. Be reachable online
First things first, you need to be reachable, or rather searchable online to start with any hotel digital marketing strategy. Because, if you’re not even visible online; then regardless of how much you slog, it’s not going to work.
Now, how to be reachable online, you may ask?
Simple. Get your hotel website designed. Perform SEO.
And when I say a hotel website, I don’t just mean put up some poor pictures, add 2 lines of content about your hotel, and be done with it.
NO. I mean a hotel website which showcases your amenities, your hotel location, your rooms, and everything else that your hotel is.
2. Advertise on Metasearch Engines
Next, we talk about Metasearch Engines viz. Google Hotel Ads, TripAdvisor and, Trivago. Believe it or not, but listing on these metasearch engines will not only boost your visibility, but also improve your brand value.
Though, being available on metasearch would need you to be open to receive direct bookings. The more direct bookings you get, the more you’ll be pushed up in the industry.
Do the SEO of your hotel website
Let’s say you want to buy a new mobile phone. What will you do?
You’ll instantly head to Google. You will search for the latest mobile phones, their costs, specifications and so on. After all the research, you will select your desired mobile phone.
Similarly, your guests also follow the same activities when they want to book their stay. Now, when your guests are finding something like, ‘hotels in Maldives or ‘best hotels in Maldives, your website HAS to appear in the search results. Then only your visitors are going to find you. And for that, you have to perform SEO.
In simple words, SEO is the technique of driving targeted traffic to your website from search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing. It also includes ranking your website higher on these search engines.
Google Hotel Ads
You’ve already appeared in the Google search with SEO and Google Business listings. Now, how to make sure that your guests are able to choose your hotel wisely? Well, that’s when Google Hotel Ads come in the picture.
This service is available only through Google’s Authorized Integration Partners. It is one of Google’s successful endeavors to help hotels increase their revenue without the jumble of registering on OTAs and such likes.
It is one of Google’s successful endeavors to help hotels increase their revenue without the jumble of registering on OTAs and such likes.
It’s a compelling way to promote your hotel, as it will help your guest to book with you right from the search results.
Advertising is a crucial facet of your hotel promotion. Set aside a budget for this, and find the best place and way to run ad campaigns. Advertise your hotel’s amenities, promotions, and packages online across all the platforms by gauging the right. You can make use of the following important tools:
Google AdWords – Start with the search ads from Google Adwords. These ads will help you acquire direct bookings by reaching up to the right target audience, all the while maintaining your budget.
Remarketing ads – Now, did you ever search for something on Amazon, and then that search followed you everywhere? You know, with lower prices, some deals or something similar? Well, that’s called REMARKETING, which is also a beneficial way to promote your hotel. It helps your website visitors keep you in their mind, and leave an impact.
Facebook ads – Facebook provides this beautiful feature of Facebook Ads, using which you can easily promote your Facebook page and posts to the relevant audience. This increases your visibility and gives a significant path to hotel promotion.
Similar If it fits your budget you can give a try to Instagram and Youtube ads as well.
Publish Content
Needless to say, “content is king.”
Let me tell you how this can be a surefire hotel promotion strategy too.
When your guests are selecting a hotel, they are not just looking for a place to stay. They consider the entire city and its location. You can start writing with some blogs. You can write about famous restaurants, bars, and scenic destinations.
For example, 10 things to do when you are in the Maldives
7 bars you should visit in the Maldives
15 things to do while you are in the Maldives
Other than that, you can write about the traditions, culture, cuisine of your locality.
These days, most of the hotels have dedicated website page for these types of content. Publishing such content will help you rank higher in the search results as well. Thus it is an important SEO as well as hotel promotion idea.
1. Maximise local SEO
Local SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) helps the person searching for something online find relevant, local results. For example, if you own a hotel in Bournemouth and someone searches for ‘Hotels in Bournemouth’ your hotel will be easier to find. To maximise your customer base, you need to find a way to get to the top of the rankings.
Maximising your Local SEO will make your hotel more visible to potential guests, giving you more brand awareness. Examples of local SEO opportunities for the Hotel industry includes using Google My Business, Yelp, and TripAdvisor. Also, large OTAs (online travel agents) like booking.com can help with local SEO opportunities.
It’s worth keeping in mind that SEO takes time, and remaining amongst the top results on the first page of Google at all times requires skills and constant investment. To help this, you may want to consider investing in paid search.
2. Have a mobile-friendly website
Creating a mobile-friendly website is a necessity for growth in the Hotel industry. With more and more people using their mobile phones to initially search several different hotels at once and book their hotel stays online, the importance of an accessible website via mobile is clear.
According to ABTA’s Holiday Habits report 2017, Bookings on mobile devices have leaped from 13% to 20% in the space of 12 months, whilst PC bookings had fallen from 92% to 85%.
You want your website to be available to as many users as possible to increase potential bookings, regardless of the device they are using. Not only should your website be accessible by all devices, but the quality of the website on all devices should be the same. This prevents any of the users avoiding booking a stay at your hotel because the site isn’t of great quality.
(Related content: Why Is It Important That Your Website Is Mobile-friendly?)
3. Create more content
Content marketing is an important part of your hotel’s marketing strategy. Content marketing is the creation and sharing of online material such as videos, blogs, and social media posts that do not promote your brand directly but is purposely intended to stimulate interest in your products/services (in your case your hotel).
For example, you own a hotel in Bournemouth, you could write a great piece of content about sightseeing in Bournemouth, and although sightseeing isn’t what you offer your potential guests it could persuade them to visit Bournemouth staying at your hotel. To make your content even more effective you should include CTAs (call to action) such as ‘book now’.
4. Be present on social media (organic & paid)
With 42 million active social media users in the UK in 2017 (according to Statista), being present on social media is vital for the Hotel industry. By putting a strong social media strategy in place, this can help you build engagement with existing and potential guests, create brand awareness, and it lets you target new audiences.
There are many different social media channels varying from Facebook, to Twitter, to Snapchat, and more. You don’t need to be on all channels, but having a few varied options are advantageous.
Monitoring and responding to feedback from guests is a crucial part of your social media strategy, whether it’s positive or negative feedback. By being present online, it makes it easier to discover feedback and in turn, you can respond in a professional and timely manner.
One point to keep in mind, your competitors are very likely already on social media, and to stay a step ahead and get noticed amongst the “noise” you may want to invest in paid social ads to make sure that your offer is pushed to the right audience at the right time.
5. Use video in your marketing strategy
When it comes to advertising your hotel, customers want to see what they will truly be experiencing. Images have always been a good way to display your hotel’s rooms and facilities, but a more effective way to give your customers a visual representation of your hotel in its truest form is by using video.
According to Worldhotels, 80% of internet users prefer to watch a video than to read the same content in text. Moreover, videos encourage social media shares, in fact, 76% of social media users would share a video if it was entertaining.