Digital marketing for hotels not only exists but its utilization is considered necessary! If you have a hotel and you have no idea who we are talking about, then keep reading!
We all now understand how much we use the internet in our lives. From looking for a recipe to ordering something from the other side of the world. So we understand, that digital marketing is one way! And digital marketing for hotels is no exception. Besides, think, how many times have you booked a room from the internet, you googled for information and searched for reviews;
We have convinced you that your hotel needs a digital presence; Let's see what it is:
What exactly is Digital Marketing for Hotels;
Digital hotel marketing (also known as online hosting marketing) means the creating and maintaining your hotel online presence. This includes one website, social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and of course Google and others search engines.
Why it is important to have digital marketing strategies for your hotel;
Nowadays, most of the guests are looking for hotels and other services they provide. With a good hotel internet marketing strategy, you will be able to reach all these potential visitors and create a loyal customer base for your business.
The journey of the visitors begins with Discover your hotel in post-search engines, social media channels or organic search like Google, Yahoo and more. Making your business visible on these channels is more important since when.
So let's see what are these digital marketing strategies for hotels that will drive visitors to your hotel and take off your bookings!
The 11 best marketing strategies for hotels on the internet:
1. List your hotel on Google
Before the age of the internet, people used it Yellow Pages to search for any business information. The "Yellow Pages" was a list of all kinds of businesses. From plumbers to government officials, everyone was in it. We imagine maybe your business too!
This is how the past came about as the internet and finally search engines came into our lives. Now everyone wants to register their business with Google. From the barber shop on the corner to the tallest hotel in the world, το Burj Al Arab, everyone is on Google!
As a hotelier you may have some questions:
- Why should I do it;
- It's free;
- How do I Google My Hotel?;
Concerning the why to do it, think about that, guests search the internet for any accommodation they would stay. From apartments to five star hotels to see evaluations, critics, photos, the price range, even the Frequent questions. A potential visitor is looking for everything!
The answer to your second question is - "Yes, Signing up for your hotel on Google is free!»
As for how you register it, the process is not difficult. The Google My Business(GMB) it's like creating an e-card for your business.
Enter the Google my Business and fill in the Registration Form with the required information, such as the name of the hotel, the star category, the location, facilities and so on.
Caution! It is important to check your hotel contact details. Inaccurate location and contact number affects search results and booking flow.
When searching for a business on the Internet, the 80% Consumers lose confidence in businesses with incorrect / inconsistent contact information, as well as the lack of a website.
After completing and submitting the form, you will receive a business verification code. After verifying your hotel, you need to improve your listing. Once you receive the information and realize who the:
Google My Business provides you with important features such as:
- Evaluation and critique.
- Collection of photos on the business page of your hotel.
- Automatically update user-generated content that has geo-tagged labels with your name.
- Add site administrator.
- Built-in meta-search for hassle-free bookings.
- Hotel features
ProTip: While you have invested your time and effort in GMB, do not forget to subscribe to Google Free Hotel Reservation Link. This new program Google lets hotels display booking prices and get them direct bookings for free (also, no third party supplies are involved). Click here to learn more about Google FBL(Free Booking Links).
2. Build your site
If you do not have a site, make it tomorrow! And when we say hotel site, we do not mean just uploading some bad photos, to add 2 content lines for your hotel and that's it.
NO! We mean a hotel website that presents the amenities your, the location of your hotel, the rooms you and everything else is your hotel. The photos, non-negotiable, will be professional and it is good to include and critics!
Some more things to consider:
Website optimization for mobile
People they prefer to find anything in smartphone rather than on a desktop computer. In fact, above the 80% of users comes from mobile! He means that mobile optimization is essential!
Read this too:
9 Important Reasons To Get Your Business Website 2022
3. SEO: The No1 tool
SEO means search engine optimization. Performing good SEO will rank your hotel higher in search engines, thus giving you the visibility your hotel needs and bringing it to first page of Google!
The hotels that appear in the top search results invest more in the SEO part.
Although some people go for paid ads there is something that usually none of the hoteliers follow and can save them money. This hidden technique emphasizes local SEO.
Well, what is local SEO;
This part of SEO focuses on display your business in local search results. For example, Suppose you have a hotel in the area of Messinia, Greece. Local SEO continues to focus on your hotel to get results "Hotels near me" the "Hotels in Messinia".
The process is quite simple. Just list places near your hotel from them Google Maps in guest information or newsletters. This can be anything, from a famous attraction to a specific road. Publish what you can to optimize better search results with these keywords.
4. Advertisements, ads and more ads!
Hotel ads in Google, TripAdvisor and Trivago, at Metasearch machines, that is. Believe it or not, Advertising on these post-search engines will not only enhance it projection your, but will improve it recognizability(brand name) and reliability your!
If you are available at metasearch(TripAdvisor, Trivago et al.) you will need to be open to receive direct bookings. The more direct bookings you receive, the more you will be promoted in the industry.
If you are not yet registered in any post-search engine, now is the time to do it.
Other ads
Beyond the ads in Meta- There are platforms and ads on other media such as social media(Facebook, Instagram, Twitter etc.). Facebook ads are the cheapest way to attract more visitors. So, you can easily get more bookings through the platform by staying within the budget your.
Similarly, even the ads repetitive marketing on Facebook give you amazing opportunities to promote your hotel business by targeting those people who have already visited your site. Hence, they are more likely to visit your site to book with you.
5. Presence on social media
Presence on platforms social media like Facebook, Instagram, Youtube is not something new nowadays. Nevertheless, the make the most of them and its utilization in maximum of their potential is what you need in digital marketing strategies for hotels.
For example, the live broadcast(live) on these platforms is an effective approach to increase the engagement of your followers.
Social media presence includes creating the right content where highlights your business, increases interaction, your followers and engage with them, while creating potential customers and much more.
A big advantage on social media is geotags. The geographical tags that is, they mark your hotel and can be mentioned by users in their posts. This means promoting your hotel to a larger audience.
6. Tell your story via video
Many times users look for it photo gallery on the site of a hotel. Definitely if there is one video will attract their attention even more. These videos may show a view 360 degrees of hotels. Or include a broad depiction of all aspects of a hotel, like the lobby, the interiors of the rooms, the restaurant, the pool and so on. This helps to gaining trust of the visitors.
In the COVID era hotels were creating(and create) videos highlighting the post-hygiene precautions they have taken COVID-19. The video provides information on precautionary measures, such as disinfecting the hotel every day, check the staff for COVID-19 for temperature before entering the hotel, the use of a mask, gloves and disinfectants by staff and so on.
Videos like these help guests choose the perfect hotel to stay in. It also gives them a inner look on the hotel premises, making it a solid source of information. The best option to maximize views is to upload the same through YouTube. Once the video is on the platform, you can choose YouTube SEO.
What is YouTube SEO?;
YouTube SEO is the optimization process of your videos, of your channel or playlist to rank higher among relevant search results. This includes SEO of your video text, such as meta description, keywords in titles, hashtags and so on.
The focus here is on Keywords, as well as the system not can read pictures or videos. However, title and description alone are not the only sources of text.
Meta descriptions and subtitles are also used for this. You can get help from any marketer to apply it to your YouTube videos. Using this in your videos improves visibility, user loyalty and SEO.
7. Don't forget email marketing
Today, people generally underestimate it email marketing. Nevertheless, hotels can use it effectively if they want, unfortunately they rarely do.
In fact, emails are the best way to communicate both in our professional and personal lives.
With the help of email marketing, you will be able to sign in with guests by emailing them before arrival and providing them guidance on choosing the best amenities according to their budget or activities they can do in the area.
It also helps you to stay in contact after leaving your hotel via email.
In the same spirit, you can use the emails of those who have already stayed at your hotel to give them one special offer or discount on their next booking as a thank you for choosing.
8. Take advantage of influencer marketing
The Influencing Marketing is one of effective internet marketing strategies for hotels. It is a tool that a hotel can use when it wants to attract a larger audience. Hotels communicate with an influential person(influencer) which has the power to influence the purchasing decisions of others.
Influencers can help you posting about your hotel on the social media channels they have and can attract followers to your hotel. Pay attention to being an influencer who addresses the audience you are interested in(e.g. Greek or foreign, couples or families). A travel blogger it might have been an ideal choice.
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18+1 questions to discover the Ideal Audience of your business
9. Create a blog
The blogging he is one great way for hotels to take advantage of this. Offers the opportunity to expand in depth on topics and attract like-minded readers, that is, visitors.
The reason blogging is a great tool is - not just because it provides deep knowledge for a specific topic to visitors, but also them convinces to look deeper for your services, something that is definitely a situation that will benefit you.
The travel blogs is popular among travelers. All investigate before traveling to any destination. The best source of information for them is the blogs that give information about local attractions. In fact, has been shown to blogs are the third most trusted resource for readers after family and friends.
So., if a traveler is interested and looking for information about the area and the sights he will be led through your article and blog to your hotel and why not make a reservation!
also, will help your site get more views with local SEO.
10. Practice the new trend: Chatbots
The creation of one message and communication center, we would say, for even better customer service.
The chatbots are becoming more and more popular in the hospitality industry lately and therefore is the new trend in the digital marketing for hotels. Not only can they help with the conversions of visitors into customers, but they can also improve reputation of your brand name. As a result, this increases the confidence and commitment with your prospective guests.
Chatbots improve communication, guide people on the way to detention, ensure your availability 24 × 7 and reconnect with guests who have left their reservations.
Try to apply chatbot on your site and see how bookings are increasing you with a significant increase in visitor satisfaction.
11. Maintain your reputation online
Bypassing any beliefs you may have in your mind about internet reputation of your hotel, you have to accept the fact that the hotel industry was, is and will revolve around the satisfaction of visitors.
The negative comments are equally valuable with positive feedback.
And why not. MUST to know what your guests are saying about you. How else will you improve your services;
The online reviews are the key elements these days. All your guests - present and future - will review these reviews and ratings to decide whether to stay with you.
This is why maintaining your online reputation is an important aspect of your hotel digital marketing.. Do not panic or ignore a bad review. Answer me courtesy and ask the reason for the dissatisfaction or what the customer thinks could have been done differently. Even this reaction will appreciated by a third party who will read it, as it shows that you are interested in the satisfaction of your customers.
Set a goal for what your guests want to say about your hotel once they leave. Work to achieve this goal. A well-maintained online hotel reputation will help you make more reservations.
Conclusion
Digital marketing strategies for hotels play a vital role in building visibility, bookings and therefore revenue.
Of course, there are bigger and better players in the market. But now visitors demand more and more personalization and want to connect even with small businesses which usually offer greater customer satisfaction. This is in your favor!
Use digital marketing for hotels to ensure that all channels are utilized to the maximum!
In a few words, do this year, your year! With more reservations, improved features, positive reviews and revenue!
Try these ways for your hotel digital marketing to get more bookings this year and go one step further in the industry than your competition!
Read before you also leave:
How to properly plan your business marketing strategy
What is a business blog and why should you include it directly on your site?
If you need any help to strengthen your digital presence do not hesitate to contact with us and follow us on Facebook and Instagram for even more tips and information.
