Marketing is essential in almost every industry, so what makes the hospitality industry unique? There are a number of reasons your marketing needs to be top-notch in order to succeed in a hospitality venture. Understanding those factors will help you not only place sufficient emphasis on marketing for your own business, but also to determine what type of promotional approaches could be the most effective in your target market.
When people travel to a new destination just for the experience, they’re choosing to spend some of their hard-earned cash on something that’s nonessential. This isn’t like buying groceries, paying a mortgage, or buying new shoes for growing kids. This is something that’s just for fun. Because it’s not essential, some people may have a harder time justifying the expense. So when you’re marketing your hospitality business, it’s important to make sure they know it will be worth their while.
Your marketing needs to be especially effective to entice people to spend their hard-earned money on something that, while exciting and fun, isn’t an absolute need. Think about how that compares to a local grocery store, for example. They naturally want to promote their business, but they have a built-in customer base simply through what products they offer. People come back once a week or more to stock up on groceries, so advertising to their target audience just isn’t as critical.
For hotels and resorts, the stakes are higher. People don’t need travel like they need groceries, and taking a trip might be something they only do a couple times a year. But if they decide they do want to travel, you want to make sure they think of you first when choosing where to go. Engaging content marketing can help to make that a reality.
Traveling itself carries a lot of weight for a potential customer. For many guests, it’s an experience they’ve been looking forward to for weeks or months after initially booking their trip. And even before that, they may have saved for a long time in order to afford the trip. This means that when a guest is researching where to stay and what to do at their intended destination, hospitality marketing can make a huge difference in what decisions they ultimately make. As mentioned above, people are trying to make sure they are getting the experience they want, especially since this is discretionary spending. Therefore, the way you position your business in the hospitality market for that
destination will affect where they decide to spend their money.
Your marketing needs to play up all that you have to offer and entice customers with the features and services that set you apart. It helps if you can paint a clear picture of what type of experience your guests can expect. With people doing their own travel research online these days, you’ll want to make sure you have captivating photos and videos and well as clear descriptions so people can get a good sense of why your business is the best choice for them.
Few industries are as competitive as the hospitality industry. Most destinations have far more accommodations than guests, so making sure you’re not left with excess vacancies requires a detailed and strategic marketing approach.
A creative and engaging marketing campaign is an absolute must for any hospitality business. But even when you really lean into advertising your unique features and services, it can still be hard to leave a lasting impression on potential customers. There are simply so many choices out there that it’s easy to get left in the dust.
To make sure a good marketing campaign makes the impact you’re hoping for, you need to understand that it’s ultimately a numbers game. Even a great campaign won’t do you any good if no one actually sees it. You need to take a tactical approach with search engine optimization, social media, public relations, reputation monitoring, digital advertising, etc. These and other similar efforts will help your business show up in search results and be one of the first options that potential customers see when they search for hospitality businesses in your area.
While you can work with any marketing service to promote your hotel or resort, you’ll get the best results by partnering with a hospitality marketing agency. Their niche specialty gives them an expert eye when it comes to marketing these types of businesses. At Quaintise Hospitality, we offer the experience, connections, and analytics you need to stand out among the competition. Contact us today to learn more.