What Is the Role of Marketing in the Hospitality Industry?
What Is the Role of Marketing in the Hospitality Industry?

Marketing is important for any business. However, the best ways to utilize marketing strategies vary from one industry to another.

With the hospitality industry, marketing is especially vital for business success. To make sure you’re effectively promoting your hospitality business, learn more about the distinctive role that marketing plays in this industry.

 

Differentiate Your Business

The hospitality industry is incredibly crowded. There can be dozens or even hundreds of companies vying for the attention of the same target customers, with new enterprises sprouting up all the time. That’s why the one of the most important roles of marketing in the hospitality industry is differentiating your business.

By letting customers know what sets you apart from the competition, you can capture their attention among a sea of options. The most effective way to stand out is to really narrow down the focus for the target audience you’re trying to reach. Don’t try to be all things to everyone. Instead, figure out what makes the experience you provide unique and really shine a spotlight on that in your marketing efforts. For example, your resort can’t be both family-friendly and adult-oriented at the same time. Choose one and run with it rather than trying to cater to both markets. Similarly, you could promote a tourism activity as adventurous and exciting or emphasize that it’s relaxing and restorative. Perhaps you want to focus on a premium, luxury experience or advertise the fact that you’re an affordable, budget-friendly option.

These distinctions should come through naturally in the way you market your hospitality business. The best way to differentiate your business is to paint a memorable and inviting picture for potential customers in your target market, so focus on what makes your business unique.

 

Build Brand Loyalty

Once you’ve successfully differentiated your business and starting bringing in more customers, it’s time to keep them coming back. When developing marketing strategies in the hospitality industry, building brand loyalty always needs to be a top priority.

The reasons for this are two-fold. First, it’s important to increase the number of return customers in order to increase your revenue. A hospitality business can rarely survive on new customers alone. In addition to first-time visitors, you also need customers who are coming back for the second, third, fourth or fifth time and beyond.

The more you market your business with consistent imagery, tone, and style, the more your brand becomes recognizable. You want to keep your name fresh on customer’s minds after their initial visit so they’ll want to return again and again.

The second reason brand loyalty is so important for this industry is the fact that reviews are crucial for success as a hospitality business. Managing your reputation is a huge task, especially with the ubiquity of online reviews. If you can maintain positive relationships with your customers by building brand loyalty, they’re more likely to not only leave a positive review, but also to spread the word via good old- fashioned word-of-mouth advertising.

 

Promote Special Offers

Hospitality marketing provides a great way to directly let potential customers know about the special promotions your business has to offer. Maybe it’s reduced nightly rates for a hotel during the off season or special holiday events at a tourist attraction. Either way, these promotions function as incentives, enticing customers to choose your business over other competitors when planning their travel.

It’s not uncommon for promotional marketing efforts to have a direct effect on bookings. Consider a customer who is comparing several resorts in the same area, all with similar amenities and features. If one of those resorts offers a special discount code or a free bottle of champagne with a booking, that could be just the push they need to choose that business over its competitors.

 

Boost Your Search Rankings

Did you know that 75% of travelers start their search for a hotel by using a search engine? Your rankings in the search results on Google likely have a bigger impact on your bookings than you think. Customers need to be able to find your hospitality business quickly and easily, and if you’re on the second or third page of results, it’s likely that they’ll have already found something that suits their interests before they get past page one.

A type of hospitality marketing called search engine optimization (SEO) can boost your rankings and help drive traffic to your site. The higher your placement on these search engines, the more people are likely to click on your name and navigate to your website. This also leads to better profits as you’ll enjoy the benefits of direct bookings as opposed to those made through an online travel agency.

 

Contact Quaintise Hospitality to learn more about how to improve your hospitality marketing strategies.