Marketing in the hotel - a handful of proven ways to attract guests

Do you run an outstanding leisure facility in an excellent location, provide the highest accommodation comfort and offer attractive prices, but you still do not have as many guests as you would like? Just as important as the outstanding quality of your services is the hotel marketing. Here are a handful of tried and tested ways to get visitors and be popular in the industry.

In today's competitive hotel market, an effective hotel marketing is a key element in achieving success. Developing and implementing an effective marketing strategy is an indispensable part of building your hotel's brand and attracting customers. For your hotel, the priority is to understand and meet your customers' expectations by providing not only quality service but also a memorable experience.

Hotel marketing – your guarantee of success

In August 2021 alone, almost 4 million tourists stayed in accommodation facilities in Poland, who were provided 12.7 million overnight stays. The result was respectively 20.1% and 18.8% higher compared to the same period a year earlier. These data clearly show the growing interest in hotel rest among Polish holidaymakers. 

There is great potential in the hotel industry. Modern recreational facilities are constantly appearing on the market, attracting tourists from all over the country. This creates new challenges for existing hotels that have to compete for guests. It is also impossible to mention hotel giants, i.e. brands that have their facilities in many places in Poland and even abroad. Popular hotels also pose a significant threat to smaller, less-known brands. 

Running a hotel is an art nowadays! An entrepreneur who wants to operate successfully in the incredibly competitive hospitality industry must invest in marketing. Marketing in the hotel should not happen by chance. It must be based on well thought-out actions, implemented consistently throughout. 

How to do effective hotel marketing? 

In the modern world, it is not enough to put up a banner in a popular place in the city, create an advertising spot for television and place advertisements in the press. Today's hotel marketing is more than that. Innovative solutions, unconventional forms of promotion and new channels for reaching the audience must be used. On what to base marketing activities? What forms of marketing will work best in the modern world?

Take advantage of Internet opportunities

The Internet is an inseparable element of today's marketing. Through the network, you can quickly reach hundreds or even thousands of people potentially interested in your offer. It is also a great place to build a positive image and create good, trust-based relationships with your recipients. 

You are definitely running your hotel website. Remember that the website is your website business card. Therefore, make it attractive, readable and high-value. Check if there are any technical errors, it is easy to use, intuitive and fits well with the screens of various devices.

However, a website alone is not enough to run an effective hotel marketing. You need to ensure its visibility on the web. The tool for improving visibility is SEO, or Search Engine Optimisation. SEO is a complex process to get the best position in organic (free) Google searches. The positioning of the page consists in its appropriate optimization, including adapting the content to Google's guidelines and enriching the content with appropriate key phrases. SEO activities increase the likelihood that a guest, after entering a phrase that corresponds to your business, eg "hotel in the Karkonosze Mountains", will find your website and take advantage of your offer.

remember about Google Ads and Google My Business. The former is a special advertising system that allows you to display ads on Google and on search engine partner sites. The costs of running a campaign in Google Ads are low and can bring satisfactory results in a short time. Google My Business is an online showcase of the company. The potential client will find all the basic information about the company in it. 

To run an effective hotel marketing, you need to ensure that potential customers know the benefits they will receive by staying at your establishment. You can communicate the benefits of your hotel on social media. Facebook, Instagram and other social media are currently some of the fastest channels to reach your audience. Through them, you can promote your brand in a variety of ways - from traditional posts, to sponsored articles and paid advertising, to influencer marketing, viral ads and other unusual activities. By using social media, you will permanently subscribe in the minds of your recipients and thus build a stable position of your brand on the market. 

As part of the internet marketing you can also:

• cooperate with bloggers,
• cooperate with the Booking.com portal.

Introduce beneficial solutions

People are more likely to take advantage of a given offer if they see specific profits in this action. To increase the popularity of your hotel, offer potential guests benefits that will encourage them to interact with your brand.

One of the most common solutions within hotel marketing is the loyalty programme. This is a special system in which guests can collect points for staying at a hotel and redeem them for attractive discounts, vouchers or other rewards. Loyalty programmes effectively encourage interaction with a brand. In addition, they are a great way to build long-term, positive relationships with your audience. 

Another idea is to create packages of services and special offers for reservations up to a certain number of rooms. What is such a program? The more rooms guests book or choose a longer stay, they will receive a greater discount or will be able to use additional hotel services for free or at an attractive price. Service packages and discounts are a great, encouraging form of hotel promotion. 

Management and marketing in the hotel industry – what does it involve?

Management i marketing in the hotel industrye are key elements for success in this competitive service sector.It requires meticulous organisation, supervision of staff, financial management and providing excellent guest service. It is also about maintaining high standards of cleanliness and comfort, as well as adapting the offer to the changing needs of customers.

Hotel marketing is the art of attracting customers and building a brand. It involves identifying the target group, identifying the unique features and benefits offered by the hotel and choosing the appropriate promotion channels. Marketing activities in the hotel industry is not only about advertising, but also about nurturing a reputation on social media, gaining positive feedback and reviews, and establishing partnerships with industry companies.

Management i marketing in the hotel industrye is a complex task that requires constant adaptation to changing trends and customer expectations. The key objective is to provide an excellent guest experience, build loyalty and achieve profits through effective management and efficient promotion. It is a dynamic field where innovation and creativity play an important role in achieving success.

Hotel marketing on the Internet is not only about website positioning

In today's digital environment, hotel marketing on the internet goes far beyond traditional website positioning. While seo (search engine optimisation) is still important, success in the hospitality industry requires much more diverse strategies. Successful online marketing is a holistic approach that involves activity across multiple online platforms. This includes booking sites, social media, review sites, and email marketing campaigns. These activities include online advertising or positioning of the hotel's website. Internet hotel marketing has more than one name. Effective online advertising can mean an increase in traffic, but the tools e - marketing in the hotel industry offer a whole spectrum of possibilities:

• video marketing,
• dynamic remarketing,
• information for guests,
• personalization marketing,
• facebook ads,
• hotel promotion on Facebook,
• content marketing,
• hotel ads,
• hotel website (including hotel website positioning),
• intuitive booking system etc.

The modern traveller uses a variety of information sources and shopping channels before booking a hotel. Therefore, it is important for a hotel to use the full potential of online marketing to reach its target audience on multiple fronts. Social media advertising campaigns, customer reviews and presence on booking portals are key elements of a successful strategy marketing in the hotel industry. This allows hotels to build their brand, attract new customers and retain the loyalty of those who have already had a guest. Marketing of the hotel on the Internet is to understand modern trends and adapt to the requirements of today's travellers, resulting in increased competitiveness and profitability in this dynamic industry.

Use of whisper marketing in hotel marketing

Marketing in the hotel industry gains in effectiveness through the use of whisper marketing. It involves initiating natural conversations about hotel marketing among potential guests, which builds trust and authenticity. Satisfied customers are happy to share positive experiences, becoming brand ambassadors and supporting the hotel marketing. To use this strategy effectively, it is worth monitoring feedback on social media and booking portals, actively engaging in dialogue with guests. In this way marketing in the hotel industry becomes more credible and attracts new customers.

Personalisation of the offer to regular customers in hotel marketing

Contemporary hotel marketing should focus on personalising the offer to regular visitors. Tailoring services to individual customer preferences increases customer satisfaction and loyalty, which is key in hotel marketing. For example, the analysis of previous bookings can help to create personalised stay packages, which increases the efficiency of the marketing in the hotel industry.

How to maintain a positive hotel image?

Most people, before deciding to book accommodation in a particular place, check hotel reviews about it on the Internet. Any hotel that wants to grow and continually attract new guests must take care of good PR. Therefore, an important element hotel marketing are recommendations. Encourage guests to leave comments about your property on popular review sites (TripAdvisor) and booking portals (Booking). You can offer them attractive discounts on your services as a thank you for leaving a review. 

Analyze opinions appearing on the web on an ongoing basis and react appropriately to unfavorable comments. Offer dissatisfied guests favorable solutions to their problems. Sorry for the inconvenience. Show that you care about the satisfaction and well-being of your customers.

You can also build a positive image of your hotel in other ways. Among the most popular we will mention:

• participation in various events,
• supporting important initiatives,
• cooperation with sports teams,
• promoting local events,
• participation in social actions.

To make a good marketing for the hotel, you need commitment, regularity and a certain amount of creativity. Don't be afraid to step outside the box, be consistent in your actions and focus on long-term relationships with your guests. Thoughtful marketing is a recipe for success in the hospitality industry.

Trends in the marketing of hotel services – why is it worth knowing them?

Knowledge of trends in marketing of hospitality services is vital for success in this competitive industry. The dynamic nature of the market and changing customer preferences require hotels to constantly adapt their marketing strategies. The value of monitoring and applying the latest trends is due to several key reasons.

Firstly, they allow hotels to better understand the expectations and needs of their target group, which allows them to deliver more personalized experiences. In addition, following trends allows you to more effectively use online tools such as social media, booking websites and e-mail marketing campaigns. Third, modern trends such as sustainability and technology integration can help hotels become more competitive and attract new customers. It is therefore worth investing in ongoing analysis and adjustment of marketing strategies to keep the hotel at the forefront of the industry and ensure constant growth of customers and profits.

Effective hotel marketing uses innovative sales tools, often including paid forms of promotion. It takes into account hotel feedback from both satisfied and dissatisfied guests. This is because customer experience marketing is based on building relationships. No marketing campaign, not even the best one for a hotel, will be effective in the long run if we do not actually focus on creating and delivering a unique and positive customer experience when interacting with our brand.