I want to share some hotel marketing ideas for you to include in your marketing plan.
The Importance Of Marketing - The Profit Impact On A High Fixed Cost Business
There are two types of business:
- High variable costs, low fixed costs
- High fixed costs, low variable costs
Effective marketing is particularly important for the second category which includes hotels where occupancy rates make a huge difference in profitability provided it's not achieved at the expense of slashing room rates to a minimum.
The Great Formula For Success For Hotel Marketing
One of my favourite marketing guru's, Mark Joyner wrote a book called The Great Formula - I don't think it's his best book but I love the formula because it is simple and powerful. the link takes you to my review or you can get a free pdf copy (affiliate link)
- Step 1 - Create the irresistible offer
. - Step 2 - Present it to a thirsty crowd
. - Step 3 - Sell them a second glass
Applying The Great Formula To Hotel Marketing
1 - Creating Your Irresistible Promise For Your Hotel Marketing Plan
You need to create an offer or marketing proposition for your business which is special, differentiated, even unique. It's what I call the irresistibe promise.
I've written a lot about differentiating your hotel on another blog - Hotel Marketing Strategy & Differentiation. I recommend you read that to understand how you can use the seven big questions of business success to make your hotel different.
2 - Getting Eyeballs On Your Irresistble Promise - How You Use Marketing Media In Your Hotel Marketing Plan
You'll have designed your irresistible promise for your hotel with your ideal customers in mind but you've got to get eyeballs on the offer.
That comes down to your choice of marketing media - the way your message moves from you to your target audience and how you gain their attention.
Marketing media falls into two broad categories:
- Search marketing where you have to be found by people looking for what you've got to offer.
. - Outreach marketing where you burst into your target audience's world to get some to say "That looks interesting. I want to know more about that."
Search Marketing In Your Hotel Marketing Plan
To be successful in search marketing, you must be found where your prospective customers are looking for information. Most of the time that means on the Internet, in specialist books and magazines or with specialist distribution channels like travel agents or tourist information offices which provide a booking service.
People looking for hotel accommodation are eager buyers so it's a question of being found fairly early in their search (because people have very limited attention) and standing out in a way that has particular appeal.
Your hotel marketing plan needs an Internet strategy where your website can be found by people searching for hotels in your area - and they often won't go past page one - and also how you can make positive use of TripAdvisor since some customers will use that as their starting point.
Take the time to think through other hotel marketing ideas around the idea of being found where people are looking for hotel information.
Outreach Marketing In Your Hotel Marketing Plan
The second aspect of getting more eyeballs on your offer is to uise outreach marketing which is designed to attract the attention of people who are not looking for what you offer.
They're not against the idea and they are probably eager for a holiday - so you're not trying to achieve the impossible - but they haven't got to the search stage in their buying process. You have a chance to suggest a specific solution to a general want.
You're not able to use the common outreach marketing tactics of direct mail and telemarketing so you have to put your irresistible promise in front of your hungry crowd where they are already looking.
Public relations and planting stories is one way - it's an extreme example but think of the publicity and prestige The Goring Hotel received for its role in the marriage of Prince William and Kate Middleton.
Advertising is another but you've got to be wary of the costs - you want to reach your kind of people and not everyone. That means the choice of magazine or newspaper can make a big difference to the success of the advertisement. It's always useful to know what your guests read.
3 - Marketing To Your Existing & Past Guests
Mark Joyner in The Great Formula talks about selling the second glass.
That can be interpreted in two ways for your hotel marketing plan:
- How can you get existing guests to spend more money with you - bundling dinner, bed and breakfast together is one way but I urge you to list down other hotel marketing ideas which increase expeenditure in a way that customers value. I'm not talking about gauging them with rip-off mini-bar prices so they never repeat the experience.
. - How can you entice past guests to come back and visit again or refer their family, friends and colleagues? Again take the time time to list down your hotel marketing ideas.
As a business coach, I find that clients often know the answers when asked the questions but they don't ask themselves the questions.
The Marketing Mix For Your Hotel Marketing Plan
The services marketing mix of 7 P's is a good way to think through your marketing for your hotel.
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