Hospitality Marketing

The way that the hospitality industry advertises itself has changed drastically over the past decade or so. With a firm shift in focus from visual and print media advertisements being the mainstay form of promotion to more of an emphasis on the online space as the primary mode of advertising. The principles behind hospitality marketing have largely remained the same. They have just changed mediums.

Creating an emotional connection and a strong brand affinity has, and always be, important - whether you are a hotel, bar, or restaurant. Utilizing modern digital marketing techniques can bring far larger, measurable results than traditional techniques.


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Gone are the days when flyers, posters, and a few well-placed magazine adverts are all you would have needed to properly advertise a new club, bar, or resort. In the modern age, it is important that those within the Hospitality industry find their niche audiences (be that online or offline) and the most effective and cost-efficient ways of marketing their events and services to potential customers.
With the increased amounts of competition and ever skyrocketing overheads for these types of businesses, it is important that the industry as a whole understands the importance of having a comprehensive marketing strategy in place for both the long and short term.
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How has Hospitality Marketing changed?

Hospitality marketing used to be extremely well understood by business owners, but rather expensive given the potential returns being a lot lower than today. In addition, print and visual advertising, like newspaper and television adverts, has always been difficult to measure direct ROI. The focus these days is on highly measurable and fluid advertising platforms like those that can be found online, and hospitality businesses of all types have found success with everything from Pay Per Click advertising (PPC) to Social Media and Influencer advertising, the possibilities are endless!

That is not to say that the old techniques have absolutely no place in a modern marketing strategy, but when audiences shift media types or platforms then it is important that businesses follow suit. To that end, many different types of hospitality businesses have found great success online by utilizing both the visual nature of the industry. It is also worth factoring in the emotional draw that many businesses like restaurants, bars, and clubs illicit in potential customers, and there are definitely methods that stand out as being more effective for hospitality than others are.

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What platforms work best for Hospitality Marketing?

As an industry to advertise for, Hospitality is a, fairly, flexible one. Static and text-based advertisements, like PPC ads, can be just as effective as a highly targeted Social Media campaign if handled right. It is all about knowing where to find your audience, how to target your ads towards them, and what kind of ad design will elicit the best response from them. Luckily reaching large amounts of people with content from a single source is one of the main advantages of digital advertising, and there are several platforms that have gained notoriety over the past few years for their suitability to the hospitality industry.

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Facebook

There are a number of significant reasons why Facebook has become an extremely popular tool for many hospitality businesses such as clubs and restaurants.

The first most glaring fact is that Facebook is by far the most popular social media platform in terms of sheer volume, with over 2.6 billion monthly users; this naturally makes it easier to find people who may be interested in what you have to offer. The second is that the Facebook Ads platform targets users by demographical information and their interests, meaning you can exclusively target users who fit most closely with your target audience, and those who show an active interest in your niche. Lastly, another great reason to advertise on Facebook is that people are not actively engaged in a “shopping” mindset, and attracting passive interest and traffic from these users is far easier than those looking for something very specific. All of these factors make Facebook a great place for hospitality businesses
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Local SEO

Local SEO is effective for hospitality venues for a number of reasons.

Firstly, it allows those businesses that rely on physical premises like restaurants and bars to list themselves to trigger when search engine users search a location-specific keyword (Like “bars in London”). This will then bring up a map on top of the organic rankings and display exactly where your business is in relation to the searcher’s location for those who are looking for local options to dine or drink. The second is that many hospitality businesses rely solely on their local customer base and an opportunity to market to them specifically is an opportunity to boost profits. As its name suggests, Local SEO is all about making potentially interested customers in close proximity to your business aware of whom you are and what you do.
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Instagram

What started as a novel way to share videos with friends and family, Instagram has quickly grown to be an important cornerstone of Hospitality marketing.

Instagram essentially allows people to “follow” content creators they like in a similar way to YouTube. These creators then make videos and share pictures in which there is a significant opportunity for them to advertise products, services, and venues to their followers. Using Instagram to market your services is a form of influencer marketing and is great for helping craft a positive brand image in your potential customer’s minds.
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Content Marketing

Content Marketing can be used by businesses who rely on their customers ingesting a lot of information about their service, like hotels and resorts.

Content Marketing essentially works by identifying potential streams of interest online such as blogs and social media platforms and crafting specific content (be that articles, videos, or infographics) designed to drive a particular, niche audience to show increasing amounts of interest in your business until they eventually come through as a customer. Content Marketing allows your customer to ingest advertising materials without directly feeling as though they are being sold something.

Grow your Business with TBS Marketing

TBS Marketing delivers measurable success for various businesses in the hospitality industry. Our specialization combines years of diverse experience with strategic creativity in the unique holistic approach. Our experts go above and beyond to create a flawless user experience that will convert the audience into satisfied guests and loyal customers.

Each campaign begins with understanding the user’s needs, in-depth research, and strategy building. We always go beyond eye-catching web design and simple search engine optimization – we make sure that your online presence is perfected and optimized throughout and will outlast miscellaneous algorithm changes.
Ready to collaborate? Contact TBS Marketing to find out how we can help you achieve your marketing goals.