Think Strategically When it Comes to Digital Marketing Solutions

In recent times, digital marketing for hotels has become increasingly complex and multifaceted. Hotel managers nowadays are required to look after rooms, service guests, and take care of availabilities and pricings, and they also have to compete for guests in digital communities and new channels. This is the reason why so many hotel owners are asking questions related to how they can expand their brand online and still make the time to run their own businesses efficiently.

The glaringly obvious choice has been to take on additional staff to cover shifts, but this tactic presents a temporary solution. Demand for digital marketing shows no signs of slowing down, and the problem will therefore continue to escalate steadily. The best way in which to tackle this underlying issue head-on is to invest in digital marketing tools and architecture which provides consistency when it comes to the entire multi-channel experience. This will then prepare hotels for future marketing-related demands and ensure that guests have a memorable and comfortable stay.

Your hotel’s own website is the very best opportunity that you have to sell your services to guests and make them want to book a room right away. If you want to grab their attention and keep making sure that they continue to browse your page then it has to look the part, and provide all the details they are looking for.

On average, guests spend around six minutes on hotel websites. This presents an ample chance to entice future guests with bold, striking pictures, detailed room descriptions and attractive seasonal offers which makes the general decision to book both simple and predictable, without any hidden agendas. One additional important item is to show them what guests will get when they arrive at your destination. If you choose to include videos (and this is advisable) then make sure that they are at the heart of your web strategy and then you will leave your guests wanting more.

But when was the last time that you updated your website? If you have not made any alterations in the last two years then it could probably do with a bit of renovation. 60% of customers are considered to be social travellers. These guests use one or more social networking platforms during the duration of their search, buy and shop process.

Hence the reason why it is essential to manage ratings accordingly, and have a professional-looking appearance on Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter pages. You should also embrace the opportunity to engage over mediums such as Twitter and Facebook and answer any queries as soon as they are posted. In order to use social networks so that they amplify your message properly, ensure that every good experience that your guests describe is shared on the different digital communities.

For photos, the best results can be showcased using Flickr and for videos YouTube is the way forward. Also, do not forget how important emails can be. It is still the most widely used mechanism on the digital scene, and can be used to share itineraries and ideas of different trips.

Mobile traffic is by far the fastest growing category in digital marketing, especially when it comes to travel-related matters. Google research has indicated that 19% of all hotel searches are already executed on mobile devices. If you have deployed a mobile solution previously, then you will begin to realise that mobile-based consumers have much more single-minded behaviours.

All they want to do is search for the hotel’s phone number, address or even book a room for that night, or the day after. Whilst success can be discovered using mobile as a stand-alone media, it also provides the largest rewards when used as a multi-channel, integrated engagement platform. If you can also provide consistent, precise messages across mobile, social and the web, whilst simultaneously ensuring that the most relevant and suitable offers are prioritised then this is what the core function of digital marketing is all about.

When it comes to digital marketing for hotels, you need to diversify your channels and make them clearly visible to onlookers. Some sites remain dominant when it comes to online bookings, and this can pose a threat to guesthouses around the world. It can mean that they depend on single channels which already demand sizeable commission-based results. If you are the manager of a bijou boutique property then you could consider signing up with certain online sites so that more and more customers are aware of your existence. By having a strong digital presence you are already one step ahead of the competition.

Digital marketing is not merely a one-time, instantly forgettable project. It is an entirely new and interesting discipline which must be embraced by hotel managers if they want to make an impact. However, digital marketing does not necessarily mean that you have to get to grips with a number of new tools and resort to hiring even more employees in order to keep customers happy.

Using the appropriate equipment, hotel managers can then use their existing e-commerce knowledge and reservations staff in order to create interesting campaigns, follow-up and still reap the rewards of increased marketing exposure. Choose your tools wisely in order to minimise setup costs, and provide maximum ‘wiggle room’ when it comes to inventing new and appealing strategies.

A truly successful digital marketing plan has to provide consistent multi-channel experiences to hotel guests. This can easily be achieved by using a variety of tools, or an all-in-one hotel digital marketing platform. However, no matter what kinds of tool you opt for, there should be an in-built architecture which works effectively across all platforms.