If you’re part of the marketing department of a hotel, you know there’s a lot to do when it comes to planning and strategies. Hotels, no matter what the scale, are a major business where marketing is crucial for success. After all, there is a lot of competition out there, and you need to set yourself apart from the crowd.
Especially in this era, visuals play a major role in how people respond to your marketing. People want excellent visuals, photos, and graphics. Aesthetics rule the roost now, and you cannot underestimate their effectiveness. Therefore, you need to incorporate detailing visual marketing strategies in your plans. This does not mean that you just dump a bunch of photos and drawings across your marketing mediums. You need to have a cohesive look, which will show the effort and planning behind your hotel. These will get you the audience and response you want, and put your hotel on the map.
Utilize photography
When people go on vacation, they tend to take a lot of pictures. Make sure your guests take photos of your hotel as well. You can incentivize this by offering various benefits like social media sharing, a meal voucher, or something similar. This is a great way to encourage user-generated content and have your audience promote your hotel.
In addition, you can share these photos and ones you take yourself on social media as well. Polish these photos a bit by using social media post templates on platforms such a PosterMyWall. You can also create attractive hotel flyers and have various shops, tour operators, or other businesses keep them at their premises.
Create attractive videos
As proven by the popularity of Tik Tok and Reels, video content is an integral form of marketing now. So, you need to create short videos or make a video collage which highlight various aspects of your hotel, and share them on social media. These videos can highlight various hotel features, or can even be behind the scenes glimpses into the hotel’s functioning.
You can highlight different employees as well, and have them walk the audience through a day at their job in the hotel. This sort of content improves audience engagement and humanizes your business.
Incentivize influencers
Influencer marketing is something which most businesses now incorporate. You should not ignore its potential, especially due to the nature of your industry. Word of mouth and user experiences really matter in the hospitality sector, so you want influencers talking about you.
This will also help you reach out to a much wider audience than you would through your own ads or social media platforms. Influencers often have vast following, and their praise might funnel some of these followers to your hotel as well.
Build interactive visual content
Do not just go for static visuals. Make sure you add interactive content. On your website, create a floorplan of your hotel, and when visitors click on a specific room, they can see photos of it. An interactive map of the area you’re in, if it’s a popular tourist area, would also work great here. This sort of attention to detail will really set your hotel apart from your competitors.
Additionally, you can add dynamic visual elements to your website, so that users have a pleasant experience exploring it and making their bookings. Seasonal color theme changes are also a good idea for this purpose. You can even add little video clips explaining various features of your hotel if people hover over certain elements on your website. These interactive visuals can go a long way, and will be sure to impress your potential guests.
Don’t be afraid to change direction
It might feel safe to stick to one direction in your marketing campaigns. However, you should not be afraid to change gear when the situation demands it. As seen over the past few years, you never know when a crisis like a pandemic or a storm can take place. So, you need to be ready to respond accordingly. For example, if there is a flood or storm, offer shelter in your hotel.
Adapt with the times, and offer services which respond to various situations. You can even offer home relaxation kits if your hotel has an on-site spa and there are travel restrictions in your area. These sort of innovative responses will keep you on peoples’ radar. So, when things normalize, you already have an audience.
Similarly, do change up your menu designs regularly to see what resonates best. You can easily redesign your menu using PosterMyWall’s menu templates, and make things easy. These menus can be seasonal, and you should also offer special meals for holidays like Christmas, Thanksgiving, and even Halloween. So, be adaptable and change direction when it’s needed.
Utilize your social media platforms
Your social media platforms are ideal for visual marketing. Create attractive social media posts using PosterMyWall’s templates, and then share them across your platforms. Often, simply sharing pictures does not work. So, these templates come in handy for creating eye-catching posts.
You can also incorporate influencer marketing here. Share what influencers are saying about your hotel on your social media platforms and have them share your brand on their social media pages as well. This way, you can reach out to a much wider audience than you could access with just your own platforms.
Create a brand story
A brand story will humanize your hotel for your audience. What this means is that you should have a history behind how your hotel was founded, and what the history of the brand or property was. This sort of thing works especially well for historic properties. So, capitalize on any historical or social significance your hotel might have, and talk about it.
If the hotel is owned by an individual, talk about their journey into making this hotel and turning it into a successful business. Make sure you add sentimental elements to this brand story, with old pictures and imagery from when the hotel was originally founded. You can also add pictures of notable visitors to this story, to really get some traction.
Incorporate mobile optimization
You have to make sure your website is optimized for mobile viewing as well. These days, most people use their smartphones to look up hotel bookings and pay for them. So, it’s best if you make things easy for them, and ensure your website is attractive on mobile view as well.
If possible, have your booking portal via a mobile app. This app doesn’t have to be expensive or detailed. It should just look nice and get the job done, complete with payment portals. This will streamline your booking options and make your website look good on the primary device people use nowadays.
Offer visual tours
While this may take a bit more effort, it will really make your hotel stand out. Offer visual tours of your hotel lobby and hotel rooms to entice your audience. Make sure these tours are filmed well and have some exciting narration as well. This way, you will not only offer an excellent visual experience, but will have a way to showcase your features as well.
This tour will not only make things appealing for potential guests, but will also make you stand out from the competition due to the sheer effort involved. So, go the extra mile and make your guests feel valued!
To sum up, visual marketing strategies are integral for a hotel. You need to follow the given tips and whatever else comes to mind to truly attract bookings and become a top name in hospitality in your area.