What comes to mind when you hear "Online marketing for hotels"? Social media? Otas and your websites? Search engine optimization? Perhaps also meta-search engines or paid advertising?
Whatever you thought of first, you are correct. All of this and much more are a part of online marketing.
Elisha Schoppig and Marco Baurdoux from Hotel-Spider provide a broad overview of this extensive topic in this live stream
They share valuable tips about various key tactics and tools to help you to increase your hotel’s reach and generate more reservations.
In the following blog post, we provide a summary of the most important aspects and expert advice on the various elements of online marketing.
YOUR HOTEL-WEBSITE
“Your hotel website is the central focus of your online marketing. All channels and activities should lead potential guests here. Think of it as like the spokes of a bicycle, all converging toward the center," Elisha explains by way of introduction.
The goal is to then convert these website visitors into paying customers. "For this purpose, your website needs to be designed as an e-commerce platform rather than just a storefront that showcases your establishment. The focus is therefore always on customer acquisition," states Marco.
An uncomplicated structure and attractive images and texts are extremely important for this purpose. This should also be regularly updated to reflect new additions to your property, special offers or the current season.
“The hotel website is an ongoing project that is never completely finished. There is always room for improvement. Look at the user data to see where you could improve performance. Ideally, you should allocate a portion of your marketing budget for annual website maintenance," Elisha adds.
Understandably, the cost of a new website or its revision can act as a deterrent. "Don't cut corners here. Your website is your most important marketing and sales channel. Investment in good hosting, a technically solid setup and good content definitely pay off, ” Marco adds.
THE BOOKING ENGINE
In addition to the content and structure of your website, the booking engine (IBE) also plays a crucial role in customer acquisition. To achieve the best results, it must be well integrated into the website and should be easy to find and use. It must also work just as well on smartphones and tablets as it does on a desktop. The Hotel-Spider booking engine covers all these requirements.
"The guest should be able to access the booking engine from any page. This increases the chances of them booking directly with you. The booking process must of course also be swift, easy and secure, regardless of the end device being used. This is how to create a positive customer experience and avoid people bailing out at the last moment and booking via an OTA," Marco explains.
Read on to learn more about marketing basics for your hotel!
