How to create hotel marketing strategies?
Coming with that are a lot of new opportunities. While everything stays pretty much the same, along with the change of the dates in your diary, trends keep changing along around the year too. This gives you a chance to develop and come up with new and effective strategies for your marketing plans. There are things required to be taken under consideration to create the right plan.
They are –
- Hotel type
- Budget
- Target audience
- Specific goals
Let’s discuss further on how to create the right marketing plan for your hotel business.
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Identifying your position –
Although it’s said to be safe to focus on a larger audience, it’s not the only way to boost the reach and visibility of your business. Using a blanket approach isn’t the right hotel marketing idea. Not anymore. Why? Well the average traveller in the modern day is redundant and your potential guests are potentially better informed.
Your data has to be on point, super accurate and tight with the data and insights ignored to get more guests. Travellers these days have multiple channels they can choose from to make a booking. To tell you, you aren’t just competing with the local hoteliers but also OTAs and metasearch websites as well!
As far as technology, budget and your target audience goes, you must be aware of your position. Where you exactly stand. That’s the foundation of crafting effective hotel marketing strategies.
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Setting up objectives –
Here’s a question. Do you know where you’re heading to if you set out on a journey without having a roadmap? No right? Exactly!
When you’re done with your research and homework and you’ve finally figured out your position, it’s time to pin out objectives. Observation and analysis of everything about your hotel business is the key to the execution of an effective marketing plan.
Here are a few questions you can ask yourself to identify and set certain objectives.
- Who is your target audience?
- What gives you a clear advantage over your competitors?
- Who are your direct and indirect competitors?
- What do you specialise in?
- What services have been performing well at your property?
- What can you improve?
- What are you trying to achieve in a financial year?
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Choosing the right strategy –
Now what’s required to choose the right strategy?
Simple. Thorough analysis and research. This is a basic but an essential requirement. This gives you a clearer picture about the strengths and weaknesses of your hotel, opportunities that can be explored and also the threats you need to be aware and careful of. It’s necessary that you discuss this on the table with your colleagues, consultants and experts in your industry.
After you’re through with identifying and listing strengths and weaknesses of your business, you must run a cost-benefit analysis of all the different hotel marketing ideas you jotted down. This allows you to calculate the probable ROI ( Return Of Investments ) and risk factors. If certain ideas show great potential for your marketing plan, they need to be implemented smartly.
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Going ahead with the plan –
While all the eyes are on the jackpot, you’re making efforts to achieve your big goal. It’s really important that you go one step at a time rather than taking a giant leap of faith with no thought whatsoever. While planning on the execution of your idea, it’s important to formulate your marketing strategies with a specific time frame in your mind
To clear this out, it’s completely alright to be ambitious while having a logical plan in your mind as long as it’s inclined with your overall business strategy. Need help? You can even approach a consulting agency for help. Hotel marketing strategies that are properly planned for your business can help your staff and you to make the right calls.
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Calculate the financial effect
Your hotel marketing strategy is a guide, a key to a bright future. Your future! Therefore it’s quite important that you question and stick to your goals you’ve put up on the board.
The hotel industry is an ever changing industry which is evolving constantly. With these quick changes in trends, your business and its growth could get dented if you’re still running with outdated and irrelevant data. Not to forget , you must also keep tabs around the economic, political, and social environment around your business. Why, you ask?
You cannot ignore external events. When you’re trying to improve your services, it’s necessary to adapt to fluctuating demands and situations whether it’s caused by seasonal changes or any event in the region. Financial impacts have the potential of being able to portray both success and shortcomings of your strategy.
Knowing and being able to identify the financial impact of a specific action or strategy will make you a guru of crafting an effective and sound marketing plan. Remember, it’s a journey, a process to achieve your desired targets!