Marketing mistakes hoteliers should avoid in this pandemic time for the revival of the hotel industry and boost revenue.
The unfortunate turn out of the happenings last year causes a huge loss to the hotel industry.
This pandemic making people think twice before booking rooms and stay in a hotel.
Despite deep cleaning of its rooms and sanitization of hotels regularly.
So, to gain back guests confidence, we must do hotel marketing in a way which encourages them to book a room.
Use marketing is the way that allows you to gain guests confidence.
Let’s look at few specific points jotted below which give an idea of the marketing mistakes hoteliers are making.
So, they can be aware and take necessary actions to avoid the same.
Many of you are aware of the quote, “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail” by Benjamin Franklin.
This quote clearly portray the consequence of not planning.
Subsequently, strategy is crucial to determine the direction of your hotel business to achieve its desired objectives.
It not only defines your target goal but also set the best way to achieve it.
You must make an effective business strategy that outlines tactics, procedures, and pathways to accomplish its long-term objectives.
Content marketing, social media marketing, pay-per-click advertising, search engine optimization, and email marketing.
These are some core components of hospitality marketing to reach your audience and create a strong online presence.
Reviews are extremely powerful to make or break your brand reputation.
I know we all are afraid of any negative review from our customers.
But dismissing them is not the right way to deal with them.
Also, many platforms like Google, TripAdvisor, Yelp display every review posted whether positive or negative.
So, instead of scarring away from them, deal with them gracefully.
Thank the guests for their review (mention guest name).
Express regret and ask for forgiveness for not living up to their expectations.
Highlight the changes you are intending to make or already made.
This way guests will feel their concerns are taken care of and it will build goodwill of your brand.
Your hotel needs to adapt quickly to meet the demands of the guests in the pandemic.
This will benefit operations not only during the latest pandemic but will also ready hotels for any future outbreaks.
If your hotel resists change and follows old and outdated ways then it will cost your brand.
Make all the required changes then market them on your website. Update all the information on your website.
For instances, the new technologies you installed, sanitation procedures of your hotel, how it maintains social distancing.
To maintain social distancing you can arrange table and chairs far away from each other in reception, restaurant and other sitting areas.
Additionally, to make your hotel website more appealing update the content and photos.
A study found out that the lifespan of an internet website is short.
So, it’s better to update content and images around every three to four years.
Don’t reduce the price of every room and give huge discounts to recover your hotel in this pandemic.
Otherwise, this strategy may do more harm and may turn out to be a failure.
A huge discount strategy does not create new demand in your market.
In fact, you have to coordinate the marketing and sales strategies when it comes to demand generation.
Although offering numerous discounts can draw more customers, it can also lower the value of your brand.
This would result in larger losses in the long run.
Alternatively, you can offer valuable content, travel trends, Covid-19 protocols your hotel is following,.
And the value-added services they are providing during guests stay.
Your hotel cannot restrict its presence to only one or two social media platforms.
You must prioritise maintaining a kind of visibility in all platforms.
No matter how difficult it is to keep up with each platform’s trends and algorithm updates.
This is because every platform has its share of audiences and to attract a large number of people,
You can’t give in the opportunity to increase your presence on all social handles.
There are various social media handles like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr and LinkedIn.
Complete your accounts and utilize every available feature on those platforms.
Make the most use of social media to engage with and grow a dedicated audience over time.
In marketing, data is extremely important. It gives advertisers a clear picture of how successful their activities are.
Moreover, data aid in figuring out your target audience, so you can promote your hotel to them.
Your target audiences must be of different age groups, belong to different geographical region and so on.
Hence, you cannot send the same marketing messages to your target customers.
Different stages of the guest’s experience necessitate different marketing messages.
Data-driven marketing allows you to segment your customers so that your marketing is more targeted.
The major issue people face with implementing new ideas of promotion is the lack of evidence that shows it will turn out to be successful.
Yes, it is risky to experiment, but it is riskier to stay in the same place.
Even if your ideas fail, at least you have tried and learn something from them.
In hotel marketing, experiment with different ideas and see how it works.
It gives you a preview of how and what your audience/potential visitors will react before you and then display it.
From above we can get insights about the marketing mistakes hoteliers must avoid if you want to increase brand reach.
Eliminating above mention mistakes you can attract more guests and ultimately revenue increases.
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