What is hospitality marketing?
Definition and scope
The hospitality industry is focused on providing services to guests and customers, whether that's food and beverage, accommodation or both. It's a key part of the travel, tourism and event planning sector, creating millions of jobs and driving economic growth. The main goal of the industry is to create long-lasting, memorable experiences, putting the customer at the heart of everything they do.
In order to attract and retain potential customers, it's fundamental to employ targeted hospitality marketing strategies, such as social media marketing, email marketing, content marketing, influencer marketing and search engine optimization. It's also vital to practice customer relationship management across your digital channels to ensure you can target the audience you want to reach.
Core function
Crafting memorable experiences to build brand loyalty and the customer experience are both at the heart of hospitality marketing. The more you can find ways to attract potential clients through brand awareness, marketing campaigns and pricing strategies, the more you can be sure that your hospitality business will thrive no matter the market conditions.
Why is hospitality marketing important?
Hospitality marketing is important because hospitality brands are constantly competing for guests, and one of the ways you can get your brand out there is through successful marketing campaigns. Once you attract guests through targeted campaigns, it's crucial to provide the best guest experiences so that you can get more return on your advertising spend.
The process of becoming a well-known brand is all about identifying and understanding every stage of the marketing funnel and being sure you have the strategies in place to target guests at every step in their customer journey, from awareness to consideration, purchase and loyalty.
4 hospitality marketing strategies
Hospitality marketing strategies start with a robust marketing plan in which all the marketing communication channels are defined and given tailored strategies, whether you use an internal marketing team or an external marketing agency.
1. Search engine optimization
SEO, or search engine optimization, is one of the best ways to increase your online presence. With the right keywords, you can start to show up in the search engine results pages (SERPs) and attract more potential customers.
You'll also have to consider GEO (generative engine optimization) which refers to optimizing your online content for artificial intelligence. With AI taking over prime space in the SERPs, it's important to be intentional with your web copy and content.
2. Content marketing
A successful content marketing strategy will encompass every digital channel your hotel is present on, including social media, your website and blog, offline channels like brochures and billboards, and in-person signage and promotional materials. It's important to have consistent messaging and design across all the channels.
3. Influencer marketing
Influencer marketing is part of social media marketing and content marketing. It involves using celebrities or people with a large social media presence and following to build awareness and referral marketing.
It's one of the best online advertising strategies for hotels because once you identify the influencers that have the biggest impact on your target audience, you can connect with your potential customers through a trusted face.
4. Email marketing
In order to encourage potential guests or past guests to make a booking, it's important to nurture them across the whole buyer journey, and email marketing is a great way to do so. You can use it for pre-arrival emails, to target potential clients or to keep your hotel front of mind for guests who have already stayed at your hotel.
Key characteristics of hospitality marketing
Intangibility and perishability
Hospitality marketing is characterized by intangibility and perishability. Unless they've stayed at your hotel previously, potential guests can't see, touch, or test your product, which means they've got to rely entirely on customer reviews, pictures, and the strength of your marketing. This is why creating brand awareness and clearly marketing your value proposition is fundamental.
Travel is an emotional choice, which means you've got to connect to potential guests through compelling storytelling, high-quality visuals and strong testimonials.
Perishability can be a problem for hotels, as rooms not sold today can't be sold tomorrow. You can capitalize on it and maximize your revenue, however, by creating real-time, dynamic pricing strategies based on demand forecasts. You can also ensure a steady flow of guests by targeting different market segments throughout the year, whilst also balancing costs and commissions by optimizing for longer stays and using a mix of channels.
Variability and inseparability
As the hospitality industry has a high turnover, it's a good idea to implement standard operating procedures so that no matter who is on staff, there are minimal service standards provided at all times. Technology to enhance service and communication, as well as staff training, can all help to ensure consistent service delivery.
It's also a good idea to make sure that your staff create positive interactions across all touchpoints, whether that's at the time of the reservation, check-in, check-out, during the stay or after the stay. This will enhance guest satisfaction and create loyal customers that will keep coming back.
Sustainability and digital transformation
Sustainability is a good way to differentiate your hotel from the competition. By incorporating it into marketing efforts, whether that be by showcasing certification or green initiatives, such as waste reduction, local sourcing or energy-saving measures, it will set you apart.
Ensuring your tech stack is up to date will also help you stay ahead of the game. Being mobile-first, offering virtual tours, using virtual assistants and showcasing it all with user-generated content will show that you are a digital-forward brand.
User engagement and feedback
Encouraging user-generated content by sharing experiences on social media, posting stories, videos and reviews will help boost your brand's reputation, and build not only brand credibility but a sense of community. You can also find ways to engage with your community through online polls, loyalty incentives, social media challenges and hashtags, which will help spread the word about your hotel.
Use surveys and feedback to identify areas that need improvement, and encourage guests to leave reviews, which will help build brand awareness.
How to improve your hospitality marketing strategy
Improving your hospitality marketing strategy starts with having a clear marketing plan, with revenue management at the forefront. Through carefully planned digital marketing campaigns, you can connect with guests at all stages of the buyer journey and provide the right content to suit each stage of the funnel.
Finding ways to engage with your community and create a strong brand identity will also help to make your campaigns successful.
4 hospitality marketing trends in 2025
1. Sustainability
Sustainability is here to stay and while many brands can be guilty of "greenwashing", sustainability continues to matter, especially with young generations. Find ways to connect with the local community through eco-tourism initiatives and social impact programs. You can even provide bikes, refillable amenities and water bottles.
Share real statistics and information about your initiatives on your website so that potential guests will trust your efforts are backed by real data.
2. AI
Artificial intelligence is an important part of any business in 2025. You can use chatbots and virtual assistants powered by AI to provide personalized experiences, and enact service requests quickly. You can automate customer support through WhatsApp and SMS, making it possible to get service around the clock. AI can even help drive cross-selling and upselling efforts.
3. Micro influencers
Macro influencers are slowing making way for micro influencers who have smaller communities but more impactful results. Make partnerships with niche influencers who have more affordable prices, but establish trust with the right audience and can help boost your targeted campaigns.
4. Personalization
Personalization is here to stay. Guests will continue to prioritize hotels who can cater to their unique needs and use information from past stays to personalize suggestions. Being able to customize the in-room experience with voice control, temperature control, music and lighting will all make for one-of-a-kind hotel experiences.
Conclusion
Hospitality marketing is complex, and the only way to master it is through a full-funnel approach using different kinds of campaigns to attract and connect to a wide audience at every stage of the buyer journey. The more targeted your campaigns, the more successful you will be and the more return on advertising investment you will have, which is great for your hotel's bottom line.
Want to know which definitive hospitality metrics you should be tracking?
Download our guide 'The Metrics that Matter'
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