Key takeaways

• Online hotel advertising is most effective when multiple channels work together to drive consistent demand.
• Tracking CPC and ROAS helps hotels understand which channels drive profitable bookings.
• Reducing reliance on OTAs starts with stronger direct-booking advertising strategies.
• Connecting advertising performance to hotel systems enables smarter budgeting and long-term growth.

Hotel online advertising has always been important, but with the advent of the internet, there has been a shift in the way people travel and most importantly how they book their travel. Now, more than ever, having an online presence is fundamental in order to generate brand awareness and get conversions.

In this article, we’ll look at why advertising is so important for hotels and 11 of the most effective online advertising strategies. Implementing even just some of these practices will help generate interest in your hotel, promote your unique selling proposition and convert potential clients into paying guests.

Why is advertising important for hotels?

Most guests discover and book hotels online, making visibility essential. If your hotel is hard to find or your website creates friction, potential guests will book with competitors or through OTAs instead of directly with you.

Hotel advertising goes beyond immediate bookings. It helps build brand awareness, communicate what sets your property apart and influence guest decisions over time - increasing the chances that when guests are ready to book, they choose your hotel.

The most effective hotel online advertising strategies

Now that we understand the importance of hotel advertising, let’s take a look at the different strategies you can implement in order to grow your online presence and generate bookings.

1. Don’t underestimate the power of social media

A lot of people underestimate the power of social media, but social media is a powerful tool without even going into paid social media advertising. You can use social media to your advantage for story telling and to create a sense of being “the place to be.”

Organic social media will only take you so far, so be sure to invest some of your advertising budget in social media ad campaigns. It’s a great brand awareness tool. And there’s something about those 10k and over followers that help create that “place to be” vibe. However, before you jump into social media, make sure that you have the resources to keep the account active. It doesn’t look professional if your last post was over a year ago.

2. SEO is your friend

Nothing is more important in hotel advertising than free advertising, also known as SEO, or search engine optimization. This process applies directly to your website and how you manage the content on it so that you’re well positioned in the search results, ideally in the top three positions, but at least on the first page.

Many factors play into SEO such as keywords, studying the competition and trying to beat them out organically by having a good page structure, strong internal linking, a link building strategy, well-written content and a fast and mobile-friendly site. SEO is something you want to keep in mind when you're designing your website but you can also use it as a strategy after the fact to optimize pages, keeping the aforementioned in mind.

3. Reputation management is key

Reputation is everything and people always want to know what others are saying about you before they book. For this reason, word of mouth is key to your hotel’s advertising strategy. So how do you do this? It’s called reputation management. Essentially it’s about having a Google My Business, Tripadvisor and Facebook reviews pages set up so that people can share their opinion about their experience at your hotel.

So what happens if you get a bad review? Of course it’s not ideal but there are ways to make it less damaging to your reputation. Interact with the guest, tell them you’re genuinely sorry they had a bad experience and figure out a way to make it up to them. Maybe it’s a discount or maybe it’s a refund depending on the circumstances. Following your reviews closely is key to learning how you can improve and manage expectations. And whatever you do, don't copy and paste the same answers. Be human. Guests want to feel that there’s a real person behind each comment and that they understand their concern, so don’t be a robot.

4. Retargeting works

Retargeting is a way of reconnecting with people who have already interacted with your brand through your website, social media or when they visit an OTA and don’t convert. It is arguably one of the most important hotel advertising strategies today to try to convince those who abandon the checkout page before booking a room.

One of the reasons this strategy is so effective is that you are targeting people who have already interacted with your brand, which, from a cost-effectiveness perspective, is better than conventional online advertising.

5. Use search engine marketing to your advantage

Search engine marketing, or SEM, is one of the most common forms of online marketing, and the most common place to do this is on Google. SEM gives you the ability to unlock the potential of being able to control what appears when you google your brand name.

The most common advertising strategy for hotels is to start by bidding on your brand name and the area where you are located. Sometimes it will be a bidding war because OTAs will also bid on your property’s name and tend to have large advertising budgets.

6. Influencer marketing is the tool of the future

With the rise of social media, influencers have come to light and they are essentially today’s celebrities. Many people look to the influencers to see what the coolest places to visit are or where to take their next trip. You can work with these public figures in your hotel advertising strategy to try to sway people to visit your hotel. Depending on the amount of followers the influencer you choose to work with, you will pay more or less. Be sure to establish your conditions before inviting the influencer to visit your hotel.

7. OTAs are a great place to list your properties

One of the most powerful tools apart from a hotel booking engine is an OTA. Online Tour Operators are a great place for hotel advertising. Working with OTAs helps increase your reach because they invest in lots of ad campaigns and online advertising of their own. You can also do some paid campaigns with them in order to increase your hotel’s occupancy rate. Furthermore, OTAs will help increase visibility and allow you to rank higher in the search engines due to the fact that they are already high traffic sites and ranked well.

8. Don’t forget about the locals

When it’s not the high season, who better to help you with hotel advertising than the locals? They are a fundamental part of your hotel marketing strategy, as they allow you to have a non-seasonal target group.

You can target them by connecting with your local tourism bureau, local businesses, and event organizers or even target the locals through online advertising via Facebook or search display ads. Offer them the ability to do conventions, meetings and more from your hotel, and increase your revenue streams. Locals are also a prime target to use your location for weddings and anniversaries, and out-of-town guests. You can even think about doing a campaign on social media promoting your location specifically to locals.

9. Make your marketing budget count during the peak season

You'll want to spend more money on online advertising and advertising through OTAs during the pre-peak season, which will help ensure that during the busy season your hotel will be full. You can also figure out when things are less busy or more steady and adjust the budget to the various seasons. Planning is everything for allocating your marketing budget.

Another aspect of planning is scheduling your online ads. Figure out when people generally book their trips. For example, business travelers will book during business hours generally, whereas leisure travelers tend to book at night or on the weekends. You can use this information to determine a schedule for the ads to run online during peak times, with a higher budget, thus maximizing your budget.

10. Everyone loves a deal

Deals are a great hotel advertising tool to attract clients because everyone loves a good deal. You can use deals, promotions and packages to bring in clients during the week and improve occupancy rate during the low season. Deals are great to promote through your hotel advertising channels. Whether it’s a Facebook ad or post, an ad on Instagram, or a search display ad, deals are one of the main reasons to advertise and get people to make that click.

11. Honor your loyal clients

Incentives such as loyalty programs are great to ensure guest retention. You can promote the program online through your website and social media channels and offer different perks and discounts that will not only get people to book more easily but also make them more likely to come back.

You can even promote the program through a paid ad or social media ad that those who join the loyalty program get a discount, or use social media to talk about the special rewards and benefits to your trusted followers. By rewarding loyalty, customers will have a better perception of your hotel so that they promote and talk about it to their friends and family online and offline.

Measuring impact

To measure the success of online hotel advertising, hoteliers need to look beyond visibility metrics and focus on performance indicators that show real financial impact. Cost per click (CPC) helps assess how efficiently your ads are driving traffic, while return on ad spend (ROAS) shows whether that traffic is translating into profitable bookings.

Tracking CPC alongside ROAS allows hotels to understand not just how much they’re spending, but what they’re getting back. A low CPC may indicate efficient reach, but strong ROAS confirms that campaigns are attracting the right guests and driving revenue. Reviewing these metrics regularly makes it easier to optimize budgets, refine targeting and invest more confidently in the channels that deliver the highest return.

Turning hotel revenue into measurable revenue

Hotel advertising works best when it’s approached as a connected system, not a collection of isolated tactics. Search, social, metasearch, OTAs and organic channels all play a role in driving demand - but maximizing revenue year-round depends on how well those efforts connect to your operations and booking experience.

With Mews, hotels can turn advertising performance into actionable insight by linking demand generation with real booking and revenue data. By understanding which channels drive profitable bookings, hoteliers can invest budgets more confidently, reduce reliance on third parties and create a smoother path from ad click to confirmed stay. 

The result is smarter spending, stronger direct bookings and sustainable growth - even as guest expectations and market conditions evolve.

Ready to connect your advertising strategy with the systems that power your hotel? Get a demo and see how modern hotel technology helps you turn marketing investment into measurable results.

FAQs: hotel online advertising

What is online hotel advertising?

Online hotel advertising refers to digital marketing efforts used to promote a hotel across channels such as search engines, social media, metasearch platforms and display networks to attract and convert potential guests.

Why is online advertising important for hotels?

Online advertising helps hotels stay visible where guests search and compare options, build brand awareness and drive both direct and assisted bookings in an increasingly competitive digital landscape.

Which online advertising channels work best for hotels?

The most effective channels depend on your goals, but commonly include paid search, metasearch, social media ads and display advertising. A strong mix allows hotels to reach guests at different stages of the booking journey.

How should hotels measure the success of online advertising?

Hotels should track metrics such as cost per click (CPC), return on ad spend (ROAS), conversion rate and revenue generated to understand both efficiency and profitability.