Competing For Luxury Hotel Guests In A Post-COVID World
With COVID-19 putting a halt to travel plans all around the world, the hotel and resort industry has arguably suffered the most. Many of us are stuck at home, looking through old vacation pictures and reminiscing on those times when we could co-exist amongst other travellers sans face mask, hand sanitizer, and social distancing. This last year has not been without its challenges, to say the least.
With the recent rollout of the vaccines, however, the end of this pandemic could be closer than any of us anticipated. Soon enough, we could be drinking Piña Coladas on the beach and breathing in the same stale air as hundreds of other strangers on the airplane – and the majority of us simply cannot wait for that day to come.
Implement Digital Marketing Strategies To Increase The Number of Reservations At Your Resorts or Hotels
If you own or operate hotels and resorts, this is a unique time. With the significant decrease in guests in the last 12 months, the hospitality and travel sector has been at a strong disadvantage. When the world finally reopens, every luxury hotel and resort should have marketing tools and campaigns in place to not only increase bookings but also to put them ahead of the competition.
Use These Qualified and Proven Tips To Create Your Own Luxury Resort Marketing Strategy
We live in highly competitive times. When an entire sector has been shut down due to the pandemic, you will find yourself competing even more to attract guests to your resorts and hotels. Proven and qualified marketing tactics shouldn’t be left a secret. Below are some of the most helpful tips to ensure the success of your vacation destination resorts. Use these methods to your advantage and create a plan that will help you stand out from competitors. Consider this downtime as a silver lining to revamp your business structure.
10 Luxury Resort Marketing Strategies For Your Vacation Destination Company
Marketing is a key component to the success of your business. If you own luxury resorts and hotels, use these tips to ensure an increase in traffic for this upcoming travel season.
1. Create A Viable Resort Marketing Plan
If you’re a hotel owner or manager, creating a marketing plan is vital to the success of your business. Every season, travellers search for the perfect location to visit for their next vacation, and you want to ensure your resort is #1 on their list. To do that, you need a marketing plan. Reach your goals faster and be sure to put your ideas into action. Determine what funds are required to attain the results you want. Train your employees to provide a desired level of experience for your guests. Decide what content you will need to create and how to get the best return on your investment.
2. Ensure You Have An Exceptional Hotel Website Design And Development
Websites need to provide users with accessibility and convenience. The travel industry is becoming increasingly digital in terms of marketing, and people rely heavily on the Internet to help them make decisions on their next vacation destination. They also search for local luxury resorts and hotels in the local area that they are visiting. In the last few years alone, over 57% of people booked their travel plans online, as opposed to booking with a travel agency or over the phone. For this reason, you need to ensure your website is up to standard. Focus on creating a great website design without challenges for those who visit. Ask yourself these questions: 1) Is your website visual? Be sure to include professional photos and videos to make your site visually captivating. 2) Is your website easy to navigate? Complex navigation can be responsible for losing potential customers. 3) Can people book easily? If you have an online form on your site, it should be simple and easy to use. 4) Is your website mobile and desktop-friendly? Most online searches come from mobile devices, so make sure your website responds and loads quickly. One of the greatest tips we can give you in the industry of luxury resort marketing is to make sure your website has the design, development, and content required to stand out from competitors.
3. Optimize Your Company Site For Search Engines
Search engine optimization isn’t just a trend. With almost every aspect of business going online, SEO is a crucial strategy that needs to be incorporated into your content. It involves using relevant keywords to improve your ranking on search engines like Google and will ensure your website is more visible to potential travellers who are searching the web. You could own the most amazing luxury hotel in the world, but what good will that do if no one knows about it? The Internet is now the most used and reliable source of information. Make sure to use SEO and its capabilities to your advantage. Higher rankings translate to more online visitors which then leads to more potential bookings.
4. Utilize Paid Online Advertising
Ditch the traditional print brochures and allocate that part of your budget towards paid ads on Google AdWords, Facebook, and Instagram. These platforms are the most popular in terms of luxury resort marketing and advertising. Organic reach through SEO is certainly necessary, but to attract an even larger target audience, you also need to utilize paid online aids. AdWord ads appear when users search on Google for hotel services using keywords that your business is associated with. Your advertisement will appear at the top of the list and will be marked as ‘sponsored’. This is similar to Facebook and Instagram where your ads will be circulated on platforms to people based on targeted income, location, interests, and behaviours.
5. Have A Strong and Engaging Social Media Presence
Social media marketing holds a lot of value in today’s world. So often, in a pre-COVID era, we would scroll through Instagram for hours looking for inspiration for our newest vacation destination. Rather than looking at traditional brochures or calling up a travel agency, we now rely on the experience of other customers. By having a social media presence, you are increasing your chances of exposure and engagement. Over 50% of global luxury resorts and hotels agree that they have generated direct bookings from social media platforms. Has a previous guest tagged you in a post that got 5000 likes? Did someone repost your picture of a beautiful sunset onto their feed? Posting content and engaging with the content posted by your guests on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest is a budget-friendly way to reach your targeted audience.
6. Offer Seasonal Sales
Now isn’t the greatest time to travel, but who knows if that will be the case in a few months. During the off-season, many luxury resorts find value in offering travel packages at a discounted rate. This brings in new faces who might have otherwise booked elsewhere. No one can resist a good sale, and now is a great time to create excitement and give visitors something to look forward to. When marketing a sale, be sure to feature it prominently on your website’s homepage, post about it on your social media platforms, and use paid ad campaigns to gain more traffic to your site. Creating a catchy name for your vacation package is also helpful to get someone’s attention. For example, you can call it the “Couples Getaway Package” and offer a 30% discount on the entire stay and offer them and their partner a free dinner or massage voucher. Offering savings on a certain percentage or giving away free products or services is a great way to promote your luxury resort.
7. Provide Excellent Customer Service
This should go without saying, but it’s worth the reminder. An easy but important luxury resort marketing strategy is to simply prioritize the satisfaction of your customers. When a potential guest calls to inquire about your resort, are your staff members trained on how to engage in conversation? Do they go above and beyond to accommodate the customer’s requests? Are all questions and concerns being addressed at the first point of contact? No one is going to want to visit or revisit a place that treated them poorly. From a hospitality standpoint, your team needs to focus on providing an excellent level of experience for all your customers to remember you by.
8. Respond Quickly And Kindly To Any Negative Reviews
Different strokes for different folks. Let’s face it – not everyone is going to enjoy their stay at your luxury resort or hotel, and often this can lead to negative reviews on Google and any other travel-based websites. While this isn’t ideal, don’t let that stand in your way of rectifying the situation. If you notice that your guests haven’t had a great experience at your resort, respond quickly and kindly to their online comments. Offer your apologies and a discount for a future stay. A customer will appreciate when companies take ownership, and it shows other potential guests that you truly care about providing a high level of service.
9. Be Bolder Than The Competition
One of the best tips for luxury resort marketing is to create a strategy that helps you stand out from competitors. Take a look at what other hotels and resorts are doing in your local area. Are the resorts hosting events that entice your target audience? Do other resorts have social media marketing campaigns that include contests for free trips? Is your neighbouring resort posting more visual content on their website? Take an inventory of the luxury resort marketing tactics used by others and create your own strategies that are even better. Host bigger and better events. Post even more visually appealing content. Offer a more attractive form of advertising. Use your beautiful resort property as the backdrop of a social media video. Market your hotel as the absolute greatest vacation destination in the world. When it comes to resort marketing, you can’t be afraid to be bold.
10. Give Potential Guests Something To Look Forward To
Does your luxury resort have world-class amenities like personalized welcome gifts, in-room beer taps or a waterpark right on the property? Be sure to heavily promote and take advantage of the extra amenities offered to market your resort as the ultimate vacation destination. For example, if your property includes a spectacular waterslide that kids absolutely love, create content on your social channels that help to market your resort to families with young children. Your marketing strategy should have guests dreaming about the day they finally arrive at your luxury hotel.
Attract Guests To Your Resort Or Hotel With Results-Driven and Proven Marketing Strategies
Marketing is an absolute requirement to attract guests to your luxury resort or hotel. Using digital marketing tactics and content will allow you to promote your business to a global audience, which is necessary for the travel industry. Merged Media is one of the top digital marketing companies in North America. Our experienced team of professionals specializes in web design, content creation, SEO, and social media management, and we have provided services to clients across the globe. Our company’s marketing strategies are based on years of experience and knowledge of the industry.
Are you ready to take your marketing strategy to the next level? Contact Merged Media today for experienced advice and expert service.
