7 Marketing Ideas to Grow Your Hotel Business In the Post-Pandemic World

1. Revisit your marketing calendar:
Whatever your marketing plan was for 2019, you need to scrap it now because 2020 has taken us in a direction that none of us anticipated.

• Review your marketing plan, salvage what you can with the focus on the reality of the current situation.
• Rather than using your valuable advertising money to promote sales offers, divert your efforts on what you can do now – content marketing, social media, and SEO.

Target local audience:

Once the restrictions on travel ease up, people will be looking for ideas to travel. However, most people will avoid travelling long distances. So, staycation will see the boom.

• Take a look at your cancellation and modification policies. Make sure they are flexible.
• Ensure you have a safety protocol in place as per the guidelines issued by the government authorities.
• Review your website, SEO, and & Search Engine Marketing to geo-target local guests.
• Add new blogs and create ads targeted to the local audience.

Keep a check on your online presence:

Take stock of your online presence and tweak your strategies to address the current scenario and changing customer behaviours.

• Update FAQ page to answer COVID-19 related questions
• Revisit website copy for value, relevance, and brand voice
• Update Facebook, Google My Business, Instagram page
• Review your SEO
• Audit your OTA listings.Complete your OTA profile with updated information. Make changes in the room type description to make it look good. If the photos aren’t visually-appealing, change them.

Build your email list:

Advertising and social media are great tools to reach your customers. But you can’t rely on them alone. You need a robust email list.

• Although this time is not good for selling, you can use it to serve your customers with good, useful, virtual information. And email is the quickest and most efficient way to get the content directly into their inbox.
• To stay on top of mind with repeated guests and potential customers, communicate with them regularly and consistently.

Reach out to regular guests: Keeping your regular and valuable guests engaged should be more important now than ever. Use this time to build rapport and close relationships.

• Offer ‘Advanced Purchase’ discounts.
• Communicate your health and safety practices clearly.
• Send surveys to them, asking them for hotel reviews.
• Request them to send videos of their experience at the hotel and share these videos on your social media platforms and hotel website.

Touch base with your vendors and partners: This time can be used productively to nurture relationships. Call or email your vendor and partners and reach out to them.

• Offer the possibility of new contracts to local businesses and your favorite travel agencies
• Keep them engaged, so when the business reopens, you are the first one they call.

Build a communication strategy: A strong communication strategy helps in keeping all the stakeholders engaged and in building stronger and long-lasting relationships with new, existing, and potential customers.

• Create new posts on your website
• Start a new ‘Social Media Campaign’ on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
• Create and share videos