Having a strong Online Marketing Strategy is absolutely essential for your hotel. These days your customers are much more likely to use the internet to research their travel destination and find accommodation, so they will probably hear about you for the first time online. If you have a strong online presence and a good marketing campaign you will be able to create the best possible first impression.
When you are putting together your online marketing campaign, here are some important mistakes to avoid making:
Not Having an Online Marketing Plan
Attempting to market your property without a plan is not a good idea – you need to set goals and have specific strategies in mind to achieve them. Meet with the online marketing agency and let them know what is important to you and what you hope to achieve with your online marketing campaign. You can set goals, then check in later to find out how you have measured up against those goals. Having a plan to guide you will help to keep you motivated and moving in the right direction when you are promoting your hotel online.
Being Dishonest and Misleading
Travellers hate it when they arrive at a hotel, only to find out that the reality of the accommodation doesn’t match up to what they were promised online. If your amenities, rooms or location are bad but you try to cover up this fact by writing fluffy sales copy and posting heavily edited or misleading photos, you will be in trouble with your guests. When they realise that you oversold your hotel, they will write a very negative review of your website online and bring down your reputation.
If you have an inferior product, rather than overhype it you can either improve it or adjust your rates. Guests will be much more forgiving of a less than perfect hotel if it offers a cheap price and it is advertised honestly.
Having a Poorly Designed Hotel Website
When it comes to marketing your hotel, a Responsive Hotel Website is an absolute necessity. If you don’t have one, you are already well behind your competition. Your website should be well designed and it should include all of the information that your guests are looking for – including rates, photos of your rooms, a map to your location and an easy to use booking system. Also, make sure that your website is responsive on mobile so that people can make a booking from their smart phone or tablet.
Ignoring Social Media
If you are not using social media as a part of your online hotel marketing campaign, you are missing out on a very valuable potential source of revenue. Social media has really changed consumer behaviour and many people will use it when selecting accommodation – whether that means reading reviews, checking out a hotel’s Facebook page or Tweeting their friends for recommendations. Social media allows them to hear the options of other travellers before they make their choice. If you can use social media in an effective way, your happy customers will become a free word-of-mouth salesperson for your property.
Not Updating Your Online Marketing Strategy
The world of online marketing changes quickly and you must stay at least one step ahead if you want to stand out from the rest. If you keep implementing the same marketing strategy year after year it will start to become stale, while others who are more innovative will steal the spotlight. Always be on the lookout for new marketing ideas and trends so that you can try them out.
Not Responding to Poor Reviews about Your Hotel
It will happen to you at some point – you will get a negative review from an unhappy customer on Tripadvisor or another review website. Whether they have a legitimate complaint or they are just difficult to please, it is important to respond to them well. This means writing a well thought out reply to their complaint, apologizing for their negative experience and offering to make it right with them. Not only will this salvage your relationship with this one customer, but it will also show others that you offer excellent customer service and you are open to criticism.
These are just a few of the common mistakes that hotels make when it comes to online marketing. Avoid these errors so that you can achieve more success in your hotel’s online marketing campaign.