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Top 10 Marketing Strategies To Include For 2017 Planning

Top 10 Marketing Strategies To Include For 2017 Planning

The most important thing you can do this year for your hotel is make a marketing plan.

To help you get started, we’ve put together the top 10 marketing strategies to include for 2017 planning.

As you create your marketing plan, remember that marketing is fluid. It’s constantly evolving and changing. This is why you need the top strategies to get started.

Let’s look at them now.

#1: Focus on the Customer Experience

As you work on your 2017 planning, at the forefront of everything you do should be a concentration on the customer experience. (tweet this)

This should be the center of your hotel’s marketing strategy. Successful properties know how to engage the customer and provide them with top-notch experiences both in-hotel and in the digital arena.

The best way to set yourself apart from your competitors is to meet your customers’ needs. The better you meet their needs, the more you’ll increase their loyalty.

You want your customers to remember you, value your mission and be willing to build a connection with you.

Train every employee in your hotel who comes in contact with your customers to engage with them and provide top notch customer service.

In addition, ensure that your employees who handle your online marketing are well-versed in customer engagement strategies.

The goal is to listen and learn from your customers and then provide them with what they want.

#2: Leverage Content Marketing

In 2017, you want to use a strategic approach with content marketing. Not only do you want to create a strategy for managing and creating content, but you want to be able to evaluate it.

Knowing your return on investment is increasingly important in 2017.

Your content marketing follows a predictable path this year:

  • Your responsive, mobile-friendly website is the pivotal hub of your content marketing.
  • Content comes in the form of blogs, videos, downloadables, white papers, infographics, and more.
  • You provide relevant content to your customers based on their interests.
  • Apps provide an even more in-depth customer experience.

#3: Use Marketing Automation

Is your hotel using marketing automation? Are you automatically sending emails out to interested parties?

If not, 2017 is the year to dive into email marketing automation.

Email is not dead. In fact, it’s stronger than ever before. Using email automation is smart for your business and a great way to advertise your property.

It allows you to send the right content to the right people at the right time. Plus, it’s easy and affordable.

Utilizing email automation allows you to fine-tune your email lists using advanced segmentation options to hit the right people with the right message.

Using the data from your email service provider, you’ll be able to make smart decisions about content to spread your message.

#4: Create Video Content

The wave of the future and 2017 is digital. Consider it part of the content revolution.

With the onset of Facebook’s Live Streaming, video has taken a leap forward.

In our fast-paced digital world, it’s time to incorporate video into your marketing strategy for 2017 so you can stay ahead of other hotels in your area.

#5: Personalize Everything

The generations of today, beginning with Millennials, demand personalization.

For example, studies show that personalized email messages improve click-through rates by an average of 14% and conversions by 10%. Plus, emails with personalized subject lines are 26% more likely to be opened.

Consider all of the touch points of your typical hotel guest. Personalize each one of them so the customer feels special.

Make the entire reservation process simple and efficient. You don’t want to put any obstacles in the way of your conversion rate.

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#6: Find a Place on Social Media

Social media platforms are the place to be. You should be doing more social media marketing, not less.

When you find platforms that work for you, share content that is valuable, relevant and informative. It’s not always about the hard sell.

On social media, you again want to personalize the experience. This is the face of your hotel, and you can use it to your advantage by sharing content people want to see.

#7: Make Your Site Mobile-Friendly

If your hotel website isn’t mobile-friendly and responsive to screen size, get off the fence and fix it.

Mobile dominates, and it’s no longer an option – it’s mandatory.

Why? First, your customers are searching for you on their mobile phones. Second, the conversion rate on mobile travel sites is up. This means more people are booking from their smartphones.

Third, Google will reward your site in mobile searches if it is mobile-friendly and punish you with lower results if it’s not.

Soon, Google will move to a mobile-first index, so you won’t have any leverage with the biggest search engine if your site is stuck in the past.

#8: Move to Direct Booking

This year sees hotels moving to a “Direct is Better” mantra. This utilizes your marketing dollars by lowering the costs of using OTAs (online travel agencies).

Book direct strategies should be an important centerpiece of your marketing strategies in 2017 because quite simply, they’re cheaper. Create a strategy that includes your employees, performance bonuses and more.

This will increase your bottom line and increase your bookings.

#9: Utilize Landing Pages

Work on your website’s landing pages in 2017. Maximize your success with targeted landing pages to increase your conversion rates. Test out two versions of the same page to see which one works better.

Targeted landing pages allow you to gauge your marketing success and focus each campaign to a landing page.

If you’re still sending people to your homepage, you’re missing out on numerous conversions.

#10: Plan for Retargeting

One final strategy to consider is booking retargeting. This gives you a second chance to grab a guest.

This can be on-site, off-site and through email marketing, you can leverage retargeting through digital advertising such as paid Facebook ads, Google AdWords and more.

Retargeting helps you get in front of potential guests who abandoned your website at the last minute. Through retargeting, you can remind them of where they left off and what they’ll be missing if they don’t stay with you.

Final Thoughts

Now that you’ve got some strategies, it’s time to create a plan and put it into motion.

One last note – make sure you track everything you do so you know what works, what needs tweaking and what doesn’t work.

The only way to measure your success is to analyze the data. This helps you identify and solve problems so you can move forward. Be ever-evaluating for the best success at marketing in 2017.

The pivotal piece of your marketing plan is your mobile-friendly, responsive website. Don’t have a website? Or, perhaps you do, but it isn’t mobile friendly. At Hotel Propeller, we build beautiful websites. You’ll find everything you need to attract guests to your website through your email marketing.

Take a look at our showcase and contact us today.

Images: Bethany Legg and Jason Briscoe

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