1. Keep Guests Coming Back with a Loyalty Program

Marc Prosser, Co-founder, Fit Small Business

CandyBar.co is a digital loyalty card program that’s easy to use for you and your guests. It offers a small business-friendly platform for you set up rewards and track customer use. For your customers, all they need to do is give you their phone number, they’ll get a text to confirm, and they’re signed up. Try CandyBar free for 30 days—no credit card required.

2. Take People on a Virtual Tour of Your Hotel

Brandon Gaille, Podcaster, The Blog Millionaire

One of the biggest barriers that people face in choosing a hotel is knowing what their room will look like. By providing a virtual tour on your website, you’ll give your prospects an idea of what they should expect so that they can immediately visualize the value of what you provide.

3. Run a Digital Ad Campaign

Umar Brimah, Co-founder, Cedar+Black

If you are a smaller hotel without the resources of a national advertising budget, you need to go all in on digital advertising. Running ad campaigns on social media is extremely underpriced for how effective it can be. You can get started by diving into your customer relationship manager (CRM) and looking at the existing data you have about your past customers. Use that information as a basis for your initial target audience. You will get more data as the campaign progresses. Use the process to build and refine your audiences. Then, create lookalike audiences that you can use to target new customers. This strategy is guaranteed to increase awareness of your business. Increased foot traffic will follow.

4. Use Fresh Content to Answer Customer Questions

Jignesh Gohel, Founder & Marketing Head, OLBUZ

Content marketing is one of the best and most effective ways to increase your hotel bookings. I have been working with many clients from the travel and hospitality industry and have successfully implemented this practice for quite some time. First step in this practice is to find out all of the different questions or problems your target audience has and create detailed content solving those problems. This will help to build the audience’s trust in your hotel or brand and will increase the chances of converting them into customers. I suggest going to Quora and finding a list of questions related to places near your hotel location. You will find a bunch of queries associated with the location, such as “best places to visit around / things to do around / best food to taste in X city,” etc. Create content about these topics on your website and you are done.

5. Hire an Expert to Improve Your Digital Marketing

Evan Tarver, Marketing General Manager, Fit Small Business

You can make your advertising budget go even further with Hibu. They work with a lot of small businesses, plus they’re a certified Facebook partner. In addition to basic website management, the Hibu experts will help you improve your search ranking, manage your social media presence, and work with you on improving business reviews across the internet. The ROI can be great, and outsourcing your marketing gives you time to focus on keeping your hotel running smoothly. Click here to get in touch with a Hibu representative today.

6. Use SEO to Get Found

Natalie Athanasiadis, Owner, Ormi Media

Organic search engine traffic remains one of the most profitable channels for hotels. The hotel space is incredibly competitive both online and offline, so every activity needs to generate a great return. Your hotel SEO consultants should be working with your property to create content and build visibility for a diverse set of searches that cater to all of your target guests and their needs at each stage of their buying journey. By focusing on generating organic visibility and showcasing direct benefits to guests, you will achieve great increases in revenue with very little outlay.

7. Use a Hotel Scavenger Hunt to Engage with Guests

Jamie Moran, CEO & Co-founder, Scavify

One of the best ideas I have seen was the Kimpton Hotel Palomar’s “Live Like a Local” campaign. The hotel set up an interactive scavenger hunt, encouraging guests and city residents to complete challenges around San Diego that helped show off what living like a local meant. This included going to iconic landmarks, visiting local restaurants and bars, and highlighting the San Diego culture. Here’s one example of a challenge people had to complete: “San Diegans love a good fish taco. Take a bite out of your favorite and share the photo with hashtag #livelikealocal.”

8. Maintain a Local Events Calendar

Marcus Clarke, Founder, Searchant

As a small or independent hotelier, you have the luxury of creating a website that will fully engage your guests, so be certain that you update it with events that might be of interest to them—especially local events that don’t happen all the time, like food festivals or carnivals.

9. Ask Your Guests for a TripAdvisor Review

Mark Hayword, Hospitality Blogger, Mark Hayward

Having multiple positive reviews on TripAdvisor is extremely important. Hotels with lots of reviews can attract new guests due to popularity. Keep in mind that it’s not permissible to ask for positive reviews, but if you provide a good service, reviewers should leave a good review.

10. Use a CRM to Retarget Previous Customers

Allie Potts, Editor, Fit Small Business

People are more likely to return to a location or hotel they’ve visited and enjoyed before than visit an area they’ve never been to. Keep important client contact information stored and organized by using a CRM like Freshsales, and make sure to regularly follow up with your best clients.

With this free software, you can send highly targeted emails and make phone calls directly from the platform, automatically set reminders after you’ve made initial contact, schedule appointments, and much more. Click here to get started for free—no credit card required.

11. Communicate with Your Customers on Social Media

Patrick Landman, Founder, Xotels

Hotels stand to gain a lot by marketing on social media. You can use social media to speak directly to your guests and foster relationships. You can announce specials, tell guests about activities, and even show your photos on social media—for free.

12. Create Special Packages for Group Events

Maksym Podsolonko, CEO, eazyplan

Small hotels have numerous marketing opportunities when it comes to hosting group events, but these are usually overlooked. Here are three popular ones:

• Family and friends reunions – Create special offers for private groups up to your capacity. Include a special menu and drinks package, and throw in a small accommodation discount to increase your revenue.
• Offsite meetings – Reach out to local businesses with a special offer for half-day, full day, and multi-day meetings. They will need rooms for management meetings away from the regular employees, marketing research, groupthink sessions, and so much more. Postcards addressed to the assistants of different departments in a company will bring a much better result than Facebook ads.
• Intimate weddings – Did you know they are becoming a trend? Weddings for only 20 to 30 guests are becoming very popular. Target engaged couples year-round and get a nice revenue from your food and beverage department for catering the wedding.

13. Talk About Your Loyalty Program

Jennifer Nagy, President, jlnpr

Get your staff to talk about your loyalty program with your guests. This will engage them and get them to be more active members of the program, which will increase your bookings. Loyalty programs really do work, and they’re not just for the big brands—small, ultra-boutique hotels can also get in on the action.

14. Create Cohesive Branding Both Online & Offline

Simon Bullingham, CEO, Journey

You will want to have a cohesive and identifiable brand both online and offline. Use your branding to market by using video, your website, offline methods, and more. Wherever you tell your hotel’s story, be consistent.

15. Engage Your Website Visitors 24/7

Kelly Main, Marketing Writer, Fit Small Business

Since guests can be looking at your site at any time of day, there’s no guarantee that their questions will arise during your help desk’s normal business hours. Freshchat gives you the power of automated live chat for hotels, 24/7, 365 days a year. Best of all, the basic version of Freshchat is free to use. Click here to launch your own free account.

16. Use Agile Marketing for Your Hotel

Sam Wetson, Marketing Manager, 80 Days

Are you paying attention to the market around you, or are you simply focused on getting heads on beds? Use agile marketing (which connects your business marketing to timely news and events) to keep up with market demand.

17. Create Digital Guides

Sophia Borghese, PR Consultant, La Galerie Hotel

Fewer people (especially those in the younger generations) are picking up hotel lobby brochures. However, these people still need advice about what to see and do. In a fully “lit” city like New Orleans, there are a ton of things for people to do, so knowing where to begin can be hard. As part of our digital marketing, we’ve created numerous city-related guides to help our visitors. For instance, we’ve done guides for Mardi Gras, Festival Season, and more. We find that people like having a guide they can check on their phones.

18. Compete with Airbnb by Having a Personal Touch

Alex Shashou, President, ALICE

There has been a lot of discussion around the impact Airbnb has had on the hotel industry. In order to stay competitive, hotels need to find ways to stand out. One way to do this is to encourage your staff to be attentive to each guest. Make them feel at ease and cared for. Answer questions and be ready with suggestions for where to go and what to eat, along with information about what is going on around your area. Having a person offer guidance is a way to differentiate from the online-only interaction of an Airbnb.

19. Develop a Relationship with Local Tourism Boards & Chambers of Commerce

Matthew Aversa, Chief Executive Officer, Twenty One PR

For hotels, it’s important to stay in touch with the local tourism boards as well as other associations that could further business. Tourism boards assist with placing events and reaching out to press around the country, and they are valuable resources for staying in touch with other local businesses. Tourism boards, convention and visitors bureaus (CVBs), and destination marketing organizations have the job of bringing visitors to an area and promoting the businesses in that area. Therefore, it’s important to have a good relationship with them.

20. Make Sure Your Hotel Is Listed in Online Directories

Maggie Aland, Marketing & Review Editor, Fit Small Business

When a potential guest is looking for your hotel, most will search online. Make sure your business is listed in as many online directories as possible so more customers can find you. Localworks is a tool that lets you scan and update your local listings on maps, social media sites, search engines, mobile apps, and across 60+ directories. Click here for a free scan and save 20% on updating your listings with code LOCAL20.

21. Incentivize Customers to Market on Your Behalf

Jeff Kear, Owner, Planning Pod

You should offer awards and incentives to guests who make fun or quirky videos of your hotel and post them to social media. Videos are by far the most viewed items on Facebook, and Google continues to push YouTube videos in its rankings, so online video marketing can be a great niche to appeal to younger demographics. You could offer a discount to anyone who posts a fun video about your property to YouTube or Facebook, and you can also add the video to your YouTube channel and promote it there.

22. Market the Local Area, Not Just the Hotel

Richard Gornall, Proprietor, The Hideaway at Windermere

Holidaymakers want an experience, not just somewhere to sleep. Your hotel obviously plays an important part in this, especially if you offer spa features and other experiential activities, but don’t overlook the importance of marketing the town, city, or area where your hotel is located. If you do have a countryside hotel, pick out some of the best walks and trails, recommend local bike hire companies, and offer everything your guests can use to improve their stay.

23. Partner with Local Establishments

Scott Selenow, President, Immerse Agency

Weave your hotel into the fabric of the local community by developing partnerships with local institutions, venues, museums, and cultural centers. Provide some space for them to display rack cards and coupons in the hotel, which will act as added value for your customers. In exchange, require them to place a link on their website for out-of-town guests to take advantage of your hotel deals. Generating these partnerships won’t cost you a penny and will pay dividends when you have ambassadors for your hotel working at local institutions in the community.

24. Harness the Power of the “Selfie Generation”

Brandon Wright, Marketing, ThoughtLab

Millennials crave three things: experiences, Instagram, and avocado toast. Take advantage of two of these three loves by creating an environment that asks your guests to share their vacation memories from your hotel on social media. Have an empty wall? Invite an artist to paint a mural so beautiful and unique that guests can’t help but pause for a picture. Tying your brand to the positive memories made and shared by your guests will increase not only organic reach, but brand loyalty.

25. Use Video Email Software

Kiah Treece, Marketing & Real Estate Writer, Fit Small Business

The first time I opened my inbox and saw a video that someone had prepared for me, I was amazed. I now recommend videos for hotel marketing, courtesy of a service provider called BombBomb. It is well worth the cost. Videos are viewable on any device, and your guests will love getting them. You can use them to welcome first-time guests, to show them a little about the property, or even to just send them a birthday message. Click here to create your first video email.

26. Focus on PPC Advertising

Richard Plant, Head of Digital Marketing, Up Hotel Agency

All hotels need visibility on online travel agents (OTAs) like Booking.com and Hotels.com. However, this shouldn’t be prioritized over taking direct bookings. Hotels can lose approximately 20% of room revenue from room nights through OTAs. Small hotels should therefore challenge OTAs in search results. To achieve this, use Google AdWords (PPC ads) to appear high in Google search pages—as high as OTAs.

27. Actively Remarket to Decision-Makers

Mark Irvine, Sr. Data Scientist, Wordstream

As a recently married man, I can vouch for the fact that even if I find a hotel I love right away, I’m seldom the key decision-maker in my own purchases. Since we have to coordinate our travel with our partners, family, and friends, we’re likely to search several times over a few weeks before ultimately booking our rooms. Knowing this, it’s particularly important to make the most of remarketing to the same or similar audiences; keeping your brand top of mind for purchasers during this decision process is key.

28. Offer a Complimentary Stay to Travel Writers & Bloggers

Jeffrey R. Orenstein, Ph.D., Travel Journalist, Simply Smart Travel

One tactic that seems to work well is to offer a complimentary stay to travel writers who have readers in the demographics/locations of your target market. It is very likely that they will write a fair and usually quite good article about the property.

29. Host Events at Your Hotel

Michelle Garrett, Public Relations Consultant, Michelle Garrett

Host some events to help market your hotel. Invite groups in to visit and host a luncheon or cocktail hour for them. Groups like wedding planners or even chambers of commerce could help you gain exposure and promote you to new customers.

30. Create a Google My Business Page

Alex Bar, Owner, Third Temple Digital

It is always a good idea to add specific information about your hotel on Google My Business. This includes pricing, rooms available, contact information, photos, and reviews. Doing this increases the chance that your hotel will pop up in Google searches. A lot of people first check these suggestions because they usually provide the most basic information very prominently.

Create a Google My Business page to have your hotel appear in the local results.

31. Make It Easy to Book a Room on Your Website

Michael Leander, Consultant, Michael Leander

Make it simple to book a room on your website by testing the flow and making sure the booking process is smooth, the pages load fast, and that it is obvious where to go to book. If customers don’t immediately see what they are looking for on your website, they will just leave to find a place that makes it less time-consuming.

32. Partner with a Sports Team Coming to Your Area

Ishveen Anand, Owner, OpenSponsorship

Piggyback on sports events being held in your area by hosting athletes or partnering with the team/event. Sports events bring in a ton of tourists, and sponsoring the athletes or events will give you visibility and access to all the fans.

33. Create a Package That Includes Local Activities

Rodger Roeser, CEO, The Eisen Agency

Put together a series of packages (including amenities at the hotel) that coincide with area/regional “things to do.” If the area is known for local wines, for example, tie in a program that would include things at the hotel that engage those interests (e.g., a wine tasting at the hotel). Then, you can market it on Facebook based on people’s interests (such as people who have wine as an interest) as opposed to just randomly trying to market to “travelers.”

34. Use Instagram to Give People a Glimpse of Your Hotel

Mindy Scraper, Founder, Mindy the Lion

Consumers are using Instagram as a primary method of research to decide which hotels and resorts feel like the best fit for their needs. There’s an assumption that hotel-generated web content can be misleading, so consumers have turned to social media to peruse user-generated content of the property to see what the resort “actually” looks like. Their first impression is often the hotel’s own Instagram page, so it’s important to run a well-groomed account that greets these researchers with authenticity and professionalism.

35. Avoid Being Understaffed with Smarter Staff Scheduling

Ryan Fyfe, CEO & Founder, Humanity.com, Inc

Hotel guests hate waiting. They don’t like waiting for you to show them their rooms or to get a drink at the bar. Happy, satisfied guests who never have to wait are more likely to give you free marketing via word of mouth. How can you make sure that your hotel is never understaffed, but at the same time, keep your labor costs down by not blindly overstaffing? You can do so by using advanced, data-driven employee scheduling software.

36. Create a Landing Page Aligned with Your Ads

Neil Andrew, Marketing Manager, PPC Protect Limited

Use a landing page just for ads so that you can capture the email address of those who are interested in your hotel. I see a lot of people using their homepage for their ads, but a landing page lets you tailor the message to align with the ad. Focus on the key benefits of your property on the page instead of explaining everything from scratch. This makes visitors much more likely to convert.

37. Use Location Targeting in Ads

Will Haswell, Business Development Manager, Adzooma

Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising in the right locations can help your hotel compete. You should focus your attention in the places that you know will be looking to visit your area. PPC and social media advertising are effective ways to attract a large amount of traffic to your site in a short amount of time. The budget can be increased, scaled back, or even switched off whenever necessary.

38. Use Google Business View for 360-Degree Tours

David Erickson, Principal, e-Strategy Media

Google has a program called Google Business View, where you can hire a certified photographer to shoot a 360-degree photographic tour of the interior of your business. This is exactly like the Street View feature of Google maps, where you can take a virtual tour of a city as if you are driving through it, except it is an interior view of a business.

39. Ask Influencers to Market Your Hotel

Kurt Uhlir, Founder, Uhlir Ventures

Many marketers think influencer marketing applies primarily to big business, but many of the smaller businesses I’ve worked with have seen great success working with influencers. Each influencer is unique, so make sure you’ve done your homework to know what he or she is interested in before reaching out.

40. Make It a Habit to Respond to Comments

Mikki Stith, Account Strategist, Coalmarch Productions

Too many companies don’t respond to comments, shares, and mentions on their social media pages. If you are only using social media to publish content about your hotel, you are missing the big picture of engaging with your community. It’s hard enough to get your followers to engage with a share or a comment. Respond to customer comments and reviews. Get to know the people who follow you, and reward the followers who took the time to comment or engage.

41. Use Twitter to Provide Exceptional Customer Service

Kristin Tao, Account Executive, IT Retail

Use Twitter to help respond to customer comments and questions. If your hotel receives a Tweet with a comment, complaint, or question, respond as soon as possible to let your followers know you care. If there is a complaint, find out the whole story and respond in an apologetic, understanding tone.