The hotel marketing landscape isn’t the same anymore. It is much more fun, easier, effective, and even trickier. And that too for hotels of all shapes and sizes.
And there’s a reason behind this drastic transformation in the marketing trends in the hospitality industry.
Every single trend in hotel marketing is now directly related to travelers’ changing behavior. People nowadays do not conceive a brand the same way they used to a couple of years ago and this changes every year.
Then what about the year 2024? Well, that’s exactly what I am going to be talking about in this article.
If you want your hotel to ace the marketing game in 2024 and become a brand that people love, you must hop on the bandwagon of the latest trends.
So, without further ado, let’s look at all the hotel marketing trends that you should be aware of in 2024.
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Latest Hotel Marketing Trends For You To Adopt in 2024
Today, there are gazillion ways to market a hotel, and sticking to one method of hotel marketing isn’t the correct approach.
The world is growing at a fast pace, and new marketing trends are emerging every now and then. Meaning, hotels must explore all of them and turn to the ones that are relevant.
After doing extensive research and understanding almost a thousand strategies, I have shortlisted 12 hotel marketing trends for 2024, which if implemented correctly can do wonders for your property. So, without beating around the bush, let’s explore all of them.
1. Brand marketing
In this digital era, getting yourself recognized as a brand is key to attracting a major audience.
But for that, you need to invest in certain steps, such as building a brand website, creating guest loyalty programs, and investing majorly in brand awareness. The end goal should be driving your sales and attracting the audience at your property just by your hotel’s name.
Hotel chains like Marriott, Taj Hotels & Resorts, and Le Meridien are perfect examples of hospitality brands.
2. Personalised marketing
Also known as one-on-one marketing, this technique involves curating campaigns to individually promote your hospitality business among guests. This strategy is one of the hotel marketing trends to watch out for in 2024.
Personalized marketing is done by leveraging guests’ data, analyzing it, and creating a targeted ad that highlights the particular person’s preferences.
For instance, you have a guest with celiac disease (who cannot eat food items with gluten). So, while you are promoting your hotel to him, emphasize the food part. Showcase the gluten-free dishes from your menu.
This kind of marketing will boost your sales amongst guests looking for hotels with a specific preference.
3. Influencer marketing
Using influencers to promote hotels is one of the hospitality marketing trends which is growing exponentially. It is one of the most adopted techniques currently.
If you are wondering what that is, influencer marketing is using a celebrity, a public figure, or someone well-known on social media to promote your hotel online and offline.
With millions of travel influencers emerging day by day, hotels have a vast choice to choose from. However, when it comes to selecting the appropriate one, many hoteliers face a dilemma.
That’s because of various misconceptions revolving around influencer marketing. If you are also stuck with this problem, here’s a blog that can help you out.
How to choose the right influencer for promoting your property?
4. Thought leadership marketing
It is not just a fancy term; it is one of the most effective marketing strategies you can implement as a hotelier. Thought leadership is about sharing ideas, views, and opinions that show you have the knowledge and expertise from your domain.
Although some people confuse it with influencer marketing, it is way different. Because an influencer can be from any field with wide popularity among the global audience, however, that doesn’t mean s/he has the all-around knowledge. That’s a whole different story, so let’s keep it for some other day.
Let’s understand thought leadership marketing better.
For instance, you have been working in the hospitality industry for the past 15 years. This means you must be aware of problems faced by hoteliers, and trending marketing techniques, and have a vast knowledge of hotel operations.
So, you can become a thought leader by using your experience for the greater good of the people. All you need to do is share your insights and opinions with the audience through blogs, articles, podcasts, PR, or newsletters.
Once people start interacting with your posts and implementing your ideas, you’ll become a prominent thought leader. And this will indirectly help in the promotion of your hotel as well.
Must Read: Thought Leadership Marketing Strategy for Hotels
5. Content marketing
We all have heard that “content is king”. But let me rephrase this statement: “right and accurate content is the emperor”.
Since hotels started building their websites, investing in quality content became one of the major hospitality marketing trends. And with bloggers in the picture, this strategy gained more popularity.
Hiring bloggers and professional writers to produce quality content for hotels with proper SEO optimization is an evergreen marketing trend in the hospitality industry.
6. Visual marketing
While we talk about content, images, and videos cannot be left behind. They are a vital component of content marketing.
As they say “you believe in what you see”. This applies perfectly to visual marketing. Let’s understand it with an example.
If you search for a hotel online, I’m sure you’d access the gallery section to browse the property’s pictures and videos. If they are of high quality and seem appealing, you’d instantly opt for them.
However, if the same are blurred, out of focus, or are of low dimensions, you are sure to skip that property, even if it’s way better in reality. This is exactly where visual marketing comes into the picture.
By using HD videos and high-resolution photographs (of every nook and corner of your property) you can garner guests’ attention. Moreover, visual marketing plays a pivotal role in multichannel marketing.
What’s that? Don’t worry I’ve explained the same in the next point.
7. Multichannel marketing
As the name suggests, multichannel marketing is promoting your hotel across different platforms. This includes social media platforms, OTAs, and meta search engines.
These platforms have gained a lot of traction in the last decade and still stand as the most adopted marketing trend in the hospitality industry. The reason is the ease of booking a hotel and the availability of various options on a single platform.
Since guests opt from the top 10 to 15 results only, hoteliers need to be on their toes to be on that list. In fact, there are various platforms that cater to specific hospitality businesses only.
Take Airbnb for example. It deals only in vacation rentals and homestays. Hence, guests looking for these kinds of properties prefer booking them on Airbnb.
Although these channels have certain commissions levied on every booking, they provide great business to hoteliers. That’s why multichannel marketing was, is, and will always be a trend in the hospitality industry.
8. Local marketing
One thing that many hoteliers ignore is focusing on local guests. As a matter of fact, in India, the majority of hotels focused on outstation guests only for a long time.
However, after Covid-19, the situation changed. Many people opt to stay in hotels in their locality, to experience luxurious services and take a break from their routine. In fact, co-working spaces in hotels have become the latest trend in the hospitality industry.
It’s high time for hoteliers to focus on this marketing strategy, and open their doors to welcome local guests to their properties. Trust me this is one of the hospitality marketing trends that would be game-changing in 2024.
9. Automated marketing
Since we are talking about marketing trends, how can I forget the role of automation in hotel marketing? Artificial intelligence (AI) has indeed made guests’ as well as hoteliers’ lives quite easier.
Chatbots on hotel websites are the best example of AI implementation in the hospitality industry. Be it guiding visitors on websites through the booking process and during their stay, maintaining guests’ records, or updating rates, they assist in each and everything.
In fact, some of these chatbots are used for personalized marketing. With the help of machine learning and sentimental analysis to understand guest behavior, these chatbots are capable of upselling and increasing hotel revenue.
You should opt for this strategy right NOW. Why?
Because AI is the future of hospitality and is a part of one of the latest marketing trends in the hotel industry. And if you are struggling with it, here’s a blog that is a one-stop solution to all your queries.
Hotel Chatbots: The Ultimate JARVIS for Hospitality Industry
10. Mobile marketing
In my last blog, I mentioned how smartphones have become more than just a source of communication. Almost every industry has created applications to gain maximum profit and make customers’ lives easier.
Hotels too saw a taste of success by promoting bookings through mobile apps. Although there are various 3rd party apps that helped in increasing the business, hoteliers didn’t mind it as they saw an influx of bookings.
Moreover, it became handy for guests to book a hotel on the go. I mean they don’t need a PC or laptop to search for a hotel and reserve it.
They could do it in 3 steps: Open the hotel-booking app on phones, search and select the right property, and book it. This comfort and ease led to exponential growth in mobile bookings.
As per infographics shared by PhocusWire,
85% of travelers around the globe use mobile phones to book hotels.
Considering this vast figure, it could be said that promoting bookings through mobiles is a marketing trend in the hospitality industry that every hotelier MUST invest in.
11. Flywheel marketing
As interesting as the name sounds, flywheel marketing has been practiced in the hospitality industry even before the internet came into existence. Wondering how?
A generic sales cycle is focused on selling the product to a client, which is done in 3 steps:
- Lead generation
- Converting it into the prospect
- Closure
Moreover, the follow-up cycle in such sales focuses on selling the product or getting the client on board. On the other hand, flywheel marketing emphasizes the journey of the guests.
It involves engaging the guest from day one to post-checkout. Also, special attention is given to friction which results in losing prospects. Once identified, those errors are eradicated.
Here’s the flywheel marketing cycle for your reference.
Although it is a traditional method, this is still one of the effective marketing trends in the hospitality industry and is adopted by many professionals to turn their guests into referrals.
12. WhatsApp marketing
WhatsApp today is an integral part of a hotel’s entire operational infrastructure. And when we are talking about the new trends in hotel marketing, this messaging tool is making a great impact.
If you’re not aware of WhatsApp marketing for hotels, it is basically a way to keep in touch with your existing and potential guests and promotion of your business.
Be it in terms of sending promotional messages or sharing your hotel’s services, WhatsApp offers you everything you need to market your hotel better.
If you’re working on your hotel marketing strategy for the year 2024, overlooking WhatsApp isn’t the right thing to do.
Conclusion
Marketing trends in the hospitality industry have evolved over the years. And still, we can see every day a new trend is up on the internet which becomes a marketing tool.
However, following all the new trends in hotel marketing may not give you the desired results. You need to be very specific and careful while choosing the right strategy for promoting your property.
To make the task easier, I’ve compiled and presented all the hotel marketing trends that can be beneficial for you. Read them all in this blog, shortlist the ones you would like to go with and be ready to attract guests in 2024.
