Content Strategies for Successful Hotel Marketing Campaigns

With the widespread usage of online advertising, it has become difficult to succeed in getting your product noticed by relying on paid ads alone. But now you can also get people to come to you, with the help of content marketing.

Hotel content marketing is the most impactful way for hotels looking to gain more customers. It costs significantly less to produce than outbound marketing and generates three times as many leads.

Instead of going through basics of content marketing, below are two campaigns that were well-received by hotel guests and some takeaways that you can use for your own hotel.

Strategy: A short film

A four-star independent boutique hotel in Montreal went the extra mile when they developed a video to celebrate the hotel’s 10th anniversary in 2012: they created a 15-minute artistic film titled The Suitcase.

The short film entertains the audience with a romantic atmosphere that helps boutique hotels sell their more personalized brand of luxury as superior to the experience of staying at a big brand hotel.

Le Saint-Sulpice Hôtel Montréal’s management took a gamble with the film when they allocated a huge chunk of their annual marketing budget to producing a film, meaning they’d have to give up portions of their traditional marketing programs. The experiment was a success and has brought plenty of publicity to the boutique hotel.

How to use this strategy

Use an unexpected medium: Brainstorm together with your team about what type of story can highlight your hotel’s specific advantages, and what medium you could use to convey it best.

Even if you don’t have much to spend on marketing, you can adapt this idea to other formats, like short videos, 360 panoramas and well written stories.

Strategy: Connect with your guests

Hotels have a great source of content from their guests. That’s what Loews Hotels did when they highlighted on-location experiences using Instagram pictures taken by their guests.

By featuring guest-captured experiences, you create a customer-friendly impression for other potential visitors. You’ll also foster a feeling of authenticity and make your guests feel as though they’re getting a real preview of what you can bring to their travel experience.

How to use this strategy

Ask your guests for help: Your customers are probably already sharing their experiences on social media. Loews simply started looking through tagged photos to find those they felt best represented their brand. They then reached out to the poster for permission to include the photo in their #TravelForReal campaign.

Go through photos on social media that have been taken at your hotel. Think of a campaign and create your own hashtag using selected photos with guest permission to repost.