Written By: Paige Ellingson
Many hotel startups are realizing that recognizing hotel marketing trends can empower them to optimize their conversion rates and extend their sphere of influence. With this idea in mind, it’s important to learn more about the trends and the strategies that are expected to gain primacy in 2017. Here are four of them:
1) Search Engine Optimization Will Evolve.
While SEO has remained one of the most important marketing strategies for hotels across the nation and globe, it’s important to know that 2017 will be marked by unique trends. As noted in “7 SEO Trends That Will Dominate 2017” from Forbes.com, one trend will be the rise of accelerated mobile pages (AMPs). These pages enable web designers and developers to create pages that will load almost immediately for individuals who are using mobile devices. And as noted by Nina Hale in “2017 Paid Search Trends,” optimizing the user’s experience as a multichannel process will become increasingly important. Thus rather than focusing on simply optimizing your hotel’s landing pages, conversion forms, and emails, you should emphasize how these distinct platforms can work together rather than as isolated incidents.
As noted in this post, “Internet Marketing for Hotels is Hard: 8 Hotel SEO Strategies to Rank Higher,” business owners who want to optimize online marketing for hotels should focus on combining their organic and paid search efforts. One strategy you can deploy to optimize this objective is joining the Google Hotel Ads (GHA) platform.
2) Content Marketing.
Content marketing has been one of the foundational and leading forms of online advertising for many years. This will remain true in 2017, and savvy hotel business representatives should do all that they can to recognize and implement new strategies designed to optimize the processes of producing and publishing top-notch content that will get audiences interested in your organization. One trend to take note of is that more businesses are adopting a strategic approach, and there will likely be more use of analytics designed to measure the cost, impact, and return of various content marketing systems.
One great way to optimize your content marketing process is by using your blog posts, web articles, and/or YouTube videos to run a contest. Contests can get people really excited about your brand, and you can heighten the excitement by advertising promotional products as the prize for whoever wins your contest.
3) Marketing Automation.
Although defined broadly, marketing automation is basically the process of using various technologies and software platforms to automate repetitive tasks designed to advertise a brand. The marketing automation process enables hotel owners to more effectively advertise their brand through key online channels such as websites, social media, and email. Most marketing automation tools (MAT) perform the following key tasks:
- Analysis and development of customers and marketing campaigns
- Marketing campaign management
- Customer data organization/storage
- Moving leads to customers
Many if not most marketing automation platforms offer email platforms, analytics, landing pages, hosted web forms, and a content management system. You can use resources to learn more about how to build your hotel brand in the online domain.
4) Social Media Marketing.
Use of social media channels continues to grow, and this is why hotel business owners should pay attention to how implementing solid social media marketing strategies can help their organizations thrive. As you begin implementing your social media optimization strategies, remember that certain channels are in decline (Facebook and Twitter) while others (Pinterest, Instagram, and Snapchat) are flourishing.
Another factor to consider as you begin implementing your social media marketing platform is the role that vicarious experiences play in generating customer intrigue. As noted by Jayson DeMers in “7 Social Media Marketing Trends That Will Dominate 2017” from Forbes.com, users are no longer satisfied with people posting their thoughts and feelings about events. They now want to know what it’s like to be there. You can make this happen through the use of dynamic content such as 360 images and video, live video, or real-time posting. This approach will empower you to make your audience feel connected to your hotel brand while simultaneously entertaining them!
Don’t Delay: Start Optimizing Your Hotel Online Marketing Process Today!
If you’re serious about optimizing your organization’s conversion rates in 2017, it’s time to recognize that using a marketing plan for hotel growth is a great way to realize your goal. Moreover, it’s important to ensure that your hotel marketing plan reflects an awareness of emerging trends. You can use some or all of the strategies and systems outlined above to develop the type of cutting edge, dynamic marketing strategy that will make prospective customers choose your hotel over the competitor!
Paige Ellingson is a creative communication executive and writer, currently based in Asia. She studied business and communication and proceeded to work in a fast-paced and upscale company in Hong Kong. Her passion for helping people and business in all aspects of content marketing flows through in the job role she is in.
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