Digital marketing for hotels is no simple task. In the ever-evolving landscape of hospitality, simply having a fantastic hotel isn't sufficient. To truly thrive and distinguish yourself from competitors, a robust and intelligent marketing strategy is crucial.
At Clean Digital, we've helped numerous 4 & 5 star hotel brands unlock their full potential through meticulously crafted paid media campaigns. This blueprint will guide you through the essentials, offering insights and actionable strategies to scale your results.
The Modern Traveller's Journey & Why Paid Media is Essential
Consider the modern traveller: from initial inspiration to booking confirmation, their journey is both increasingly digital and complex with multiple touchpoints on those journeys. They're scrolling through social media, searching on Google, comparing prices, and reading reviews. If your hotel isn't visible at these crucial touchpoints, you're missing out on valuable bookings.
Paid media, encompassing everything from search to social and programmatic display, puts your hotel directly in front of potential guests at the right moment. It allows for unparalleled targeting, immediate impact, and measurable return on investment (ROI), making it an indispensable tool for any hotel looking to boost occupancy and revenue.
Digital Marketing for Hotels: The Blueprint
The Importance of Data & Measurement
Before even looking at channel strategies, we need to talk about data and how platform bidding algorithms leverage that data to reach new customers.
Fundamentally, most bidding strategies under value revenue when looking at room booking by only looking at the value of the room booking itself rather than all the potential add-ons that customers often enjoy when they stay.
This could take the form of any of the following:
Food & Drink - Does your hotel have a restaurant or bar which guests often eat and drink in?
Leisure Activities - Are guests able to book sports activities such as Golf, Biking, Horse Riding, etc during their stay?
Spa Services - Is there on site beauty or massage services which guests can book?
Tours - Can your guests book day trips from the hotel or does the hotel benefit from when guest book trips via a third-party?
To better explain the importance of this additional value, let's look at an example.
For their wedding anniversary, Mr & Mrs Jones book a weekend away at a newly opened hotel. Their stay is for 2 nights with the room costing £250 per night, for a total of £500.
However, whilst there they eat lunch and dinner in the hotel restaurant. It’s their anniversary and so they enjoy themselves by indulging surf & turf dinners with a bottle of champagne both nights followed by a night cap of a martini and old fashioned on their final night. Whilst delightful, their restaurant and bar bills total £600.
They met at their university golf society and so like competing against each other whenever they can. A round of golf each day does just that and costs a total of £300 including their golf plus rental of clubs, plus some balls.
After a morning golfing it’s time to relax and so the first day they are there they both get a couples massage together costing £200.
All in, their stay has cost them £1,200 and this is where hotels can more closely compete with OTAs by interpreting their own data slightly differently.
Marketing teams may be tasked with converting new customers at a ROAS of say 5:1 or better in order to beat OTAs giving teams a target of £100 if they only look at the room booking value. By factoring in all revenue data as outline in the above example, that target now becomes £240, substantially more and allows them to be more competitive in paid search, either by showing in more searches on current keywords or start competing more aggressively on broader terms, and reach more users across paid social and programmatic to help the hotel scale bookings.
This is just a small example of how being smart with data can support drive results for hotels, though another great tactic we’ve used has been leveraging occupancy reports across the hotel group to support budgeting and bidding decisions.
Capturing Existing In-Market Intent With Paid Search
When someone searches for "hotels in [your city]" or "luxury accommodation [your region]," they're expressing clear intent. Paid search, particularly Google Ads, ensures your hotel appears prominently at the top of these search results.
Branded Campaigns: Bidding on your own hotel's name is non-negotiable. While it might seem counter-intuitive, it defends against competitors bidding on your brand and ensures you capture guests who are already looking for you. It also provides a direct booking path, avoiding commissions from OTAs. After all, why work on a marketing strategy to scale when your investment helps generate more for those OTAs.
Non-Branded Keywords: Target broader terms relevant to your location, amenities, and unique selling points (USPs). Think "boutique hotel Edinburgh," "family-friendly hotel Cornwall," or "spa breaks Lake District."
Local Search Ads: For hotels, local search is incredibly powerful. Ensure your Google My Business profile is fully optimised, as this directly influences visibility in local search results and Google Maps.
Dynamic Search Ads (DSAs): Great for hotels with extensive websites and numerous room types or facilities. DSAs automatically generate headlines based on your website content, showing relevant ads to users searching for what you offer.
Insight: Don't just focus on "book now" keywords. Consider the full research phase. Target keywords like "things to do in [your city]" and subtly introduce your hotel as the perfect base. Understand what theme those terms fall under to look to scale by optimising those themes.
Inspire and Engage With Social
Social platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok are not just for connecting with friends; they are powerful discovery engines for travel inspiration.
Audience Targeting: The beauty of social media advertising lies in its granular targeting capabilities. Reach potential guests based on demographics, interests (e.g., "luxury travel," "spa weekends," "golf holidays"), behaviours (e.g., frequent travellers), and even custom audiences (uploading your CRM data for retargeting).
Visual Storytelling: Hotels are inherently visual. High-quality imagery and video are paramount. Showcase your rooms, facilities, dining experiences, and the local area. Use carousel ads to highlight multiple aspects of your hotel.
Dynamic Ads for Travel (DAT): A game-changer for hotels. DAT automatically shows users relevant hotel ads based on their browsing history on your website or related travel sites, featuring real-time pricing and availability.
Influencer Marketing (Paid Partnerships): Collaborate with relevant travel influencers to showcase authentic experiences at your hotel to their engaged audiences. This can be highly effective for building trust and brand awareness with this content being able to be leveraged more widely to paid, owned & earned audiences.
Insight: Don't just push bookings. Use social media to build brand affinity. Share behind-the-scenes content, local tips, and engage with comments to create a community around your hotel.
Reach Untapped Audience With Programmatic Video & Display
Video and display ads allow you to reach a vast audience across websites, apps, and connected TV, building brand awareness and nurturing leads through the sales funnel.
Audience Segmentation: Target users based on their online behaviour, interests, demographics, and even their current location. You can target "in-market" audiences actively researching travel or specific destinations.
Retargeting (Remarketing): Crucial for hotels. Serve ads to users who have visited your website but didn't book. Remind them of your offerings, perhaps with a special incentive. This audience has already shown interest and is more likely to convert.
Geofencing: Target users who are physically located in a specific area – perhaps near your competitors or a local landmark – with compelling ads for your hotel.
Video Content: Engage potential guests with immersive video tours of your hotel, testimonials, or clips showcasing your unique experiences. Video has significantly higher engagement rates.
Insight: Use a sequential messaging strategy. Start with broad brand awareness ads, then follow up with more specific offers or retargeting messages as users move closer to booking.
Metasearch Advertising: Competing Directly
Metasearch engines like Trivago, Kayak, and Google Hotels are where many travellers compare prices. Advertising here allows you to display your direct booking rates alongside OTAs, giving you a chance to capture commission-free bookings.
Price Competitiveness: Ensure your direct booking rates are competitive with, or ideally better than, those offered by OTAs. Travellers are savvy, and a higher direct price will lead them elsewhere.
Rate Parity: Maintaining rate parity across all channels is essential. Inconsistent pricing can damage trust.
Real-time Availability: Seamless integration with your property management system (PMS) is critical to display accurate, real-time availability and pricing.
Insight: Metasearch is often a "lower funnel" channel, meaning users are close to making a booking decision. Treat it as a performance channel with a strong focus on conversion rate optimisation.
Others Factors for Hotel Paid Media Success
Integrated Strategy: Your paid media channels shouldn't operate in silos. They should work together, complementing each other to guide the customer through their journey.
Robust Tracking & Analytics: Implement comprehensive conversion tracking on your website. Understand which campaigns, ad groups, and keywords are driving bookings and revenue. Use Google Analytics 4 (GA4) to gain deeper insights into user behaviour.
Mobile Optimisation: A significant percentage of travel research and bookings occur on mobile devices. Ensure your ads, landing pages, and booking engine are fully optimised for mobile.
Compelling Landing Pages: Your ad might be brilliant, but if the landing page is slow, confusing, or not relevant, you'll lose the booking. Ensure high-quality imagery, clear calls to action, and an intuitive booking process.
A/B Testing: Continuously test different ad creatives, headlines, copy, landing pages, and targeting options to identify what resonates best with your audience.
Budget Allocation: Allocate your budget strategically across channels based on performance and your marketing objectives. Be prepared to adjust as campaigns progress.
Seasonal & Event Planning: Adapt your campaigns for peak seasons, local events, holidays, and school breaks. Tailor your messaging and offers accordingly.
In conclusion, digital marketing for hotels is an intricate yet essential strategy for anyone in the hospitality industry aiming to maximise occupancy and revenue. By leveraging data smartly, engaging with modern travellers across multiple platforms, and ensuring seamless integration between different marketing channels, hotels can position themselves ahead of the competition.
If you'd like to learn more about digital marketing for hotels, get in touch!
FAQs
How much should a hotel budget for paid media?
There's no one-size-fits-all answer, as it depends on your hotel's size, location, competitive landscape, and revenue goals. A common benchmark for marketing spend in hospitality is 3-7% of gross revenue, with a significant portion allocated to digital. It's best to start with a realistic budget and scale up based on performance.
Should hotels still work with Online Travel Agencies (OTAs)?
OTAs can be a valuable source of bookings, especially for hotels looking for broad exposure or during off-peak seasons. However, they come with high commission rates. Your paid media strategy should aim to drive direct bookings to reduce reliance on OTAs and maximise your profit margins.
What's the most important metric for hotels in paid media?
While many metrics are important (CTR, CPC, Impressions), for hotels, the most critical are Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) and Cost Per Acquisition (CPA). These directly tell you how profitable your campaigns are and how much it costs to acquire a new guest.
How long does it take to see results from paid media campaigns?
Some campaigns, particularly search engine marketing, can yield results relatively quickly. However, a comprehensive strategy involving brand building and nurturing can take several months to show its full potential. Consistency and ongoing optimisation are key.
