The hotel industry is the topmost sector within the hospitality industry, attracting customers and investors across the world. According to various statistics, the industry has rapidly grown at an astronomical rate. However, when it comes to discovering the significant growth in the industry, you can see it in the hotel chains, and industry cooperates segments.
Furthermore, the level of competition in this industry has increased in recent decades, to the point that it creates a threat not only to new entrants but also to those businesses that have been serving in the industry for many years. Undoubtedly, many hotels are competing to keep up with the competition both within and outside the industry.
Only a few hotels can sustain the pressure and make massive revenue in the long run. This has raised fundamental questions like what is in the store for small and medium scale hotels? How will they survive and make a sustainable profit in the industry? Do they follow any marketing strategy? Is digital marketing is fruitful for the hospitality industry?
In the blog, we have answered these questions.
Let's begin with a marketing strategy in the hotel industry.
To lead in the competitive hotel industry, the hotel must design a dynamic mechanism that can evolve according to the changing market environment, the competitiveness of the market, and the economic climate. Therefore, the main aim of marketing strategy is to explore the opportunity to serve the market that contributes to business growth and revenue.
According to marketers and authors, the initial stage of starting a hotel business should not be about a profit; even in the second year, the hotel will only reach break-even, and it may begin to make a little profit from the third year.
On the other hand, other marketers in the hotel industry believe that it is possible to make a profit immediately from the first year of entering the sector if the marketing strategies are accurate and implemented correctly.
To achieve success in the hotel industry, a hotelier must understand marketing and combine various marketing elements such as price, product promotion, and distribution.
Digital marketing is a term used to describe the use of ICT (information and communication technology) in marketing. For example, in the hotel industry, digital marketing includes internet-based marketing and other kinds of activities based on digital technology, such as email, phone communication, and interactive digital platforms.
Nowadays, digital marketing is becoming an integrated and vital part of marketing activities. There are several ways through which hotels conduct digital marketing. These ways are referred to as digital marketing communication.
Digital marketing communication is the source to communicate or engage with the potential audience across the networks and digital platforms. Some of the popular communication channels are explained below.
Email marketing is an excellent tool for the Company to establish communication with their customers. It has evolved beyond sending mass messages to multiple customers at one time. Many companies that use email marketing have realized that many customers get annoyed when they receive irrelevant messages. Therefore it is essential to understand your customers while choosing them for sending messages.
Viral marketing is marketing using the word-of-mouth effect through the internet. It is an advertising message conveyed to customers by other customers. In today's digital era, the way people communicate and share information has transformed into what it used to be decades ago. Many of the transformations happened due to social networking.
Pay Per Click (PPC) is a type of sponsored online advertising used on a wide range of websites, including search engines, where the advertiser only pays if a web user clicks on their ad; hence, the title, 'Pay Per Click.' Advertisers place bids on keywords or phrases that they think their target audience would type in a search field when looking for a specific result.
Search Engine optimisation is the process of getting traffic to your website from the free or organic listing on search engines. There are various ways to implement SEO, such as using relevant keywords, quality content, and optimal multimedia content on your web pages. Google search, yahoo, and Bing are the most prominent search engines used to locate information on the web.
While focusing on SEO best practices, make sure you focus on EAT (E-A-T stands for expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness). It is considered as Google's Search Quality Rating Guidelines which is designed to establish what it takes to create a good-quality website that ranks wel
Search Engine Marketing or SEM is the largest platform to fetch traffic through paid efforts. Hence it is also called Paid Search Marketing. Keywords are associated with it, which need to consider geographical location, Click-through rates, Cost per click, etc. Google AdWords (on Google Network) and Bing Ads (on Yahoo Bing Network) are the most popular.
Word-of-mouth refers to direct communication between customers on a particular product or service. Back in time, word of mouth was used to consider interpersonal communication (face-to-face). However, today technology has made it possible for customers to communicate electronically. This is known as electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM). One of the reasons why companies choose eWOM as a marketing tool is that customers consider it credible and transparent, which cannot be biased towards a company or its products.
Social media has made it easier to reach out to your client, allowing you to get an immediate and direct response from them so that you can enhance your product and services. In addition, two-way communication through social media channels allows your consumers to interact with your brand. According to many marketers and social media experts, the Hotel Industry has adopted comprehensive marketing strategies and implemented them through social channels like Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms to promote their products and services and attract potential consumers.
Moreover, it also helps respond to clients' reviews, deal with complaints, and hold contests to engage with the audience continuously. Besides Facebook and Twitter, YouTube (28.8%), Flickr (28.6%), and Trip Advisor (22.8%) are among the social media sites that are popularly used in the hotel industry. In addition, YouTube helps display advertisements that show the Company's USPs and introduce the Company's products and services to guests.
Many hotels used Flickr to share photos of the hotel's interior. Around 25% of hotels reply to customer reviews on Trip Advisor, and 75% of these channels provide modified responses. It can be seen that 6 out of 10 customers share reviews on such platforms about the product and services of the hotel. And similarly, the majority of the audience choose hotels for lodging only after exploring its reviews and ratings on such digital platforms.
Marketing is a significant element for any hotel chain and in the hotel industry as a whole. Therefore, it is the responsibility of hotel owners and managers to focus on marketing to succeed in the hotel industry.
Furthermore, suppose hoteliers invest in sales and marketing to promote and advertise their business and increase conversion rates. In that case, they should perform in such a way that other hotel business factors are also considered while making marketing decisions. In other words, marketing should incorporate production, research and development, analysis, and finance, to mention but a few.
