Promoting an independent hotel in a world of chains

Marketing your independent hotel in a world full of big budget brands can feel futile, but it doesn’t need to be. Follow these top tips you need to know to be able to promote your small business in an industry full of big brands.

Search Engine Optimisation

While this topic requires far more than a few sentences to really get to grips with it, here’s some basic first steps:

SEO is about getting your website to appear in (usually Google’s) search results, but you have to take a few steps first to get the best out of it. Firstly, keep your content updated, Google ranks sites higher when they’re frequently updated. Blogs come in quite useful here. When updating your website you can add a meta description into the Content Management System, this is the wording that appears under your website on the search results page; write something that will draw people in and fill it with relevant key words. Links are also an important addition, link back to your own web pages to reduce bounce rate, link to outside sources too, particularly well ranked ones. Finally, make sure your content is high quality and relevant.

There’s a lot more depth to SEO, but it’s something you need to be looking into.

Find your niche

In order to really succeed, you have to stand out; showcase what’s unique about you. Maybe your location, maybe you allow pets, or you provide the very best local food. A great benefit of having an independent business is that you can show off your personality, so use it to your advantage. If your hotel rooms show who you are, echo that in your online presence.

Social media

Social media is a great way to encourage interaction between your business and potential guests. However, remember it needs to be maintained, so be careful not to bite off more then you can chew by getting into every available network from the offset. Start with the major ones like Instagram; which will be great for showing off the details that make you special. If your accommodation is especially ‘instagrammable’ you can even repost user generated content, which helps show off your brand and at the same time increases the interaction between you and your guests.

Think of social media as a way to interact with your audience, rather than just advertising.

Website

Your website will often be the first port of call for any prospective customer, so you’ll want it to be the best it can be. These are the top things your website needs to do:

Load quickly. You do not want people trying to find out about your hotel and getting bored before it’s loaded.

Clear call to action. Always have a clear availability search function and book now button on most if not every page. You want your customer to browse at their leisure until they’re ready to start an enquiry, so when they are, your booking button is right where they expect it to be.

Save to favourites. By allowing visitors to save their potential purchases to consider later you’re letting them take their time and not forcing an instant decision. A consequence of this is you have to sign up to save information for later; so now you have an email address attached to a list of the properties and locations they’re interested in, which can be used in email marketing.

It might be worth investigating a web development company who can add these features for you.

Technology

Yes, websites and technology are separate sections.

Technology is reaching deep into all industries and can really impress in the hospitality industry. As a small business you have to do the legwork yourself when it comes to learning about and implementing new technologies, so you should make sure you put the time and effort into tech that’s worthwhile. Starting with the way you take your bookings, if you have a separate booking system from your diary from your accounts and your database of contacts then this needs to change. Programmes like the RES System combine all these items into one customisable, manageable system, it even generates invoices and sends emails. By keeping all of your information and processes in one place you can save time and unnecessary confusion. Leaving you and your staff to focus on your guests.

Technology extends to other elements too, like having enough plug sockets in the rooms and providing free and reliable WiFi.

Analyse

Your data can tell you exactly who your customer is, and if you know that, you’re a step further towards finding out exactly what your customer wants. Booking software like the RES System gives you quick access to the booking history of your guests; allowing you to create categories based on factors like if they bring children or a pet, if they stay frequently or just once.

When you use the right tools effectively you can easily raise your online presence. If you think you need any help when it comes to upgrading your booking system or renewing your website do contact us.