In today’s world, everyone is connected to the internet. If your hotel is not online marketing savvy, you are losing out on a huge market opportunity.

With more than half the world’s population wired, online marketing is no longer a luxury for hotels. It is an essential component in any digital marketing plan.

Getting started isn’t difficult. There are many free tools that can be used to build a basic website with online marketing potential. With a little bit of research and creativity, you can develop an effective strategy to attract and retain customers.

Find Your Niche

Hotels come in all shapes and sizes. Some are known for their service and others for their amenities. When developing an online marketing strategy, you want to find a niche that feels right for your hotel.

For instance, the Four Seasons Hotel London has focused on attracting millennial business travelers with unique experiences. As a result, they’ve created specialty websites for fashion, food, and travel that encourage visitors to leave a review and earn free nights, in addition to providing them with valuable information about the hotel. Research has also shown that millennials prefer to research hotels and destinations before making a booking, so the Four Seasons Hotel London has created a travel research tool on their website.

Curate Content For Differing Audiences

In keeping with the previous point, you want to develop content that is informative and engaging for different audiences. Think about the people that stay at your hotel and the people you envision visiting it. The former group may be more interested in exploring the city and enjoying local dining, while the latter group may be looking for a vacation and want to learn more about the area.

You can use this insight to create content that is appealing to both groups. Some brands are successful at attracting both hotel guests and vacationers with integrated, synergistic content that leverages the power of the internet. For example, the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas has created a blog that focuses on travel and lifestyles, while also including product reviews and discounts that appeal to a mainstream audience. Similarly, the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas creates engaging content that promotes their wellness hotel and spa through videos, graphics, and social media posts that get views within and outside of social media.

Make Sure Your Website Is Mobile-friendly

With more people accessing the internet from mobile devices than ever before, your website needs to be mobile-friendly. If your site isn’t, you are losing out on an entire demographic and a major opportunity to grow your business.

Luckily, this is something that you can fix with a few simple changes. After all, the more time people spend on mobile devices, the more opportunity there is to engage with them. One great way to do this is through a mobile-friendly website. Not only will these sites look great on any mobile device, but they’ll also function smoothly and be engaging enough to keep the reader on the site for longer.

Create Great Social Media Engagement

With more than a third of the world’s population on social media, you want to make sure that your hotel is represented accurately on all platforms. If you are active on social media, create content that people will want to share and interact with. You can also introduce yourself to the world on social media and establish yourself as a brand that people can trust. For instance, if you are the CEO of a large corporation and have an amazing story to tell, why not share it on social media platforms like Twitter and LinkedIn? Establishing yourself as a thought leader on social media can also increase your hotel’s credibility as an authoritative source and attract new and important connections. A successful social media strategy can increase your hotel’s visibility online and therefore overall growth. At the very least, you’ll be able to gauge the effectiveness of your strategy in relation to your overall social media platform goals.

Use Affiliate Marketing

There’s nothing worse than wasting money on expensive adverts only to have them appear to no effect. Instead, you could be gaining some good will by paying affiliates for each purchase made through their links. You’ll want to look for affiliate marketing partnerships that suit your needs. The more you can offer, the more you’ll be able to leverage out of the relationship. You can use various methods to track the success of your marketing efforts, from affiliate payments to sales conversion through online forms, blogs, and social media. If you want to get started using affiliate marketing to market your hotel, take a look at this detailed guide by Hiten Shah.

Use Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

If you are new to SEO, take time to learn the basics. There are many free tools that you can use to build a basic SEO-optimized website. Make sure that the content on your site is optimized for the search engines and that you are linking to other authoritative sites for more information. If you want to get started using SEO to market your hotel, take a look at this detailed guide by Hiten Shah.

Get Inspired

One of the most fun parts of creating a new website is coming up with ideas for content. With so much potential for growth, it’s important to stay motivated and creative. Visit other websites and social media accounts that are dealing with similar topics to get inspiration for content that will engage and appeal to your target demographics. If you want to get started using SEO to market your hotel, take a look at this detailed guide by Hiten Shah.

Every day, people visit websites to read content and locate information. When it comes to marketing a hotel, it’s important to establish yourself as a trustworthy and go-to source for information on your niche. With the right content and SEO, your hotel can appear at the top of search results on relevant keywords. Since more and more people are looking to research their travel destinations and hotels online, you can use this opportunity to expose your hotel to potential customers. With the right content, you can also establish yourself as an expert in your niche and gain credibility in your industry. This will undoubtedly lead to more business and increased engagement on social media platforms like Twitter and LinkedIn. At the very least, you’ll be able to gauge the effectiveness of your strategy in relation to your overall social media platform goals.