Content marketing has transformed the way that businesses connect with their potential and existing customers. Instead of immediately pushing a hard sell, marketers can now build up trust with their prospects over time, leading to more fulfilling and longer-term relationships.
In B2B, content is essential to help business buyers make big purchase decisions on behalf of their company. But in the B2C world, developing content isn’t necessarily the first thing that comes to mind in terms of marketing strategy.
However, the truth is that good content is useful and effective for any type of business, especially in industries like hospitality. Although many companies are still in the early stages of implementing content marketing, those who are using it are seeing impressive results.
Learn the benefits of content marketing for your hotel, including the reasons you should be creating content, different types of content to create, and examples of best-in-class hotel content development.
Why create content to promote your hotel?
In terms of marketing impact, content is extremely powerful. In fact, content marketing costs 62% less than traditional marketing but generates approximately three times more leads per dollar spent.
When you create content that is genuinely helpful and useful to your audience, they will begin to build trust and develop a positive perception of your brand. These days, customers want to buy from companies that are authentic and care about their needs. Consumers can access so much information at their fingertips, so if you provide a subpar experience, they’re probably already researching your competitors.
But the most crucial benefit of content is its impact on search engine optimization (SEO). Regularly publishing high-quality, relevant content will not only grab the attention of prospects and customers, but it will also help you rank higher in search engine results.
What kind of content can you create?
In hotel marketing, social media is one of the most used content formats. Humans are visual creatures, and today’s travelers love to seek out photos and videos of their destination before they book. Take advantage of this curiosity and publish visual content that allows your prospective guests to envision themselves staying at your property.
While social media does not directly impact your SEO, maintaining an active social presence helps boost your website. When you’re active on platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, you’ll grow a following, who will then share your content — leading to more site visits.
Written content is equally important. As mentioned earlier, posting well-written, keyword-rich content on your hotel website will help you climb search rankings and get your brand seen by more potential guests.
For example, if you write blog posts about must-do tourist activities in your area, you can get in front of out-of-town visitors who are looking for recommendations in your city. Now that you have their attention, you can introduce your hotel and share the reasons why they should stay with you.
Examples of top-notch hotel content development
Always trendy, the W Hotels chain has gone all-in on content marketing. Not only did they start their own blog/digital magazine called The Angle, but they also maintain an active social media presence for each of their properties.
They’re a great example of hotel content marketing because they create content that’s not always directly tied to their hotels, but also covers topics that their audience cares about (fashion, music, etc.).
Another upscale property, the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas has a socially active clientele — which the property uses to its advantage. On its website and social media accounts, the hotel regularly features user-generated content. Not only does this strategy ensure that the Cosmo’s social platforms have fresh content, but it also encourages followers to share and tag the corporate account.
