How Digital Marketing is changing the Marketing Game for Hotels

One of the biggest industries in the world today is the global tourism and travel industry, which contributed over $7.6 trillion to the global economy in 2016. Pretty impressive right?Of course, hotels are an inseparable part of theindustry, as tourists would always need a place to stay. This is why hotel digital marketing is gaining popularity today.

Digital marketing for hotels

Digital marketing basicallyrefers to marketing efforts done throughthe internet.Channels such as email, social media, search engines, and so on are usually used for online marketing. Your choice of the channel depends on your preference, proficiency, and the type of business you run.

Consider a country like Kenya. The number of tourist attractions in the country has contributed to the increasing number of hotels in the country. Let’s look at the application of digital marketing in hotel marketing.

Digital marketing for hotels

The ubiquity of the internet today makes it impossible to ignore its influence on any industry, the hotel industry inclusive. Hotel digital marketing refers to ways in which hotel owners advertise or market their establishment to potential clients using digital media.

Honestly, it is not enough for you to offer excellent hotel services, if you don’t have an online presence, you will miss out on a good number of potential customers.

Hotel digital marketing strategies

Digital marketing has become non-negotiable for any serious hotel owner, so let’s look at strategies that will make digital marketing in Kenya more productive in the hotel management space.

SEO

Search engine optimization (SEO) involves improving the quality of your site to increase the quality and quantity of traffic to your site. This is pretty important, as the higher the amount of traffic to your site, the more customers you get in your hotel.

One of the components of SEO is on-site SEO where you optimize elements on your hotel site. This makes it easy for users and search engines to understand what your site is about. Adequate keyword research and keyword use are also vital for SEO. It’s advisable to outsource the SEO of your site to a third party company if you don’t have the required expertise.

Imagine you are looking for the best hotel around you, then you make a quick Google search. You are more likely to choose one of the first few results on Google. This means that sites that are not optimized for search engines have a natural handicap.

If the number of visitors to your site increases, with an excellent lead generation strategy, more people will be converted to leads. From leads, they then become loyal customers.

 

Social media marketing (SMM)

 

Social media networks are the biggest digital marketing platforms because of the high number of daily users. According to Statista, there would be about 2.8 billion global social media users in 2019. This means that the majority of your potential customers are on one social media platform or the other, so it’s only natural for social networks to be the primary drivers of digital marketing in Kenya.

Online travel agencies

The number of travel agencies we have today has surely increased, and understandably so. Nowadays, with the help of travel agencies like Trip Advisor, Expedia, booking.com, and so onyou can stay at the comfort of your room and finalize all your travel plans.

These agencies do research on vacation locations, hotel options, tourist attractions, and so on. Most people trust these agencies, so they take any advice given on hotel options. Therefore, if you partner with a reputable travel agency, you would increase your chances of getting more customers.

Photography

Photography doesn’t exactly stand on its own but it’s one of the things that boost the effect of e-marketing. People retain about 65 percent more information when the content contains images. Photography is a succinct way to tell your story and show your audience what you have to offer them.

The importance of online marketing for your hotel cannot be overemphasized, as it brings a significant increase in the number of customers you get. If you haven’t incorporated this strategy into your business, then you need to do that ASAP!

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