Mastering hotel marketing

Winning group business isn’t just about having enough rooms—it’s about knowing what planners really want. We’ve got the inside scoop on how to make your hotel their top pick. Plus, indie hotels, we see you! Standing out from the big brands is easier than you think. And if you’re sleeping on secondary markets, wake up—there’s serious money to be made. This week, we’re diving into how to position your property to make it stand out where it matters most.

Sweet dreams. It's ironic that National Sleep Awareness Month is the same month we spring forward and lose an hour, but here we are. If you sleep better at a hotel than at home, you're not alone—and hotels are leaning heavily into the sleep tourism trend.

Does price = quality? When you determine the cost of your hotel rooms, you define your audience, says hospitality advisor Alessandro Crotti. Value is a delicate balance of perception vs. price.

The gang’s all here. Group business is big business. Mike Schugt, president of Teneo Hospitality Group, says indie hotels can leverage the deep relationships their sales reps have with clients to gain a meaningful edge against well-known brands in this competitive space. 

Chic retreats. New York may be “the city that never sleeps,” but we’re betting you’ll want to lay your head at one of these swoon-worthy stay options, recently named the 25 best boutique hotels in NYC.

Getting an indie hotel noticed ‘is never one size fits all’

Amy Draheim brings people to hotels, and hotels to people. After publishing her novel, Jenny Green's Killer Junior Year, in 2008, which won a New York Public Library Award, she traded fiction writing for steaks, suites and spas. In 2017 Amy founded ABD Creative—a marketing agency specializing in hospitality—and has since gained a robust portfolio of hospitality clients including Fleur Noire Hôtel in Palm Springs and The Mining Exchange Hotel in Colorado Springs. Here, she shares a few strategies from her indie marketing playbook. -Jennifer Glatt

What’s the biggest challenge in getting an indie hotel noticed?
When opening a new hotel, I can't stress [enough] the value of high-quality imagery. That's the first thing your future guests will see online, and the right mix of photography is such a valuable investment. From a marketing perspective, the volume of content we need to produce to get an indie noticed is not for the faint of heart. Social media is a beast and it's rarely your best source of return, yet being consistent on social media by posting reels, carousels, user-generated content and by hosting influencers, you start to build your funnel. Between social, email and the hotel website, we produce between 50-100 pieces of content to market any one hotel, every month.

How do you determine your marketing approach for the hotels you work with?
We have a proven system of marketing for independent hotels, based on the speed at which they move, turn out offers and the seasonality. On a monthly basis, we provide a summary of last month's performance, a YTD rolling KPI report and a high-level strategy for the month ahead that encompasses what we're doing on their website, email and social. We also provide a visual calendar to give stakeholders visibility into the images we're using to promote that month's offerings/programming, guest experience, etc. The variation comes not only in the imagery from one hotel to the next, but also in the storylines, the voice and the people on the other side—the hotel team and what matters to them, what's happening in the hotel's neighborhood or city, the guests (UGC), and any influencers/media who are experiencing and sharing their experiences. All of this together colors a particular hotel's marketing strategy, month by month, year by year.

What’s the key to keeping social media content fresh?
Leverage influencers and creators to come and create visual testimonials of their stay experience by not only sharing in real time on IG Stories but creating collab content after the stay to put our hotel in front of their audience. Our best agreements include a dozen or so assets delivered that we have rights to reuse. It's also important that, within the first year of marketing a hotel (and annually), we come out to experience the hotel to shoot owned, short-form video content and details of the stay experience to supplement professional imagery and the influencer/creator contributions. Part of what I love about working with independents vs. a cookie-cutter branded property are the unique stories, offers and programming we come up with, often together with the hotel team, to create moments that not only make marketing easy, but also cause people to walk through the hotel's doors.

Are there any unexpected marketing tactics that work well for you and your team?
The one no one's talking about anymore: email marketing. We can create automated emails based on certain guest milestones/triggers, we can segment with ease and so much more. The key then is growing your email list beyond past guests, which means using channels like Instagram as well as old-school advertising like print (gasp!) to run campaigns that grow your list. Because once they're subscribed to email, they're a captive audience. They're not owned by Instagram and subject to the algorithm's whims, they're owned by you. Take good care, and your email list will be among your top sources of returns.

Interview is edited for brevity and clarity. Read the full version online.

Burgeoning brand stakes claim on the West Coast

Following its recent East Coast hotel opening in NYC, London-based luxury hospitality group Corinthia Hotels makes more inroads into the U.S. market with the acquisition of two boutique hotels in Beverly Hills, currently flagged as the Maison and Mosaic hotels. The move could be signaling growing competition and shifting market dynamics.

Why it matters: Being mindful of market trends helps you stay competitive. Increased interest from global luxury brands could raise standards and guest expectations for independent hotels, and hotel operators should take note: this move underscores the importance of differentiation, strong branding and strategic positioning. Corinthia’s investment may also drive new opportunities for partnerships, talent procurement or even acquisitions, depending on the direction the new owners decide to take the properties. (Travel Weekly)

Above: The restaurant at the Mosaic Hotel. (Courtesy Corinthia Hotels)

The (un)usual suspects

The top 25 markets may receive most of the press, but secondary markets are where big opportunities are just waiting to be discovered, according to Spark GHC, a JV focused on hospitality assets in the U.S. Midwest. They say that investors and developers are increasingly eyeing secondary and tertiary markets as prime locations for hospitality development, driven by economic trends, shifting travel behaviors and evolving business ecosystems.

Why it matters: Affordability and accessibility make secondary and tertiary markets ideal locations for population booms and economic diversification, creating strong demand for hotels. Lower taxes and a higher quality of life as well as more favorable cap rates, lower operational costs and higher return potential make cities including Columbus, Nashville, Charlotte, Boise and Tucson anything but second-best. (LinkedIn)

Smart staffing strategy

A hotel is nothing if not dynamic. On any given day, operational needs can fluctuate greatly, which means your staffing may need to adjust as well. Common hotel labor mistakes—such as overstaffing or understaffing, relying on staff for only one role and engaging in inefficient scheduling—can be costly. Working smarter (not harder) could maximize your efficiency and your profitability. 

Why it matters: Part-time associates’ capabilities could be the answer to your labor woes. Cross-training part-time staff to work in positions outside of what they were originally hired for means that operations run smoothly during peak times or staff shortages. Limiting overtime and providing formerly part-time employees with full-time work could offer welcome additional hours and relative stability in their work schedule. With a little flexibility and creativity (and planning, of course), the overtime dollars you’re unnecessarily paying could go back in your pocket. (Actabl)

'5-minute favors'

Guests thrive on personalized service, and unexpected gestures are an easy way to elevate guest experiences without major investments. Encouraging staff to embrace these small but impactful acts fosters a strong service culture and enhances your brand’s reputation. Challenge your team members to do just one quick favor for a guest—something small, spontaneous and genuinely helpful. Or, stock commonly forgotten items and empower your team to handle small requests without approval.

Why it matters: Though it may be “nothing” for the staff member, a thoughtful gesture may be everything to a guest. Animesh Kumar, CEO of Haven, an India-based hospitality company that provides guest experience software for tech-driven hotels, says that "small gestures make for big stories guests love to tell.” (Beyond the Lobby)

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