Summer is the high season for the all familiar beach spots families and couples head to for sunbathing bliss and waterborne wonder. Aquamarine seas beckon powerfully for those who have been pent up in cold climates and especially for office dwellers bursting to escape the tiny cubicles in those glass towers of the metropolis. Countryside getaways are likewise the trend, as travelers from the tepid climactic zones seek out the cool mountain air of respite. Obviously, no matter where a hotel
Summer is the high season for the all familiar beach spots families and couples head to for sunbathing bliss and waterborne wonder. Aquamarine seas beckon powerfully for those who have been pent up in cold climates and especially for office dwellers bursting to escape the tiny cubicles in those glass towers of the metropolis. Countryside getaways are likewise the trend, as travelers from the tepid climactic zones seek out the cool mountain air of respite.
Obviously, no matter where a hotel is located, Summer time is full of possibilities. The most popular vacation season, this is when the world comes out to play, and with the right content marketing, any hotel’s season of mirth can be invoked. Hospitality in any region will have competition though, so it’s best to try and attract more guests, with more than special offers and discounts. Here’s a primer I published a few months ago, on best content practices for hotels anywhere.
Content marketing is not just about throwing words on a flyer, or pushing photoshoped images in front of customers, hoping to lure them in. Content marketing is the foundation of future guest experiences, a promise of good things to come, a personal message that ensures guests that the hotel cares about more than filling up rooms.
The basis of good content marketing for every season is research: what are the most interesting things to see in the Summer at your destination? When are the cherries blossoming? When do the local parks look at their most magical, with fields of daisies, and tree branches heavy with blooming flowers? And finally, which are the most exciting festivals and celebrations to attend this season?
A good “for instance” to begin with is the famous summer festival the Calgary Stampede held each year at Stampede Park in Canada. On this occasion hoteliers are accustomed to the stampede of tourists, and to offering those rooms at discounted prices too. Taking to Facebook and other social media channels with information for their followers, every hospitality business can be found sharing the crisp images of the 10 day party in “cow town” Canada. Beginning on July 1st, the event billed as; "The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth”, ends with a $2 million dollars in prizes being awarded for rodeo and other competitions. The two weeks of events surrounding afford hotel management ample time for booking boosting activities too. Guests can be lassoed (excuse the pun) through special social media sharing promotions, and by interacting with followers: challenging them to share beautiful photographs of the stampede, answering questions relating to bronco busting etc., offering exclusive special discounts, and so on.
Here in Europe the Festa del Redentore (Festival of the Redeemer) is a unique summer event with special features for content marketing. Held the third weekend of July each year, this unusual festival celebrates survival basically. When a horrible plague devastated Venice from 1575 and 1577, city dwellers feared no one would be left to tell the horrific tale, but then the epidemic was abated. In commemoration, the Senate, thanking the Redeemer (Jesus) for answering its prayers, built Il Redentore church and started an annual festival. The two day event is something of a social masterpiece where everyone in Venice seems to climb aboard a massive fleet of gondolas. Fireworks, and citywide galas being all the rage, the culmination being a huge gondola regatta and a high mass at the lofty Patriarch of Venice in Il Redentore, on the island of Giudecca. As epic as the imagery here is, guests will surely be expecting even more epic specials and content to match from your hotel.
If you have such important festivals in your area this Summer, you will need to contact first the local media to announce discounts and offers available for festival goers at your hotel, and then, you need to reach out to international media outlets, to spread the message abroad.
Far better than offering a few percents off your best room price, every hotel is best advised to provide brand via a real experience: welcome guests with traditional Venetian treats; decorate your lobby accordingly; place some Venetian haute patisserie in the rooms too; organize a theme party; and finally, mark the holiday with a special cover picture on Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks where your guests are active, and follow your updates.
Prepare well in advance: time to create copy, banners, info materials, and special packages for any event that takes place in the Summer is now. Don’t postpone it, and don’t wait for the last minute. Make a list of all the social networks where you intend to reach out to potential guests, and keep your message consistent, without being redundant. Adapt your copy to each social network, but be consistent in imagery. Brand your images with your logo and your slogan: this is a good way for people to remember your name and look for your hotel for future trips.
To summarize, these are some of the things you will have to do to reap the benefits of a well crafted content marketing strategy:
- Identify the most important events in your area, their dates and their most exciting features;
- Decide on special offers, and packages for guests potentially attending the events;
- Create professionally written copy to introduce the events, and the benefits of staying at your venue, for travelers potentially interested in attending;
- Acquire necessary decorations for your venue in advance, hire a professional decorator to extend the festival experience to your premises;
- Identify the most profitable keywords, and create custom, professional ad copy for your AdWords campaigns;
- Create specific banners for your AdRoll campaigns, or campaigns in other ad networks;
- Create specific cover images for your social media profiles;
- Plan a Facebook giveaway, or a contest with incentives for travelers who choose your hotel to stay during the event;
- Create professional copy sharing on social networks;
- Decide upon imagery, video and rich media to share with followers;
- Create a social media sharing calendar, and stick to the plan;
- Get in touch with the local media to inform about your special offers and packages
- Plan theme parties and events at your location, and promote them in time.
Using these clear examples as a guide, even hotels situated in the busiest and most competitive beach resorts can differentiate and excel at content marketing. Adding to these that touch of individual creativity can only help brand that memorable guest experience more personally too. Caring for what travelers like, keeping them informed and delivering on the promises that you make during your content marketing campaigns, boosts trust and keeps guests happy, motivating them to choose your hotel, over competitor accommodation.
For those interested in learning more about PR and content marketing for hospitality, I’ll be joining the experts at Digi.travel EMEA Conference & Expo 2016, in Athens, November 22-23. EMEA Conference & Expo 2016
A former military journalist, Mihaela is the founder and senior partner at Pamil Visions PR. She's also the former founder/editor at Everything PR, Search Engine Journal, and Argo Travel News. Her credentials speak for themselves: she is a cited authority on public relations issues, and her work and expertise are featured on BBC News, Reuters, Yahoo! Small Business Adviser, Al Jazeera, The Epoch Times, SitePoint, Search Engine Journal, and many others.
