Spring is a season of rebirth, and a season of planning for many travelers around the world. Depending on their geographic location, hotels around the world may experience increased bookings and more inquiries than in previous, colder months. Excluded are ski resorts and hotels in high alpine areas, where Winter still keeps its coat of white, offering winter sports amateurs fine powder to slide among majestic fir trees, over daring peaks and boulders.
For hotels in temperate areas, however, Sping is a season of possibilities. Not as popular as the Summer, this season is still “off-season” for many travelers, and is usually favored by those who enjoy peace and serenity. But with the right content marketing strategy, hoteliers in these areas can attract more guests, with more than special offers and discounts.
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 Spring 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?
The National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington DC is an occasion for many hotels in the area to offer rooms at discounted prices, and take to Facebook and other social media channels with information for their followers, as well as stunning images of the over 3,000 blossoms around the Tidal Basin in bloom. As the festival lasts for over one month, from March 20 to April 27, 2015, there’s enough time for hotels to organize special experiences related to the event: theme dinners, cocktail parties, live music evenings, and more. To boost bookings and to attract more guests, some of these hotels are already active on social media networks sharing information, and interacting with their followers:challenging them to share beautiful photographs of the festival, answering questions, offering exclusive special discounts, and so on.
The Songkran Water Festival, Thai’s way of celebrating the New Year, is a more a religious holiday, and lasts from April 13, to April 15 this year. Needless to say that this colorful celebration ranks among the most interesting, and most spectacular in the world. Hotel deals are hard to find in this area, as locals and tourists alike are eager to participate. Nevertheless, Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pattaya and Chonburi, Hua Hin and other Thai destinations already advertise a large number of hotel deals available around festival venues, and the local media promotes them too.
If you have such important festivals in your area this Spring, 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.
Everyone’s Irish on March 17, so take advantage of the huge potential of this international festival, and mark Saint Patrick’s Day at your hotel too. More than offering a few percents off your best room price, provide the experience: welcome guests with traditional Saint Patrick’s Day treats; decorate your lobby accordingly; place some Saint Patrick’s Day decorations 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 Spring 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.
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.
If you need a proper content marketing strategy for this season, contact us for a customized plan: Voyage PRide is designed to satisfy all your needs, effortlessly and at very affordable prices.
