At Adigital, we’ve encountered some relatively common mistakes hotel owners make regarding promotions and online brand building.

Among the top is taking hotel digital marketing lightly or as a one-time investment, wherein hotels will create a website or run a campaign once and then forget about it.

Alternatively, some resorts wake up only closer to the high season. They devote all their energy, budget, and time to promoting the hotel over a few specific months.

As a leading hotel marketing agency in Greece, we often see this in our country, where many establishments shut down physically and digitally during the winter every year.

However, selective marketing is the worst mistake to make if you aim to have a robust online presence. Moreover, it does not save you money. Instead, you restrict sales and revenue by promoting your hotel for a limited time. At the same time, you miss out on opportunities that can lead to generating extra income.

Unbeknownst to hotel owners, especially those running smaller properties or bed-and-breakfasts, are the many advantages of consistent digital marketing – during the peak season and especially beyond your busiest months.

Need for consistent digital marketing for your hotel

Fortunately or unfortunately, digital marketing is not a one-size-fits-all endeavor. Just like it differs for every hotel, you must implement an entirely different strategy every season.

For example, you might not have to work hard during tourist season to get bookings. At this time, your marketing can focus on promoting the hotel’s added features like spa treatments or a newly renovated swimming pool.

These could be elements that allow you to charge more per room than your competitors, leading to a higher profit margin.

In contrast, low-season marketing involves advertising the hotel as a staycation option. Alternatively, you can spotlight the in-house restaurant that can generate revenue from the locals.

As the need for marketing changes from one season to another, so does the strategy, which reflects across your website design and social media.

More importantly, digital marketing during the off-season allows revenue to be earned throughout the year instead of completely closing down the property for a few months.

Power of consistent digital marketing

If you are still unconvinced, let us look at the various perks of consistent digital marketing.

Do note that these examples showcase holistic outcomes for indulging in marketing throughout the year, from hotel brand building to increasing sales and gaining an advantage over competitors.

Branding

The fundamental lesson one derives from the famous quote, “Out of sight, out of mind,” is that you must always be present for people to remember you. This especially holds true in the hospitality business.

If you close your hotel for an extended period and go dark with your digital marketing, you miss out on future customers searching for a property in your area.

Furthermore, channels like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter encourage users to stay consistent. If you don’t, posts appear on fewer timelines whenever you re-start your marketing campaign.

In the long run, as your reach decreases, it directly impacts your sales. Moreover, your branding suffers as people begin to forget about you.

An ongoing marketing plan helps amplify your online brand value. Moreover, continued traction keeps you in the minds of old customers while new ones quickly discover you.

Testing/Analysis

Another perk of consistent digital marketing for hotels is time, to test and analyze Big Data.

We at Adigital often use the quieter hotel booking periods to understand and break down their Big Data.

Additionally, a year-round approach to marketing allows us to perform A/B testing on social media and the hotel website and determine what results in maximum direct bookings and sales.

The off-season is when a marketing agency can even dabble with unconventional strategies, which the hotel sales team might not be eager to implement during the busy months.

Search Engine Optimization

Like social media channels, search engines like Google and Bing prefer consistent websites and rank them higher. Therefore, you must regularly keep your website up-to-date with information, prices, blog posts, and other content.

On the one hand, your sales team should inform your hotel marketing agency about any changes every month, from room prices to marketing requirements, so that the agency can revamp the website as needed.

More importantly, fresh and unique content helps with the SEO of your website. Consequently, it ranks higher on SERPs, and more people visit your web page.

Let’s assume your hotel is on a Greek island that closes down for a few months yearly. Still, one of the perks of consistent digital marketing is that you can use these months to strengthen your authority in the local hospitality industry.

By sharing blog posts about the island, how to get there, local festivals, and food, you become a source of information for anyone planning a holiday on the island. As an authority, people visit your website regularly, which in turn leads to sales.

Cheaper cost

Smaller hotels often refrain from digital marketing due to budget constraints. However, a considerable advantage of consistent digital marketing, especially in the off-season, is that it can sometimes be cheaper. This can help balance the overall yearly marketing costs.

When looking at online advertisements and Google Ads, fewer of your competitors are aiming for the marketing space during the low tourist season. The process takes less effort and is cheaper at such a time, allowing you to get a head start before the high season.

Customer loyalty

So far, we’ve talked about the advantages of consistent digital marketing, but it is also somewhat of a requirement.

It’s well known that people relate best with businesses they can interact with constantly. It makes the hotel more trustworthy and helps with customer relations and retention.

So, whether a perk or a necessity, constant engagement with past and future guests results in higher sales. This includes everything from handling email marketing and answering customer service questions to online review responses.

You need to be able to do this all year long; it’s as straightforward as that!

Competitive advantage

Simply put, you have a massive advantage if you are doing something and your competitor is not. The opposite is also true.

So, consistent digital marketing means you forever reach new customers, add them to your mailing lists, and build upon your brand.

As a result, you are the first hotel new customers will consider when planning a trip.

Entice low-season travelers

So far, we’ve been evaluating hotels that, for one reason or another, close down for a few months every year.

The reality of the travel industry is such that you no longer can afford to do so. Not only does closing the property give your competitors an edge, but a new trend of low-season travelers is rising. Surprisingly, this transition has economically benefited the hospitality industry.

But why do we need consistent digital marketing?

Well, it once again narrows down to the need for time-specific marketing.

If you aim to attract low-season travelers, your hotel marketing team must use a different set of keywords for SEO. You must use your website to showcase the USP of the hotel during the otherwise low season. The process also includes altering the website by replacing visual media with season-specific photos.

Finally, we can’t stress it enough: You must maintain an omnipresent online persona to remain relevant, provide customer service, rank higher on search engines, and handle social media, reviews, and other marketing strategies.