The hospitality industry can be broken down into 4 main sectors:
- Food and Beverage
- Accommodation
- Travel and Tourism
- Entertainment and Recreation
Although segmented, there is a lot of overlap between the sectors – all coming hand in hand to some degrees.
The hospitality sector is undeniably massive, with the global hospitality industry expected to reach just over £4 billion in 2025 at a compounded annual growth rate of 6%.
Since the pandemic, there has been a renewed sense of adventure for consumers. In The New York Times article ‘Travel’s Theme for 2022? Go Big’ it is suggested that today’s consumers are more focused on not just going on adventures and seeking new experiences, but that they are also thinking about the larger impact of their activities in areas like health, wellness, and the environment. With these new considerations, consumers are re-imagining how they dine out, spend leisure time, and travel.
Challenges Facing Hospitality Brands
Based on several reports, there are many challenges facing hospitality brands in the post-covid era in the way that consumer patterns have changed. Hospitality brands are now needing to adjust their marketing strategies in order to keep up with a shifting market.
A survey from Hotels.com found that customers are booking more last-minute trips and spontaneous getaways, with 28% of consumers saying ‘yes’ to more last-minute trips, and 25% are making no plans for the trip in favour of being spontaneous. This means that brands will want to focus on reaching consumers who will book trips with shorter lead times.
A report from PYMNTS found that 64% of Gen Z and 61% of millennial consumers participate in loyalty programmes at one or two of the table service restaurants they frequent. Here, brands need to focus on reaching these generations through advertising that focuses on value and exclusive experiences.
Lastly, a travel survey by Ad Colony found that consumers are increasingly more likely to book travel, dining, and entertainment from their smartphones. 70% of consumers use their phones to find fun things to do, 66% use their phones to research destinations, and 58% use their phones to plan accommodations. Hospitality brands need to focus their marketing on this channel and offering better mobile access to their services, be it through an app or making their website more mobile friendly.
Key Factors of Hospitality Marketing Success
Differentiation
The hospitality industry in an incredibly crowded sector. With new businesses starting up daily, there are hundreds of companies fighting for the attention of the same target audience.
Differentiation is going to be your best friend when marketing in the hospitality sector, let your customers know what sets you apart and what makes your business different.
The aim is to capture their attention within a sea of other options, this might be a unique bar theme, a special restaurant menu that rotates so customers must ‘grab it before its gone’, a special package holiday option suited to those who like history or entertainment or adventure. You can focus on adult only or family-friendly, premium and luxury experiences or budget-friendly options.
The most important thing here it to find your thing and stick to it, a business constantly changing its identity is only going to alienate customers.
Brand Loyalty
You’ve grabbed their attention now how do you get them to keep coming back?
Brand loyalty should be your top priority when aiming to build a successful hospitality business, you cannot rely on constant new customers. You need to change those first-time visits, to second time, third time, fourth time and beyond.
Have incentivisation’s to keep using your service, be it a membership scheme with exclusive benefits, to a loyalty programme for a special offer after X number of visits, or even just consistent, dependable, high-quality service.
Secondly, you want to make your brand memorable. Don’t be “the place we ate at on holiday” be “the amazing Italian restaurant we visited in the old part of the city with the carbonara to die for and a wine list longer than my arm”. Be a memorable part of your consumers days and keep your name and niche on their minds so they consistently return or recommend to other people. Word of mouth is great free advertising.
On top of this, having consistent brand imagery, tone, and style will help you remain in your customers minds long after their first visit. A brand going through a constant identity crisis is not memorable (for the right reasons).
Special Offers
The hospitality industry is a great one to when it comes to special offer marketing campaigns. You might be a bar with a happy hour discount, or a two for one cocktail offer, you might be a restaurant that offers Thursday steak nights where all steaks are slightly cheaper, you might be a hotel that offers a free bottle of champagne when booking. The possibilities are endless.
Work with your marketing agency or department to do some research on what your competitors are offering and what you can offer to get more customers using your business.
SEO and Search Rankings
75% of travellers will start their search for a hotel using a search engine like Google. If you’re a hotel business in need of bookings, being on the front page of Google should be high on your marketing strategy to-do list. Your business needs to be found by your target market and being on the 5th page of search results isn’t going to help with that.
A good marketing agency can help you put an SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) strategy in place alongside with some paid Google ads to boost you even further up to the top of the listings.
This can also be beneficial to hotels to maximise profits by not having bookings go through a travel agency but instead direct to your website.
Are you a hospitality business looking for help with your marketing strategy?
Dash Agency are here to help. From working with hospitality businesses such as Lunar, The Murdér Express, and Umami, Dash has a range of value experience to cater to what your business needs. From billboards, emails, flyers, to managing socials, Dash can help your restaurant increase the number of covers booked and raise your brand’s awareness.
Get in touch to see what Dash can do for you today.
Whether you’re looking for marketing expertise or have a specific project in mind, we’re here to assist.