120 Marketing Ideas for Hotels in 2009

• Buy some great domain names (market is less competitive right now)
• Remove your intro “splash” page
• Have a clean & simple web design
• Use Website.Grader.com to ensure technical quality
• Build easy navigation
• Ensure instant brand identification
• Make contact forms short & simple
• Use Google Optimizer for best results
• Add live chat support
• Add a virtual host
• Use video instead of text (where possible)
• Post directions to your hotel in pictures
• Syndicate content as RSS
• Offer in-depth destination information
• Show pictures of attractions near your hotel with Panoramio
• Use Google maps to provide step-by-step directions to your hotel
• Let visitors write and send eCards (email postcards)
• Publish visitor comments
• Publish videos of satisfied guests
• Include positive social media rankings (ex: #1 in San Francisco on TripAdvisor)
• Add social bookmarking services Digg and del.icio.us to important pages
• Use Mofuse.com to make your site mobile-friendly
• Use Diigo to track & share changes to competitors’ websites
• Create a public Google Calendar to show upcoming events

• Focus on dominating local search
• Create local keyword lists by pairing geocentric keywords (Seattle) with industry keywords (boutique hotel)
• Optimize for questions people ask
• Make your blog search friendly
• Appear in Google Maps‘ local business listings
• Make sure your hotel website has the right keywords in the right place
• Establish a web presence, not just a web site
• Use Quarkbase to understand your web presence
• Use Google Trends for websites

• Determine your objective first (ROI, growth, market research, etc)
• Use professional keyword research tools
• Use property features as keywords
• Include industry & long tail keywords
• Do keyword competitive analysis to find opportunities
• Experiment with different match types (broad, phrase, exact)
• Use negative keywords
• Grab attention with your ad copy
• Use Dynamic Keyword Insertion (DKI) to include search phrases
• Highlight special seasonal offers & update regularly
• Disqualify unlikely guests
• Create many ad variations for each ad group
• Split test ad copy variations
• Use unique reservation landing pages
• Adjust keyword bidding strategies
• Use seasonality data
• Try geo-targeting
• Experiment with ad placements (on travel websites)
• Target specific demographics
• Set up weekly statistics reporting
• Ask your PPC agency hard questions

• Listen to what people are already saying about you
• Monitor your brand name with Google Alerts
• Use Google Trends to find what’s hot
• Start a destination blog
• Start a hotel blog
• Have your staff start blogs
• Understand the 7 types of blog posts
• Use Feedburner for RSS syndication
• Offer an email alternative to RSS
• Make blog posts richer with Zemanta
• Encourage distribution with ShareThis
• Build your blog community with MyBlogLog
• Realize that effective PR takes place in social media
• Pitch travel bloggers
• Focus your social media outreach on best groups
• Start tweeting
• Create a Facebook page
• Get listed in WikiTravel (amazing how many smaller hotels are absent)
• Get listed in TripAdvisor
• Get listed in Yelp
• Get listed in VirtualTourist
• Encourage guests to register with Yelp & Tripadvisor at check in
• Ask for TripAdvisor hotel reviews when your guests check out
• Ask for Yelp reviews at the end of all in-house satisfaction surveys
• When a guest compliments your hotel, ask them to give you a social media review
• Print a social media review request on the back of your business cards
• Start a Flickr photostream
• Start a Flickr group
• Start a YouTube channel
• Shoot a video of your hotel, and post it to Google Video

• Install (free) Google Analytics (if you haven’t already)
• Understand how Analytics can help with search optimization
• Use Compete.com to understand your site traffic (& competitors)
• Track referral source types
• Know which websites refer the highest quality traffic
• Develop meaningful metrics for digital marketing
• Track number of social media mentions
• Track social media satisfaction percentage
• Create new toll-free numbers to track different web promotions
• Try HowSociable?

• Listen to your guests using the web
• Respond to feedback (positive and negative) in social media websites
• Develop a more intelligent guest relationship system
• Build an (opt-in) email list of your guests
• Offer exclusive rates to your list
• Reward your best guests: Send special birthday & anniversary packages
• Reward your best guests: Create seasonal specials packages
• Hire multilingual staff
• Hire multicultural staff
• Offer air conditioning
• Print and give out (free) postcards
• Reimburse checked baggage fees
• Provide a SMART shopping car (like Le Bristol in Paris)
• Borrow ideas from customer service leaders like Nordstrom and Lexus

• Embrace new technology that improves your guest experience
• Provide free internet access through WiFi and guest computers
• Offer technology that complements your hotel’s heritage
• Add new entertainment hubs (with iPod docking, etc)
• Try interactive activity planner centers
• Experiment with permission-based mobile marketing
• Get your hotel video posted on TVtrip

• Look for big advertising discounts (corporation budget cuts mean remnant sales)
• Try unconventional room pricing
• Never reduce prices as a quick-fix remedy
• Partner with local businesses for destination marketing
• Sell the experience, not the room

Looking for more hotel marketing ideas? See this: 1001 Hotel Marketing Ideas