Creating a Blogger’s Welcome Package

How to get bloggers to write about you

If you are serious about building your hotel’s web presence, reaching out to travel bloggers is a smart strategy. In many ways, bloggers are the journalists of this new media landscape, so you need to treat them as you would the press.

That means providing Access, Content, and Coverage

1. Access to whatever they need to write their story
2. Content to include in their story
3. Coverage of their story

I encourage hotels to put together a special blogger’s package that may include:

A hotel fact sheet

What information does the writer need to know?

• Address
• Contact info
• Property details
• Hotel amenities
• Design concept
• Press coverage
• Awards won
• Links to sites with more info

The background story on the hotel

Is there a unique history that would make a great story? What did the building used to be? What renovations have been done?

Access to high-resolution hotel photos

Bloggers need photos, and lots of them. Provide an area to download quality, high-resolution photos.

Photos for bloggers from Witt Istanbul Suites

A neighborhood guide

What’s cool nearby?

Many bloggers enjoy writing from a coffeeshop, so you may want to provide a list of cafes nearby that offer wireless internet access.

Provide tools to bloggers

You may want to loan out Flip Mino video cameras, or even laptops.

Make sure the blogger has free internet access, and can use your business center for printing documents and so on.

Offer a special blogger’s rate

Depending on your situation, you may want to give a special blogger’s discount on all rooms – or even give away free rooms in return for a blog review.

As long as you don’t attempt to control the review’s content, this is not unethical. You just need to make it easier for people to write about you.

Give blog reviews special attention

Many hotels have a press section on their website. I suggest hotels also showcase recent reviews by bloggers.

Hotel Murano does a good job of this on their Facebook page:

Hotel Murano encourages blogger reviews

By showing bloggers that you care about their thoughts, you encourage more coverage…and expand your web presence even more.

Photo credit: Filipe Ferreira