Using Personas in Hotel Marketing
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Using typical guest personas is very helpful for anyone trying to promote a hotel.
David Meerman Scott‘s writing on the topic has been very influential in shaping the way I view marketing. In his excellent book, The New Rules of Marketing & PR, he explains:
“It can be daunting for many of us to consider who, exactly, is visiting our site. But if we break the buyers into distinct groups and then catalog everything we know about each one, it makes it easier to create content targeted to each important demographic.”
Think about all the people that visit your hotel for a moment. How many distinct groups can you create from your regular guests?
If your hotel is like most, there are several categories.
Business travelers. Leisure travelers. Conference attendees. International visitors. Families. And the list could go on and on.
Each group has different needs, and uses a different set of criteria to select hotels. The business traveler might want a staffed business center and would be attracted by your city center location. Leisure travelers may appreciate a guide to local attractions. Visitors from abroad may need staff that speak their language. Conference attendees may be looking for a hotel with a great fitness center.
Everyone is looking for something different from your hotel. For this reason, you need different messages for each major category of visitors. Doing this helps you communicate your value offering, and improves the effectiveness of your overall campaign.
The “one size fits all” approach doesn’t work anymore.
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I understand the need to create content in the vein of your consumer’s needs, but this is nothing more than demographic segmentation, and has been around for some time. Hotels have been constantly feeding print media and marketing to different segments.
The only issue with hotel marketing is that they also treat social media with an umbrella approach, making it seem like typical marketing. Social media seems to demand a transparent, earnest attempt at communicating, rather than adopting a faux voice to better mimmick the consumer you are courting. In fact, it might be like slipping into a fake accent when speaking to someone of a foreign country. The intention might be well meaning, but it may come off as rude or condescending.
Just a thought. I can’t believe I typed so much.