Why reliable broadband is vital for hotel marketing

Posted by Karen on Oct 21, 2015 12:00:00 AM

Hotel marketing used to revolve around offline platforms, such as brochures, adverts and directories. The internet has not only created digital equivalents of these traditional advertising methods but introduced a whole new range of marketing opportunities for hotels. Modern hotels, whether they’re a small boutique hotel or part of a famous global brand, need sophisticated websites, SEO, videos tours, and regularly updated social media profiles. Websites need to be updated with recent guest reviews, perhaps giving them the ability to upload their own pictures of the room (after all, people are far more likely to trust the view of their peers than the hotel itself). However, positive reviews can be hard to get once the trip is over, so hoteliers need to focus on getting these reviews while their guests are still in residence (and make it easy for them to leave the review, perhaps via an iPad at checkout and free connectivity). Employees need to be able to quickly and easily update these presences whenever they need to. For example, to take full advantage of a major event such as the Rugby World Cup, the hotel needs to implement its marketing campaign exactly when it plans to; giving the hotel the maximum exposure to the correct audience, at the best time. To do this, hotels not only need to employ the best people but also ensure that they have the best technology. It doesn’t matter how brilliant the hotel is, if it can’t submit support materials for an award entry on time, it won’t win the award. If people can’t find the hotel high-up on web searches, they may not discover them at all. These days, tech is a vital component to the success of a hotel. Secure, reliable, high-speed broadband is a necessity, rather than a luxury for any business, but especially ones in the highly competitive leisure and tourism sector.

Reaching the next generation of travellers

Hotels need to start thinking about how they communicate to the next generation of guests. Generations Y and Z both have a strong affinity to social media and digital communication. They like to know the real story and often prefer to see things from a regular person’s point of view, rather than that of the business. Some luxury hotels are using platforms like Instagram to share guest created content with their potential clients. And social media works, one study showed how six per cent of direct bookings came from the hotel’s Facebook page.

Digital and social media marketing needs to be constantly managed, monitored, moderated and updated. The hotel’s marketing team needs to be always online to handle enquires, and deal with issues as they arise. Connectivity is a vital element in the successful running of a modern hotel. If a hotel is based in an area of the UK currently underserviced by major broadband providers, there are other choices out there worth exploring.

Topics: News