Welcome back to Midweek Matters, a series focused on the marketing tactics you can use to maximise your hotel’s midweek bookings. At FLOCC, we understand the difficulties that hoteliers face when it comes to boosting bookings during the week. But don’t fret, we’re here to give you the best tips on increasing your chances of guests choosing to book with you. In this article, we’ll be discussing seasonal campaigns and how you can incorporate them into your hotel’s marketing strategy.
Why seasonal?
Running seasonal campaigns are a great way not only to support your hotel’s main website but to add targeted value. Campaigns enable you to tailor your marketing efforts towards a specific group of consumers, based on their preferences. The elements of a seasonal campaign allow your business to achieve greater outcomes, such as a higher CTR (click-through rate) and increased conversions. With targeted marketing campaigns you are able to break down your usual group of customers into more focused groups, to create an experience that is unique to their interests.
How do we run a seasonal campaign?
Create a specific landing page – a landing page is a standalone web page that serves a single purpose, in this case, it will be to drive bookings to your hotel. You’ll need to ensure your campaign’s landing page is consistent with the theme of the holiday and stands out to users. The CTA should be clearly defined and the contents of the page should encourage users to click through, making sure the page is clearly advertising your seasonal offers. Keep your CTA short, usually around 2 – 3 words. The aim of the CTA is to drive action, so adding words that encourage urgency will help increase conversions.
Paid Ads – you’ve built an engaging and persuasive landing page, but there’s nobody to read it. This is where PPC ads come in. Paid ads drive traffic to your landing page, they should be customised so that the right people click on them. You should always make sure the URL leads directly to the specific landing page, rather than your homepage. You should be using high-quality images and a catchy headline to encourage midweek bookings. With Google Ads, focus on keywords that guests will be searching for, such as ‘half-term break’ or ‘Valentine’s getaway’.
Social Posts – alongside every great digital marketing campaign is a social media strategy. With billions of people using social media every day, your hotel should not neglect promoting your seasonal campaign on sites such as Instagram, Facebook and Tik Tok. Your social posts need to be designed with your target audience in mind, the aim is to promote your seasonal campaign and encourage people to book their midweek stay with you, so get creative. With this in mind, ensure your photography and video stands out, think about hiring a professional photographer to film quality and engaging content for your website and socials.
Example Campaigns
Christmas Holidays
Craft a special Christmas menu and offer a stay-and-dine experience or appeal to families with kids with an offer to visit Santa’s Grotto. Run an ‘advent calendar’ competition on socials. Solve the mystery behind each advent door published on social media and win all the prizes.
Valentine’s Day
Promote days around the 14th as well as the day itself – love someone every day and not just Valentine’s! This would be a great opportunity to use user-generated content, create a hashtag and get people to repost their favourite photos of their significant other.
Easter Holidays
Invite families to an Easter-themed afternoon tea or brunch for those who are staying midweek, run an easter egg hunt for children as an incentive to book with you. Make sure that you’re advertising any deals on your rooms as a ‘family rate’ to encourage bigger groups to stay with you.
Summer Staycations
There is nothing like a holiday in Britain, but people come for the area and activities and not just your hotel. Create an experience that makes it far better to be with you than lying on a beach!
Halloween
It’s the time of year when things start to get dark and cosy. Why not create a lovely getaway experience including a professional ghost tour of the local area followed by a lovely meal and a drink by the fire – who could resist.
So there you have it, the rundown on how your hotel should be incorporating seasonal campaigns into its marketing strategy. During the holiday’s people are always keen to get away, and crafting tailored packages and offers is a great way to increase those midweek bookings. Be on the lookout for our next Midweek Matters, and for more tips on maximising your direct hotel bookings contact us here at FLOCC through our website: https://flocc.co/
