Luxury hotels have a specific clientele different from budget hotels or other types of accommodation. Guests have different expectations that your hotel’s marketing strategy needs to be attuned to. It’s essential to capture the essence of a luxury experience in your messaging and content.
Plush pillows, spa treatments, fancy dinners, lavish decor…
While there are no set standards that classify a hotel as a luxury hotel, the above characteristics are common indicators. At its core, luxury is about an experience. Therefore, higher quality guest service and more indulgent hotel features should be highlighted throughout all of your marketing channels.
Let’s explore how.
In this article, we examine tips that can help your luxury hotel stand out so you can maximize your bookings, bring in revenue, and reach your business goals. The industry is expected to have a compound annual growth rate of 4.0% between 2020 and 2027, so it’s an excellent time to examine how your business can take advantage of this growth.
1 - Selling A Luxury Experience
A luxury hotel isn’t only about the extra bells and whistles. It’s about an overall experience and the sentiments that come with that. Of course, this can look different depending on the guest; however, evidence suggests that guests place more value on the experience than before the pandemic.
In a sense, this could be people trying to make up for their perceived lost time and the isolation that resulted from the pandemic.
“The past two years proved how special exploration can be, as well as the weight our travel decisions hold for local communities. Looking ahead, travellers make decisions with purpose in mind – from understanding where their money is going to finding time to connect with loved ones. We’re excited to see what the future brings.” said Audrey Hendley, President of American Express Travel.
According to a 2022 Global Travel Trends Report, 86% of respondents are expected to spend more or the same on travel in 2022 compared to a typical year before the pandemic. It’s clear that guests value their experience and are willing to pay up.
Luxury hotels can use this trend to their advantage when it comes to marketing. Messaging should be about what the experience is, not what the features of your hotel are.
2 - Leverage The Power Of Storytelling
Often hotels have fascinating histories or features that make them stand out from their competitors. Showcase these features and use the power of storytelling to engage your audience. Storytelling can make messaging more memorable, interesting, entertaining and is a universal way for people to connect.
Some tips on how to effectively use storytelling in your marketing messaging:
Know Your Audience And Write To Them
Since you’re writing to a clientele with likely a lot of disposable income, understand some of their pain points and cultivate your story around that. For example, do your guests have busy lives and need a space to wind down? Are they elite business people looking to impress a client? Target your story around who you’re selling to.
Have A Core Message & Purpose To The Story
Don’t just write a story on your Instagram newsfeed. Think about how the story will impact your audience and what you want them to get out of the story. Is the purpose to educate your audience? To explain your services? Consider the point, so you don’t end up aimlessly telling historical facts or something else totally irrelevant.
Include A CTA
Perhaps the most essential part of any marketing messaging is a call to action (CTA). This can look like a button to book a room or event space or something else that fosters engagement.
For example, an advertisement may include a “Book Now” button, while a social media post could consist of a question in the post asking users what their opinion is.
Decide On The Marketing Channel
Your marketing channels could include your website, email, social media, or tv, as a few examples.
Consider the medium the story is being told and how that affects the story. Different channels have different audiences and follow certain trends.
Take Instagram for example. How many times have you shared, or been shared a travelling experience and the response was “oh yeah, I saw that place on Instagram!”
That’s because many luxury hotel marketing strategies are moving to social media and influencer marketing. They look for social media influencers who have a following they’re interested in connecting with, offer a brand deal, and are able to reach a wider audience. The audience is often presented with a story of the influencer’s experience at the luxury hotel and is engaged with the content. Often, an influencer’s following trusts them and shares common interests - such as luxury travel experiences. So, it’s easy to see why influencer marketing is a clever marketing tactic that hotels can use to attract new guests and increase their brand recognition.
3 - Personalize The Guest Experience
We’re strong advocates for personalized guest experiences. When it comes to luxury hotels, this matters more than ever. Luxury hotel guests are accustomed to being pampered, and their entire experience - on and offline - should live up to that expectation.
You can take advantage of tools and apps to help enhance this experience. When it comes to automating your workflows, we understand how much that can do to help your situation.
The right event management technology can save your hotel staff up to 8 hours on administrative tasks and help your hotel enhance the guest experience.
Marketing strategies should consider the customer journey and understand what guests experience throughout their time in your luxury hotel. Throughout this journey, your guests have different opportunities to connect with your business and build a rapport.
Make each touch-point count. You can do this by segmenting your content based on the different types of guests. For example, your business travellers will have different needs than your leisure travellers or group bookings.
4 - Optimize Your Mobile Platforms
A tech-savvy hotel is part of the luxury experience. Any guests now use their smartphones to make bookings, so the mobile experience shouldn’t be ignored. We’ve discussed in a previous blog how guest-facing mobile devices are taking over the hospitality industry and how your hotel should be keeping up.
A fast, user-friendly, simple mobile booking system isn’t just nice to have; it’s now become an expectation among users. Invest in this part of the guest journey so you can stay up-to-par with competitors.
Final Thoughts
The key to luxury hotel marketing is keeping in mind the clientele. The audience you’re attracting has its own needs, pain points, and values.
With the luxury hotel market set to grow in the upcoming years, now is a great time to examine how you can optimize your marketing so your business can grow with the industry.
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