Whether your hospitality venue is just one piece of your property portfolio or it’s your sole business focus, staying up to date with the latest digital marketing success strategies can make a big difference to your annual returns.
To help you tap into the undoubted power of online marketing and its potential to attract more ideal customers to your venue, here are three ways you can market your hospitality business using the internet.
Optimise for local SEO
For many small and medium-sized businesses, Local SEO is often overlooked in favour of the more glamorous online marketing strategies such as social media and advertising, but it’s a simple way to successfully market your hospitality venue.
Making sure your online presence is optimised for local searches could make a considerable difference to your customer traffic, and as a result, your profits.
The success of your Local SEO strategy is related to two factors. The first is that, as a brick-and-mortar business, you’re aiming for local customers – those living, working or staying in the area, or who are planning to visit. By narrowing your focus to this smaller niche of online users, you are more likely to get your business in front of the people who are in your area and looking for somewhere to eat, drink or stay.
The second way Local SEO is a winning strategy is its pattern for substantial growth. Experts suggest that local searches have grown so substantially in recent years that they now account for almost half of all search traffic. This is a phenomenal pattern of growth and looks set to continue. Offline businesses are perfectly placed to tap into this trend and massive growth, and optimising for Local SEO is the way to do it.
Explore Google Ads
Using Google Ads was one of the earliest online marketing options and it is still a powerful way to reach your customers. Perhaps the most important benefit of investing in a good Google Ads campaign is the question of timing. With the right ads, you can reach your ideal customers at the perfect time – the movement they are actively searching for your type of venue.
Getting in front of the right people at the right time is one of the core aims of all marketing. Google Ads make this challenge easily achievable. With the vast data that Google has accumulated about web users, you can tap into the specific demographics that you want to reach with your marketing. When you set up your campaign to target these users, you make sure your business is front and centre when they are searching for the services you offer.
Many business owners may opt for more organic methods of online marketing, such as social media, and if you have plenty of time and resources to devote to these channels, they can be a great option for your business. However, if you prefer to spend your time running your hospitality venue, rather than creating endless amounts of marketing content, Google Ads can be a smart way to maximise your time. And if you’re new to running Google Ads, hiring a specialist hospitality marketing agency can be a smart way to maximise your budget.
Have a stunning website
When it comes to hospitality venues, people do judge by appearances. You no doubt adhere to this maxim in your business, ensuring that your premises and your service offerings look as appealing as possible. After all, the hospitality industry is one of the most Insta-worthy sectors, so being social-media friendly can reap rich dividends for your business, in terms of word-of-mouth recommendations and user-generated content that promotes your business for you.
So your business aesthetic can play a crucial part in its success, and to take this to the next level online, an attractive, user-friendly website is a must. If you are spending your marketing budget on activities that drive potential customers to your website, it makes sense that you do all you can to ensure these visitors like the look of what you have to offer.
A well-designed, visually stunning website is your online sales team. While you are busy managing your venue, your online brochure is wooing new customers with its great photography, inspiring text and clean layout. Getting this piece right can ensure a steady stream of eager customers to your door.
While it’s easy to get carried away with modern online marketing trends, these back-to-basics strategies are among the simplest and most effective ways to market your hospitality venue and ensure your business thrives.
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