Since the dawn of the internet, travel and tourism industry has been pioneering digital strategies to make it easier for users to book their travel plans without a hitch. Digital marketing advances in the hotel industry have been the main reason behind the high growth of this industry.
Digital Marketing for Hotels, today, is a necessity. Maintaining online presence in terms of website and SEO, Google Business Profile for Local SEO and Maps, Ads in terms of outreach and visibility along with Aggregators for listings and competitive edge.
While Aggregators can help you fill your hotel rooms quickly and up to the brim, they charge a hefty commission of up to 25% that can literally run you dry. Thus, it is necessary to break out of their clutches and build your own presence on the internet.
While the quickest way to do that is by posting ads on Google and Meta (Facebook and Instagram), it may turn out to be costly in the long term. Thus, for long term growth, SEO is the best bet. You should also regularly use influencer PR to grow your social media presence and also improve your SEO by improving the awareness of your hotel.
There are several digital marketing sources and channels which you can use to reach customers. These traffic sources can be broadly divided into:
Digital Marketing Channels and Traffic Sources for Hotel Industry
| Sources | Platforms Included | Importance | Retargeting? |
| Paid Search | Google Ads, Bing Ads | High and specific intent | Yes |
| Paid Display | Google Display Network, Programmatic, Tabula, Criteo, Outbrain, and many more | Low cost per impression, multiple placement opportunities | Yes |
| SEO | Google and Bing Search Engines | High intent and low cost | |
| AI SEO | Google, ChatGPT | High intent, low cost and low competition | |
| Paid Social | Meta/Facebook/Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, Tiktok, Twitter(X), SnapChat | Low cost per impression, multiple placement opportunities | Yes |
| Organic Social Media | Meta/Facebook/Instagram/Threads, LinkedIn, YouTube, Tiktok, Twitter(X), SnapChat | Low cost, build communities and following, WoM | |
| Social Influencers | Meta/Facebook/Instagram/Threads, YouTube, Tiktok | Low cost, WoM | |
| Affiliates | Email Partners, SMS Partners, App Partners | Pin point targeting based on demographics and firmographics | |
| Content Syndication | Publishers, Listicles, Review Sites | Mid level intent and low CPC | |
| Paid Communities | Reddit, Quora, Pinterest | High interest, more ad content to engage | Yes |
| Organic Communities | Reddit, Quora, Pinterest | High interest, build communities and following | |
| Messaging | WhatsApp, Email, SMS | Highly targeted | Yes |
Now each traffic source has multiple channels with each channel having its own uniqueness in terms of intent, targeting, visibility and cost.
I always suggest our hotel clients to use multiple channels and split their budget based on performance of each channel.
While SEO is highly dependent on your website content and optimizations, your organic social media is dependent on your post quality and posting frequency.
On the other hand, paid advertising channels have their own set of characteristics and complexities such as how to structure the campaigns, whom to target, how to target and how much to bid.
We will now discuss the nuances of each of these digital marketing channels for the hotel industry in detail. We will also discuss the best digital marketing strategies and tips for each of these channels.
I am also going to ask you to skip many of these channels based on my experience of managing digital marketing for 250+ hotels in the US, Canada and Mexico. These channels are either irrelevant for this industry, or are costly and provide low performance.
Digital Marketing Channels for Hotel Industry – Strategies and Tips
| Platforms | Dimensions | Metrics | Audiences | Importance | Set Up | Optimization Tips | Budgeting & Bidding | Tech Integrations | Geo Targeting |
| Google Search Ads | Campaign, Ad Group, Ads, Keywords | CPC, CTR, CPL/CPA, CVR, RoAS, Impr Share, Quality Score, RPB | Attach existing customer list for better targeting | High intent audience for better CVR Use Phrase match for best results | Brand, Competitor, Generic campaign structure Skip Search Partners and Search on Display options | Regularly exclude queries using Search Term report Use tRoAS bidding strategy | Cascade budget – Brand is most important, followed by Competitor, and then Generic. Split Generic KWs into multiple campaigns | Use GTM to place tags on booking engines Integrate GSC and GBP | 200 mile radius and feeder cities from GA4 data |
| Bing Ads | Campaign, Ad Group, Ads, Keywords | CPC, CTR, CPL/CPA, CVR, RoAS, Impr Share, Quality Score, RPB | Use intent targeting | Use Phrase match for best results | Brand, Competitor, Generic campaign structure Skip Search Partners and Search on Display options | Regularly exclude queries using Search Term report Use tRoAS bidding strategy | Cascade budget – Brand is most important, followed by Competitor, and then Generic. Split Generic KWs into multiple campaigns | Use GTM to place tags on booking engines Integrate GSC and GBP | 200 mile radius and feeder cities from GA4 data |
| GDN | Campaign, Ad Group, Ads, Audiences, Publishers | CPM, CPC, CTR, CPL/CPA, CVR, RoAS, RPB | Use Custom Intent,inmarket and Affinity Audiences | Cheaper and wider outreach | Split ad sets based on audiences and creative themes | Regularly exclude publishers with extremely high or low CTR or CPC or based on industry | Minimal budget and low bidding compared to Search Ads | Use GTM to place tags on booking engines | 200 mile radius and feeder cities from GA4 data |
| Programmatic | Skip these | ||||||||
| PMax | Skip these | ||||||||
| Google Search | Brand, Generic KWs | Imprs, CTR, Ranking, CVR, RPB | High Intent free traffic and customers | Use Entity Search and Schema | GA4, GSC and GBP Integration | ||||
| Google Business Profile | NAP, Categories, Service Area, Schedule, Reviews | Ratings, Directions, Calls, Website Visits | This is free traffic searching for you on Google Search and Google Maps. You can show your profile with images, booking/calling links | NAP – Name, Address, Phone Number Also fill up all the other fields available | Maintain Rating of 4+ Get good reviews regularly Post pictures regularly | ||||
| Bing Search | Brand, Generic KWs | Imprs, CTR, Ranking, CVR, RPB | High Intent free traffic and customers | Use Entity Search and Schema | GA4, GSC and GBP Integration | ||||
| ChatGPT | Brand, Generic KWs | Imprs, CTR, Ranking, CVR, RPB | High Intent free traffic and customers | Use Entity Search and Schema | GA4, GSC and GBP Integration | ||||
| Influencer PR | CPM, Engagement Rate, Clicks, CPC, CPA, ROAS | Reach out to travel influencers via their social media pages to negotiate a deal with them for each story and post promotion | |||||||
| Meta Ads | Campaign, Ad Set, Ads, Creatives | CPM, CPC, CTR, CPL/CPA, CVR, RoAS, RPB | Use default option for travel audience at Ad Set level Use 2% lookalike audience or Advantage+ audience | Separate campaigns to focus on indoor/outdoor/services/places to visit/events | Use multiple creatives in a single ad | Low Budget and low bdding | Integrate Pixel and implement events via GTM | 200 mile radius and feeder cities from GA4 data | |
| Followers, Likes, Engagement Rate | Organic engagement and outreach | Add all links into your profile | Regularly post about events, discounts and how to travel | ||||||
| Followers, Likes, Engagement Rate | Organic engagement and outreach | Add all links into your profile | Regularly post about events, discounts and how to travel | ||||||
| Threads | Followers, Likes, Engagement Rate | Organic engagement and outreach | Add all links into your profile | Regularly post about events, discounts and how to travel | |||||
| Skip | |||||||||
| LinkedIn Ads | Skip | ||||||||
| YouTube | Followers, Likes, Engagement Rate | Organic engagement and outreach | Add all links into your profile | Regularly post about events, discounts and how to travel | |||||
| Youtube Ads | Skip | ||||||||
| Tiktok | Followers, Likes, Engagement Rate | Organic engagement and outreach | Add all links into your profile | Regularly post about events, discounts and how to travel | |||||
| Tiktok Ads | |||||||||
| Snapchat | Skip | ||||||||
| Twitter(X) | Skip | ||||||||
| Twitter(X) Ads | Skip | ||||||||
| Aggregators | List on all major aggregators | Listing Fee, Commission, cancellation refunds | MMT, Expedia, Booking.com, Goibibo, Kayak, Trivago, Agoda, Priceline and more | ||||||
| Quora | List a free profile to answer specific questions | Some users may ask very specific questions | Answer questions related to travel and tourism in the city | ||||||
| Quora Ads | Skip | ||||||||
| Skip | |||||||||
| Reddit Ads | Skip | ||||||||
| Skip | |||||||||
| Skip | |||||||||
| Skip | |||||||||
| SMS | Skip | ||||||||
| Affiliates | Skip | ||||||||
| Publishers | Skip | ||||||||
| Listicles | Skip | ||||||||
| Review Sites | Skip |
I know that setting up so many channels is not a child’s play. This requires multiple resources as well as expertise. Thus, I highly suggest hotel owners and managers to approach specialist agencies to manage their digital marketing.
Mindless helps you manage all your website, paid media,SEO and all other digital marketing channels by providing you specialist teams that stay updated on all industry requirements related to the hotel industry. Specialists at Mindless have worked with 250+ clients in this industry and scaled the online presence of several brands including top chains such as Hyatt, Windhyam, Hilton, and more.
If your business is facing the challenge in optimizing website SEO or other paid media channels, then book a free consulting session with our experts and find out how we can help your business achieve new heights.
You can also mail us on sales@mindless.digital for any queries.
To find out more about digital marketing trends and ideas for the hotel industry read our blog here.
About the author:
Pragun Jain is a seasoned digital marketer who has worked with over 500+ businesses ranging from billion dollar SAAS enterprises to 5-star hotel chains, restaurants and retail stores. He has managed over USD 75M in paid media spend across Google Ads, Meta Ads, LinkedIn Ads and other digital marketing channels.
You can visit his LinkedIn profile here.
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