Hotel Branding Strategy
To modern travelers, a hotel is far more than simply a place to sleep for a night while on the road. For your brand, your hotel needs a strategy that connects customer’s needs with your hotel’s branding promise. Today’s hotel guests desire more than simply a hot shower, a movie, and a comfortable bed — they want a strong brand experience that gives them at least a small slice of what makes your particular brand unique. The unique travel experience is where your hotel’s branding strategy can shine and highlight what you offer that is different. That’s what makes your hotel different – it’s your hotel branding strategy.
The competition for business causes many hotels to engage in unproductive price wars in an effort to seem as appealing as possible to potential clientele. This does have it’s place during some parts of the booking season, however, this approach can be self-defeating for everyone involved and shouldn’t be part of your hotel branding strategy. In the first place, you don’t necessarily want to be known primarily as the cheapest place in town. Also, keep in mind that there is always someone out there willing to undercut you, which can drive your prices down even farther.
Hotel Pricing Strategy drives your hotel’s branding strategy
Instead of participating in a race to the bottom with your competition, make a point of highlighting the unique aspects of your establishment and use them as selling points. Identify your target market and work to brand your business to attract that particular demographic rather than making the mistake of trying to be everything to everyone. Instead of trying to compete with your local competition, carve out a niche for your establishment’s hotel branding strategy that makes it stand out from other local options and speaks to a specific target audience.
Develop Your Hotel’s Story and make sure it’s part of your brand strategy
If there is an interesting story behind your hotel or establishment, using it to create a specific brand identity will work in your favor. By appealing to a certain group of travelers, you’ll increase customer satisfaction because you’ll be able to customize their particular travel experience. Your advertising efforts will be far more effective if you target a specific client base rather than trying to cast an overly wide net by attempting to appeal to as many people as possible.
It comes down to niche marketing, which will provide you with a far better return on investment than more traditional, generic marketing strategies.