5 marketing tips for boutique hotels

Marketing is everything in the hospitality industry. If people don’t know about your hotel, the chances are you won’t get many bookings.

Unlike the large brand-name hotels who have an endless pot of cash to spend on their marketing and advertising, boutique hotels tend to be small privately-owned businesses, which can feel overwhelming when it comes to competing with large resorts and international brands. Here are five marketing tips for boutique hotels, helping to attract new visitors to your brand.

Use SEO

First things first, if someone is checking out hotels in your local area, it’s likely that they will use Google, Yahoo, or Bing to complete their search. Guests will want to research into rates, amenities, and attractions nearby, so if you’ve just started running your boutique hotel, there’s a chance your business listing won’t show up in immediate search results, therefore, using SEO (search engine optimisation) can help market your brand and have it appear higher in search results. Make sure to use specific keywords which will allow your website to climb up the Google search ranks.

Use Social Media

We all know how popular social media platforms like Facebook are. With millions of users from across the globe using such websites every day, using social media to market your boutique hotel can do wonders for your business. Whether it be setting up a business page on Facebook or creating an Instagram account to appeal to a younger demographic, the more people who see what your boutique hotel is all about, the better.

Offer Discounts

We all love a knocked down price, so to get more people through the door, why not offer special discounts? It can be a fine line between reducing the price too much and still making money for your business, so you will need to work out how much you can afford to knock off. There are plenty of websites such as Groupon that you can use to promote discounts for you. Word of mouth can make or break a business, so providing incentives and exclusive perks to new and regular customers can see your boutique hotel flourish.

Create Your Own Blog

As a way to engage with your customers, creating your own blog can be a great way for guests to get to know you on a personal level. While you should already have a website in place, keeping your viewers updated with the latest developments in your boutique hotel can show guests how dedicated you are to your business. There are all sorts of platforms you can use to set up your own blog, such as WordPress.

Digital Signage

Keeping up with the times and using digital signage in your boutique hotel is important. Whether it be information points, interactive kiosks, or menus, there are lots of ways on how you can vastly improve your guests’ experience, which is essential when it comes to marketing. You may be interested in using digital signage software by Cenareo who are specialists when it comes to providing digital signage for the hospitality sector, helping to increase customer engagement, sales, and brand loyalty. Cenareo can help your guests have a comfortable stay at your boutique hotel and show them how to navigate the different areas.

Whether you use SEO, social media platforms, digital signage, or create your own blog, there are lots of things you can do to market your boutique hotel. What’s more, many of the options listed are completely free to use, meaning you don’t have to have lots of cash in order to attract more guests to your brand. As with any business, make sure that you have a marketing strategy in place first which can give you more direction on what you need to do to get more guests through the door.

How to make your business sign stand out from the crowd

Business signage is essential if you have physical premises of any kind, whether you’re a high-end retailer with a luxury boutique in a busy town centre, or you’re a car garage operating on an industrial estate.

If your customers need to find you or see that you are present in their vicinity, signage is still the best way to attract their attention.

But it can be hard to stand out from the competition with so many innovative and interesting signs out there. This applies in equal measure to event and permanent signage. Many businesses co-locate and vie for visual attention with limited space. The same applies to exhibitions, events and with advertising space, where there is only so much room and just a limited amount of time to make that vital impact.

So how can you ensure that your business signage does stand out and give the right impression?

1. Know what your signage is for

A piece of permanent signage for a shop exterior will look different and have different messaging on it than a temporary piece of vinyl signage for an event or exhibition. Define your goals and don’t try to achieve too much with one piece. It’s great to have a suite of different pieces of signage, but plan them as a set so that you get maximum benefits and reusability.

For example, if you attend a lot of trade events then it may be worth investing in a large pop-up stand with a frame, carry case and changeable panels so that you can adjust your messaging and get great value from your investment. Different sign types include outdoor, informational, accessibility or persuasive (including point of sale for retailers.) Always set goals and objectives for each sign to ascertain their success.

2. Consider your budget

If you have money to invest in quality signage, then it can reap dividends over the longer-term. Aim to buy the best signage that you can for if it needs to occupy a permanent space or have a high-quality impact. Temporary signs for events or exhibitions can be disposable – or use digital signage so that you aren’t wasting materials or your budget. The better your signage, the more it will stand out.

3. Get your brand in place

If you don’t already have a brand or logo, now is the time to develop one. Work with a graphic designer with a background in branding and communicate your business purpose, objectives and values. Define your target audience and your typical customer. Input with any other information that you can provide, such as other brands that you like by way of example.

The designer will help to create a logo that stands out and which appeals to your audience. This can then be replicated across your signage to great effect. Remember that signs are visual in nature and a great logo will instantly provide that ‘wow’ factor.

4. Prepare your messaging

With so many signs to look at, customers need to be engaged with clear, simple and ready messaging. Use a headline, an explanatory sentence and any key bullet points underneath. Minimise words as far as possible and don’t clutter your sign with unnecessary extras. Use a readable font and avoid scripts. Make the call to action clear and succinct if the sign needs to stimulate a response.

5. Design for readability

Your signage must be read from a distance and by people who are passing; not all of whom will have great eyesight. So choose colours with a contrast, such as a black typeface on a pale background. This is known as light reflectancy and it helps to know what colours stand out against others.

Don’t clutter the signage with badly contrasting colours either, as it’s one thing for your sign to be unreadable from a distance but you don’t want it to be garish and ugly either. The choice of colour palette will depend on the image and personality of your business. Your designer can use colour theoryto create the right look and feel, which will resonate with your target market. For example, red denotes passion and energy, whilst yellow is intellectual and optimistic.

6. Test your sign

Before you send your signage graphics to print, test them with a small audience of customers. Get your printer to the site to measure up and check accessibility and H&S considerations (including lighting) for permanent signage. Check the detail to avoid any costly errors or reprints.

7.Evaluate

You’ll soon know if your sign is outperforming the competition with an upswing in footfall to your business or increased volumes in your intended call to action. Review, evaluate and look for ways in which to improve your signage in future, aiming to constantly better your efforts to stay ahead of the game.

Photo by Geraldine Lewa on Unsplash