Hotel Marketing Blog

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Posted on Jan 9th 2024 by Bryan Marsh
Find out how you can turn negative reviews into an opportunity to improve your property and services and boost your Australian hotel's reputation online....
Posted on Dec 30th 2023 by Bryan Marsh
Finetuning your social media strategy for the coming year? We've rated the best social media platforms for your Queensland hotel this 2024, so you can focus on the best and ditch the rest....
Posted on Dec 20th 2023 by Bryan Marsh
Spacious rooms? Ease of reservation? Photos of the facilities online? What do guests look for when choosing an Australian hotel? Find out in this new eTourism blog....
Posted on Dec 10th 2023 by Bryan Marsh
Learn about the digital marketing trends in Queensland tourism in 2024. Use these strategies to boost your hotel's online presence, reach more guests, and increase your property's revenue this year....
Posted on Nov 20th 2023 by Bryan Marsh
Discover the latest data, insights, and highlights shaping the tourism industry in Queensland in 2023....
Posted on Apr 1st 2023 by iLaunch Support
Google Announced on March 16, 2022, that it will discontinue Universal Analytics (GA3) on July 1st, 2023. So if you decide not to switch to GA4 then your current Google Analytics tracking would automatically stop working after July 1, 2023. And to make ma...
Posted on Sep 1st 2022 by iLaunch Support
The introduction of the .au domain is the most significant innovation since the launch of com.au in 1986. It provides Australians with a more memorable and shorter web address that is easier to brand and promote. Recently, there have been talks about maki...
Posted on Jul 1st 2022 by iLaunch Support
Any hotel's priority is to satisfy its customers. However, a business's online reputation occasionally suffers even with the best customer service. Suppose a hotel guest posts a bad or fake review online for everyone to see. Or, even worse, a negative med...
Posted on Feb 7th 2022 by Bryan Marsh
A lot has changed in the digital marketing space in the last year. Updates to social media platforms and advertising, new media platforms becoming increasingly popular, and changes in how online users behave and engage, are just the tip of the iceberg. Wi...
Posted on Jan 8th 2022 by Bryan Marsh
What is SEO Search engine optimisation or SEO is the process of looking at your hotel website, and seeing what can be improved, changed, or added so that it is more likely to appear in the top results in a search engine. Whether the user is searching on G...
Posted on Dec 2nd 2021 by Bryan Marsh
The world is different to how it was even just 5 years ago. Previously, just having a website or local business listing could get your hotel or resort bookings. Now you may be finding out that the strategies that were working for you before are no longer...
Posted on Nov 4th 2021 by Bryan Marsh
Chances are, you have been approached more than once being asked if you would be likely to provide accommodation free of charge in return for social media brand exposure and promotion by an influencer. Depending on the circumstances, an influencer collabo...
Posted on Oct 5th 2021 by Bryan Marsh
So, you've just launched a new website for your hotel. It looks good, it's search engine optimised and everything is quick to load. The next step to take is analysing your website traffic! Why do I need to do this? Analysing your website traffic is benefi...
Posted on Sep 3rd 2021 by Bryan Marsh
When you search Google for hotels in your location, is your hotel one of the first results to appear? If it isn't, chances are your hotel website needs SEO. SEO, which stands for search engine optimisation, is the key to climbing up the search engine resu...
Posted on Aug 3rd 2021 by Bryan Marsh
What do guests check about your hotel before booking? It's a question worth asking, as it provides useful pointers for improving your online marketing strategy, hotel policies and the guest experience you offer in ways that will boost direct bookings in t...
Posted on Jul 7th 2021 by Bryan Marsh
Luxuriousness and location aren't the fast solutions to being remembered by your guests. A luxury hotel can feel lacking if the service is unwelcoming and reserved. It's the little things that make a guest's stay memorable - the immediate and continued fe...
Posted on Jun 4th 2021 by Bryan Marsh
Does Your Hotel Tick These Boxes for Returning Travellers? The ways we interact socially have changed and expectations have also been reshaped, especially for returning travellers who are beginning to book their first few trips after lockdown. If you own...
Posted on May 14th 2021 by Bryan Marsh
It's Time to Evaluate Your Book Direct Strategy If your hotel or resort isn't getting as many direct bookings as you'd like, it's time to look at your book direct strategy, or perhaps lack thereof. There are several ways you can forge a solid and effectiv...
Posted on Apr 6th 2021 by Bryan Marsh
If your hotel or resort isn't on Instagram, it's time to take that step. And if it is, there may be a few ways that you're not getting the most out of its marketing power. Instagram is one of the biggest social media marketing platforms going, and it does...
Posted on Mar 5th 2021 by Bryan Marsh
The vaccine rollout has given us hope; the end of the pandemic is in sight and bookings are being made in abundance, all around the world, to make up for holidays and celebrations missed and lost in 2020. Revenge travel might just be the proverbial shot i...
Posted on Feb 8th 2021 by Bryan Marsh
Queensland's borders are open again and it's great news if you're a hotelier in Queensland. The announcement came days before February, effective immediately from February 1st, and is well timed for the Easter holiday and the autumn school break - one of...
Posted on Jan 6th 2021 by Bryan Marsh
Hotel guests of 2021 - what do they want and what do they expect? 2020 introduced a new way of thinking for travellers, from how they approach the outside world to what they now fully expect from a service. And we can rely on this way of thinking to remai...
Posted on Dec 20th 2020 by Bryan Marsh
This turbulent year came with its ups and downs (we hope you experienced less of the latter) but now that the end of 2020 is in sight, it's time to start thinking about 2021 for your hotel, motel or resort, how you can start off on the right foot and make...
Posted on Nov 23rd 2020 by Bryan Marsh
Christmas and New Year's Eve are right around the corner and it can be one of the busiest times of the year if you're a hotelier looking to make the most out of the end-of-year peak period. It doesn't have to be stressful, however - with a carefully laid...
Posted on Oct 27th 2020 by Bryan Marsh
A hotel website is crucial for keeping up with today's competitive online market, but as a hotelier, are you aware of the standards your website needs to meet for it to effectively advertise your hotel and generate the best results? Cutting-edge website d...
Posted on Sep 23rd 2020 by Bryan Marsh
Hotels must communicate with their guests as much as possible, as this kind of engagement builds rapport, trust and loyalty - things that are important for making your brand a trusted name. Particularly, in fact, with unprecedented recent events like the...
Posted on Aug 17th 2020 by Bryan Marsh
On the surface, your brand identity is how you carefully present your business and its overall purpose, but underneath, it's how you make your customers feel - both initially and consistently. Laying the groundwork to create a strong hotel brand will buil...
Posted on Jul 15th 2020 by Bryan Marsh
With travel restrictions in place, borders opening and closing and travellers more cautious than ever about going for a holiday, it's time for hotels to adapt! In fact, the current climate in the tourism industry presents an ideal opportunity for you to h...
Posted on Jun 17th 2020 by Bryan Marsh
As restrictions ease and the general excitement of travelling again increases, making sure that your hotel and resort has a solid SEO strategy in place is more important than ever - especially if you're looking to get an edge over your competitors as tour...
Posted on May 20th 2020 by Bryan Marsh
The coronavirus has negatively impacted the hotel industry in different ways, but one of the many online marketing methods that is proving to be more important than ever is email marketing. With travel restrictions in place for many countries, email marke...
Posted on Apr 22nd 2020 by Bryan Marsh
Low hotel vacancy doesn't have to be a bad thing, as it offers the perfect opportunity to reorganise your rooms before getting a photographer in to capture the best features you're trying to sell your guests. Updating your old room photos is guaranteed to...
Posted on Mar 27th 2020 by Bryan Marsh
It's impossible to say when the COVID-19 coronavirus will subside - and whether it will become a thing of the past altogether. China, however, is starting to see the beginnings of their recovery, as other countries follow suit by learning from one another...
Posted on Mar 13th 2020 by Bryan Marsh
As for the hotel industry, the coronavirus outbreak has had a massive impact as travel and crowds are generally avoided, major events are cancelled, self-isolation is encouraged and lockdown is, or is gradually becoming, implemented in countries across th...
Posted on Feb 26th 2020 by Bryan Marsh
Millennials, accepted as those born in the '80s and early '90s, have defined a new way of living; shaping trends, interests and consumer products for peers, brands and Generation Z while existing at the forefront of a fast-paced digital age led by the int...
Posted on Feb 12th 2020 by Bryan Marsh
Customers don't always directly trust brands or marketers, but they do trust other customers, and that's why user-generated content is the next best leap in your marketing strategy if you're not already reaping the benefits it offers in authenticating you...
Posted on Jan 29th 2020 by Bryan Marsh
In little over 10 years, Airbnb has become a multibillion-dollar player in the online travel market, swaying travellers and holidaymakers in its favour with affordable short and long-term accommodation options and an overall unique experience that hotels...
Posted on Jan 9th 2020 by Bryan Marsh
Instagram isn't just an online fad or photo-sharing site; the Facebook-owned social networking platform with more than one-billion monthly users has produced businesses and entrepreneurs in terms of social media influence; boosting brand image and promoti...
Posted on Dec 30th 2019 by Bryan Marsh
In our first blog, Managing Hotel Reviews Part I - Make Guest Experience Your Top Priority in 2020, we detailed the importance of providing the best possible guest experience to generate perfect online reviews. Of course, negative feedback is unavoidable,...
Posted on Dec 16th 2019 by Bryan Marsh
Alongside room rates, closely followed by brand name and online images of your hotel, guest reviews play a big part in converting hotel browsers into customers, and generate an overall brand rating that, as we move into a new decade, is no longer possible...
Posted on Nov 29th 2019 by Bryan Marsh
With couples booking surprise retreats, professionals travelling for events and families visiting their loved ones, the festive season can mean a busy time if you're a hotelier, especially when it marks a crucial period during which you can market your na...
Posted on Nov 13th 2019 by Bryan Marsh
In the pursuit for health and mental wellness, the bar for hoteliers and resort owners has been raised in terms of guest wellbeing, demanding not only luxury but ways guests can mentally disengage from routine responsibilities, reorganise and enjoy clarit...
Posted on Oct 22nd 2019 by Bryan Marsh
Since the end of September, Facebook in Australia has seen a notable adjustment in which the number of likes, reaction emojis and video views is hidden from the public - only visible now by the original poster of the content. You may have noticed this alr...
Posted on Oct 8th 2019 by Bryan Marsh
Early this year, Google officially stopped access to Website Translator - a valuable tool that allowed free content translation in a variety of languages. For businesses and professionals with a website pulling in a global audience, Google Website Transla...
Posted on Sep 25th 2019 by Bryan Marsh
After establishing your online marketing strategy, the next big step for your hotel is partnership marketing. By developing a mutually beneficial arrangement with a local business that shares the same values or goals as your brand, you'll be taking your m...
Posted on Sep 18th 2019 by Bryan Marsh
There is a wealth of reasons why video content is on the rise in the world of online hotel marketing: it presents the most eye-catching representation of your hotel, it's superior to photography when it comes to capturing customer attention and it deliver...
Posted on Aug 28th 2019 by Bryan Marsh
In addition to hunting for value, more holidaymakers are seeking personalised and individually catered experiences when taking the steps to book their next escape. OTAs can remove the intimacy now highly sought-after by accommodation shopping customers, a...
Posted on Aug 14th 2019 by Bryan Marsh
Whether you know it or not, your guests themselves can help you to increase hotel bookings in more than a few exciting ways. When it comes to holiday planning, eyeing customers are paying more attention than ever to past guest experiences, and what they'r...
Posted on Jul 31st 2019 by Bryan Marsh
While written descriptions and compelling SEO content will deliver the details and lift your website up the search engine rankings, impressive hotel photography is the driving force that will make your visitors' eyes pop before sending them to the booking...
Posted on Jul 9th 2019 by Bryan Marsh
In the fast-developing world of digital marketing and mobile technology, have you asked yourself how much of your online content is reaching smartphone users? It's crucial that your hotel's website should be approached with responsive web design in mind,...
Posted on Jun 29th 2019 by Bryan Marsh
It's easy to fall behind when it comes to accumulating and keeping an eye on customer feedback, but hearing what guests have to say about your hotel can be the difference between losing customers and lifting your brand to new and improved heights. In find...
Posted on Jun 10th 2019 by Bryan Marsh
In recent months, you may have noticed that Google Maps on your website has been made unusable with a message reading "This page cannot load Google Maps correctly." If this has affected you, this is due to the mid-2018 introduction of Google's new Google...
Posted on May 30th 2019 by Bryan Marsh
At eTourism, we're committed to optimised hotel website design and powerful online marketing strategies that generate exposure and increase direct bookings. If you're as keen as we are about getting customers to book direct, take a look at our list of pre...
Posted on May 22nd 2019 by Bryan Marsh
While the OTAs will pull in your hotel's broader audience - yes, a worthwhile strategy if you want to maintain a busy occupancy - it's still no reason to put your feet up and ignore the greater benefits of convincing customers to book direct. Maximising r...
Posted on Apr 30th 2019 by Bryan Marsh
Social media is busier than ever and if you're not using it to market your hotel, you're missing out on a serious opportunity to build a close online relationship with customers that will boost your hotel's popularity, inspire trust and see an exponential...
Posted on Apr 23rd 2019 by Bryan Marsh
With recent studies showing that more than half of today's global website traffic is carried out on portable devices, it's more important than ever to make sure that your website offers the optimal customer experience across the board - not just on deskto...
Posted on Mar 14th 2019 by Bryan Marsh
How's your hotel's SEO campaign shaping up in 2019? As we move into the third month of the year (already!) it's time to recap the big search trends marketers are using to reach their audiences online and the new direction search is moving in. 1. Voice Sea...
Posted on Mar 1st 2019 by Bryan Marsh
In a travel market that's more competitive than ever, the way your hotel's brand makes guests feel can mean the difference between winning repeat bookings or losing out to a competitor. Every key marketing touch point in the booking journey is a chance to...
Posted on Jan 31st 2019 by Bryan Marsh
Where will travel take us in the coming 11 months? From the latest advances in digital payments to ongoing concerns about data security, here are 3 of the leading trends expected to make their mark on 2019. The Evolution Of Payment Cash payments are on th...
Posted on Jan 18th 2019 by Bryan Marsh
Every independent hotel wants to boost its retention rates. Loyal, repeat guests play a crucial role in driving direct bookings, increasing revenue and generating free word of mouth marketing in the form of reviews and referrals. So how can you retain mor...
Posted on Jan 16th 2019 by Bryan Marsh
As we ease into 2019, it's the perfect time to turn over a new leaf (or 3) and think about your hotel's marketing goals for the coming 12 months and the tactics, strategies and best practices you're going to use to achieve them. When it comes to deciding...
Posted on Dec 17th 2018 by iLaunch Support
Your eTourism team are warming up to Christmas, time to spend with family and friends, time to be grateful for what the year has brought, but also to look ahead to challenges and opportunities the New Year will bring. Each year again it's a wonderful expe...
Posted on Dec 14th 2018 by Bryan Marsh
Research conducted by the Spiegel Research Centre in 2017 reveals that incorporating reviews into marketing can boost brand conversions by as much as 270%. When it comes to the travel industry specifically, 93% of travellers will have a read through revie...
Posted on Dec 7th 2018 by Bryan Marsh
At the start of the year, Facebook switched up its news feed algorithm to give priority to content from users' friends and family over posts from brands and businesses. Frustratingly for marketers, this made it more difficult than ever to maximise organic...
Posted on Dec 1st 2018 by Bryan Marsh
As your guests start to plan their Christmas and New Year getaways, it's time to plan how your hotel can capitalise on the seasonal travel market and maximise revenue this holiday season. With competition as fierce as ever, your property needs to fight ag...
Posted on Nov 26th 2018 by Bryan Marsh
If there's one thing marketers love it's shortcuts or, as they've come to be known "hacks." Any trick that helps boost efficiency by speeding up or streamlining a time consuming and boring task is bound to win points, but while some of these shortcuts abs...
Posted on Nov 21st 2018 by Bryan Marsh
With just 6 weeks of 2018 remaining, it's definitely not too early to start looking ahead to the next year in marketing and the tactics you'll be using to rank highly in the search results pages and maximise traffic to your hotel's website in the coming m...
Posted on Nov 12th 2018 by Bryan Marsh
Are your email campaigns' click-through-rates underwhelming? If so, it's time for a rethink. Here are 7 simple but powerfully effective methods to improve your hotel's email CTR, so you can boost levels of engagement and drive more guests back to your hot...
Posted on Nov 2nd 2018 by Bryan Marsh
Despite the "content is king" mantra we're all sick of by now, SEO remains one of the most crucial factors when it comes to making sure your website ranks highly in the Google SERPs and gets clicked on by your guests. But with the digital landscape changi...
Posted on Oct 26th 2018 by Bryan Marsh
The evolution of the digital landscape is rapid and unstoppable. As a marketer you either adapt to emerging trends, technology and strategies or your brand gets lost in the noise. Now that 2018 is drawing to a close, it's a good time to look ahead to the...
Posted on Oct 19th 2018 by Bryan Marsh
Incorporating videos into your marketing mix is no longer an afterthought it's a necessity. But as with every other form of content marketing, it's not enough to simply create high quality videos, you've got to stick to a range of best practices to ensure...
Posted on Oct 12th 2018 by Bryan Marsh
The ultimate aim of any hotel's website is to wrestle traffic away from the OTA's and drive direct bookings. Unfortunately, many properties are driving a steady stream of travellers to their websites only to fall at the final hurdle. If you're seeing high...
Posted on Oct 9th 2018 by Bryan Marsh
What's even more important than creating interesting, engaging blog content which promotes your hotel? Making sure it gets seen. Because without a content promotion strategy built into your blogging campaigns, even the best, most carefully crafted and int...
Posted on Sep 28th 2018 by Bryan Marsh
Email marketing remains one of the most effective, measurable and affordable forms of marketing. When it comes to maximising the reach of your campaigns, it's simple: the bigger your email subscriber list, the more opportunities you have to engage guests...
Posted on Sep 20th 2018 by Bryan Marsh
Competing against Expedia, Booking.com and the other major online travel agents for travellers' attention and bookings is an ongoing battle for all hoteliers. These OTAs are masterfully designed to convert holiday browsers into room bookers within just a...
Posted on Sep 14th 2018 by Bryan Marsh
Content marketing is here to stay. In fact, it's an industry which is predicted to reach an estimated value of $300 billion by 2019. Since content is the king of both present and future digital marketing, it's no surprise that marketers are spending a siz...
Posted on Sep 6th 2018 by Bryan Marsh
Following a spate of concerns about privacy and data protection, it's safe to say Facebook has suffered a blow to public trust in recent months. In response to a string of bad headlines, the social network is once again marking their dedication to improvi...
Posted on Sep 1st 2018 by Bryan Marsh
Publishing new content to your hotel's website on a regular basis is one of the best ways to rank highly in the search results pages and attract a steady stream of traffic. In fact, as much as a third of hotel website traffic comes from blog posts, accord...
Posted on Aug 24th 2018 by Bryan Marsh
With the competition for organic traffic tougher than ever, what kind of risks are you willing to take to secure your hotel's website a better position in the SERPs? For marketers, the temptation to disregard search engine guidelines and draw on black or...
Posted on Aug 16th 2018 by Bryan Marsh
Social media is rapidly changing. Twitter is losing users, Instagram is trying out longer-form video content, and changes to the Facebook newsfeed have made it more difficult for brands to reach their audience organically on the platform. These changes in...
Posted on Aug 13th 2018 by Bryan Marsh
You don't need to hear it again: it's easier (and cheaper) to retain a previous guest than it is to obtain a new one. And one of the most important components of retention marketing is email. In today's blog we'll look at how you can leverage what you alr...
Posted on Aug 6th 2018 by Bryan Marsh
No matter how much the rest of the digital marketing landscape evolves, Google's domination over search remains constant. As of last month, the company accounted for a whopping 90.20% of all mobile searches and 72.21% of those made on desktop. Google's un...
Posted on Jul 27th 2018 by Bryan Marsh
Online shoppers are notoriously impatient, in fact, even a delay as small as one second can cause a sharp decline in page views, conversions and consumer satisfaction rates. And since Google includes site speed among one of the many factors its uses to de...
Posted on Jul 20th 2018 by Bryan Marsh
Every marketer out there has heard about the importance of publishing "quality" content by now. But the definition of quality is open to definition and varies wildly by brand and audience type. For instance, for a while now digital marketers have extolled...
Posted on Jul 10th 2018 by Bryan Marsh
No matter what stage of the holiday planning journey they're at, when guests land on your hotel's website, you want them to complete an action. Sign up for your property's email newsletter, make an enquiry, share your content or make a booking. When it co...
Posted on Jun 22nd 2018 by Bryan Marsh
What is your hotel's digital reputation? Online reputation management (ORM) is all about proactively influencing the information people find about your business online by using strategies to hide unflattering content further down the SERPs by ranking more...
Posted on Jun 14th 2018 by Bryan Marsh
No hotelier really needs to be reminded of the essential role reviews play in the holiday shopping process. But just in case you do, the latest stats show that a massive 95% of guests browse the opinions of other travellers before booking a trip, with Tri...
Posted on Jun 8th 2018 by Bryan Marsh
Most hotel marketers are aware by now that producing high quality content on a regular basis plays an integral role in getting noticed by the right people online. But without the right research to inform and shape that content, creating blog posts can fee...
Posted on May 28th 2018 by Bryan Marsh
Social media is constantly evolving, and it's crucial that your hotel's marketing campaigns keep up or else risk falling flat. No matter what kind of technology you have in place, if the content you create isn't resonating with your guests you're not goin...
Posted on May 19th 2018 by Bryan Marsh
What motivates travellers and inspires them to book? In the crucial early stages of travel planning it's not amenities, room sizes and air conditioning, but the prospect of exciting and enriching experiences; a break from the norm, an escape. During this...
Posted on May 14th 2018 by Bryan Marsh
Facebook custom audiences allow you to target groups of people who have visited your hotel's website and performed (or not performed) certain actions while browsing it. It's a great tool for reaching out to people who are interested in your property, but...
Posted on May 8th 2018 by Bryan Marsh
From news to YouTube tutorials, Snaps to Instagram Stories, Vine and endless cat clips, video is the most popular form of content on the internet. In fact, it's expected to account for as much as 82% of all internet traffic by 2021. For marketers, video...
Posted on Apr 30th 2018 by Bryan Marsh
As holiday browsing and booking increasingly takes place across multiple channels, offering travel shoppers a seamless experience across all devices has become absolutely essential. In the move towards mobile-friendliness, implementing responsive design t...
Posted on Apr 19th 2018 by Bryan Marsh
The seemingly unshakeable grip of the online travel agencies has long been a point of contention for hoteliers trying to maximise profits from online bookings. But how do they do it? Beside the obvious factor of low rates, one of the key reasons for the s...
Posted on Apr 16th 2018 by Bryan Marsh
With the continuing dominance of the OTAs and an ever more competitive online travel market, climbing to a prominent position in the search rankings is more challenging than ever. It takes an ongoing, committed SEO strategy to secure and maintain a high r...
Posted on Apr 6th 2018 by Bryan Marsh
Following a string of recent moves that amp up its presence in the travel sphere, Facebook has recently launched Trip Consideration, a new advertising tool designed to help hotel and travel brands reach consumers at the early stages of the holiday plannin...
Posted on Apr 3rd 2018 by Bryan Marsh
In an industry that's all about creating aspirational experiences, images sell better than words ever can. Investing time and resources to ensure your website features carefully selected, high quality photos of your hotel will pay dividends when it comes...
Posted on Mar 23rd 2018 by Bryan Marsh
Few can dispute the importance of social proof in the travel industry. When planning their breaks, almost all online holiday planners are influenced by the opinions of other travellers when it comes to choosing where to travel and stay. While review sites...
Posted on Mar 15th 2018 by Bryan Marsh
At a time when older generations are tightening their purse strings, adventure-hungry millennials are spending more on travel than ever. Unsurprisingly, it's OTAs that are seeing most of this increased spending, with data revealing that more than 50% of t...
Posted on Mar 9th 2018 by Bryan Marsh
It happens to anyone who produces content regularly. You spend time and effort crafting what you think is the perfect blog post, carefully optimised with the right keywords to rank highly in the SERPs. You post on social media to promote your blog and ale...
Posted on Mar 2nd 2018 by Bryan Marsh
Ever feel like you're reaching social media overload? You're not alone. More and more people are reporting dissatisfaction with the impact social platforms have on their lives. They're a great way to stay in the loop with family and friends sure, but let'...