It’s almost that time of year again! CHRISTMAS! And FireTap want to make sure you’re sleigh-in’ your festive hotel marketing strategy!
Although, with it being October, most hotels and restaurants will have their festive hotel marketing strategy well underway, with many businesses thinking about getting their festive house in order as early as April. If life has got in the way, or you have had other more pressing things to focus on and are now in dire need of a marketing strategy for this festive season, you can retire the ‘resting Grinch face’ – our Santa’s little marketing helpers have got you covered!
Around 100 million people travel each year to celebrate Christmas with loved ones. What better time to make the effort to capture those extra bookings while your potential guests begin their own preparations?
Ensuring your marketing positively reflects the festive spirit will help to create a buzz and allow people to resonate with your business – as, well, who isn’t happy during Christmas?! With so much potential within your grasp, an effective marketing strategy is all you need to turn those lookers into bookers and window shoppers to overnight stoppers.
Festive Website
Your festive hotel marketing strategy should begin with your website and filter down through your other marketing channels. First up, incorporating festive branding across your website will show visitors you are involved in the festivities and provide a great atmosphere with baubles and tinsels galore and will therefore be more inclined to further divulge in your website and its content.
Blogs – Create blogs that provide valuable information regarding what is on offer for festive events etc in your local area for example Christmas shows, Yuletide markets or a local winter wonderland. Blogs are one of the most effective ways to drive traffic to your website, organically. Especially if you are publishing at the time people are actively searching for festive themed ideas or events.
On average, compounding blog posts make up 10% of all blog posts and generate 38% of overall traffic. The chances of visitors reading your blog and then clicking onto the main website service pages is high, especially if your content is engaging and provides the visitor with the information they were looking for. As most likely, they are already looking for a hotel.
Festive Events
Promoting local festive events on your social media platforms or blogs is a great way to show potential customers that you are knowledgeable about what is happening in your area over the festive period and are actively engaging to create a great festive atmosphere. Your hotel or restaurant could even create a Christmas themed pop up to showcase your chef’s festive talents and promote again through socials, an email campaign and local and paid advertising.
Festive Social
Let those creative juices flow during the festive period by continuing your festive décor theme from your website across to your social profiles. Update your social logos with a cheeky Santa’s hat or tinsel to show your brand is willing to make the effort!
Don’t get your tinsel in a tangle! Create content designed around the festive period and have some fun with it – social media is there to allow you to show off your personality and creativity!
Another way to engage with the festivities on social media is to host a contest or charity competition – this can be done in several ways for example a Christmas jumper competition or a vote for the best Christmas decorations. You can also promote a giveaway – because who doesn’t love a giveaway at Christmas!
Festive Christmas Emails
As most people are generally looking to actually buy during the festive season, an email campaign tailored to Christmas can be a great way in the door and allow you to increase the ‘salesy’ emails that people generally shrug off the rest of the year. You can also incorporate a more engaging email campaign using the 12 Days of Christmas or advent calendar style email – ensure you’re creating something fun and valuable to increase excitement and make people excited to receive the next one!
Festive PPC
PPC campaigns are the perfect opportunity to capture savvy online shoppers in the right place, at the right time. Take advantage of the increase of travellers to your local area by updating your campaigns to target travellers, outlining special offers and tailoring your ads to their needs.
Come get ready for Christmas. Let FireTap help you plan for the festive period.
FireTap’s festive hotel marketing services include the creation of promotional materials, design and create festive campaigns, festive menu designs, and festive content creation – it all starts with a conversation. Get in touch with us by calling us on 0203 911 9715, emailing us at hello@firetap.co.uk, or make an online enquiry.
