Hotel advertising is the promotion of a hotel, majoring on its most notable amenities and offerings to engage and attract guests and therefore increase bookings. The mass of hotel advertising is now online, and leverages the power of social media, search engines and OTAs.
Paid advertising on search engine platforms - especially Google - is designed to ensure that a hotel comes at the top of listings. There is also an increasing trend to employ Travel Bloggers and Influencers to spread favourable opinions about a hotel, and OTA platforms are still popular options for increasing visibility.
The variety of hotel advertisement examples is wide, but let’s look specifically at online media:
Hotel advertising in the digital world
The hotel website is the place which ultimately represents your hotel online. It’s where you have full control of the message being delivered, without any dilution by other channels such as Online Travel Agents that limit what you can say and display. Use the freedom of your own website to show your hotel, using great photographs and videos, and enticing copywriting. As with all advertising, less is more: Accentuate the key features and leave the small stuff for the FAQ section of your website.
Search Engine Optimization is crucial in driving traffic to your website, so ensure that the terms you use stand out from the crowd. Be as descriptive as possible: ‘Luxury hotel with full leisure facilities and own beachfront’ immediately conveys what’s on offer, rather than just ‘Beach hotel’. We’ll be looking further into the language of online advertisements.
Social Media is the place most people go to share opinions about their experience of a hotel, either as recognised travel bloggers, or occasional vacationers. Opinions expressed on social media can be strong, and often influential in the decision of others to book with your hotel. Social media channels need to be constantly monitored to see what’s being said about your hotel, and nurtured to ensure that you respond to posts in a proactive way.
Paid online advertising through Google Ads (which has 90% worldwide reach and around 4.5 billion users) can be effective. There are other online advertising portals, but with over 69% market share in pay-per-click (PPC), Google is hard to ignore. Indirectly paid advertising also includes appearing on Online Travel Agent channels, where the cost of exposure comes in commission
What works in hotel advertisement examples, and why
Let’s take a look at a few sample online Ads to see what works, and why.
Example 1:
The headline is clear, concise, and includes high-intent keywords: ‘Boutique Hotel in NYC’ and ‘Ace Hotel New York’ improves relevance and visibility in searches related to boutique hotels in New York. The hotel’s proximity to main attractions is emphasised - immediately highlighting a key selling point of location advantage. The second sentence focuses on experience and atmosphere, appealing to travellers looking for more than just a place to stay. The word choice is very important here: ‘haven,’ ‘vibrant,’ ‘culture,’ and ‘nightlife’ evoke an emotional response appealing to travellers who seek an immersive and unique stay.
It also highlights that the hotel is open 24 hours within the extensions - (also now called ‘assets’ on Google Ads), which are additional pieces of information, including site links, product prices, and a phone number.
Example 2:
Here’s an example where the viewer is in absolutely no doubt that luxury is the key experience and the location is given as central and on the French Riviera. This is backed by the use of the emotive and special word ‘epitome’ which implies the highest quality and style. Then there’s that picture: It doesn’t show anything about the villa itself, but it’s colourful, sunny and very inviting.
Example 3:
On the other hand, this Parisian hotel presumes that the potential guest is almost solely interested in price and easy cancellation. We don’t get to know what ‘other options’ consist of, and there’s no image to tempt us. This is a hotel advertisement example which is simply transactional rather than attempting to offer an experience.
It’s important to say that if a hotel knows its demographic (and every hotel should), then a straightforward transactional advertisement can be exactly right: Guests looking for ‘Incredible Hotel Deals’ are less interested in style, luxury or boutique offerings.
Example 4:
In this IHG Hotels Ad, notice the use of the power words ‘dreaming’ ‘getaway’, ‘unforgettable’ and ‘oasis’: It’s all about promoting a mood, and if you want to know more, then you will need to click on and discover more.
Example from an OTA:
This Ad from Vrbo - a booking platform - manages to touch a lot of bases, including some comprehensive extensions that promise a lot more information. This directly targets high-intent search queries from users looking for vacation rentals in the French Riviera. The phrase ‘villa rentals’ ensures relevance to potential customers along with budget-conscious, family-oriented rental, that is pet friendly and has all of our ‘favourite amenities’. The photograph is sunny and tempting and although generic it’s easy to ‘read’, so that we get an instant feeling of relaxation.
With these and all other hotel advertisement examples, there should always be an awareness of the demographic, the intended emotion, and the words used to reach out to the specific audience:
Knowing your audience
Whatever media is used to advertise a hotel, it’s essential to know the audience you are targeting. Luxury-oriented guests are looking for a different experience from budget travellers, or adventure-seekers. Knowing who you are talking to will determine how you communicate with them. It’s impossible to appeal to everyone, so home in on your core market, or the market you wish to cultivate.
Knowing your guests from the day-to-day experience of running a hotel can be greatly augmented by taking a deep dive into the data available if you operate a Property Management System. A PMS will give many insights into your guests, including age, spending, stay length and interests. It’s an invaluable way of mining and collating information which you already have.
The intended emotion that you wish to evoke is vital too. Your Ad must connect with the feelings of your potential guests, whether that’s to encourage their sense of adventure, or sophistication and style, or concerns about getting the best deal for the best price. You can highlight the proximity of attractions, or ease of access to places and events. There’s even something to be said for encouraging FOMO - Fear Of Missing Out! If something unique or special like a concert or sporting event is happening that you can capitalise on for your hotel, make sure that people know about it!
The use of language is always important in any hotel advertisement because it is what connects your demographic emotionally. Power words - as we have seen in some of the Online Ad examples above - convey ‘flavour’ and aspiration, so always consider how to pack feeling into an Ad. The feeling of ‘On a white sand palm-fringed beach’ is much more emotive than the bland, ‘Beach access’.
The use of stunning images is an essential winning strategy. Your website can show a range of images of the hotel amenities, but advertisements might only have one image to show, so it better say a lot. Perhaps it will be of your actual building if it’s charming, but if the building itself doesn’t excite particular interest, then show a local site that people will be attracted to, or if your rooms are stylish and individual, stress that. Show the very best image you can to sell the magic of staying at your hotel.
Make it easy for potential guests to click on your advertisement. Callouts, site links and extensions are compact ways of adding information without cluttering up the look and feel of the advertisement. The best result will be to drive the potential guest to view your website. If that’s coupled with a booking engine and supersmooth booking process which the guest can accomplish themselves, then it’s job done! Do all you can to ease customers directly to your hotel rather than have them revert to the OTAs.
Remember, hotel advertising is about the promotion of a hotel, majoring on its most notable amenities and offerings to engage and attract guests and therefore increase bookings.
Hotel advertising has never been more do-able
Hotel advertising comes in many forms and in this article, we have focused on the online area because this is accessible to hotels of any size, and is highly cost-effective. More traditional offline media typically calls for larger budgets and will likely involve advertising and PR agencies. The beauty of online ads is that much of the process is manageable by the hotel itself: creating and commissioning memorable images and copy that help it stand out from the competition.
We care about your advertising being effective because for over ten years we have worked exclusively in the worldwide hospitality industry. We are SabeeApp and our Property Management System and range of Smart Solutions have been developed to cover the specific needs of modern hoteliers. We know the market and observe what works best in the way of hotel advertisement examples. We can’t create the perfect hotel advertisement for you, but by automating time-consuming admin tasks, we’ll free up your time so you can focus on things that really matter - like growing your business through spreading the word about how great your hotel is.
Book a free demo to find out how we can help you save time and increase profitability.