The Ultimate Digital Marketing Guide for Boutique Hotels

Marketing a boutique hotel is a challenging prospect as owners are often up against large hospitality chains with competitive pricing, international brand recognition, and big-budget professional marketing teams.

The ultimate strategy for smaller inns, hotels, and bed-and-breakfasts to succeed is to focus on their competitive edge––their new and exciting qualities that multinational hospitality brands cannot touch.

In our experience with digital marketing for boutique hotels, we’ve identified the standout edge differs from business to business, making it difficult to prescribe a one-size-fits-all approach.

But worry not, this article is designed to help you understand how hotel digital marketing works, how to uncover your hotel’s most competitive qualities, and how to place those qualities at the center of your marketing campaigns.

Read on to dive into our ultimate guide to digital marketing for boutique hotels…

What is Hotel Digital Marketing?

Hotel digital marketing refers to the use of digital strategies to promote hotels, with the aim of increasing visibility, building brand awareness, and attracting more bookings. These strategies can include running targeted ads, optimizing your hotel’s websites for search engine results, using social media platforms to engage with customers, or creating high-quality content to share on digital platforms. With a successful digital marketing plan, hotels of all sizes can attract a large following, encourage more bookings, and increase their overall revenue.

Why Is It Important To Have A Digital Marketing Strategy For Your Boutique Hotel?

Having a digital marketing strategy allows boutique hotels to reach potential guests through online channels, engage with them in meaningful ways, and ultimately convince them to book a stay. A strong digital marketing strategy is critical for helping boutique hotels to stand out from larger hotel chains and compete in a crowded marketplace.

Top 4 Boutique Hotel Marketing Strategies

Strategy #1 – Focus on What Makes Your Hotel Unique

Focus your marketing efforts on content that showcases what makes your boutique hotel different in a way that is authentic. This will help you tailor your services in ways larger hotel chains may struggle to accomplish. Here are some ways to determine your unique qualities.

Evaluate guest feedback: Customer reviews can help you determine what customers like about your hotel in comparison to the competition, so you can highlight your unique selling points.

Focus on personalization: One of the key advantages of boutique hotels is their ability to offer personalized experiences, whereas larger chains tend to cater to wider audiences. Consider how you can tailor your services to meet the unique preferences of your typical guests.

Emphasize your local connection: Boutique hotels often have a strong connection to the local community that is not shared by massive corporations. Consider how your unique relationships to your location, local experiences, and local business owners can elevate your brand.

Strategy #2 – Do Digital Differently!

In today’s crowded marketplace, where the amount of digital content in existence is skyrocketing, it can be very difficult to catch people’s attention. Here’s how small hotels can leverage their personality and charm to create captivating digital campaigns.

Highlight unique features: Boutique hotels often have unique features that set them apart from larger chains such as historic buildings, picturesque locations, or personalized amenities. Highlighting these features showcases a certain charm to potential customers.

Check out how London’s Town Hall Hotel incorporates local landmarks and utilizes bleached-out images to create a vintage look on their Instagram page.

Include storytelling: Storytelling is a great tool to help hotels connect with potential guests. By telling the story of the hotel's history, the inspiration behind its design, or the experiences guests can expect, small hotels can use narratives to forge personal connections.

Get personal on social media: Posting content that engages with target audiences, responds to individual comments, and reaches out to followers with special promotions allows boutique hotels to build a personal online presence in a way larger hospitality companies often fail to achieve.

Strategy #3 – Get Inspired by the Competition

A great way to brainstorm marketing strategies for small hotels is to take a peek at what similar businesses are doing. If your boutique hotel competitors offer services you haven’t considered, you might give them a try to see what works for you. These services might include…

Adding coworking spaces: To attract clientele who are in town for business trips, work as digital nomads, or wish to use the hotel as a conference space.

Developing pet-friendly hotel areas: To encourage guests who have special needs for their pets to consider your boutique above the rest.

Catering to long-term accommodations: For the guests who put long-term stays high on their list of priorities when visiting new locations.

Introducing competitions for special discounts: To generate buzz among social media users and motivate competition winners to redeem prizes and enjoy your hotel.

Creating courses about the local cooking, sports, or dancing culture: To further elevate the unique relationship you have with your local community and set yourself apart from the big chains.

Strategy #4 – Get Involved in Your Community

Local businesses and communities can be a powerful force when they come together to support one another. Here are a few examples of how boutique hotels can get involved in their local community and benefit from each other in the digital landscape:

Host local events: Small hotels can host or sponsor local events, such as charity fundraisers, art exhibits, or music performances. By doing so, they can promote their hotel to a local audience and establish themselves as a part of the community on social media.

Collaborate with local attractions: Boutique hotels can collaborate with local attractions, such as museums, galleries, or parks, to offer exclusive packages and promotions to guests online. This can create a win-win situation where both the hotel and the attraction benefit from increased exposure.

Offer local experiences: Small hotels can offer unique and authentic local experiences to their guests, such as food tours, historical walks, or wine tastings. By doing so, they can place digital ads that differentiate themselves from larger hotel chains and offer guests a more personalized and memorable stay.

Use local influencers: Small hotels can partner with local social media influencers to promote their hotel to a wider audience. This can help to increase the hotel's visibility and attract more bookings from potential guests who are interested in exploring the local area. Plus, locals will take note that your business is working with the local culture and might be more encouraged to reach out to you, partner with you, or recommend your boutique to visitors.

Bring Your Boutique Hotel into the Limelight with Proven Partners

Ready to take your digital marketing to the next level? Consider reaching out to Proven Partners today to bring your boutique hotel into the limelight. We are digital marketing experts who specialize in creating custom campaigns to highlight your best features, no matter how big or small your hotel may be. To learn more about our services, check out our comprehensive Proven Partners Digital Marketing page.

This article, written by Proven Partners, was first published on Lodgify.