4 Reasons Your Hotel Needs PR
It is no secret that we love to travel. It’s also no secret that consumers love to travel, and those with a high propensity to spend on such experiences, happily tend to gravitate towards their favourite brands. With increasing consumer demand and new developments such as Airbnb and the shared economy, the hotel industry has become incredibly competitive, so just to maintain market share, let alone grow, hotels need a strategic and effective public relations master plan to maximise their success.
No matter what, the relationship your Public Relations team has with the media should always take precedence in your PR strategy, as well as maintaining a regular and informative social media presence. Solidifying a collaborative, beneficial relationship with your target media will allow you to build the most influential relationships for your brand, and ultimately create the kind of narrative your business wants. Your different social media platforms and the mainstream media are the best avenues to share firsthand experiences that your hotel, along with its varying venues and amenities it has to offer. As such, it is important to keep hospitality at the top of your list and graciously extend good opportunities for media to experience the very aspects that you aim to highlight.
Gaining visibility in the hospitality industry means being creative, understanding what consumers are being drawn to, and aligning your strategies with such curiosities will ensure that you are standing out from the crowd, as well as staying relevant in a highly active and competitive space. So here are four simple reasons why public relations can make a difference in the hotel industry, and ultimately enable your hotel’s growth, progression and success.
Be in control
First and foremost, it’s of huge importance to be in the driving seat with regard to your reputation. Having a regularly updated and consistently active web presence via your own website and social media platforms is paramount. TripAdvisor studies reveal that 93% of people are influenced by reviews when choosing a hotel, this shows that people rely more on information found on social media than in advertisements. This demonstrates how important a brands online reputation can be, so by sustaining an active online presence with a well designed and executed public relations routine, actively setting the tone for your hotel and being in control of public perceptions and responding to any reviews and comments left by guests is of paramount importance to maintain positive public relations. Without an active PR strategy, a hotel’s reputation is left solely in the hands of third parties and may be swayed unfairly, no well-run hotel should accept such a risk, so be active and get in control.
True, bad reviews can indeed hurt a business, but they also offer a chance to show positive and caring management. Surveys suggest that 70% of all online complainers are hoping for a response, but the reality is that barely 38% receive one. With online reviews becoming so important to a client’s decision process, ignoring a complaint is asking for trouble, as it is not just the reviewer who is affected but all those who see the lack of interest when making their decision on where to stay. By responding quickly to all reviews, good and bad, a hotel’s reputation is protected. The satisfactory manner in which a complaint is handled adds proof to advertising claims about the quality of a hotel’s guest service, a positive and proactive timely response creates a good impression. Handled well, the response can turn a potential disaster into a media bonanza. For example, Katie Price complained in 2013 about the way that the exclusive Sandals Royal Bahamian resort and spa ruined her wedding. They responded by addressing her issues (though not necessarily agreeing with her version of events) and offering her a full refund, on one condition: she never stayed with them again! Their response generated a wealth of media traffic, not only minimising a potentially catastrophic scenario, but also gaining new followers and generating a positive advertisement.
Guests need to be heard
Following on from this point, whether you like it or not, the chances are every hotel will appear on social media at some point, with 97% of Millennials sharing their experiences online as they travel, so opportunities to engage with your guests are better than ever before. Besides the traditional PR routes, it is now possible to communicate directly with potential guests and manage their expectations, this is the second reason why hotels need PR which can be a powerful force when effectively used.
DoubleTree by Hilton organised a PR campaign called ‘Little Things’ to drive its Twitter and Facebook positioning. The hotel asked people to tell them what little things could be done to make travel easier. This was followed up by inventive public relations events to deliver what was asked for. The hotel received 41 million Twitter and 47 million Facebook page impressions, garnering 7,000 new Twitter and 24,500 new Facebook followers as part of this hugely successful campaign.
Smaller hotels may not need, or be able to generate that level of following but the lesson is clear, people want to engage and should be encouraged to do so. A hotel using PR to its full potential will have a full-time presence on the major social media outlets, and if a follower interacts, they will expect, and indeed should receive a response.
Protect and Project
Again, following on from the first two points, a hotel’s reputation is one of its most valuable assets. Whether your brand is a large chain with multiple venues or an individual boutique hotel, public perception can have a huge effect on its success, either building or breaking its business. More than ever before, PR is an essential part of not only protecting but also projecting a hotel’s image, and by developing a unique and powerful brand via social media through storytelling in the media, employing public engagement, and review management, a hotel can harness a willing, and often very vocal online community to work in its favour. Few hotels actively utilise PR to its full potential, so with the technological growth of social media platforms and the progress in their functionality, now is the time to explore its many possibilities and maximise your hotel’s potential.
Brand Management
Branding is how a hotel differentiates itself from its competitors and is a hugely important element of building a successful business. An effective PR strategy will use magazines, publicity events, social media, and a host of other formats to promote their brand, which can stimulate interest in your hotel by linking it to an event or an interesting aspect about its location or style, which in effect will raise awareness without overtly selling the hotel itself.
All successful businesses have unique selling points, and these special attributes of your hotel should be shared creatively to develop a strong brand. Advertisements can publicise your unique selling points but do little else due to the limited control over their reception by the public, and adjusting a marketing campaign can be expensive and time consuming. PR provides the ability to monitor the awareness of the unique selling points by interacting with the guests, furthermore, acceptance of the USP’s can even be moulded via social media, something impossible with marketing alone.
Conclusion
Overall, hotel public relations can be a high value-driver if you’re willing to put in the effort or hire an outside team of specialists (Ahem). Innovative and inviting content, paired with touch points that engage your audience will build a loyal and eager fan base and create brand recognition in no time. Even the most nightmare-worthy crisis situations can be mitigated with a thoughtful PR strategy and crisis communications plan.
Public relations can be used to create and promote a customer loyalty strategy, whether it's doing outreach to happy customers or letting them know about upcoming deals and promotions, keeping in touch with your loyal clients is an important part of your PR strategy, it is a highly effective hotel marketing tool for generating visibility and new business for your property or brand, and should be used creatively to tell your brand's story and connect with your target audience on a human level.
Hotel public relations is a highly effective marketing tool for generating visibility and consideration of an individual property or brand. It’s all about telling the story of the guest experience and connecting with your audience.
