Hotel marketing managers have a tough job. It can be difficult to make your property stand out and increase bookings. With limited budget and resources, offers and experiences can be one way to move the needle, but what’s the best way to set these up?
1. Don’t create an offer or experience you’re not ready to sell.
Creating offers and experiences to increase sales is different from selling a typical, rack rate room. Consumers receive more benefits with experiences, but they also encounter more complexity during their decision making process.
For example, when selling a rack rate room, an accompanying image is not necessary; neither is additional detail about the room. For experiences, all offers should include appropriate media, benefits and other takeaways.
2. Don’t use stock photos. Create media specifically for your offer.
Stock photo licenses may limit image usage to only your website and prohibit reproduction elsewhere. Stock photos also tend to be used and reused by different businesses; it’s a bad look if your customer sees a stock photo on your site and the same one on your competitor’s site.
Stock photos can’t convey the story about the offer or experience you’re selling. Instead, use your hotel’s own media assets in your promotions; you have full usage rights to your own media, and customers will be able to picture themselves enjoying experiences on your property.
3. Each listing should have a strong title, description, features and a “what to know” section.
The following is what we consider a “poor offer.”
- Title: Room rate offer
- Description: Discount on our normal room rate
- Features: *Special rate
- What to know: *Offer valid on the 2nd Tuesday of off-peak months
Now take a look at what we consider a “strong offer.”
- Title: 20% off Spring sale!
- Description: Relax and treat yourself this spring to the many amenities of our property and enjoy 20% off your stay.
- Features: *20% off our normal room rate. *A special spring floral-themed gift at check-in. *20% off a return visit next spring when booked during your stay.
- What to know: *Offer valid for stays between 2/16/25 – 5/31/25. *Must be booked by 5/21/25.
- Please let us know if you have any floral allergies; we’d be delighted to offer an alternative welcome gift!
Which is more enticing to you? Which one leaves you wanting more?
4. Ensure you can execute the offer and that it will work with your website and backend.
Test your offer to fine-tune features and offers, and consider working with a partner that provides certification and testing services. In a functionality audit from a sample of 1,600 offers representing 19 luxury brands, we found that 16 percent were unbookable; we were unable to add the offer to the website’s cart, and the transaction failed.
When distributing your offer on a global distribution system (GDS) like Sabre or Amadeus, note character limitations on titles (IDs) and descriptions. Remember: you are selling only what you include in the offer – nothing more, nothing less.
5. Develop a marketing and promotion strategy that combines all relevant materials.
Create your property’s marketing mix, and diversify your marketing channels.
Work with a public relations (PR) partner – internal or external – to develop press materials that outline the offer’s components and benefits. Investing in PR goes a long way to securing media coverage and generating awareness.
Place targeted ads on search and social. Depending on the offer, it may be possible to reach consumers already searching for similar offerings.
Include your best offers on your website’s homepage, and ensure that they are readily visible in the navigation bar. Further delineate them from other promotions by adding them to a dedicated experiences page so consumers can identify when an offer comes with an additional cost and when it’s complimentary.
A large majority of hotels distribute offers and experiences on a GDS, but these can be limiting. Generally, the more creative your offer, the less competitive it will appear in a GDS environment, as the storytelling tools are limited.
6. Ensure you can sell the experience to the rest of the hotel team.
Be intentional. Involve your team in the ideation process to cultivate buy-in. Why?
- The marketing team is unlikely to be guest-facing to execute experiences, and you’ll need help to do so from other departments.
- If your colleagues don’t feel invested, they won’t prioritize promoting or executing your offer.
- Your hotel staff can be a wealth of ideas, and they understand what’s possible from a cost/resource perspective.
- Involving stakeholders early and often allows you to get ahead of potential roadblocks.
7. Integrate the property’s uniqueness and features.
Integrating your property’s unique features – and that of your hotel’s surroundings – into your offers insulates you from competition. For example, if your spa is the only one in the market with a Hammam experience, developing a compelling offer around it makes it unassailable by both direct and indirect competition, like tour platforms. It also allows you to build in price and feature flexibility that can’t be matched.
Depending on your market, tours may be a necessity, so get creative in integrating your other profit centers into the experience: bundle a departure drink in the lounge while customers wait for their guide, or add in a spa treatment after a long day of walking tours.
8. Be realistic about your goals.
If your goal is to simply promote your property, you need a “wow.” We love the “Pretty Woman” for a Day offer from the Beverly Wilshire, a Four Seasons Hotel. By blending the broadly-known historical significance of the property with over-the-top penthouse accommodations and VIP experiences, the property creates a “wow” for guests that book it.
If your goal is to drive sales, price tangible features fairly to supersede standard features and pricing of a typical, rack rate room experience.
Consider allocating some of your offers to sell value over price, even in a downturn. But be wary of inflating offers with standard features available to all guests; it will turn potential customers off and may cost you a sale.
The bottom line
Although the industry may be facing economic headwinds, consumers still want to travel. By offering unique experiences at your property, consumers will purchase them.