How to implement a successful marketing plan.

Why is it important? And how to sell hotel rooms better!

Looking for the best strategy to sell your hotel rooms?

Together we will look at some tips to make a good marketing plan for your accommodation.

Be ready to redefine your strategy

Any marketing plan should be a guide that can indicate actions and strategies to be carried out in the future, in the short, medium and long term.

The hotel industry is constantly changing, the goals we set today may be outdated and unattractive tomorrow. Not only internal changes, but also those due to the social, political and economic environment can have a significant impact on the hotel and its marketing strategy.

Pay attention to what is happening in the external environment and take appropriate measures accordingly.

There is no right formula for creating an effective marketing plan for your hotel, but constantly reviewing your strategy and keeping your finger on the pulse of what's going on gives you valuable clues about the effectiveness of your business and marketing strategy.

• Regularlymonitor your occupancy by paying attention to and comparing the past [Hotel forecasting].
• Organise regular meetingswith your (all)staff to find out what is happening in each area of the facility.

This is the best way to achieve the objectives defined in the marketing plan by involving everyone and will also increase Employee Advocacy.

Size doesn't matter, ideas matter

Whether the establishment is small and in the provinces, or medium-sized and affiliated to a chain of hotels, newly opened or with years of experience in hospitality, every hotelier has to face new challenges every day in order to succeed:

• sell their rooms,
• meet the needs of the guests;
• achieve all corporate objectives.

These goals are not achieved by chance. You need a marketing plan for your hotel that is well thought out and forms the basis of the entire business strategy.

Remember: Listen to everyone's opinions, let them express their different points of view and always be open to new ideas, even when they come from the newest person in the company.

How to make a marketing plan

The marketing plan is simply a document that focuses on some key aspects of your business. Don't think that you need to spend hours on too much theoretical work. As I mentioned before, in order to actually achieve targeted goals, the marketing plan has to be integrated into the daily routine operations.

It starts by paying attention to many aspects and it is important that a constant update of the plan - e.g. once a year - is made and that a business strategy is followed in line.

Here are some questions you should ask yourself in order to set precise marketing goals and have a clear business strategy:

• [definition of personas]
  Who are our typical guests/customers?

• [USP unique selling proposition definition]
  Why should guests choose our hotel?
  What advantages do we offer?
  What is our philosophy / vision?
  What are our products and services - and which ones are rated positively or negatively?

• [definition of proximity and thematic competitors]
  How do we differ from our competitors? What do we do better than them?

• [SWOT analysis definition]
  What are our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats?

Once you have given yourself precise answers you can start to sketch out the objectives of your marketing strategy by defining realistic targets to be reached within a specific time frame.

Remember that the objectives must be formulated in such a way that they can be monitored. For example, you can decide to increase direct bookings from your official website (by improving the website or installing a Booking Engine) or manage your online presence on different portals (see the possibility of having a Channel Manager, joining the Business Travel GDS programmes or improving Revenue Management in the hotel).

Do not forget to define a budget for each of your objectives.

The basics: the marketing mix and 4 P

All this work has to be done bearing in mind the basis of marketing: the 4Ps of the marketing mix, identified by Philip Kotler in the 1960s (actually attributed to Jerome Mc Carthy), which have represented for decades the fundamental elements on which to base a marketing strategy. And they are

• Product
• Price
• Promotion
• Point of sale

Another tip I can give you is to start brainstorming as a group and set up a business model canvas.

Think of all the useful gears for your marketing

Now, start establishing the necessary budget following a thorough analysis of the costs and benefits of pursuing your strategy.

Which tools and actions will be included in the marketing plan.

Here are some examples:

• Restyling of the hotel's logo and image, both offline (letterhead and business cards) and online (website)
• Contact profiling and acquisition strategy through email marketing
• Content marketing and social media marketing strategy
• online advertisement (both on Google and social networks)

Remember to communicate the marketing plan to all your staff and make them feel part of the project.

Conclusion: The benefits and difficulties of pursuing a marketing plan

Finally, let us look at the advantages of a marketing plan.

• It helps to increase the clientele and to know how to turn occasional guests into regular customers.
• It helps to pursue business goals and achieve concrete objectives that can be reached with the right tools.

It is important to formulate and develop a business strategy to put the marketing plan into practice.

You have to be patient. Every day check that your strategy fits in with your operational processes, perhaps coordinating an action plan for and with your staff.

Constantly monitor the impact of your interventions on the hotel's performance. The marketing plan can be considered successfully implemented when your strategies lead to real improvement, your employees work together to achieve the objectives and the profit is quantified.

Be critical, do not hesitate to question established goals and adapt them to changing environmental circumstances.

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