14 Ways National Hotel Chains Can Boost Their Local Marketing

National hotel brands have brand recognition and large marketing budgets. But that doesn’t necessarily help with the type of marketing that brings in local customers or ties individual properties to local markets.

If hotels want to appeal to local customers and attract attention from travelers coming into the area, they need a different strategy. They need a local marketing strategy.   

14 Local Marketing Tips for Hotels

Here are 14 tips that help big brands connect with local markets and local customers. 

#1) Add local ingredients to the kitchen. One of the best ways to tie a hotel property to its area is by literally adding in local flavors. Hotels can create menu items for their bar, restaurants, and room service that feature local favorites and foods inspired by regional flavors.   

#2) Feature local musicians and artists. To show the uniqueness of a hotel property, infuse it with regional art and music. Invite local artists to showcase their work in the lobby, and feature nightly music by local musicians and bands. This adds a local flair to the property, creates reasons for locals to visit, and appeals to travelers looking for an authentic experience in a city or region.    

#3) Partner with other local brands. Another way to tie your hotel property in with the local community is by partnering with other popular and local brands in the area. Whether it is bringing in local produce from a nearby farm or selling candles and jewelry made by local artisans, partnerships provide extra marketing exposure while adding a local flavor to your property.   

#4) Open parts of the hotel to the public. Your hotel will struggle with appealing to local customers if they are never allowed in your property. To bring in locals (and their visiting family and friends), make your hotel a property they are familiar with. Open up your pool and restaurant to the public and host events that allow nearby customers to get to know your property (so they stay there and recommend it).   

#5) Create a location page or microsite for each property location. Make sure your digital marketing accurately reflects and highlights each of your locations. Add a page to your main branded hotel website for each individual location. Consider taking it one step further and create a microsite for each property.   

Learn More: How Can I Optimize My Brand's Website If I Have Multiple Locations

#6) Create social profiles and directory pages for each location. In addition to creating unique pages or websites for your locations, also create individual pages on social and directory sites. Having unique pages for each property allows you to connect with brand fans from specific locations, attract new audiences interested in that region, and showcase relevant, local content (instead of board content that speaks about your brand as a whole).   

Get started by creating a profile for each of your hotel locations on their local Area Site.

#7) Create local content for your webpage or microsite. Once you have a webpage or site for an individual property, fill it with content that is related to the area. Create a list of top restaurants near the hotel or develop a guide to top nearby attractions. Local content helps potential guests learn about your area and acts as a travel guide, while helping with local SEO as it ties your content to a certain city or market.   

 Learn More: How to Use Location Pages on Your Website to Boost Local SEO

#8) Work with local Influencers. Build even more local content for your property by inviting local influencers to visit your location. Local influencers are social media personas or bloggers that regularly create content about the region around your property. Invite them in for a tasting event or offer them a free stay so they can create user-generated content about your location for their social or blog channels.   

#9) Partner with local media outlets. Also get the media involved. Partner with local sites to create content about the area. Position your brand as an expert on visiting the region to create articles and videos that help people make their travel plans.   

Learn More: How to Get Local Press Coverage for Your Business

#10) Use local hashtags. Connect your property to your region even more by adding locally relevant hashtags to all of your social posts. Use hashtags that represent the state, city, and neighborhood around the hotel. Then also use a branded hashtags that curates all of your content from that location in one stream. For example, a Hilton in Miami could create #HiltonMiami or #MiamiBeachHilton.   

Learn More: Social Media for Hotels: 8 Tips for Attracting Guests Near and Far

#11) Utilize the power of geotargeting. Geotargeting is an advertising strategy that targets audiences based on their location. You can set ads to show to people based on their city, zip code, or region. National hotel chains can use geotargeting to target nearby customers (by focusing on areas around the hotel) or faraway customers (by targeting a specific area and showing the benefit of visiting the distant hotel).   

Learn More: Geotargeting: The Powerful Marketing Tactic Local Business Cannot Ignore

#12) Utilize the power of geofencing. Another way to use location marketing for a hotel is by using geofencing. Geofencing is an advertising strategy that targets audiences within a specific defined region. When a person walks into a defined imaginary boundary, they are targeted with ads. This is a powerful way to reach people in the areas around a local hotel. You can set up geofence ads with discounts or promos to drive nearby locals into your property.   

Learn More: Using Geofencing Advertising to Target Customers at Exactly The Right Place

#13) Create local deals and discounts. Lure in local customers by offering deals that cater specifically to them. Create “staycation” promotions that welcome nearby customers to experience their city from the perspective of a visitor. And, give discounts to customers that share the same zip code as your location.   

#14) Give back to your community. One of the best ways to make an impact in your community is by doing just that -- make an impact. Find local charities and create initiatives that give back to the groups and organizations that are doing good for your region. It helps you show the community that you care about the area, while also getting brand exposure and helping make a difference.

Create Better Local Marketing Campaigns for Your Hotels

Local marketing isn’t just for small mom-and-pop shops. Even large national hotel brands need to infuse their marketing with a local flair if they want to connect with nearby customers and attract visitors from other regions. 

Use these tips to make your individual locations of a larger hotel chain stand out. Then, learn even more about hotel marketing by checking out post on 7 Smart Digital Marketing Ideas for Hotels and Resorts and by joining the Area Network in your community for free today.