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Hotel Marketing In a Post-Pandemic World

For hotels and hospitality, trying to beat back the epic whiplash that has been the Covid Pandemic this past 19 months has been one for the books. 

Guests want to travel. Guests cannot travel. Countries have opened borders, countries have closed borders. Travelers need a covid test. Travelers need a vaccine. 

One word: chaos. 

So, as a hotel or a business in the hospitality arena – how do you focus on growth and driving bookings in the face of all the back-and-forth?

It’s simple really: you focus on the experience. We are all in desperate need of a vacation, or three. Guests are ready to go and primed for the pump, as they say. It’s not a question of are people ready to travel, it’s a question of “where to first?”

While the digital world has made of-the-moment marketing that much easier and more accessible, it is imperative to break through some of the white noise and make your property stand out. Guests need to go from “this property is on my list” to “I’ve just booked a trip!”

It’s All About Allure

A picture is worth a thousand words. As a content marketing company, that means quite a bit. If you haven’t updated your image bank during the pandemic, now is the time. Snap some Gram-worthy shots of food, rooms, and the overall experience of your property. Be sure to get photos that both capture the lifestyle and feel of the hotel as well as some standard lay-flats, and product shots. One key note: don’t use the same models in each photo – you want to extend the life of the photography and having a number of models at one shoot is a great way to do that. 

The photos should be used across mediums: blog posts, website portfolio, social media channels, and of course, email marketing. 

Create Enticing Promotions

When building promotions for your hotel, try and get creative today. Most hotels will also be offering promotions (stay 3 nights, 4 night free; credits at the restaurant or spa, etc). While all promotions are fun, it captures the attention better when your promotions are playful and unique. Create something that will entice guests not only to book with you but also to share in the joy of this great promotion you’ve created. Capture the tone and feel of your space and go wild. 

Don’t Go Too Deep into the New

A lot of times, when we are hungry for growth – we tend to throw a fair amount of ideas at the walls and see what sticks. The same is true for hotel and hospitality marketing. Trust us when we say: avoid this at all costs. Focus on key avenues that you want to pursue and see them through. Don’t waste time, energy and money trying to find out-of-the-box ways to drum bookings. 

You’ve got this. Guests will come. If you need help executing your marketing or creating new property-specific strategies, give us a call today. 

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The Scary Realities of Social Media Marketing

Effective marketing is all about meeting your people where they’re at. Increasingly, that’s on social media sites like LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter. And while social is all the rage, it’s important to know just what you’re getting into before throwing all your eggs in one basket.

As you consider your marketing goals and opportunities for growing your small business, it’s important to be focused, strategic, and… realistic. Here are three social media realities you need to be aware of before investing time and money into your marketing campaigns.

3 Things You Need to Know About Social Media Marketing

  • It doesn’t drive a high ROI (for everyone) – Some people talk about social media marketing like its gold. They say if you just do a few simple things, you can strike it rich in no time. Not so much… Instead, the reality is that your social strategy may not result in a huge return on your investment, but does that mean you shouldn’t do it? Of course not!

There are several important reasons why your business should maintain an active social media presence. A big one in terms of cost is that it can be done relatively inexpensively. You don’t have to spend thousands or tens of thousands of dollars on marketing and advertising to see results. Consistently posting content and engaging on your social channels is enough to demonstrate your credibility and offer useful information to followers (which will translate into results over time).

  • It will not solve all your marketing woes – Some people turn to social media for instant gratification. From news to entertainment, we can track what’s happening in real-time. The challenge with marketing, however, is that it’s not instant. It requires you to be steady and consistent for the long-haul.

Entering a social media channel with the hopes of it suddenly driving up your business 10-fold will leave you sorely disappointed. It takes time to build your followers and establish your reputation. The best way to speed along the process and grow your business is to use social media in conjunction with the other two components of the marketing trifecta – 1) blogs, 2) newsletters and 3) social.

  • It isn’t just a numbers game on followers – it’s engagement you’re after – Having hundreds or thousands of followers sure sounds appealing, but how many people do you “follow” that you could really care less about? Simply having followers isn’t worth much if they’re not engaging with your content, products, and services.

By actively engaging with your target clients (rather than trying to reach the millions of people on the Twitter-sphere), your marketing efforts will be much more effective and impactful.

Social media is an important marketing tool your business absolutely needs to be using – as long as your eyes are open to the realities of what the various platforms can offer. Which channel(s) you should use will depend on your line of business and where your will-be customers are most likely to linger.

For help getting your social media strategy off the ground or taking your business to the next level, get in touch with us at The Found Gen.

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Why LinkedIn is a Law Firm’s Best Kept Secret Weapon in Marketing

If you’re still using LinkedIn as simply a host for your online resume (or gasp, you’re not even on LinkedIn at all), you’re missing out on one of the most effective social media marketing platforms there is for law firms.

LinkedIn has more than 774 million members worldwide and is the go-to social media site for professionals. As a lawyer, its benefits are two-fold.

  1. It connects you to other law professionals, thereby enabling you to build out your network (hello, referrals!), and
  2. It’s a place where potential clients can learn more about you, your services, and your professional reputation.

While there are opportunities for paid advertising on LinkedIn, so much of what you can do to drum up new business and make new connections can be done on the platform without paying for expensive ad placements.

Need even more reasons for your law firm to go social on LinkedIn?

Here are 3 more reasons why you should be jumping on LinkedIn today:

  • For reputation management – Clients turn to law firms they can trust. With LinkedIn, you can establish your firm as an industry thought leader by actively posting on the site and engaging with peers and potential clients.
  • To expand your reach – With LinkedIn, the more actively you participate, the more useful the platform will be to you. And it doesn’t have to take over your life. A few strategic posts per week are enough to offer immediate benefits and begin growing your network. Moreover, LinkedIn offers opportunities for you and your law firm to make targeted connections by participating in relevant groups and associations.
  • To leverage your content – Potential clients are searching for solutions. Offer them answers through your content and social media posts. What’s more, if you’re already actively creating content for other marketing channels like blogs and newsletters (which you definitely should be doing) , you can stretch that content even further by sharing it on LinkedIn.

And a bonus reason: Content posted on LinkedIn is indexed by Google, so the more actively you engage and contribute relevant content, the better your SEO and Google ranking will be.

Like any marketing strategy, LinkedIn is not a silver bullet for growing your business, but it is an effective tool to add to your playbook and serve as a complement your other marketing initiatives.

If you’re ready to grow your law firm’s business on LinkedIn, we can help. Take the next step today by getting in touch with us at The Found Gen.

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How Often Should You Email Your List

Let’s cut right to the chase. You’re here because you’re ready to throw in the marketing towel! Wait, you’re not?? Awesome! That must mean that you’re buckling down and trying to figure out how to tighten up your email marketing.

“How often should I email my clients?” This is the number one question we receive in the email marketing conversation. While you might be expecting a particular number or figure to help you navigate this, it is often not that simple. You don’t want your emails to be overkill, but you do want them to remind existing and potential clients that you are there for them.

Figuring Out the Matrix of Email Marketing

Everything can be traced to your objectives, product, and overall business needs.

If your emails are going out once a month for your business model, that might actually be enough.

For those who have generated new lists or are stepping into the waters for the first time, subscribers will not know what to expect from you. This might be a good opportunity to send a bi-weekly newsletters so people can get better acquainted with you – but also to share boat loads of valuable information.

While once a month is standard for most small businesses, a slow increase (if you deem it necessary based on campaigns or promotions) is best. Don’t just overwhelm subscribers with more at once, or you could run the risk of losing some. 

For instance, if you wanted to upgrade your email sends from once a month to weekly, take it slow. Start with upping your frequency to twice a month for a while and keep track of how subscribers are responding. Then bolster your send schedule as you see the data is stable or increasing. Remember that the line between helpful and annoying is very, very thin.

Call us today if you run into any snags. We’re here for your marketing needs.

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How Much Should Your Company Spend on Marketing?

If we’ve said it once, we’ve said it a million times – marketing matters. Effective marketing is the peanut butter to your jelly, the donut to your coffee, and the Ted Lasso to your pandemic.  It can make a business or break it.

To see the kind of growth that leaps off planning sheets and converts into real customers, you will need to rely on experts that can get your brand out in the world.

But, how much is too much to spend on your marketing game, and how should said money be spent?

That is the question of the century!

So, let’s start at the basics.

Evaluate Your Current Expenses

Before you start thinking about how you want to allocate your funds and create a marketing budget, it’s helpful to know how much you’re spending overall.

The size of your marketing budget will solely depend on your goals and how much money you have to spend.

While many companies can spend anywhere from 7-15% of their overall revenue on marketing, does that number work for you, or should you aim higher?

If you’re a new start-up looking for quick growth and new leads, 7-15% might be a bit low of a number. For this reason, you might decide to spend around 20% on your marketing efforts.

In the end, it all depends on your needs, and your goals.

Whatever you decide, remember to not spend money that you can’t afford to lose.

Deciding Your Marketing Budget

Now, that you’ve decided how much you can spend on your marketing, you have to determine how you should allocate the funds you have.

That is why we have three steps that can help you in this thing called marketing. 

Set marketing goals

“Don’t move until you see it.” That principle can honestly apply to any situation and especially in situations concerning your business.

You can’t know what to give out until you know how much you have to give and what your limits are. This is why it is crucial that you set up a marketing budget to house all of your goals (and realistic ways to get there).

Consider making SMART goals

Specific: Include details in your goals and avoid vagueness.

Measurable: Ensure you can measure your progress toward your goals.

Attainable: Your goals can be ambitious, but they should also be realistically achievable.

Relevant: Your marketing goals should be relevant to your overall business objectives.

Time-bound: Set a time limit for achieving your goals to help keep you on track.

Here is an example: “work to increase revenue by 50% by the middle of the year” or “acquire 10 new leads by the end of the quarter.”

Create a Plan for the Year

Plan ahead, like way ahead. Try sitting down and planning the vision for your business for the full year and what you can do to make that happen. Don’t forget to keep your marketing goals at the forefront as you’re planning. This can give you a great forecast to keep you on track and save you time so you don’t have to go month to month or by quarter.

Some marketing avenues to consider:

  • Content Marketing
  • Email Marketing
  • Social Media marketing

Hire professionals

How are you planning on executing your plans? Will your internal marketing team do the work, will you hire a marketing agency, or will you work with freelancers? You might use a combination of these methods.

When choosing marketing channels, a good rule of thumb to keep in mind is the 70-20-10 rule. This guideline says that:

  • 70% of your budget should go towards strategies you know work well
  • 20% should go to new strategies that help your business grow
  • 10% of your budget should go towards emerging or experimental strategies to keep you ahead of the competition

To save money, you could write your own blog posts and manage your own social media.

If, later in the year, you notice competitors overtaking you in search engine results, you might shift some of your PPC budgets to content marketing. All of this might be overwhelming at first, but you got this.

So, how about it? Are you ready to get your marketing strategy in gear? Take a targeted approach, and let us help you see growth! We’re here for you.

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Building Your Marketing Budget: Where to Best Allocate Your Funds

Bread and butter…That is what marketing is to your business. Now, before you say anything, just think about how much marketing has already helped your business and given you awareness in otherwise closed places.

It might be bold, but hey, we’re those kind of people, so we’ll just come out and say it. Your business is only as good as its marketing strategy.

It can be hard to determine what the best fit is for your budget and your needs. In fact, it is part of the entrepreneurial challenge to figure out how to spend limited funds.

Where do you start, and how can you get the most out of your marketing while still adhering to a budget?

A good place to start is by thinking about your customers, audience, and potential audience. How do you want to reach them? What would be the best way to reach them? What medium would they respond to most?

This will help you navigate the allocation process and aim for profitable avenues of marketing. While the U.S. Small Business Administration recommends spending about 7 to 8 percent of your gross revenue, it won’t do you any good without knowledge on where to spend it.

Our advice is to try and narrow down things that you might want your marketing to include first before spending anything.

Look at the competition and do your research on marketing tools that have a proven rate of success.

Common marketing methods like:

Blogs: One of the best ways to improve drive traffic and boost your SEO ranking, blogs can also serve as an information warehouse, where readers can see that you really do have a great wealth of knowledge to share. If you had to choose a strong marketing tool for your business, blogging should be the first place you start.

Email Marketing: Emails are not going anywhere anytime soon.  With a proven track record of being solid forms of marketing that yield real growth, email is one of (if not the most) the highest drivers of ROI in marketing today. (Read more about that here: https://www.thefoundgen.com/is-email-marketing-really-as-good-as-we-keep-preaching/ )

Social Media: What can we say? Social media is – all around us (please read this in Hugh Grant voiceover tone). You can reach people you never thought possible just by being active, consistent, and engaging. Remember those three, because that is the key to social media working for you.

Videos: Video is an another way to engage your clients and potential clients. Some people won’t want to read a blog (we don’t trust those people), but will respond better to video. It can be a strong marketing tool across platforms and an easy way to step up your content and reach those who prefer a few seconds of live action before they swipe to some cats doing some cat thing.  

All of these can serve the purpose of marketing your business and reaching your target audience – where they are.

However, now you have to decide which ones to put your money toward. That is where the second piece of the puzzle comes in: determining what the right fit is for you.

This can quickly turn into a trial-and-error situation without the help of seasoned marketing professionals. You know your business (probably backward and forwards). Marketing firms know how to help bring the best out of your business and increase revenue at the same time.

It would be a shame to spend money and not see any returns. Wouldn’t it? Let’s chat about what tools your business would most benefit from and how you can see real growth.