Hotel Content Ideas That Turn Browsers Into Direct Bookers (Updated)

When you’re up against big brands and even bigger OTAs, it can be hard for your hotel website to stand out.

For a potential guest, compelling content can mean the difference between “just browsing” and booking. So how do you come up with great hotel content ideas?

Hotel content marketing is not just about clicks, or driving traffic to your website.

Your content will also power your hotel social media posts, email campaigns, digital marketing spend, and much more.

Good content should be informative, compelling, and convincing.

To help you attract (and ultimately, convert) your ideal guests, let’s look at a few hotel content ideas and some examples for each.

Check out some of the best examples of winning hotel content ideas, like custom destination guides and language cheat sheets.

Start with how your audience has changed

We all know that 2020 changed (almost) everything — including how, when, where, and why we choose to travel.

If you haven’t already, work on fine-tuning your target hotel guest audience.

Ask yourself:

  • Who is able to travel to my destination right now? What about 3 months from now? 6 months? Next year?

  • When I review my website traffic in Google Analytics, where are site visitors coming from? What trends do I see?

  • How are people searching for my destination online right now? Are they looking for discounts? Hotel staycation packages? Are they planning last-minute or booking ahead?

I cannot stress enough how important this is.

Creating content for the sake of it is not a good use of your time. Content marketing for hotels must be strategic, with clear goals in mind.

Consider whether your hotel website is knocking down the most common barriers to booking:

  • Do your hotel room descriptions offer a compelling value proposition?

  • Do you have information about your amenities and services clearly displayed?

  • How about a visitors’ guide to your destination?

  • If you have a loyalty program, are you highlighting all the benefits?

After thinking about your audience, you also need a plan for distribution, whether that’s through ranking higher on Google, sharing on social media platforms, or promoting through your hotel email newsletter.

So!

With all of that context in mind, let’s go over a few content ideas and examples that do a great job overcoming their audience’s possible barriers to booking.

Fresh out of content ideas for your hotel? This video will help:

Highlight your destination & local experiences

Culinary travel, pop culture, and off-the-beaten-path recommendations are shaping experiential travel, according to the travel experts at Skift.

When it comes to destination-focused content marketing, think about curating the local experiences your guests would love if they booked your property.

Your local experiences should really be one of your hotel content pillars — and a big part of your social media marketing, too.

Citywide Events

One of the best places to get hotel content ideas is your city’s annual event calendar.

A “citywide” can be a professional conference, sporting event, cultural festival, music concert… anything that attracts a group of visitors, really!

If you know that people will be traveling to your destination to attend a citywide event, create a blog post or dedicated landing page for it.

Think about what information would be most helpful to someone attending for the first time. Hotels can also consider providing helpful context to major spiritual or cultural events.

Here are some hotel blog examples:

Pay close attention to recurring citywides and plan to update your content periodically. This will ensure your page ranks well on Google and keeps working for you long after this year’s event has ended.

By the way, that advice still applies post-COVID…

It’s true that many traditional citywides — like major conventions or concerts — have been postponed due to the pandemic, or cancelled altogether.

It’s up to you to determined what types of events will return to your destination when it reopens. Many annual events, like big festivals or cultural celebrations, are likely to come back in some shape or form. These events drive travel demand, so it’s a good idea to be ready for them with supporting content.

Make A List

One of the easiest ways to get started creating content for your hotel is to utilize this simple, popular format.

Coming up with creative content ideas for your hotel can feel overwhelming, which is why I (and pretty much everyone else) love a good list.

Lists are easy to read, understand, and share.

This content format works especially well when you want to position your property as a go-to resource for lots of local, reliable insights.

Here are a few more examples:

Think about what will be of the most interest to your guests and reach out to your hotel team for their input.

Lists are one of the most popular social media ideas for hotels, too — just use your caption text to write a shorter summary of the key points, like a mini-blog!

Travel Itineraries

When it comes to hotel content ideas that really show off your destination and local experiences, nothing beats a great travel itinerary.

This format is great because a travel itinerary can be easily adapted based on your hotel’s unique guest profile.

For example, say you want to attract weekend warriors to your property…

Consider creating 2- or 3-day travel itineraries for your destination. Weekend leisure travelers want to make the most of their limited time and will value being shown the area’s top attractions and most important highlights.

Or… maybe you’re a boutique hotel with an interesting art collection. Create a walking tour itinerary that ties the art in your hotel to experiences around your city, like popular street art or a chic gallery.

Check out some examples from hotel brands:

Any hotel or tourism business can offer generic travel tips. Don’t be afraid to niche down and get specific!

Seasonal packing guides are a great marketing tactic for boosting off-season bookings.

Content ideas for your hotel’s low season

Many hotels and resorts struggle with marketing ideas for low demand periods.

How do you sell a beachfront property when the temperature drops? Or how about when the locals leave for vacation and the city feels completely empty?

The answer is to lean into it.

The content ideas below can help you get started marketing your hotel property during its low season.

Niche or Seasonal Packing Guide

Knowing that your hotel content needs to add value to prospective guests, a packing guide might be some of the most helpful information your hotel can provide.

This is particularly powerful if you’re in a niche destination or face some other challenge during the off-season, like unpredictable weather.

If weather or other seasonal factors are giving potential bookers reason to pause, address it head-on by showing them exactly what they can pack to prepare.

The same goes for a niche or remote destination — the traveler needs to overcome an extra layer of uncertainty or doubt, so help them do it!

Here are some great hotel blog examples showing what I mean:

Again, we don’t want to offer generic travel tips. Make sure you’re tailoring this to your unique destination and tying it back to what your hotel has to offer.

“What To Do” In The Off-Season

I’ve already noted how local lists and travel itineraries are great ways to showcase your destination, but what about the off-season?

Framing your content marketing around specific need periods and times of low occupancy is a smart tactic.

As the local expert on all things Your Destination, you can actually use content marketing to change the narrative when it comes to traditionally slow travel periods.

Here are a few more examples:

Get a little creative and use your local knowledge to find (and share) what makes visiting your destination great during its shoulder season!

Did you hear? My Hotel Social Media Masterclass includes lessons on content planning, scheduling, measurement, and much more. Join the course waitlist or get a feel for what’s in store with my FREE class on writing captions for social media below!

Useful content ideas that help guests before they arrive

Does your hotel website answer all of your guests’ burning questions?

If not, there’s nothing stopping them from opening yet another browser tab to Google your destination!

Make sure you’re providing the necessary info they need to understand local transportation, cultural quirks, and more. To find out what questions they’re asking, you need to do a bit of keyword research.

Thankfully, there are free tools that can help you: Try using Answer The Public to see what questions are being asked or run a quick (limited) search on Buzzsumo to see the content that’s been shared most often.

Language Cheat Sheet

Understanding a little bit of the local language can completely change a traveler’s experience. When you provide genuinely helpful content like a language guide, potential guests browsing your site can’t help but feel a sense of trust.

Start with translating some of the following suggested phrases/greetings:

  • “Hello!”

  • “Thank you!”

  • “Good morning/Good afternoon/good evening!”

  • “How much does this cost?”

  • “Where is the nearest (train station/market/bathroom/etc.)”

If it makes sense for your brand, feel free to get a little cheeky. How do locals order a drink at the bar? What phrases or useful slang might make a tourist feel a bit more like a local? Keep it conversational and helpful.

Photography Guide

We know that people are using Instagram as a pocket travel guide. Google searches for “Instagram guide to X Destination” are also on the rise.

You don’t need to be pro to enjoy sharing photos from your travels, so help guide guests to the most Insta-worthy local spots with a curated photography guide.

A few more hotel blog examples:

The great thing about guiding guests to the best photo opps is that you’re more likely to be tagged in their social media posts.

(By the way, user generated content is great to incorporate into your wider hotel marketing plan — but more on that in a moment!)

Create more brand advocacy with these creative loyalty marketing content ideas for hotels.

Content ideas that encourage hotel loyalty during & post-stay

Boosting your hotel’s online presence is not limited to merely attracting potential guests but must include continued engagement beyond check-out.

Loyalty programs are an important component of any overall hotel marketing strategy.

Try incorporating these easy hotel content ideas to help nurture that loyalty and encourage guests to rave about your property on their social media channels.

Show Off Recent Reviews

Research shows that guest reviews do have an impact on hotel bookings.

Encourage your guests to share their (hopefully glowing!) feedback on sites like TripAdvisor by mentioning it at check-out or during positive service interactions.

Reviews from other guests can ultimately be the tipping point for other travelers in the decision-making phase of booking.

Using positive reviews in your content marketing can be done in many ways:

  • Add relevant testimonials about your wedding services on your Weddings & Events landing page.

  • Include recent positive reviews on your hotel email newsletter.

  • Use positive reviews as regular, recurring social media content.

Keep a close eye on recurring trends in your guest reviews as you could also find inspiration for future content ideas.

Use User Generated Content

UGC (User Generated Content) can be a little tricky to navigate sometimes but is still worth exploring.

Your guests are already sharing their experiences at your property on social media. Simply search your hotel’s geo-tag or official hashtag to find tons of user-generated content.

As a general best practice, if you’ve been tagged it’s perfectly OK (even encouraged) to engage.

If a guest’s image and/or story is particularly compelling, reach out and ask their permission to share. Folks are flattered more often than not.

If you have a hotel blog, consider making “guest stories” one of your hotel content pillars.

Final Thoughts

In order to come up with a successful hotel content plan, you need to know your guest.

Understand why they may be traveling to your destination and use these hotel content ideas to create a compelling case for them to book your property.

If you’re still feeling like your creativity well has been tapped, fear not. I’ve rounded up even more social media post ideas and blog prompts for your hotel — 101 of them to be exact! 😉

My Hotel Social Media Masterclass includes lessons on content planning, scheduling, measurement, and much more. Join the course waitlist or get a feel for what’s in store with my FREE class on writing captions for social media below!

Content Marketing, Social Media, SEO, CopywritingJenn Zajac2021Comment