Advertisements have played a pivotal role in shifting audience perception about a product. Besides, advertisements are inevitable and omnipresent: while walking the street, while listening to music and an irritating 15-second ad jumps out (which sometimes ruins your experience), before watching a YouTube video…
There are several advantages of advertising, including:
Influencing individual lifestyles and the level to which an individual wants to display himself or herself in a socially acceptable manner.
Promoting persona and lifestyle as well as products and services.
Informing the public about contemporary lifestyles, visuals, and current trends.
The effect of ads on consumers
It is important to understand the impact of advertisements on consumers. Some of the statistics will be further illustrated in the following infographic:
Source: Smallbizgenius; Clutch.co
Different types of ads also have different effects on audiences. Some businesses incorporate humor into their marketing campaigns. However, some humorous content might overshadow the message the business wants to convey. Sometimes, humorous ads might not have the long-lasting effect on consumers compared to other types of ads.
Hilton hotel ad. Image source: KillMarketing.
Besides, consumers perceive ads differently, since it depends on their mood. Research reveals the effect of mood congruency, which explains how our moods affect how we retrieve and store information. According to this effect, seeing a pleasant program stimulates and boosts the accessibility of other good content stored in the viewer’s memory.
So, what are the advertising strategies hotels could adopt?
There are 5 things to keep in mind before and while implementing advertising strategies for hotels.
Target audiences
Firstly, the hotels would have to identify the appropriate target audiences to promote their business. For instance, a student hostel cannot aim for wealthy audiences, and fancy resorts might not want to target people with low income. Therefore, it is important to do research into target audiences that suit the purposes and the values of the hotel.
It is important to do research into audiences to implement appropriate marketing strategies. Image source: Survey Sparrow.
Channels of communication
Besides, the channels of communication are also a factor that determine the success of the advertisement. Traditional media is not obsolete as many might assume. CNB Catalyst reveals Google, Facebook and Netflix spent 60% of their own marketing budgets on TV ads in the UK. TV advertising raises brand awareness and keeps businesses in your mind for considerably longer than a paid ad or search result.
Budget and location of ad display
For hotels with a small budget, they could increase outreach by displaying ads on airports, or collaborating with other hotels and display advertisements on various locations, such as on the billboards or leaflets. It is also possible to integrate with other businesses such as in restaurants or airports to help hotels target different audiences. In relation to displaying ads at airports: Economic Times reveals that travelers tend to pay attention to outdoor media, with more than 75% of them noticing airport signs and advertising displays.
Hotels could adopt several marketing channels to reach potential guests. Image source: Marketing91.
For hotels with a larger budget and might not be hesitant to spend on promotion, traditional media (TV commercials or event sponsorship) are what to aim for. By having a more substantial amount of budget, these strategies can maximize the effect of advertising to consumers.
Combination of traditional and digital advertising
Disclaimer: this does not mean that hotels should not focus solely on traditional media and start overlooking the power digital advertising holds. Hotels could show how they could cater for guest needs and pay attention to the message and the visuals in the advertisements.
Online websites and audience interactions
Hotels should aim to display ads, promote suitable persona and lifestyles depending on the target audiences. And finally, creating online websites and social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, or even TikTok to interact with audiences are also an effective way to gain more attraction.
Conclusion
Consumers are exposed to an array of choices. There could be thousands of products or services from different companies, but there are certain criteria that determine the decision-making process of consumers. Advertisements may help businesses deliver excellent economic success and widespread exposure to a large spectrum of consumers. Therefore, hotels need to adopt appropriate strategies to help leverage their businesses and reach wider audiences through different advertising channels.