5 Tips to Elevate Your Resort Marketing

How to Improve Your Resort Marketing

In a world where the luxury travel industry is more competitive than ever, effective resort marketing has become crucial for success. This article delves into cutting-edge strategies and innovative approaches for marketing luxury resorts. By embracing the latest digital trends and understanding the unique needs of discerning travelers, resorts can significantly enhance their appeal and stand out in a crowded market.

1 . Fully Embrace the Digital Revolution in Resort Marketing

In the luxury hospitality industry, digital channels have become a cornerstone of effective resort marketing. With a surge in online engagement, resorts must adapt and innovate to capture the attention of discerning travellers. Digital marketing means being able to talk directly to your potential guests, engaging and inspiring them to visit your resort. Unlike traditional marketing, it's easy to measure your efficacy and where bookings come from at all times. As a resort, mastering digital marketing will have a direct impact on your bottom line and give you an advantage over your competition.

2. Leverage The Power of Storytelling in Digital Marketing

Storytelling, more than ever, is a powerful tool in marketing. It's not just about selling a room; it's about selling a unique experience. With 71% of consumers preferring brands that provide personalized experiences, resorts can use storytelling to create an emotional resonance, offering a narrative that transforms a simple stay into a memorable journey.

Successful storytelling involves highlighting unique aspects of the resort, such as its history, location, cultural significance, and exclusive amenities. These narratives should make potential guests dream about what it would be like to visit your resort, tapping into their need to escape their daily grind. Narratives should be woven into all marketing materials, from website content to social media posts, creating a cohesive and engaging brand story.

Traveling is an emotional decision, don't be afraid to inspire!

​95% of travelers read seven reviews before making a booking.

3. Online Reviews and Reputation Management in Resort Marketing

You can tell your audience all about how great your hotel is, you can even use persuasive copywriting techniques to do so. But chances are, they're not just going to take your word for it! Online reviews significantly influence potential guests' booking decisions. Actively managing these reviews is essential for maintaining a positive brand image. As the statistic above points out, the importance of reviews can not be overstated!

Responding to reviews, both positive and negative, shows that the resort values guest feedback and is committed to improving its services. This can turn even negative experiences into opportunities to demonstrate excellent customer service.

Encouraging satisfied guests to leave reviews can also bolster the resort’s online presence. This can be achieved through post-stay emails or incentives for those who leave reviews. One tried and true technique to get more reviews is to use competition platforms like Gleam, pushing people to leave reviews in exchange for entries to the competition.  

We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us."
​– Robyn Yong​

4. Become a Thought Leader & Leverage SEO

In the realm of resort marketing, SEO and content marketing are vital components for establishing a resort as a trusted source of information about its destination. Effective SEO ensures that a resort's website appears prominently in search engine results, drawing more potential guests to the site. This involves optimizing web content with relevant keywords, meta descriptions, and effective tagging.

Meanwhile, content marketing focuses on creating and sharing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly-defined audience. This could include blog posts about local attractions, travel tips, or behind-the-scenes glimpses into the resort's operations. By regularly updating this content, resorts can keep potential guests engaged, encouraging them to return to the website for more information and ultimately book a stay.

Resorts can also position themselves as thought leaders in the travel and hospitality industry. This involves publishing insightful articles, guides, and tips about the destination, going beyond just promoting the resort itself. By providing valuable information about local culture, events, and experiences, resorts can establish a reputation as a go-to source for travelers seeking an authentic and enriching experience.

Combining SEO with a robust content marketing strategy, including thought leadership, allows resorts to enhance their online visibility and establish a strong digital presence. This approach not only drives more traffic to their website but also builds trust and credibility with potential guests, setting the foundation for long-term success in the competitive luxury resort market.

5. Use an Omnichannel Approach to Keep Top-of-mind

An omnichannel marketing approach is crucial in maintaining top-of-mind awareness, a marketing concept referring to a brand or specific product being the first one that comes to customers’ minds when thinking about a particular industry or category.

In the context of travel, staying top-of-mind is vital due to the highly competitive nature of the industry and the infrequent, often seasonal nature of travel decision-making. In other words, you might find users while they're not quite ready to make traveling decisions. But by keeping top-of-mind, you assure yourself that when they do make a decision to travel, they'll be thinking about your resort. 

By employing an omnichannel strategy, resorts can ensure consistent and effective communication across various channels - such as social media, email, mobile apps, and websites. This approach not only provides multiple touchpoints to engage with potential guests but also creates a seamless and integrated user experience. Staying top-of-mind is important as it increases the likelihood that when individuals are ready to make travel decisions, they recall and choose your resort, thereby driving bookings and fostering loyalty.

If you have any questions about marketing for your resort, take a look at our frequently asked questions or book a free consultation!