Hotel Marketing & Sales Tips, Tactics & Techniques to make your business stand out above the competition.

1. HOTEL MARKETING & SALES
“TACTICS, TIPS & TECHNIQUES”
•Guerilla Marketing
•Marketing Partnerships
•Sales Tactics
•Community Involvement
•Hotel Competition

2. Hotel Marketing & Sales
 To be a successful hotel in your market you must know 4
things………
 Hotel Surroundings
 Key Competitors: Hotels within a 3-5 mile radius
 Key Selling Points: Mall, Restaurants, Sporting Events
 Hotel Needs
 What areas does your hotel need to work on? GOALS?
 ADR, RevPar, Occupancy, Overall Revenue
 Corporate Clients, Group & Tour, Week or Weekend Leisure
 Hotel Strengths
 What does your hotel offer that competition does NOT?
 How can you stand out from your competition?
 Hotel ‘Weaknesses’ (Areas to Work On)
 You MUST understand what your hotel does not offer before you can sell &
market your product successfully
 Put yourself in the consumers position & point of view
S.W.O.T Analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Threats)

4. 1. What is ‘Guerilla Marketing’?
 The term guerrilla marketing was inspired by
guerrilla warfare which is a form of irregular warfare
and relates to the small tactic strategies used by
armed civilians.
 Many of these tactics includes ambushes, sabotage,
raids and elements of surprise.
 Much like guerrilla warfare, guerrilla marketing uses
the same sort of tactics in the marketing industry.
 Guerrilla marketing originally was a concept aimed
towards small businesses with a small budget, but
this didn’t stop big businesses from adopting the
same ideology.

5. ‘Guerilla Marketing’
Larger, More Expensive Examples

6. What is ‘Guerilla Marketing’?
 Guerrilla marketing is an unconventional, low-cost advertising strategy
(graffiti, sticker bombing) that are utilized, often in a localized fashion or large
network of individual cells, to convey or promote a product or an idea.
 The term guerrilla marketing is easily traced to guerrilla warfare which utilizes
atypical tactics to achieve a goal in a competitive and unforgiving environment.
 The concept of guerrilla marketing was invented as an unconventional system
of promotions that relies on time, energy and imagination rather than a
big marketing budget.
 Typically, guerrilla marketing campaigns are unexpected and unconventional,
potentially interactive, and consumers are targeted in unexpected places.
 The objective of guerrilla marketing is to create a unique, engaging and
thought-provoking concept to generate buzz.
 Guerrilla marketing involves unusual approaches such as intercept encounters
in public places, street giveaways of products, PR stunts, or any unconventional
marketing intended to get maximum results from minimal resources.
 Guerrilla marketing focuses on low cost creative strategies of marketing. Basic
requirements are time, energy, and imagination and not money.
 Sales do not compose of the primary static to measure business but is replaced by
profit. Emphasis is on retaining existing customers then acquiring new ones.

7. ‘Guerilla Marketing’ Examples

8. ‘Guerilla Marketing’ Examples

9. What is ‘Guerilla Marketing’?
 This alternative advertising style relies heavily on
unconventional marketing strategy, high energy and
imagination.
 Guerrilla Marketing is about taking the consumer by
surprise, make an indelible impression and create
copious amounts of social buzz.
 Guerrilla marketing is said to make a far more valuable
impression with consumers in comparison to more
traditional forms of advertising and marketing.
 This is due to the fact that most guerrilla
marketing campaigns aim to strike the consumer at a
more personal and memorable level.

10. ‘Guerilla Marketing’ Examples

11. What is ‘Guerilla Marketing’?
 Guerrilla marketing is often ideal for small
businesses that need to reach a large audience
without breaking the bank.
 Must have a solid game plan in place before launching
any campaigns.
 Can be expensive (on any level).
 Be smart with your money & EXECUTE!
 Stick to a campaign & give it time to work
 Individuals have also adopted this marketing style as
a way to find a job.

12. Inexpensive Options www.vistaprint.com
Personal Billboards
Inexpensive Option: $15/Shirt on www.vistaprint.com

13. Inexpensive Options www.vistaprint.com

14. Inexpensive Options
 1 Gorilla Costume from Walgreens: $40
 1 T-shirt from VistaPrint: $15
 Attention Received: PRICELESS!!

15. Inexpensive Options:www.vistaprint.com
PersonalizedBusinessCards
Employee Referral Card Unique Business Card
Give Each Employee 10-15 Cards
(Employee Name & Date)
Good Incentive for FD Attendants
•‘Close’ more sales leads
•‘Close’ more call-ins & inquiries.

16. Inexpensive Options:Handouts & Flyers
Special Discounted Rates
*LocalBusinessesnearhotel(employeesthattravel)
*Mall:Introduceyourselftothestoremanagertohandthemout
*LocalMedicalFacility(nottoolarge)withTravelingDoctors/Nurses
Front: First thing they see! (Attention Grabber)
Inside: Unfold back with brief description of ‘special’ you’re offering!
Map & Directions to your property with contact number important!

17. Inexpensive Options:Handouts & Flyers
Special Discounted Rates
SpecificTimesoftheyear

18. ‘Sticker-BOMBS’
•Public Places, Lots of Traffic & Views
•Random Placement: Golf Carts, Back of Seats, Doorknobs, Apparel
•WARNING: Nothing Explicit, Damaging or Offensive
•Simple, Non-Destructive & Removable (if necessary)
I received more
comments from
random people
about this sticker
on the McDonalds
Drive-Through
Pole in 2 Weeks
than I ever could
have imagined.

19. ‘Marketing Placement’

20. Marketing Placement
Otherpeoplecanbeyourbestadvertisers!

21. Mobile Advertising
VehicleMagnets:$12-$15 onwww.vistaprint.com

22. Hotel Examples: ‘Attention-Grabbers’

23. Hotel Virtual Tour
Inexpensive option to promote your business on multiple social media sites.
 https://youtu.be/RE0shvDAibk
 Steps to creating your own “Virtual Tour”
 Take 1-2 Hours to record all aspects of your hotel to show everyone.
 Exterior: Commons Area, Main Entrance, Parking Lot
 Interior: Main Lobby, Front Desk, Business & Fitness Center & Other Amenities
 Room Types: Make sure to include each room type & all in-room amenities

24. Key Principles of Guerrilla Marketing
 Guerrilla Marketing is specifically geared for the small businesses.
 Instead of money, the primary investments of marketing should be time, energy,
and imagination.
 Find your ‘vistaprint’ or ‘face in hole’ to get creative & set yourself apart from the rest!
 The marketer should also concentrate on how many new relationships are made
each month.
 Great way to ‘gage’ your campaign & ‘reach’.
 Who is seeing it & is it working in the way you intended it to?
 Instead of concentrating on getting new customers, aim for more referrals,
more transactions with existing customers, and larger transactions.
 Guerrilla marketers should use a combination of marketing methods for a campaign.
 Examples: Flyers, Handouts, Coupons/Specials, Sticker Placement, Personal & Mobile
Billboards
 Use current technology as a tool to build your business.
 Internet & Social Media Sites that generate attention & traffic
 Stay away from stale advertisement (print advertising, newspapers)
 If you want to grab someone’s attention you have to know who & when it’s at work!
 Messages are aimed at individuals or small groups, the smaller the better.
 This is why a ‘Marketing Game Plan’ is VITAL to success & seeing RESULTS!
 If you ‘put all of your eggs in 1 basket’ & throw out a ‘Hail Mary’ it’s probably not going
to land & if it does, you won’t be able to track it correctly.
 Commit to your campaign
 Don’t try to change your ideas & plans every other week if you’re not seeing instant results.
 You must give it time to develop & spread

25. 2. Sales Tactics Area Prospecting
 Parking Lot Sweeps
 Aware of what’s going on in your area! IMPORTANT!
 Fishbowl Drawings
 Generate New Corporate Leads & Contacts
 Guest Appreciation BBQ
 Chance to reach out & meet guests
 Good ‘PR’ for guests arriving
 Post Pictures on Social Media Sites
 On-line Seasonal Specials & Packages
 Utilize Partnerships
 “Ultimate Hawkeye Package”
 “Super Summer Savings Special”
 “Fun without the Sun”

26. Sales Tactics: Handouts & Flyers

27. Sales Tactics: Handouts & Flyers

28. Sales Tactics: “Seasonal Specials”
 “Bad Weather Special”
 Hand out coupons or flyers to surrounding businesses
offering special weather rate.
 Employees that travel may need a place to stay
 Managers, Doctors, Nurses travel 30+ miles
 “Weekend Warrior”
 What are the slower days of the week for your hotel?
 Our hotel loses Occupancy during certain times of the
year during the weekend.

29. 3. Marketing Partnerships

30. Marketing Partnerships
*Others start to promote for YOU!

31. Marketing Partnerships
“Hawkeye Sports Properties”

32. Marketing Partnership Examples
“Hawkeye Sports Properties”

33. Marketing Partnership Examples

34. Marketing Partnerships
“Hawkeye Sports Properties”

35. Marketing Partnership Examples
Hawkeye Game Sponsorship
“Live Radio” Interview

36. Marketing Partnerships=Great Relationships

37. 4. Community Involvement
“Jack of all Trades”
•Versatile
•Organized
•Involved
•Supporting Local Groups/Events
•Volunteering

38. Community Involvement
CVB Volunteer

39. Community Involvement

40. Community Involvement
 Chamber & Ambassadors Member (2009-Present)
 Ambassador Executive Chair (2009-2011)
 Speaker for multiple new businesses in the community
 North Liberty Committee Executive Chair (2010-Present)
 Organized Annual Golf Outing & Fun Run past 2 years
 Attendance has increased by 20% each year
 CVB Committee Member (2009-Present)
 Fry Fest Committee Member: Hotel Marketing Committee
 Goodwill:
 2011 Employer of the Year
 HAS Member “Hospitality Association” (2009-Present)
 Monthly Committee Meetings to discuss hotel & market trends
 American Heart Association Member (2004-2009)
 Board Member & Volunteer for Annual Heart Walk every April

41. Community Involvement

42. Community Awards
 “2010 Ambassador of the Quarter & Year”
 “2011 Employer of the Year”
 “40 Under Forty” 2011 & 2012 Finalist
 “2012 Small Business of the Year”
 “2010-2015 Gold Award Recipient”
 2013-2015 Hotel of the Year Finalist
 “2012 Platinum Award” Finalist
 Ranked #3 out of 57 Suburban Hotels in Country

43. Community Involvement
Golf Outings

44. 5. Competition
Lead Sources:
‘A-B-C’: “Always Be Checking”
•Parking Lot Sweeps
•Local Projects (sub-contractors)
•Realty Companies
•University Departments
•Hospital Departments & Patients
•Insurance Companies
•Government & Military
•Reception Halls
•Bus Companies & Tours
•Sports Teams

45. Know Your Competition

46. Competition ‘Intel’: Parking Lot Sweeps

47. Competition ‘Intel’:Sources

48. Hard Work + Dedication = Hotel Growth