The COVID-19 pandemic has been the focus around the globe. In many countries, this healthcare crisis significantly affected almost all aspects of life, including the hotel industry.

The hotel industry has been hit hard. The major chains such as Hilton, Marriott, and Hyatt have taken significant steps to minimize this setback. As a way to save their business, independent hotels face the same ordeal particularly on cost-cutting, reducing the staff and slashing budgets.

For hoteliers and independent owners out there, it might be time to take a look at several hotel marketing ideas after COVID-19. Remember it is no longer “business as usual” anymore but there are things that you can do right now to stay on top and recover.

Getting in touch with clients and partners

Due to the current “downtime”, it might be the right time to nurture those client relationships so that it will be a smooth transition once the COVID-19 crisis starts to subside. Hotels who work with any outside agencies or contractors should get in touch. These relationships are still vital to maintain.

Make it a priority to check in often with your paid media, public relations firm or advertising agency, go-to hospitality copywriter, or social media specialist. Although work has been stopped temporarily, you want to be ready to start over post-COVID-19.

Auditing your website content

As one of the marketing ideas after COVID-19, it might be time to check your website content. After updating your website with COVID-19 guidelines or announcements, it might be the right time to write refreshed content for these pages.

With fresh, updated, and relevant content for the website of your hotel, it will be easy to start anew once things calm down. If you need help with your content, you need an SEO service that will ensure that your website will stand out from the rest.  You can add content about sights and attractions in your area. Remember that people might be eager to travel once the restrictions ease up. These people will search for ideas and make sure that your hotel shows up online.

Reassessing your promotional calendar

For those who already made plans for 2020, promotional events in the months when COVID-19 took off as well as up to the 3^rd quarter might be scrapped due to the unexpected outlook in the hotel industry.

It is best to salvage what you can – entertaining promotions, creative concepts, and many more and put those ideas aside. For now, it is best to focus on the current scenario. In most hotels, they are not open to room bookings while weddings and corporate events might be on hold.

Growing your email list

For now, you cannot solely depend on advertising and social media to reach clients. With the current focus on COVID-19 and other related issues, chances of your message getting through are slim.

Although it is not the right time to be selling, you can provide your customers with useful, virtual content you are working on. Email is the fastest and efficient way for your content to reach directly to those contacts.

Decide on a plan to regularly communicate, whether it is every week, bi-weekly, or monthly. With this approach, your hotel will always stay on the mind of interested clients and repeat guests.

Assisting the community

In the hotel industry, taking care of others is part of the job. As part of your marketing tactics after COVID-19, it might be best to put time and resources in helping the community. If your hotel is in a position to help its personnel, it is a good starting point. For those who can do it externally, you can check out the suggestions below.

• Donating perishable food items to the local food kitchen or a charity.
• Preparing care packages for those who are in need. Aside from pantry items, you can include extra supplies that might go to waste including toiletries.

Aside from these measures, there are also extreme actions if your hotel is up for it. Some hotels are turned into temporary hospitals while others serve as shelter for folks under mandated isolation as well as healthcare workers.

Getting organized

After COVID-19, it might be best to organize certain aspects of your marketing tactics. Check the social media profiles of your hotel if they are consistent and filled in. Do not forget to monitor all traffic coming in from your links as well as running an audit of your third-party listings. Remember that these drive valuable traffic and new leads. Additionally, claim Google My Business listing of your hotel and make sure that the information is accurate. With this in mind, you should take your hotel to a higher level when it comes to its online presence with the help of  Voice Search Optimization by KiksMedia.

Final thoughts

With the help of these marketing tips after COVID-19, it can help your hotel bounce back normally despite the significant effects brought about by the health crisis in the hotel industry.