Marketing tools: as a hotel or restaurant, they take a lot of work off your hands when it comes to online visibility. And it is precisely this visibility that is so important so that you can attract new guests and see existing guests again and again. There are various marketing tools that can help you with this. They give you insights, make your work easier and help take your online marketing to the next level. There are just so many of them! And whereas a certain tool might be perfect for an online shop, it is of little use to you as a hospitality business. Can't see the wood for the trees? We have listed the 6 best marketing tools for the hospitality industry for you. Tools that we use ourselves for our clients and that have proven themselves time and again. Read on and get started yourself.
1. Canva: anyone can design
Ever wonder how other restaurants make those beautiful posts on Instagram anyway? Chances are they use Canva! Don't let designers hear it, but with this easy-to-use tool, anyone can design! Yes, even if you don't understand anything about Photoshop or InDesign.
Preset formats
In the Canva tool, you first choose what you want to create. A post on Instagram? A Facebook Ad? An animated story or another kind of visual? The right formats are already set. Then you choose a template to customise completely to your taste, or create your own from scratch to design.
Add photos, shapes, elements and fonts from the vastly expanded Canva library, or upload your own images and style elements, such as your restaurant or hotel logo. The possibilities are enormous!
There is a free version of Canva that will get you a long way. Want to make use of all the features, with your business' corporate identity available throughout Canva? Then go for the paid version, which costs less than a tenner a month.
2. Google Analytics: insight into your website visitors
No online marketer can do without Google Analytics. Why? With this tool, you get a lot of insight into the behaviour of your website visitors and the channels that lead to your website. As far as we are concerned, it is also indispensable for every restaurant or hotel.
For instance, the tool measures where website visitors come from before they land on your site. Did they click on a social post? Did they type in your URL themselves or come to your site via that mailing? The tool measures this thanks to a tracking code on your site, which allows you to track and then analyse visitors and their behaviour.
Valuable information about your website and target audience
You can also see, for example, how long a page has been viewed, whether visitors make a reservation or where they drop out. In short: super valuable information to optimise your website and learn more about your guests! Totally nice touch: Google Analytics is free.
The only danger of this tool? You can measure SO much with it. If you are not careful, you will not see the wood for the trees. So study this tool well, so that you can filter out the most valuable information.
3. Microsoft Clarity: measure the behaviour of your visitors
Want to crawl a little further into the minds of your (potential) guests? Then Microsoft Clarity is your tool. This tool measures the behaviour of your website visitors. Maybe you know Hotjar? Microsoft Clarity is a similar tool.
For instance, heatmaps show exactly where your page was clicked and how often. With this, you may find out that many people are trying to click on a non-clickable element, which means your website could be more user-friendly.
Understanding why visitors drop out
You can also take screen shots of website visitors and track their behaviour on your website. Where do they click, how do they scroll: you just watch with them! Afterwards and anonymously, as the tool is completely AVG-proof.
Who knows, you might find out that your menu is not at all as findable as you thought. Or that people drop out when making a reservation because they have to fill in too many details. Whereas Google Analytics provides insight into where things go wrong, Microsoft Clarity teaches you why they go wrong. Information to get started right away!
Microsoft Clarity is free to use.
4. Facebook Ads Manager: get more out of your ads
If you advertise through Facebook, promise us that you never do so via the 'promote' button on your business page. That way, you will never get all you can out of an ad!
So what should you do? Use the Facebook Ads Manager. This is the tool to advertise on Facebook and Instagram.
Targeted advertising
With this tool, you create clear campaigns containing one or more ads. Target an interesting target group, so you don't waste money on people who will never come to your hotel or restaurant anyway. For example, you can target by place of residence and interests. Does your hotel focus on business travel? Then target CEOs or managers, for example.
You can also set the time of day when your ads are visible. As a restaurant, do this around lunch and dinner time, for example. That way, you reach people who are near you at the time when they are likely to be hungry.
Optimising campaigns
The tool collects all kinds of data from your ads. How many times was this ad viewed? How often was it clicked on? What is the click-through rate (Click-Through-Rate) and what did you pay per click?
Using all the data, we can optimise your campaigns so that you get maximum results for as little money as possible. You can Facebook Ads Manager use for free.
5. Google Tag Manager: no developer needed
When you deploy online marketing, of course you want to know if you are doing it right. Whether it is paying off. Therefore: measuring is knowing! Google Tag Manager helps with this.
Tracking codes track visitors
In fact, tracking codes, tags, labels or pixels allow you to track website visitors. This is how Google Analytics works. You can also set up measurement pixels for the Facebook ad I just mentioned. This lets you know exactly which ad converts well and where you can therefore spend more money. And which ad can be fine-tuned or better turned off. Other marketing tools also use such measurement tags or pixels.
You put these tags on the 'backend' of your website. However, chances are you can't do this yourself and it is very annoying if you have to keep waiting for your programmer to place a new tag. Besides, using a lot of separate tags will not make your website any faster.
Manage your tags yourself
Google Tag Manager offers the solution. This is a free tool where you easily manage all the tags on your website, without the intervention of a developer. Ahead, just once then, to place the Google Tag Manager code. Then you can use it via your Google Tag Manager dashboard all by yourself from now on. Handy!
6. SEMrush: improve the findability of your website
Last but not least: SEMrush. This is a very comprehensive SEO tool. In other words, a tool to promote the findability of your website, also known as search engine optimisation.
SEMrush offers you several tools for this. For instance, you can use this tool to do a keyword research. This helps you find out what the volume is on certain search terms, how high the competition is and which search terms plus semantic keywords are needed for a good SEO page. For example, if you want to be found on 'eating out Rotterdam' or 'day trip The Hague'.
Also measure your competition
In addition, SEMrush measures your website on points like link building and search engine advertising (SEA). The beauty of SEMrush is that it not only your website, but also those of your competition. That way, you make sure you stay ahead of them.
There is a free limited version of SEMrush available. Want to use all the features? Then go for the paid version. This starts at $119.95 per month.
And now?
Six tools mentioned above will help you improve your online marketing game. As far as we are concerned, they are indispensable for any hotel or restaurant. With some you can get started right away, others require a bit more practice and explanation.
As seasoned hospitality marketers, we now know these tools like the back of our hand. The Fully Bookers help you on your way! We give you tips & tricks, send you a monthly report that you can take further yourself, or take everything off your hands. Just as you wish.
Feel free to take contact with us to discuss the possibilities!
