What is an Autograph Collection Hotel?

Autograph Collection stands against one-size-fits-all travel adventures, a confidante to those exploring hotel experiences that leave a vivid imprint every time they travel (Autograph collection hotels, 2021). The series of hotels are hand-selected for their original craft, design, and authenticity. Guaranteeing each property is exactly like nothing else, curated by unique design, craft, and hospitality perspectives.

 

Autograph Collection Special Identifiers

When an Autograph Collection hotel is being selected, its guiding principles ensure each property meets and appeals to the needs of its buyer persona, The Individualist. The individualist looks for vision, design, craft, and sense of place. 

A PRODUCT OF VISION – Each hotel should be inspired by a clear vision, soul, and story. 

HEARTFELT DESIGN – Autograph Collection Hotels bring indulgence and purpose to their design. These elements should come together to tell the hotel’s story and deliver both tactile and heartfelt satisfaction.

DEDICATION TO CRAFT – Rooted in the properties’ personalities, they offer uncommon moments that leave a rich imprint and linger with the guest long after they’ve left.

SENSE OF PLACE – Handpicked hotels are intimately connected to the history and culture of their surroundings and become part of the locality’s fabric.

 

 

Hotel Branding Activation

The Mark of a Collection Hotel is a way for the Autograph Collection and its hotels to bring their incomparable character and stories to life. 

As self-expression of each hotel’s brand positioning, The Mark leaves a lasting guest impression with every stay. Each hotel will create its own Mark that draws together the collective narrative of the hotel into a marketing touchpoint.

Marriott defines the Mark of the Autograph collection hotels as:

• A signature moment within the guest experience
• Intended to draw attention and spark conversation
• Motivated by the hotel’s brand

The Mark is unique to each hotel; it may come in many forms. The Mark of a luxury hotel fuses the ability to encapsulate the hotel’s brand and bring it to life for guests in a signature moment that sparks conversation.

 

Promoting a Luxury Hotel’s Brand

Airbnb’s newest Experiences feature us is, intending to provide guests with experiences they wouldn’t be able to have elsewhere. People worldwide can sign up to lead groups and individuals through adventures to engage travelers into their life as a local. Instead of falling into tourist traps, Airbnb users can see things from a local’s point of view on food, cocktails, and the outdoors. LVMH recently purchased luxury travel company Belmond plans to make traditional luxury travel less about opulent hotels and accommodations and more about one-of-a-kind experiences (Danziger, 2018).

The Mark is a strategy created for the Autograph Collection brand to help create a cohesive image and awareness at the portfolio level. Any luxury hotel can utilize the Mark strategy by utilizing social media and digital channels to attract attention and inspire conversation around your luxury hotel. 

Here, you will find ideas for leveraging Marriotts Mark’s strategy to tell your brand’s story and inspire your social media strategy. 

 

Sharing Real Experiences (User Generated Content)

A picture speaks a thousand words. A guest’s photography allows other consumers to experience the luxury hotel’s brand that authenticates the marketing strategy’s stories. It shows the consumer what their vacation can look like.  

Develop a regular cadence for sharing UGC in your monthly content calendar. For example: Commit to posting UGC of The Mark once a month to your Instagram feed or rounding up the best UGC for a weekly Instagram Story. When hotels share guest photos, they inspire other guests to share, too. We love this phenomenon, as we know UGC is a powerful driver of hotel conversions: 

• 92% of consumers trust posts from family and friends more than any other form of advertising (Inglis & Says: 2020). 
•  89% of millennials (age 23–38) plan travel activities based on content posted by their peers online (Carnoy, 2017). 

Knowing your guests are excited to share their experiences, hotels must also create unique experiences to provide “photo-worthy” moments when planning to execute The Mark strategy. 

Hotel Paso del Norte utilizes The Dome Bar as a backdrop for many photo-worthy experiences in the example below. 

 

Host Local Influencers 

Local influencers are your city’s experts on all local happenings. They should always be on the guestlist for exclusive hotel events, activations, or special brand−related special events or experiences. Although compensation is not exchanged with local influencers, and no coverage is guaranteed, it’s essential to make them feel at home and part of the hotel’s story. 

The relationship between a hotel and an influencer can help secure positive social media mentions and referrals from them in the future. Local influencers are also likely to convince their followers and network to join them at the luxury hotel, resulting in positive natural mentions and word-of-mouth sharing for the luxury hotel.

Host an Influencer

A dedicated influencer trip is a surefire way for you to get positive publicity for your Mark because your influencers will have the opportunity to cover something they’ve experienced and enjoyed firsthand. Influencer trips can be one of the most economical marketing tools with the most significant outreach potential and are a fantastic opportunity to showcase your unique offering. Look to host an influencer trip centered around experiencing your hotel’s Mark. When working with an influencer, make sure you secure appropriate usage rights and waivers.

When hosting out-of-town influencers, be sure to: 

Treat Your Influencer Guests as VIPs: 

Roll out the red carpet! Offering a complimentary stay with an F&B or resort credit can go a long way to ensure each part of the hotel is experienced and shared (look to host during slow periods so as not to displace revenue).

Place Influencers in the Best Room Available: 

Since the influencers will be photographing your hotel for a large audience, they must be placed in the best possible room, one that is bright and includes a view of your destination. Please also ensure complimentary access to in-room Wi-Fi for the duration of their stay.

Provide a Welcome Amenity: 

Upon arrival, welcome the influencer and provide a curated in-room welcome amenity that highlights your property and makes for a positive first impression. Curate your welcome amenity to ensure it includes a personal note, highlights your hotel’s Mark or brand. 

Offer an Optional Property Tour: 

Coordinate a property tour with your hotel’s most charismatic and knowledgeable spokesperson (Owner, General Manager, Director of Sales and Marketing), who can layer on storytelling as they show influencers around.

Engage with your Digital Community

Actively engaging with your social community will help establish relationships and the luxury hotel’s reputation with existing guests and potential customers. It is essential to respond to both positive and negative reviews and comments. 

Engaging with guests on their social posts—develop a tone of voice to respond to UGC and chatter about your Mark or brand positively. Interact with similar hotels to drive positive affiliations. An autograph Collection hotel can interact with Mariot Bonvoy and Marriott international. Finally, repurpose guest UGC in Instagram static posts and stories, meaningful reviews, or comments. Engage with the community of any influencers you hire or stay at your hotel, further tapping into their audience.

 

 

A content pillar is a primary theme for content that will structure many blog posts, images, videos, and infographics that follow. These pillars can be rotated into various smaller topics and linked back to the main pillars of content. This creates fluidity of related and relevant content.

The benefit of content pillars is that they help you stay focused and consistent for your key demographics. When deciding upon a content pillar, think about the keywords you will routinely use to anchor your articles in good SEO practice. The best content pillars provide the foundations for a luxury hotel to become relatable. 

1. Hygiene and Saftey Efforts

In the wake of the COVID-19, showcasing your hotel’s abilities to guarantee the safety of your customers. Your hotel patrons need to be assured that they can walk into a hotel and enjoy luxury amenities risk-free of contracting the virus. That said, most of your marketing efforts should be focused on showcasing the hygiene policies and strategies you’ve put in place to protect your target customers. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. History 

The New York Times tells a unique way to capitalize on something that makes every hotel distinct from anywhere else in its market: its history. Hotels are not merely rooms to rest; they are also about the history of a particular city or a particular period. Pick a day of the week to share a bit of history on your content calendar to appeal to the emotions of local patrons.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. Food and Beverage

Marketing to foodies is an important source of revenue for full-service hotels. Food and beverage are an increasingly significant motivator for travel, as 75% of leisure travelers have been prompted to visit a new destination because of a culinary venture (Association, 2018). Hotel guests are also spending more on food and beverage (F&B) each year. Recent figures reveal that F&B spending has seen 5.5 percent annual growth since 2011 (Simon, 2018).

4. User-Generated Content

Encouraging guests to post photos with your hotel’s hashtags enables potential patrons to search through real experiences at the property and give you an additional content library.

Creating social media content that is consistently engaging will help a hotel reach potential guests with the information they are likely searching for. Each hotel is different, and not all these strategies will apply to your target audience, but these five examples are a good start!

Did you know 97% of all online purchases happen after reading reviews? Using a third party to host your reviews can help increase revenue by 5% to 9% per every star gained on Yelp in the hotel industry. 

A luxury hotel can increase revenue by encouraging customers to leave reviews on online platforms. Generating and responding to online reviews will help develop compelling and meaningful consumer connections, promote your online brand, and act as a customer service tool. A successful online reputation strategy includes

• Encouraging User Generated Content (UGC)
• Engage with all reviews (especially the negative ones)
• Adding accurate business listings with quality photos

Encouraging User Generated Content (UGC)

Create a Unique Hashtag

Hashtags are used to categorize various posts and search topics of interest. Create a unique hashtag to track mentions on Facebook and Instagram. Educate your followers towards your hotel’s preferred hashtag by adding it to all of your captions on social media. Be sure to check this hashtag weekly and respond to the post. Encouraging guests to post photos with your hotel’s hashtags enables potential patrons to search through real experiences at the property and give you an additional content library.

Contest & Giveaways

Contests on social media are an excellent way to stimulate engagement and create enthusiasm about your luxury hotel. Instead of hosting a generic contest where users have to ‘like’ the hotel’s page or ‘follow,’ Ask guests to share their favorite moments of their stay at your hotel and give away a package every quarter.

Engage With All Reviews

The data is very clear! TripAdvisor’s Study reveals replying to reviews online drives bookings! The Study shows a 0% response rate averages a 3.81 average review rating versus a 65% plus response averages a 4.15 review rating.

Additionally, the Study exhibits an average increase of 0.12 stars on TripAdvisor ratings after reviews are responded to. Furthermore, the increase in ratings does not result from the quality of the hotel. Still, alternately, found the increase is consonant with a change in reviewer preference: consumers with a poor experience become less likely to leave a negative review when they see hotels are answering. 

When responding, look for complaints, inquire about satisfaction, provide kind and understanding service, deliver on promises, and exceed expectations. (Click Here For Review Response Template)

Adding Accurate Business Listings with Quality Photos

A successful online reputation strategy includes monitoring and influencing the way your hotel is perceived on the web. Make sure your hotel is on the following platforms – Instagram, Facebook, TripAdvisor, OTA’s, Yelp, and Google My Business. 

 

 

Picture Amsterdam in the 1630s, a city of canals, elegant townhouses, and a populace obsessed with only one thing: Tulips. One tulip could hold the value of a house; a modestly priced tulip could hold the value of today’s equivalent of thousands of dollars. 

Considering the enormous evolutionary leaps in business, the Dutch tulip mania of the 1630s may seem obsolete; however, the flower indicates the importance of storytelling and its evolution into marketing.

This blog will dive deep into understanding why digital marketing holds such power in the luxury hotel industry. The travel industry is among the largest in the world and is estimated to be worth $1.2 trillion, online booking being 63% of the yearly estimated worth (Deane, 2021).  It takes 0.05 seconds for users to form an opinion about your website that determines whether they’ll stay or leave (Laja et al., 2020). Considering these statistics, luxury hotels must craft a digital marketing plan to deliver a lasting first impression and continuously convert customers! If that doesn’t convince you, here are six statistics that you must know about online hotel bookings, according to Sratros Jet Charter Inc.

1. 1. An estimated 700 million people will make a booking online by 2023
   2. 83% of US adults want to book their trips online
   3. 72% of mobile bookings happen within 48 hours of last-minute Google searches that include the words’ tonight’ and ‘today.’
   4. 82% of all travel bookings around the world took place without human interaction in 2018
   5. There are over 148 million travel bookings made annually.
   6. 70% of all customers do their research on a smartphone

I understand marketing for a hotel property can be seriously overwhelming. Most properties do not have a marketing manager, OR you’re often doing it ALL as a marketing department of ONE. I want to help YOU, the hotelier/marketer, and… all the other things, create meaningful content and convert website visitors into bookings! 

 

References

Deane, S. (2021, August 4). Over 60 online travel Booking Statistics (2021). Stratos Jet Charters, Inc. https://www.stratosjets.com/blog/online-travel-statistics/.

Laja, B. P., Peep Laja Peep Laja is the founder of CXL. He’s a renowned conversion optimization champion and was nominated as the most influential CRO expert globally. After setting up and running Speero (previously CXL Agency) for five years, Pavel, Laja, P., Shane, Phil, James, L., Yardney, M., Aditya, @waztech, S. W., Ledgard, J., Neil, Willey, P. C., Sam, Naomi, Fritz, Stanek, B., Supriya, Langan, M., … Ryan. (2020, September 25). First impressions matter: Why great visual design is essential. CXL. https://cxl.com/blog/first-impressions-matter-the-importance-of-great-visual-design/.

 

I understand marketing for a hotel property can be seriously overwhelming. Most properties do not have a marketing manager, OR you’re often doing it ALL as a marketing department of ONE. I want to help YOU, the hotelier/marketer, and… all the other things, create meaningful content and convert website visitors into bookings!