If a picture’s worth a thousand words, then a video should be worth a thousand hotel reviews. As a hotel owner, you owe it to yourself to make sure that the word gets out about your hotel. These days, most SEO companies will do plenty of keyword research and backlink building.
Sadly, that means that “basic” SEO might not be enough to launch your hotel into the internet spotlight. You need a little extra help to make your hotel rank, especially if you are located in a larger city. That’s where video marketing for hotels comes into play.
What is considered video marketing for hotels?
Video marketing is exactly what it sounds like: it’s marketing that features video footage or video reviews of your hotel. This form of marketing can be posted to social media, added to a YouTube playlist, or even made by a local news station as part of coverage for an event.
How various hotels can benefit from video marketing
Video marketing is like adding rocket fuel to a typical marketing plan. Here’s why it works so well for hotels, in particular:
- People want to get a tour of the place they are staying at. A picture can be staged, edited, altered, or even disproportional. Videos are harder to “fake” and are viewed as more authentic.
- You can usually reach the first page of YouTube with the right video. YouTube is the search engine that everyone ignores. Having an optimized YouTube video can help bring your hotel front and center when the competition in your area is high.
- It makes great social media content. It doesn’t matter whether you’re seven or 70. People love videos. A visually stunning video can sell more rooms than any amount of photos. 92 percent of all marketers are satisfied with their video content. Part of that reason is because it works on social media.
Main video marketing for hotels trends in 2024
2024 is going to see a boom in video marketing across the board. To a point, that means that your video marketing endeavors are going to be appreciated regardless of how you use them. Here are the biggest pushes you’ll see.
Video SEO
Are your videos captioned or subtitled? Are they titled with an SEO-friendly name, or posted with the right hashtags? All these steps tend to be part of video SEO. This makes it easier to discover on both Google and YouTube.
Social media videos
It’s true. Social media loves video content. Instagram pushes reels to the top of the feed. Gen Z views TikTok as their favorite search engine. Adding videos to your social media boosts SEO endeavors and more.
The difference between social media videos and regular YouTube-style videos is the length. Social videos are generally very short, often under 30 seconds. YouTube videos tend to be 10 to 15 minutes in length.
If you have to choose one, OnlyPult notes that reels tend to get wider distribution and more views than videos. This makes sense, since 73 percent of viewers prefer short-form video content versus long-form content.
User-generated content
Nothing that you can say will be as convincing as what another person says. After all, you’re the hotel owner. It’s natural for you to want to talk up the hotel, but getting others to take a tour or mention your hotel on social media is not so natural.
User-generated content includes videos taken by influencers, visitors, or even tourism channels. For example, getting a YouTube channel like A Brit Travels to visit your hotel will hype up potential guests. They want to be around people who they like.
If you have connections to influencers like Dan Bell, you might be able to get them to mention your hotel in one of their series. Encouraging them to visit, or even paying them to visit, can prove to be a highly effective form of marketing.
Live video streaming
If you want to stand out in a hotel district that has a lot of competition, it may be wise to do a live video streaming campaign. The best way to do this is to livestream an event taking place at your hotel, making sure to regularly mention that it’s at your hotel.
Live streams make your hotel seem like it’s the place to be. Livestreams done by influencers with a lot of popularity make it clear that your venue is hot right now. They are there, they are interacting with people, and it can also act as an open invitation for others to drop by the venue.
A good example of this would be the following scenario:
An Atlantic City hotel is throwing a massive club night in their lounge, featuring a famous DJ. They want to get the word out about the event since there are still tickets available the night of the event. The hotel decides to livestream the party and pays the DJ extra to livestream part of it from his phone.
Atomizing videos
Atomizing videos is the art of making one long video and republishing, editing, and repurposing it for multiple platforms. A good example of this would be getting an interview of you talking about hotel life.
The video would then be used as a YouTube video. The audio of said video would be used for a podcast. Then, you’d have smaller clips that you could use for social media posts. That would be an atomized video.
Video marketing strategy
Video marketing all starts with the right strategy. Your hotel should have several platforms to showcase the videos: YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and your own personal site. From there, it all comes down to the advice below…
How to do video marketing for hotels the right way
- Get good video footage. You should get high-quality video footage touring your hotel, featuring people having fun there, and influencers taking a break at your venue. The more professional it is, the better off you’ll be.
- Edit it. Everything from lighting to the music you have as part of the video matters. Atomizing videos, according to the method mentioned above, can help you maximize the return on each video you create.
- Post it to your site, YouTube, and social media. When posting your video, make sure that the title is SEO-friendly, that the captions are correct, and that the video’s description is also optimized for search engines.
- Use hashtags to spread the word about your video content. Hashtags are incredibly important for both YouTube and social media.
- Encourage visitors to take their own videos at your hotel. Having areas that are video-friendly or offering a discount is the easiest way to make sure that your videos get reach, clout, and shares!
Good video marketing examples
The Nobu Hotel in Santorini currently has one of the best examples of a luxury hotel tour on the net. This elegant video used drone footage to get a top-down view, plus incredible sights. They hired the right crew here, and then used SEO techniques to spread the word.
The MGM Grand in Las Vegas uses video marketing to boost their Instagram account. Dazzling videos of gorgeous settings, party-hardy women, and stellar views are what make this Vegas hotel look attractive to followers.
What to avoid in videos
Like with all things marketing-related, there are certain things you should avoid doing at all costs. These include:
- Avoid posting any videos that have not gone through editing. You need to make sure that the camera isn’t jiggling, that the scenes look good, and that you don’t hear someone breathing or yelling in the background. A clean, professional edit is an edit worth its weight in gold.
- Do not post videos that don’t show your hotel in a flattering light. Every hotel room you post and videotape should be flattering. You want to sell your hotel’s amenities to others, not make them gawk.
- Avoid creating content that doesn’t offer value. If you are a hotel owner, you should add value by showing potential visitors what rooms look like.
- If you are showing event footage, do not show “dead” events. Event footage is only good if people look like they are having a great time. The more attendees you capture on film, the better.
- Try to avoid showing people who look unkempt or slovenly in your video footage. People want to be in hotels that are filled with beautiful, well-kept people. If you can’t do that, don’t feature people in your videos at all.
- Don’t forget to add a description and caption to each of your videos. It helps search engine crawlers find your venue.
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Video marketing is not for the faint of heart, even in the world of marketing firms. If you want to make a video that flaunts your hotel, it’s important to have the right team behind you. Want help creating a great marketing campaign for your venue? Send us an inquiry by clicking above banner.