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Category: Business as usual

hotel opening

Hotel marketing ideas for the way out of the pandemic

Hotel marketing ideas may not be on your mind right now… but with the new timeline to opening up announced, it’s going to be critical in the coming weeks to secure much-needed bookings. The impact of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) has been devastating for many, but everyone will probably agree that one of the hardest-hit sectors is the hospitality industry. Hotels, restaurants, spas, golf clubs, theatres, concert halls and many other leisure companies have been through crazy times in the past year!

The COVID-19 pandemic is still disrupting travel to destinations all over the world. However, it is crucial that you start planning your luxury hotel and spa recovery strategy now. The travel demand will start to increase eventually, and you don’t want to fall behind your competition when it does.

We are looking at hotel marketing ideas that will help you plan the recovery and reopening of your venue this June.

Here are some top marketing strategy ideas that you need to utilise when preparing your luxury hotel and spa for re-opening.

The-Abbey-Hotel-and-Spa-branding

Revamping your website

Display the current status of your business so there are no surprises for visitors. This information needs to clear and concise and should include at least the following:

  • Is your business currently open or closed? 
  • Has your cancellation policy changed? 
  • What preventative measures do you take to keep staff and customers safe?
  • Do you keep certain facilities closed or limited? 
  • Are you following government guidelines? Have you taken all possible measures? This will boost customer’s confidence and trust in your business.

Along with this information, tell your website’s visitors where they can find further updates and who they can contact if they have any questions.

You could simply add a temporary banner on the homepage. Or you can design a specific landing page that visitors see when they come from social media or adverts. There are lots of reasons why your hotel and restaurant marketing ideas needs to include a brilliant website.

Whichever approach you take, a page that clearly communicates your latest news can help a great deal in creating trust.

Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

FAQs are a simple hotel and restaurant marketing idea. Easy to implement, FAQs ensure anyone visiting your site will find the answers they are looking for. You probably have a set of regular questions that keep cropping up.

FAQs can also include other information about your hotel, spa, amenities. You can mention new products/services, offers/deals, and anything else relevant to your business that people should and need to know.

Spabreaks-vouchers-and-branding

Social media campaign announcing re-opening

Many people use social media for planning their holidays. With channels like Instagram, you can use your beautiful venue to your advantage. Existing and potential customers will enjoy engaging photography that tells your story. They will also look to your social media for the latest updates on the COVID crisis.

You will want to post a statement about the current status of your venue and your plans for re-opening. Social media is perfect to announce your re-opening strategy. Write the core message in an eye-catching post, and link to the full statement on your site. There, guests can find out exactly how you are planning to re-open and what measures you have taken to keep them safe.

You can also talk about special offers and rates for the re-opening. This can be a time-limited offer or something for only a certain number of customers. People love promotions and discounts, so here is a chance to create some buzz and excitement!

Making loyal customers a priority

Customers who have stayed at your business before will likely book a reservation again during these uncertain times. Reward loyal customers with exclusive and personalised packages.

Don’t forget to let customers know about your loyalty programme. Use social media posts, blog posts, or whatever platform your target audience prefers to use. When thinking about hotel marketing ideas, building customer loyalty is a must. Word of mouth advertising is one of the best forms of advertising. People buy from people – and they are much more likely to act on the advice of colleagues, friends, and family.

Hotel marketing ideas involving local businesses

Many businesses that had events and conferences planned have had to cancel. You could start to offer deals to these businesses and potential clients to re-book these events and conferences at your hotel. Provide these customers with lowered rates, exclusive packages, and other perks to secure reservations.

Working with businesses in your local area really helps with marketing your hotel. Businesses and clients that have a great experience with you will likely use your hotel again and recommend it to other clients.

Managing cancellations

If someone wants to cancel their reservation, then they will. However, offering customers the ability to move their reservation to a different date will help you keep some reservations. Let people know that customers can move their reservations to a different date instead of cancelling.

Don’t forget to let them know who they need to contact to deal with their reservation cancellation or changes.

Maid in mask doing disinfecting the door handle in hotel

Promoting your safety measures

One of the most important task for businesses during this pandemic is your venue’s cleanliness and sanitation to ensure people’s safety.

There are many steps which need to be taken in order to implement this properly. Some of which include:

  • Education employees about preventative measures that will be utilised by the business
  • Cleaning the building and amenities thoroughly and frequently throughout the day
  • Reducing the number of workers in the hotel at one time
  • Redesigning processes to allow for social distancing to take place
  • Implementation of barriers in areas that could receive higher traffic
  • Using technology when face-to-face meetings can be avoided

Make sure that customers know you have taken these measures. This is something you should promote heavily. This is not just a hotel marketing idea, it really applies to any business interacting with the public. Talking about measures and precautions you are taking will help customers feel safer, build trust and customer loyalty.

You can even introduce branded safety items. Think masks and hand-gels to offer to customers when they visit your luxury hotel and spa. This will re-inforce that you care about health and safety of your visitors. It can also work as a marketing tool. People may end up continuing to use those products after their stay. Your business’s name and logo will receive more awareness. Branded gifts are always a good method for marketing hotels and increasing the interaction and engagement with your guests.

I hope this list of hotel marketing ideas will be useful for you to plan your roadmap back into ‘normality’. If you need any help with any of it, please get in touch!

the-world-is-closed

Brand management in a locked down new world

175 days into life with Corona, businesses are getting used to developing ways of dealing with the volatility and uncertainty the pandemic keeps throwing at us. 

Surveying smaller companies we work with, there is a shift in brand management emerging. Initially, it was key to keep customers informed of restrictions and closures. Since lockdown has been lifted for businesses, this has changed to communicating safety measures and new procedures. 

In the early days of the crisis, we worked with our clients to prepare for internal and external communications. The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital implemented new strategies straight away, realising the need for up to date information. We helped them to utilise their existing system to adapt for internal comms.

Another client of ours, a dental practice, supported people with ‘home dental kits’ and online advice on how to keep their teeth healthy without being able to see a dentist. Since they were allowed to open again, they worked overtime to get through the mass of emergency appointments and help those most in need. By working flexible hours and reacting to the immediate needs of their patients, they secured a lot of new clients who couldn’t get appointments for months in other surgeries. It pays to be flexible.

Most of the companies feel that they need to maintain and improve the ‘goodwill trust and understanding’ they have received from customers, especially on a local level. Brick and mortar shops more than ever rely on their community. 

Rebrand and social media template designs

A beautician we’ve rebranded during lockdown had started doing online beauty tutorials, promoting selected products available to purchase online When it came to opening again, we created a social media puzzle grid to announce the news and inform customers of Corona related changes.

Another business, a tech skills company, changed all their focus to delivering courses online. There is a barrier of confidence to break through, but it’s also a great opportunity to reach a much larger audience.

The smallest local entrepreneurs and micro businesses have been hit enormously and are still struggling to make up for lost time. For them, communicating on social media has been the lifeline to keeping customers engaged without being able to take bookings.

Within all that, the overwhelming trend seems to be for brands to work their best to keep their promises. Everyone is tired and probably a little bit bored of this situation and it’s a delicate balance of pushing on within the limits and being able to fulfil expectations. The bigger brands have the advantage of networks, funds and processes. 

For the little ones, however, flexibility in changing service delivery, product ranges and in some cases their entire business model offers a real opportunity. 

Image from Twitter/@mmtowns

Nobody wants the patronising attitude of big brands jumping on the government messaging bandwagon. (Remember Dettol and their ‘back to work ad’ which recently got a lot of mocking?) Nobody wants to constantly be reminded of the crisis, either – another balance to strike in brand communications.

SMEs with their feet firmly in the community feel their efforts are best focused on excellent service delivery and customer communication without pretending all is rosy. With more and more businesses disappearing from the high street, there is a gap and a good chance for those with an open mind to create mid Covid brand loyalty. 

Cover photo by Photo by Edwin Hooper on Unsplash

Work-from-home

Corona Crisis help for directors of Limited Companies

Martin Lewis has looked at how limited companies may be able to get help from the government.

Key points:

If you are having PAYE, you can go on the furlough scheme.

You CAN’T work any more, however:
You CAN continue to do your statutory duties, such as filing tax returns.
You CAN’T generate revenue. (With that there are issues about what it means, so the rules and guidance are not clear and Martin Lewis is giving some examples.

You could, for instance, prepare marketing material for your company that may in future generate sales, that may be acceptable, although he can’t guarantee it as there is no clear guidance on this.

You could also work in your profession, whilst on furlough, for a different Ltd company.

Worth the watch, thank you Mr. Lewis for spending your time and using your connections to finding things out.

You can also apply for universal credit whether you are on the furlough scheme or not. You need to check if you are eligible, and there are things such as savings being taken into consideration. However, you can at least apply if you are struggling, worst case you can’t claim.

Hope this helps…

Clapping for our carers

Clap for our carers

Annemarie Plas shared the idea for an event that united the nation. 8pm was the time to make some noise for our carers – 2m apart of course – to show how thankful we are for all they are doing right now. She says “If the Dutch can do it, the Brits can do it, too!”

We set up our own street WhatsApp group at the beginning of the crisis and I shared the link to the appeal an hour before – replies of ‘our hands are ready’ and ‘we will be there’ came in and at 8pm we were lucky to experience a wonderful event. Neighbours stepped outside the house, clapping away, cheering up and down the road, all with gratitude and spirit.

Thank you, NHS.

We will be back again next week to make more noise!

What-do-brands-do

What brands do in a crisis

Another day in isolation, another day where brands are being made or broken by how they react, how they communicate and how they connect to us during this outbreak. 

I get really annoyed now by all those automated funnel sales emails that are coming through fishing for subscribers. The jolly sales talk of marketeers trying to tell me how to make my money with PPC and FaceBook advertising, or how they can set up retargeting pixels for me to work wonders. Put it on pause! My whole world is… 

It’s house hold brands as well though that show their true nature, good and bad.

Wetherspoons informed workers that they will no longer be paid, saying he would only start payments again once the Government’s scheme to cover 80% of wages is in place – despite the Treasury saying that grants for salaries could be backdated to March 1.

Sports Direct is highly criticised for their handling of staff safety amidst their belief that the shops should stay open despite all the dangers this poses to staff and shoppers. 

Apple, on the other hand, has been able to source 10M masks for the US and millions more for the hardest hit regions in Europe. In his tweet, Tim Cook shares the news. 

BrewDog, an independent distillery in Aberdeenshire, UK, has used its distillery to produce hand sanitiser and is giving it away to local charities and the community. James Watt, Founder of BrewDog, said on Twitter: “We want to do all we can to help everyone get through this difficult time.”

German manufacturers Rotkäppchen and Jägermeister are helping out by supplying ethanol for the production of desinfectant.

For those of us home schooling, various TV personalities are offering their time for free to keep kids active and help to educate them. Carol Vorderman has opened up her online maths school for free for the duration of the school closures: https://www.themathsfactor.com/

Joe Wickes is doing daily PE class workouts at 9am on his Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6r99N3kXME

David Walliams releases a free audio story on his website every day for 30 days and there are lots of free activities/resource packs to download: https://www.worldofdavidwalliams.com/elevenses/

Darcey Bussell is giving free dance classes on her DDMIX FaceBook page. Audible has made hundreds of stories free during the lockdown. https://stories.audible.com/start-listen

Supermarkets are doing their best to make shopping easier for the elderly by having special shopping hours amidst panic buying and empty shelves.

There is so much going on, good and bad, and these just a few samples of how this crisis is not just a test for the operations side of companies, but also for their brands. We are vulnerable, we are uncertain and we lean on those we can rely on – be it in our neighbourhood via WhatsApp groups, via social media or phone calls. We don’t just seek the comfort (albeit mostly remotely) of our families and friends, it’s brands we look to for reassurance just as much as we look at our politicians and celebrities.

It’s judgement time and brands – personal or business – have the amazing opportunity to use their profiles to help people not just with products but mentally.

Of course there is one brand that should get a knighthood if there was such a thing. The NHS is doing amazing things. It really is a people brand. I am humbled by the hard work they do, the impossible situation they find themselves in and the ongoing commitment they show to our health. It’s absolutely awe inspiring. There are countless examples of their efforts to campaign for #StayAtHome…

I have been lucky to work with quite a few NHS hospitals / operations on branding and web projects, so it’s pretty emotional for me personally at the moment because I know the people that work there are struggling right now and there is not much I can do. I’ve volunteered to help along with 400,000 other citizens hoping that I can give a little bit back myself but I am afraid it will only be a small drop on a hot stone.

The NHS – for me – is definitely one of the brands that seems to be genuine and authentic from the inside out. Something every business should aspire to be from a human point of view.

I hope we will get through this together and have a chance to say a big THANK YOU to all those brands that are on our side right now.

attitude, brand loyalty, brand management, Brand Managment, brand message

How to stay sane working from home

If you are usually working in an office, motivated by your team and the structure put in place by your managers, working from home can be quite a daunting experience.

It can be easy to feel that you are not getting anything done and a sense of stress/panic may set it, so:

Productivity:

  • Wear work clothes. Pretend you are going to the office in your normal attire.
  • Track your time – either on paper or with the many good apps. Break it down by section of work or client.
  • Make a checklist at the start of every day, preferably on paper.
  • Add to the list little incidental tasks you didn’t first think of, even if quite minor.
  • Tick off everything you’ve done during the day.

In terms of sanity:

  • Take the time to have tea breaks.
  • Take them away from the “office” preferably in the garden.
  • Don’t listen to the news all day. Find some good music or, if you can concentrate with the spoken word, find some good podcasts or audio books.

Fitness:

  • Don’t snack.
  • Stand up regularly and stretch.
  • Take calls whilst walking if you don’t have to be right in front of your computer.
  • Plan some exercise at lunch time or in the evening.

Communication:

Make the effort to keep in touch with your colleagues.

  • Have a morning catch up.
  • During the day, ask them how they are and what’s their setup like.
  • Don’t get mad if they appear not to be working as much as you, it’s not a race to the bottom, and their circumstances might be different to yours.

Family:

  • Make a conscious effort to be forgiving, the kitchen might be messy, the kids might start to get crazy. It’s new for all of us, and as an adult we have to be a sponge for some of the stress.
  • Try to get some one to one time with each family member, either for a game or chat or cooking together.

End of day:

  • Look at your list to see what you’ve achieved and be happy about any of the ticks, no matter how minor!
  • Think of something or someone that you should be thankful to. Even if small.
  • Try to get the whole family to do the same.

Mostly remember that this will end. Also that we are incredibly lucky.

Message us if you need any help.

attitude, business, corona crisis

Working from home – with your significant other

We are living in crazy times right now, that’s for sure. No matter what your working circumstances are, it’s going to be a wild ride before anything gets to be the new normal.

One thing I don’t have to think or worry about is what it will be like working with my husband.

We started Essence together in 2003 and both gave up our day jobs in 2004 / 05 to dedicate all our time to our consultancy. Since then, we have been working side by side on-off project depending, and our relationship has not suffered, but there are some things we found worked for us…

We work in a little home office, in one room. That may not suit every couple, but for us it is nice to be together (unless Steve has a string of video conferences to attend) and it’s practical to keep work in a work space. If you want or have to share a room, consider this:

Agree first on what background noise you will have during working hours

This is super easy now with lots of types of noise cancelling headphones, but before that we used to chat about what’s on our plate and if we needed quiet time or if some music would be good. Steve is a developer and analyst so when he has to focus, classical music really works for him. I am a soppy person and it makes me feel very emotional so it’s not that great for me when I’m designing. I prefer to listen to programmes so it’s a bit like having office banter in the background. And when I do strategy or copy writing, it’s all noises off – apart from the cat purring…

Don’t chat about non-work stuff at work

Time is precious. Especially now when we also have kids to entertain, uninterrupted work time is a premium. Don’t get distracted by catching up on what DIY needs to be done or what holiday plans you may want to make. Instead, wait for natural gaps in between jobs, meet in the kitchen for a cuppa and chat then. You get a little break and don’t feel you’re interrupting. If you need a break before your partner, have it, but don’t impose it on him or her and pull them inevitably out of a good train of thoughts.

Instead, use the ‘commute time’ to sit together and have a banter – the saved travel time is perfect to use for chit chat!

Wear work clothes

Don’t sit down in your undies or pjs. We found it helps to pretend to be in a real office even if it’s just a corner in your home. (Plus it may be too tempting to pursue more leisurely activities if you sit there semi clad 😂).

Share boring admin

If you have rather dull but necessary admin tasks as part of your work, same business or not, do them at the same time so you can agree it’s ok to moan about them! We do… and it helps to not struggle on your own.

Keep your work space tidy

If you can work from a study or spare room or even convert a corner in your bedroom to have a table in to work on, keep it tidy so both of you don’t have to feel pressure of more clutter to deal with.

Be patient and kind

Of course this is not going to be easy. You may find you function better in different rooms if you can.

If your jobs require different levels of concentration, noise cancelling headphones may be the answer without having to miss each other’s company.

No matter what the day throws at you work wise, don’t reflect your frustration on your partner. Being stressed is one thing, but venting on your other half who is an innocent bystander is not fair on them or you. If you get a bit wound up, talk about it (next break) and you might get a soothing shoulder rub and a hug! Be kind and accept it’s not going to be perfect, but neither is normal office work.

Respect different time requirements (but don’t use it as an excuse to hide during tea prep)

Very much job depended, it may well be that one of you can finish early. That’s ok… we all need to do the best we can and on another day it could very well be you needing to ‘stay late’.

Saying that, if it’s always you then ending up doing the household whilst he is working longer, beyond the usual hours, it’s good to check if perhaps the project itself is at fault and timings need to be adjusted. It’s easy to fall in that trap and the one left to hold the baby may resent you for it.

For us, it’s always been pretty seasonal that I have to work more at certain times in the year but I have a break first when the kids are back from school to have time with them and do household tasks together. I then add a late session if I need to.

I’ll let you know how I get on having my three boys all day every day now and working around home schooling them. I figure that’s a completely different challenge to being productive with your partner working beside you 😂😂😂

attitude, business, corona crisis