Hotel products and services provide guest experiences. Return customers re-book at specific properties when they sleep well, enjoy the amenities, and feel safe - they return for those hotel products and services. Hotels have perfected guest magnet strategies such as in-room technology, seamless check in procedures, and desirable, free amenities. Thus, guests walk away with memories of their stay instead of tangible hotel promotion ideas such as branded swag.
This doesn’t mean that guests wouldn’t appreciate walking away with swag, too, such as hotel merch bags that double as promotion ideas for hotels.
Hotels started as accommodations for traveling salesmen and evolved into accommodations for leisure travelers. As the traveling salesman faded away, hotels changed their guest acquisition strategies. Depending on economic situations, it makes sense to target leisure or business travelers. Then, there is the creation of unexpected and new guest segments.
The events of 2020-1 solidified a new market for hotels - digital nomads and remote workers. They needed quiet daytime workspaces. These guests also created new creative hotel promotion ideas such as refillable and branded water bottles.
Ice machines remain a standard, free hotel amenity. Then, bottled water became part of the mini-bar. Now, guests can enjoy free filtered water faucets and branded, reusable water bottles at eco-conscious hotels. If your establishment hasn’t installed these features, you can leave free, branded water bottles in guest rooms.
That’s just one strategy hotels can use to incorporate promotion ideas for hotels.
We provide six ways hotels can incorporate the best hotel promotion ideas and merchandise into their marketing plans.
1. Hotel Merchandise Shop
Adding a hotel merchandise shop is the easiest way to assemble a line of promotion ideas for hotel and profit from them. Some items to add to the hotel merchandise shop are:
Custom Ribbed Socks
Shown: Frame x Ritz socks
Custom Hotel Sweatshirts
Custom Hotel Hoodies
Custom Hotel Sweatpants
Each item is part of an outfit that guests can wear on-site or at home, especially digital nomads and remote workers who seek comfort while working in their rooms.
Stock the shop with a few of each in different sizes. Then, monitor the sales. Take into account styles, merchandise, and sizes that stay on the shelves longer than others. Anything that sits too long can always become part of hotel products and services giveaways.
2. Summer Hotel Promotion Ideas
Two peak travel seasons take place annually - June through August and November through February. For the most part, travelers seek to enjoy warm weather. Therefore, running summer hotel promotion ideas and campaigns can provide healthy returns on investment.
Summer hotel promotion ideas can easily turn into PR ideas for hotels too. For example, swag boxes remain popular among companies attempting to woo new clients, recruits, and business partners. They also hand them out to staff as appreciation gifts. Hotels can easily turn swag boxes into creative hotel promotion ideas.
Tote
Take a tote and place summer-inspired items inside such as:
Slides
Cap
Towel
Using the tote as the box provides an efficient and environmentally friendly package. Recipients can reuse it and enjoy the contents. More importantly, the tote continues promoting the establishment.
3. PR Ideas for Hotels
Some describe public relations as persuasion. Thus, PR ideas for hotels will focus on persuading the public to take action.
Although it’s simple, use keychains for PR campaigns.
Some hotels cater to extended stay guests. Others focus on providing rooms that look more like lofts and studios than standard versions. Therefore, the customized keychain gift could signify coming to a second home.
4. Event Ideas for Hotels
Aside from summer hotel promotion ideas, establishments can easily create hotel promotion advertisement campaigns that center around events. Some establishments cater to conference attendees, vacation crowds, or special events guests. Therefore, it’s easy to tie-in event ideas for hotels with the reason for guests booking rooms. Host on-site happy hours or provide special breakfast buffets with hotel restaurant promotion ideas and merchandise.
Hotels are the product. Adding custom hotel duffel bags, filled with goodies such as custom hotel blankets, personalizes the experience.
Custom Hotel Blanket
Shown: Frame x Ritz blanket
Most hotels, including 5-star establishments, only provide large blankets that fit the beds. However, those blankets aren’t the best for curling up on a chair or sofa to watch TV, work, or relax. Instead, turn a custom blanket into a hotel promotion advertisement that also keeps guests cozy.
Custom Hotel Duffel
The average hotel has 313 rooms. Thus, it’s not cost-effective to give away hotel or restaurant merchandise ideas to every single guest. Instead, your establishment can set parameters such as reward the most loyal guests. Since they travel often, they will appreciate a custom hotel duffel bag.
5. Hotel Rewards Promotions
For hotel rewards promotions, have fun with them. Create tiered rewards that start with a branded pennant and end with a Dopp kit.
Pennant
Pennants are nice thank-you gifts for signing up for the rewards program on-site. Another option are branded bandanas.
Bandana
Bandanas are another versatile item that guests will enjoy receiving.
Dopp Kit
For loyal members, create a swag box with a Dopp kit.
Koozies
Place branded accessories such as pennants and bandanas. To make it fun, add a customized koozie.
Beanies
Branded beanies are great for hotels situated near ski resorts. It’s one less item that guests need to pack and buy.
When creating creative hotel promotion ideas, summer hotel promotion ideas, and event ideas for hotels, remember that the best swag items provide ongoing hotel promotion advertisement.
Hotels can also add promotional merchandise to packages. For example, if guests book during a promotional period, for certain dates, or for a minimum number of nights, they receive custom hotel blankets, duffel bags, or t shirts. Of course, every establishment should match the branded merchandise to their hotel’s culture. A high-end clientele will appreciate high-quality dopp kits while families will appreciate receiving custom towels or sweatpants.
6. Merchandise for Restaurants
Many hotels enter into partnerships with toiletry providers, snack manufacturers, and restaurants. The partnerships allow establishments to provide guest magnets at little to no additional costs. Usually, the trade-off is that the merchandise highlights the partner, not the hotel. However, hotels can use restaurant merchandise to highlight themselves and partners. For example, give away or sell drinkware such as mugs.
Mugs
Mugs are versatile drinkware options and great restaurant merchandise. They hold hot and cold drinks at restaurants, in hotel rooms, and at home. Moreover, customized mugs remain a cost-effective way to promote brands. Ask Gemnote.com to add your logo to them.
Tee Shirts
Hotels can also borrow from the best restaurant merch ideas. The best restaurant merchandise includes t-shirts and headwear.
No shortage of t-shirt options on the market for hotel promotion ideas and restaurant merchandise exists. Pick from inventories that offer high-quality, unique, and cost-effective lines. Simply add your logo to the front, back, or sleeve.
The public enjoys purchasing and wearing cool restaurant t shirts that feature iconic brands, styles or simple comfort. The best restaurant t shirts can handle a few washes, don’t lose their shape, and feel great while wearing.
When you browse more than one food restaurant t shirt design, you’ll notice that it features a logo, phrase, or color scheme. To narrow down the possibilities, contact our Gemnote.com team.
Hats
Restaurant merchandising also includes hats. For headwear, keep it simple. For example, use one color and add a mid-size logo.
It’s also possible to pick a color and add a small logo.
A third option is to pick a color and add a short phrase.
If guests see the restaurant staff wearing the hotel restaurant promotion ideas, they’ll become interested in purchasing them. If they receive them as gifts, they’re likely to wear them willingly too.
For example, giving away hats go hand in hand with summer promotion ideas for hotels, especially during Spring Break.
Adding promotional merchandise to hotel guest acquisition strategies delivers several benefits for establishments. Since hotels provide guests with experiences, guests leave with memories. They can rate their experience online. However, it’s not something tangible that passers-by can see. The hotel industry already has solid hotel promotion advertisement tactics in place. Adding a hotel merchandise shop and tiered hotel promotion ideas means that guests will walk away with custom hotel blankets, totes, and keychains.
The promotional merchandise industry has evolved with the times. Hotels benefit from adding promotional pens and notepads to guest rooms and check in counters. Keep them stocked so that guests can walk away with them. Other products that hotels can offer guests include practical ones such as hotel restaurant promotion ideas. The best restaurant merch is simple. Patrons will buy branded hats, t shirts, and hoodies.
Impress guests with practical promotional items that they need but won’t purchase for themselves. High-quality throw blankets, branded duffel bags, and dopp kits are welcome surprise gifts that they can reuse.
Hotel representatives who need a marketing consultation can speak with our Gemnote team today.
