Complete Guide to Hotel Branding: 101+ Ideas to Attract Guests in 2023

Last Updated on August 8, 2023 by DesignerPeople

9 out of 10 people use the Internet while planning their trip, including hotel bookings.

In this era, if you do not have a professional hotel branding strategy deployed for your business by now, you are already running at a loss compared to your competitors.

Why?

Well, if your website needs to be visible under the search results, how can they even find your hotel and make a booking in the first place? Similarly, if your website doesn’t look polished and trustworthy, how else can they rely on your hospitality during their stay?

There are endless reasons to invest in high-quality hotel branding, and we are here to shed light on the same!

The ultimate goal is to encourage tourists to feel an instant connection and comfort with your hotel when they hear about it or find it in an ad when planning their trip. And all of this comes down to creating a successful hotel branding strategy for your business!

No worries! If you still need to initiate a hotel branding strategy for your business, stay with us till the end. This complete guide has broken down every essential aspect of a successful hotel branding strategy. We have also included 101+ innovative ideas to maximise your booking rates in 2023. Let’s get started.

What is Hotel Branding & its Elements?

Your hotel branding strategy is the representation of what your hotel is, what it stands for and what it offers. It entails all the characteristics and values of your business, which becomes the ultimate differentiating factor. Hence, a solid hotel branding strategy helps tourists to effectively differentiate between different properties available and choose the most suitable one according to their requirements.

Let’s look at the critical elements of a successful hotel branding strategy.

• Brand Purpose

Your brand will always have a purpose behind it. It is one such compelling story that your guests must know— from affordability and warm service to top-notch locations and amenities. Your brand’s purpose also determines the quality of service and experience your hotel will deliver, which is an integral determining factor for potential tourists.

• Brand Identity

Your brand identity is the public representation of your brand. It includes your brand values, mission, vision and everything your potential tourists can relate to. It includes everything: the brand name, colour palette, logo, fonts, etc.

Your brand identity should stay relevant to your offerings and services. For example, suppose your brand identity caters towards luxury stays. In that case, you can attract tourists of similar interests with a personalised luxury hotel branding strategy.

a) Brand name

One of the fundamental aspects of branding, your brand name is the first thing prospective customers will encounter when looking for hotels in a specific destination. Your brand name should always stay authentic, distinctive, relevant and attractive. This will eventually help in attracting more clients by sealing a long-lasting impression in their minds.

b) Brand Logo

Your brand logo is forever the actual visual representation of your brand. Your logo will represent your brand in every branding or marketing strategy. With effective branding, you can allow tourists to quickly identify your brand through the logo design and book their stay immediately without hesitation.

c) Brand Colours

Every brand has a specific colour story or palette which is unique to them. Suppose your hotel is a premium property. In that case, a subtle colour palette can effectively convey the same emotions to the tourists when they check your website. Similarly, if you are running an eco-friendly boutique hotel, brand colours that radiate environmental consciousness can quickly convince customers to choose your hotel over others.

d) Typography

Your hotel must have a distinctive typography style similar to the colours. This is because these elements link to specific feelings, memories and emotions that convince customers to choose your hotel over others. Consistent brand typography will also improve your brand recognition and recall in the long run, as most consumers can easily recognise your brand through the typography style in various ads or business stationery in the future.

e) Images

Adding high-quality images and illustrations for your hotel reading strategy is crucial as it determines the quality of service and experiences your consumers can expect. Starting from the massive pool to the beach view or a scrumptious buffet breakfast. You can highpoint the features of your hotel through attractive images. Ultimately, the tourists will judge the quality of your service through the images. Hence, take some time to click professional and eye-catching images of your property and flaunt it in your branding strategies.

• Brand Positioning

Whether your brand is a newly launched startup or an industry giant, your brand positioning determines the number of bookings you will receive in the long run. Including your brand positioning in the branding strategy can help you target a particular audience segment and influence them. Sometimes, it is one such factor that can ultimately help you stand out using your brand position in the industry. Hence, apart from the quality of your services, brand positioning can also make a massive difference in the growth of your business.

• Brand Voice

Like brand positioning, your brand voice also contributes to your business’s differentiating factor that helps you stand out in a crowded market. Your brand voice is the consistent personality that connects to the potential traveller and conveys your hotel’s highlights, values, position, mission and advantages that are easy to resonate with.

a) Social Media

The entire world comes under social media in this era. A social presence is necessary as most people rely on social media reviews and offers to plan their trips. Social media platforms can effectively help you target a broader segment of audiences and engage with them. Investing in a consistent and strategic social media presence will definitely pay off in the long run.

b) Signage and Internal brand messaging

Your brand signage is a multipurpose marketing tool that will eventually convey your message and its whereabouts to the consumers. It sculpts your brand identity and the perception in the mind of the consumers about your business. Hence it is another highly paramount aspect of your branding strategy that contributes to the overall brand reputation and recognition in the market.

• Brand Values

Brand values are the fundamental principles and guidelines your business upholds in the industry. Ensure to have clear brand values and express the same in your branding strategy. Most consumers relate to authentic and unique brand values. Your brand values are a clear winning strategy when competing against industry giants.

• Brand Experience

The brand experience includes the customer’s entire journey, from interacting with your brand for the first time through an ad or flyer to ending the stay with a positive feeling. It includes everything, including your website’s experience, social media, digital channels, service qualities and more, that brings a cohesive experience for the customers. For example, poor-quality websites can instantly downgrade the experience of customers willing to book a stay at your hotel. It also contributes to the repeat bookings at your hotel and the annual profits generated annually.

a) Staff Uniform

Your staff is the living and breathing example of the brand values and mission you share with the consumers through your branding strategy. Hence, grooming your staff is essential to create a positive impact. After all, they are the ones who are going to take care of your guests throughout their stay. This will leave a positive impression and leave them willing to come back again for their next trip!

b) Booking Experience

The booking experience significantly affects the number of final check-ins at your hotel. Suppose you have a lengthy and messy booking process. In that case, your potential consumers are more likely to choose other hotels over the hassle of choosing yours! A simplified and quick booking process ensures the maximum successful bookings and positive customer experiences with your brand.

c) Website

First impressions are the most important! As we said, your potential customers will likely check for hotels online. If your website doesn’t appear on the top of all the search engine results pages like Google or Bing, they will choose your competitor over yours.

This is why designing a user-friendly website is essential, as it will represent your brand and what it offers to the world—starting from a responsive design to more straightforward navigation and accessibility. It would help if you considered numerous aspects when creating the official website for your hotel business. But mind you. You can’t afford to go wrong in this step, as it will significantly impact your revenue in the long run.

• Brand Promise

Just like your brand values, your brand promise also sets a mark on the consumers’ expectations. This includes your brand’s mission statement, long-term goals, service qualities and more. Promising a certain level of service through the branding strategy can foster consumer trust and loyalty, resulting in an improved company reputation.

8 Key Tips & Ideas for Hotel Branding Strategies

Building a solid hotel branding strategy is a highly tedious and complicated task. Without a personalised strategy, you can easily bore your consumers and drive them away from your business. Here are some tips and ideas for creating a successful hotel branding strategy and ruling the hospitality industry this year.

• Study and analyse other Hotels

Start with analysing your competitors. This will help you understand what works best in this industry and what doesn’t. Look for the attributes that encourage consumers to choose their property over others. This will help you find your business’s strengths, weaknesses, position, etc., that you can leverage in the branding strategy. Numerous online websites provide a comprehensive brief about hotels in a specific locality. Analyse certain aspects of their branding strategies like pricing, quality of services, guest reviews, target audiences, purpose and mission, brand message, visuals, marketing strategies and more.

• Wisely Spend on Marketing

Once you have analysed your competitors, you will have a rough brief on the areas you must invest in for your branding strategy. Eliminate any guesswork during this process and invest in only the high-yielding strategies that will put your brand in the limelight, attract more guests and increase the business revenue in the long run.

• Differentiate your Hotel

As we said, thousands of hotels in a particular locality compete against each other. Hence, creating a differentiating factor for your business is a dire necessity! Find new and innovative methods and ways to promote your brand. Adopt the latest technologies and strategies to make your brand attractive and relevant in this volatile market. Either way, this unique aspect can help your brand stand out easily.

• True to your brand story and history

Your brand strategy will represent your business in front of the consumers. Hence, faking any aspect of your brand, especially the brand story and history, can create a negative impression in the long run. Share the most authentic version of your brand story and history. Rest assured; it must stay aligned with the quality of services you offer. This way, your customers will have an overall positive experience, resulting in more positive reviews for your business.

• Tech-Friendly booking Experience

As we said, the ease of booking can quickly increase or decrease the rate of bookings in your business. With the advancement of technology, you can find numerous applications and platforms that streamline the entire booking process for customers. Ensure that the web pages are responsive and have the least number of steps for the booking. This way, your customers can quickly decide and finalise their bookings without second thoughts!

• Polish OTA Regularly

Your OTA listing is as important as your official website. Most people refer to OTA listings for their trips. Thus, ensure to remain active and regular updates in all your OTA listings. Encourage your consumers to leave reviews on the websites, as this will act as references for future guests planning to stay at your property.

• Active Social Media Channels

Social media is a significant part of your branding strategy. The more high-quality content and ads you produce, the higher the engagement grows around your brand, resulting in more impressions and booking rates. Curate a personalised social media strategy for your business and stay consistent. Add humour with information, as this will rapidly increase your engagement rates. Remember. The goal is to educate your audiences while subtly promoting your business on your social media handles.

• Motivate Hotel Staff

Your staff is the face of your brand. They are the ones who physically represent your hotel’s truest essence and hospitality to the guests. Invest in your hotel staff’s decision-making skills, leadership skills, etc., and motivate them to offer the best quality services to everybody staying at the hotel. Give them the freedom to make independent decisions in favour of the hotel to satisfy the guests every time.

Taj Hotel Successful branding case study

Everybody has heard about the prime heritage of the India Hotels Company Limited (IHCL) and the famous Taj Palace Hotel, Mumbai. It is known as the epitome of premium hospitality services in the Southeast Asian region. Their world-class services have been forever recognised globally over the past many decades.

But how? Let’s take a quick look at their branding strategy.

• Employee experience

They have a reputation for hiring employees from small and semi-urban areas of India that have authentic and wholesome Indian values embedded in them. Most of them are proven highly disciplined, honest and performance-driven. Investing in and empowering such a value-specific workforce through extensive training has significantly helped them develop empathetic employees that offer world-class hospitality to the guests.

Furthermore, they also encourage their employees by recognising their efforts. The Special Thanks and Recognition System by the Taj Hotels was created keeping the customers’ experience in mind. The compliments and points collected by the guests and colleagues lead to recognition and awards for their outstanding service.

• Digital experience

The new Zero Touch Service Transformation system by the IHCL allows touchless services and interfaces, keeping the consumers’ safety as the top priority, especially after the Covid-19 pandemic. It converts all the processes into a digital format, minimising physical contact and increasing the ease of services.

Secondly, the Taj has implemented keyless room entries for a frictionless experience. They have the latest mobile technologies, such as Bluetooth 4.0, Taj mobile app and more, wherein consumers can access their room, resulting in a superior customer experience.

• Brand Experience

They have invested significantly in the brand experience to expand their customer base. In 2016, The Taj Ground and the Shangri-La joined together via a loyalty-led program, Warmer Welcome. Here consumers get the advantage of collecting and converting points between hotels worldwide. Similarly, since the terrorist attack 2008 in Mumbai, the Taj Hotel has also established the renowned Taj Public Service Welfare Trust (TPSWT). They have contributed more than INR 10 million towards the Kerala and Kodagu flood relief. They stand firm towards their motto of giving back to society forever!

Successful Outcomes from Taj

This innovative branding strategy has effectively increased employee retention rates to 80% with 95% customer engagement. They also have a record of a whopping 10 million unique website visitors and more than two mission social media users till now. Their mobile web revenue has spiked to a 100% increase in the last few years, along with the customer loyalty ratio. Hence, the growth is quite prominent.

Let’s Dive into Some Inspiring Hotel Brand Identity Design Ideas 2023

Conclusion

Excellent hotel branding is a crucial requisite for long-term growth and success in the emerging hospitality industry. The advantages of a hotel branding strategy are endless. It will help your business grow and diversify into numerous new revenue channels, beat the competition, build consumer trust, and turn them into ambassadors of your business.

It is a crucial aspect of your business. This is why instead of doing it alone, hire branding agency with experience building brands in the hospitality industry. This way, you will have a personalised hotel branding strategy for your business that will help you get ahead of your competitors and build your reputation on a global level in the forthcoming years.

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Author: Megha Malik