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Discover 10 effective venue marketing ideas

Marketing is one of the most important pieces of your business. But building a venue marketing plan takes time, and considered thought and research. Furthermore, once completed, it must be kept current and relevant to guide your organisation’s marketing efforts and have an impact on your business.

1. Maximise your website

It is no secret that the internet is an incredibly powerful tool. Your hotel’s website should be user-friendly and optimised to make sure that when planners are searching for venues, your hotel is ranked first in their search results. Search engine optimisation means that your site is more likely to garner views organically — basically for free. While you can also utilise paid SEO to increase your hotel’s relevancy in search results, optimising your page and working within the SEO algorithms will enable your website to gain more views and clicks for free. There are many sites and tools that will help you optimise your website. They are designed to help you understand ranking factors by search engine and help you integrate those learnings into your webpages.

2. Optimise your Cvent supplier network page for safe meetings

Take advantage of that concentrated interest and make sure your hotel’s page on the supplier network is optimised. Make your profile detailed, including multiple high-quality photos of your meeting space, dimensions, and all information that you can provide. Planners know what they need and it is up to your team to make sure they have the most up to date accurate information about your venue and the ways you're ensuring safe meetings.

3. Focus on an established social media network, and an emerging one

Social media platforms are incredibly powerful ways to get information about your venue out to the world, but can also serve as an influential positioning tool for your venue. They enable you to interact with your customers and prospects in a personalised way and give your venue a voice. From Facebook to LinkedIn and TikTok, there's a social platform for every type of crowd. Rather than overcommit, focus on building real relationships by investing in just one to three platforms. Spend 80% of your time on the network driving the most engagement for you today, and put the other 20% of time into building a following on an emerging platform (think Snapchat, TikTok, gaming environments, and so on).

4. Send content marketing postcards

You can use content marketing to provide event planners helpful tools and insights. Just stick to your brand themes and present new thought leadership in the form of a postcard, ebooks, a digital magazine, podcasts —whatever fits your strategy. You can promote your venue’s amenities, highlight the interesting hot spots around your venue, and show off innovative ideas your team uses to increase value and elevate onsite experiences for guests.

5. Create a virtual tour to share on any marketing channel

One great way to use a virtual tour is when you are responding to an RFP. Build out the space as described in their request and go the extra mile to really exceed their expectations. It’s a great opportunity to show off what your team can do and how your venue can be perfectly suited to your prospect's needs.

6. Updated imagery for your property

Show, don't just tell! This may seem fairly obvious, but it can be a major miss for your venue if the imagery on the various platforms you are utilising in your marketing mix is not up to date. Use the imagery on your website and on your supplier pages to highlight new renovations, updates to your venue, and to show the space in action. Hiring a professional photographer may also be a good step to help you with this endeavor. They will help you with shot lists, ideas for space set ups, and they can help you really hone in on what images are going to work the best for your audience and space. They can also help you highlight the versatility of your space.

7. Create short, one-minute videos

Posting engaging video content is a powerful method of promoting your venue. It can be placed in various platforms and will go a long way to show event planners what you can do. Videos are naturally engaging and when done well, they allow a venue to show special features, amenities, and their venue space in action.

8. Send an email with your safety best practices and an offer

Email marketing should be a part of any marketing mix. Today, it remains a very effective way to engage with your target audience, planners, and make sure they are seeing the content, promotions, and updates that you are posting on your other platforms. Email campaigns should align with your other marketing efforts and can be harnessed for virtually anything you need. Updating prospects on renovations, highlighting an event that just happened, and promoting new safety measures to your past customers and current prospects can drum up new business opportunities.

9. Create an email newsletter with timely updates

Email newsletters are a great tool for venues to get information and updates out to their list of past and present clients. Making these newsletters robust, engaging, and actionable is the key to success when creating and deploying these emails. Use engaging, actionable copy that will keep your clients and contacts interested in what you have to say, and make sure that the content is relevant and timely. If your hotel is undergoing renovations, keep a space open for updated pictures and stories about the progress and how it is going to enhance your venue. If you have content about updated safety measures required by your local and state governments, keep a space in your newsletter open for that. In all spaces, link back to your content elsewhere.

10. Encourage Yelp and TripAdvisor reviews

Yelp and TripAdvisor are powerful platforms that consumers and planners use to rate venues based on other clients' reviews. These services allow past customers to publish their experiences and opinions of venues and other businesses. TripAdvisor generates hundreds of millions of reviews and word of mouth commentary every year, and not having your venue on their site is a miss. Planners do check reviews on venues as part of their due diligence, and making sure that your venue has planner reviews and leisure traveller reviews will only enhance your presence online and your marketing mix. You can and should solicit reviews from planners and incentivise groups to write reviews of their event with your venue. It will help you grow your following online, and you can link to your other platforms from your hotel profile. With so many people writing reviews, you can use your venue profile to gather more leads and increase conversion.

6 Strategies - How to Attract Domestic Tourists

Domestic tourism has presented, and will continue to present, significant business opportunities for hotels and destinations alike.

What is domestic tourism?

At its highest level, domestic tourism involves residents of a country travelling within that same country. Road trips, weekend getaways, and staycations are all great examples. One of the biggest advantages of domestic tourism is that it includes local travel, which means easier and cheaper commuting. It's also a great way to fit a break into one’s daily life without having to rearrange work and family schedules.

Knowing about domestic tourism is one thing. Knowing how to attract domestic tourists to your property is something entirely different.

1. Use local SEO.

invest heavily in search engine optimisation for local audiences and geography-based keywords.

2. Promote local attractions.

the problem isn’t how to attract more domestic tourists. It's how to get them to choose your property over the competition. Align your brand with both established and underrepresented local attractions.

3. Work with local influencers.

It’s an understatement to say that Instagram and social media advertising have changed over the past few years. Instead of leaning on influencers with followers in the millions, hotel brands are finding success with locally-based micro-influencers. Thanks to a surge in online searches for local travel blogs, these thought leaders are more valuable than ever, and working with them can cause overall engagement to soar.

4. Make it homey.

this audience is a “large number of individuals who are ready for more than just a place to stay, they are looking for more of a staycation out-of-town experience. promote anything that fits under the two key selling points Rosado recommends: transient chic and vacationer lifestyle.

5. Stay flexible.

“flexibility remains the most important thing hoteliers need to be mindful of.” Although brands in other travel verticals such as airlines are taking away their flexible policies, keeping or expanding yours will be a big draw. “Properties might want to reconsider their pet policies because while those who travel internationally tend to set a budget or time for pet-sitters, domestic travellers are likely going to want to grab their pet along — especially when travelling by car.”

6. Try print marketing.

Not sure what to include? “a QR code would maybe provide free breakfast for two, or some other type of travel certificate they can use for some extra perks.” Not only is this a great method for tracking the ROI of a campaign, but it’s also a unique way to reach audiences that other local hotels may not be.

10 Brewery Event Ideas That Actually Work - Hospitality/ Event Venues

Hosting appealing and out-of-the-box events can attract new visitors to your venue and leave a lasting impression that keeps them coming back. The right brewery event ideas can also be used to drive venue sales, boost brand awareness, increase private bookings, and keep your customers wanting more. From reoccurring marketing opportunities to one-of-a-kind affairs, we cover brewery event ideas for venues of every shape, size, and style.

Discover 10 brewery event ideas that drive profits and patronage

1. Organize a local beer festival

Promote live cooking demonstrations, beer-themed carnival games, an exceptional entertainment lineup, and other onsite activities in festival marketing materials. Partner with community members and local businesses to maximize the impact and value of the festival.

2. Pack the tasting room

Host a variety of tasting events throughout the year to consistently attract new customers, as well as build a profitable base of repeat patrons. Keep your tasting room’s calendar of events full by hosting themed tastings, seasonal special events, and a variety of other tasting types

3. Drive special event bookings with a weekend wedding show

Couples nearby may not be aware that your brewery hosts special events or weddings. Invite diverse wedding professionals and vendors from the area, such as wedding planners, designers, decorators, florists, entertainers, and more.

4. Host trivia nights to drive weekday business

Host trivia nights to build a repeat customer base and fill more tables at your event. Choose a host who is engaging, funny, and confident in a crowd. Regularly switch up the trivia theme to capture new audiences. Host holiday-themed trivia nights, feature fan-favorite shows, explore different genres, and put participants’ general knowledge to the test.

5. Host fantasy sports-centric events

If you’re experiencing low turnout in the summer months or looking for sports-related brewery event ideas, become the host venue for a fantasy sports league and provide a welcoming, laid-back atmosphere for local fantasy sports fanatics to meet throughout the year.

6. Throw epic after-parties for area events

Are major festivals or area-wide events commonplace in your area? If so, capitalize on the existing buzz surrounding area events by hosting after-parties. Market your brewery as the place to go for event attendees who want to keep the party going. Advertise event-related themes, live entertainment, and after-party brewery specials to attract the attention of concertgoers, sports fans, and other out-of-towners.

7. Partner with fellow breweries for Tap Takeovers

Partner with a local brewing company or microbrewery that has a new beer to introduce or a seasonal return to celebrate. Offer to host their tasting at your venue during a Tap Takeover event.

8. Partner with local restaurants for a food truck festival

Partner with local food trucks to host a regional festival or food truck rodeo. Customers will have the opportunity to order freshly-made food alongside their favorite craft beer as they enjoy an afternoon at your brewery.

9. Organize a Dog Days of Summer fundraiser

Organize a Dog Days of Summer event during the hottest time of the year. Invite community members to bring their pups and beat the heat at your brewery. Set up outdoor water activities, like pet-friendly hoses and fountain toys, as well as outdoor games, vendor stations, and snacks.

10. Host a Beer Pairing Dinner

Highlight the quality and versatility of your beer by hosting a Beer Pairing Dinner. Attendees enjoy course after course of fresh, high-quality dishes paired with complementing beers. Explore various food and beer styles, encouraging attendees to try something new and make a deeper connection with your product through a unique experience.

Pack your calendar with these brewery event ideas and get the word out!

How to prepare for tech meltdown during your presentation

Have you ever walked on stage for a presentation and your mic calls it quits? Or the clip you want to show is stuck with the dreaded loading wheel? Perhaps your Mac doesn’t play nice with the HDMI cable, and your beautiful presentation is reduced to a black screen? Cue awkward silence, scurrying AV support staff, overactive sweat glands and minutes that seem to move like molasses.

If you present enough, then you'll know these scenarios are not a case of if but when. So, do you have a plan B for when technology sabotages you? If you don't, then it's time to make one.

Do your preliminary checks.

If your flight crew are the responsible aviators they should be, they are going to run their pre-flight checks. Make sure the buttons work and flappy things flap and whatever else pilots need to do before taking off for a successful flight. The same analogy holds for your presentation.

Ok, so failure to run preliminary checks for your presentation might not have the same catastrophic outcomes as shoddy piloting, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't do it. Go to the venue before you are due to talk. Make sure you check everything that you need is working as it should.

How to come prepared for poor connectivity.

Check the wifi at the venue during your preliminary check. If their connection is dodgy, you can try using 3G/4G. You may well find that connection is quicker than the wifi in some instances.

Better yet, plan to have your clips or websites downloaded before the presentation so that if you need to, you can run without connection. By downloading and saving any video or audio clips, you won't need to rely on streaming them during your talk.

How to prepare for a catastrophic power failure on all fronts.

The lights go out, the projector dims and the mic goes silent. It's a total power cut. Not an unheard-of event in South Africa. However, there's no reason for despair. There is metaphorical light at the end of the tunnel, if not actual light.

If you can't reschedule, then there are a few things you can do to salvage the day. Have your slide show presentation printed out to give to the audience as hardcopies. If the numbers are too big, then save it to a platform that the audience can access on their mobile devices (yay for mobile data!).

What should you say to your audience?

Apologise once to your audience for the inconvenience… And then move on. Don't keep harping on about it, or else when you've finished, the glitch is what they'll remember the most, not that presentation you slaved over for hours.

Give the AV people a chance to try and get you up and running again. But if you feel it's taking too long and their frenetic scrambling has become too distracting, then you'll need to call it. Announce to the audience that you'll be going ahead without the presentation and then hand out those hardcopy printouts or direct the audience to where your slide show is stored online.

Don't base your presentation around technology.

Be prepared to go it alone. You'll find this advice everywhere you search. If you are using your media correctly - as an enhancement to what you say rather than a crutch - then you should be able to smoothly wing your way through your presentation without the flashing pictures and sounds. In this article from Ryan Estis, he recommends you use media as "leverage tools to add something", not as the focus of your talk.

The audience is there to hear what you have to say, not watch your slide show or video clips. In fact, if you think of the great speeches delivered that find their way into our collective cultural conscious, it's the words, not the images that are remembered.

3 Event Trends Every Hotelier Should Know

After two years, numerous lockdowns, and countless pandemic protocols, in-person meetings and events finally seem as though they're back to business – albeit with a new set of realities. Yes, meeting planners are still facing some COVID-19 challenges, but they're also dealing with event trends such as rising costs, limited availability at hotels and venues, and smaller hospitality staffs – many filled with new or inexperienced professionals. Keep reading for three of the top tips from the June report.

Discover 3 event trends all hoteliers should know

Event trend No. 1: Rising costs are a concern.

Of all the event trends happening right now, this should come as no surprise. Almost 80% of planners say rising costs are having a material impact on their events, and that cost containment is their top priority. But what is surprising is how they’re dealing with the crunch: Just 28% report that it has caused them to delay, reschedule, or cancel an event. More interesting is that planners continue to safeguard the attendee experience. A strong majority (62%) are finding cost savings in areas that will not diminish attendee experience, and just 25% are thinking about increasing per-participant pricing. Hoteliers should also note that almost 90% of planners were not planning to reduce attendance as a way to minimize the cost of the event.

Hotels and venues should consider offering additional incentives to planners that elevate the experience. Are there special deals for shoulder dates, or restaurant discounts? Look for ways to sweeten the experience of the event without adding to the cost in order to keep attendees on the property for more days. Hospitality sales, marketing, and operations teams can also help by being more efficient and transparent. Here are a few ways Cvent can help you make the most of this event trend:

Event trend No. 2: Hotel/venue relationships with planners need more attention.

After all, planners have a long list of events and lots of work to do. They need adequate support from the hotel or venue they select, yet over 30% said that they’ve had to delay, reschedule, or cancel an event because their selected hotel or venue wasn’t adequately staffed. That’s a trend that increased from 18% in the March Northstar/Cvent Meetings Industry PULSE Report. Almost 40% say that their hospitality contact is gone.

Hotels and venues can reduce busy work and focus on building relationships with planners. Be mindful that planners also may be new and won’t know the basics about your property; keep it in mind when responding to the RFP request. For example, many hotels win events by doing small but thoughtful things, like sharing event space diagrams in the RFP response. Most of all, follow up and ask questions. Don’t reject an otherwise attractive RFP because the dates are booked; reach out and ask if alternatives are a possibility. If not, that’s okay. Work on building the relationship with the planner. Here are a few ways Cvent can help you make the most of this event trend:

Event trend No. 3: Great and affordable attendee experiences are paramount.

Return on time/experience/investment for attendees has a weighted average of 4.1/5 in the PULSE Report, making it one of the most important factors for planners right now. The good news for hotels and venues is that putting together a great experience doesn’t have to be expensive. Event planners may be looking for something simple, quick, and creative. They might know exactly what they want to do but have a tight budget for site visits – and not a lot of time to pull the event together. The key is to efficiently meet their needs and anticipate opportunities to make their event even better.

Start putting these event trends to use today!

The way forward from two long years spent away from other people is, not surprisingly, all about relationships. That’s the takeaway from the most recent Northstar/Cvent Meetings Industry PULSE Report. Planners are interested in rebuilding what was lost by furlough and starting new relationships through exciting events; all with a careful eye on COVID-19 and the bottom line.