7 MINUTE READ
It’s no secret that consumers have changed their purchasing habits over the last few decades. Gone are the days of the passive consumer – reading the morning newspaper and listening to local radio on their way to work. Even TV commercials are going the way of the dinosaur as viewers simply skip through ads or stream ad-free content.
Today, we’re chasing consumer attention on the internet and flooding social media with ads. First, there was Facebook… then Twitter… then Instagram. Now Snapchat, which will undoubtedly be followed by some other oddly-named platform.
So why the endless pursuit? Why must we all jump from one social media platform to another?
To borrow the words of content marketing guru Gary Vaynerchuk, it’s because “marketers ruin everything”. Wherever people are paying attention, marketers will soon arrive to plaster their intrusive ads all over the place, forcing consumers to find new ways to evade them.
Let’s face the facts. We are marketing to a new breed of savvy Millennial consumers. In fact, the U.S. Census Bureau reports that Millennials now outnumber Baby Boomers as the largest generation. They are digital natives, born into a world of unlimited information, and they hate being advertised to. They’ve been bombarded with intrusive outbound advertising all their lives.
They’ve seen Hollywood movies devolve into a product placement bonanza. Sports venues like Madison Square Garden and Soldier Field are now outnumbered by names like Bank of America Stadium and the Smoothie King Center. Even their favorite YouTubers and Instagram celebrities are starting to push products on them. This generation is sick of outbound marketing, and they’re not afraid to jump ship if they feel a channel is being saturated with intrusive ads.
A 23-year-old participant in a recent Harris Poll may have said it best:
“I go on social media to see and know what my friends are doing. I don’t want to see ads clutter my news feed. If I’m interested in a product or service, I know where to look. Social media is a place for us to connect with our friends, not be attacked by advertisements.”
Today’s consumer is ignoring banner ads, cutting the cord on cable TV, installing ad blockers, and looking at their phone instead of your billboard.
We all do it. Each and every one of us closes pop-up ads the moment they appear – especially on our smartphones. We treat banner ads like background noise. We even install ad blockers in spite of being marketers ourselves. We are no different than the consumers we market to. So why can’t we accept the obvious truth?
The numbers don’t lie, millennials are doing everything they can to avoid intrusive outbound advertising.
Millennials don’t want ads. They certainly don’t want to be interrupted. They want authenticity.
So how do we get our message across amidst this widespread aversion to outbound advertising? We need to shift our efforts from outbound marketing to inbound marketing. We need to deliver high-quality content that consumers actually want on the platforms they expect to find it.
For hotel marketers, this means building a robust social media presence that is packed with relevant, trustworthy, high-quality content. It doesn’t mean pushing that content onto consumers while they’re browsing an unrelated website or feed.
Authentic inbound marketing doesn’t seek to disrupt a person’s experience or steal their time. Authentic marketing content makes sense within the context and location it is placed. It invites viewers in rather than interrupt their “regularly scheduled programming”.
When someone is looking to book a hotel in your area, they are usually going to start with Google or an OTA’s website. These tools help them to efficiently sift through the abundant options and narrow down their choices. From there, most consumers are happy to browse through a handful of hotel websites, social media accounts, and guest review sites. This is the moment when they are most open to your message.
At this point in their travel journey, millennials are eager to find authentic content from your hotel or resort. They want to see the best of your photos, videos, activities, and local excursions. When the time is right, they will go to any length to learn more about your property. Authentic hotel marketing content seeks to be genuinely representative of the experience a hotel guest can expect. As a result, it provides all consumers with the thing they want most – peace of mind.
Like any traveler, millennials simply want to make sure they are making the best possible choice on accommodations. They want the best value for their hard-earned money. The most effective way of communicating that value is by providing an abundance of high-quality photos and videos. This doesn’t mean shoving that content down their throats. It means regularly posting to the platforms where people can easily find compelling content about your hotel.
There is no need to harass online consumers into choosing your hotel over the competition. All you need to do is provide a hotel website that is easy to navigate and provides plenty of visual information. Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat should mirror the look and feel of your hotel website while featuring regular posts about new events and promotions.
Rather than blowing your limited marketing budget on pop-up ads, banner ads, and other intrusive advertising methods; shift the lion’s share of those budget items towards content creation and effective website design. Dedicating a larger portion of your budget to creating high-quality photos and videos will enable you to keep online viewers engaged and following. As your library of content grows and improves, you’ll find there is no need to chase down millennial consumers, because they will be chasing you.
About Accommovision
We take a holistic approach to hotel video marketing by providing our clients with all the content and tools they need. After producing brand videos of the highest quality, our clients can request a video archive full of captivating stock footage for use in later projects. Our ongoing editing support means your video content will never go to waste, and we will always be available for updates and special promotions. For more information on our services, simply contact us.