With the increase in digital trends, shifting traveler behaviors, and competitive landscapes, hoteliers must adopt both traditional and modern marketing strategies to attract and retain guests.
NB: This is an article from Sabre Hospitality
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In this article, we’ll explore the top 10 marketing strategies that hoteliers can leverage to drive bookings and boost revenue in the coming year.
1: Optimize your hotel website for mobile
In 2025, offering a seamless mobile booking experience isn’t just a bonus—it’s a necessity. As mobile traffic continues to dominate online behavior, with around two-thirds of global travel and hospitality website traffic coming from mobile devices in 2023, your hotel’s website must be fully optimized for mobile users to compete.
A key part of this optimization is having a robust, mobile-responsive booking engine that meets modern traveler expectations. The booking experience on mobile should be fast, intuitive, and hassle-free. This means selecting a booking engine that offers:
- Speed: Fast load times to prevent drop-offs, ensuring potential guests don’t abandon the process due to lag or delays.
- Simplicity: A streamlined booking process with fewer steps and clear progress indicators to keep users engaged.
- Mobile-Friendly Payment Options: Support for digital wallets and flexible payment methods like Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL), allowing guests to choose what’s convenient for them.
- Easy Navigation: Smooth navigation with touch-friendly buttons, simplified menus, and intuitive controls tailored for mobile users.
- Effective Calls-to-Action (CTAs): Clear and prominent CTAs that prompt users to book without frustration, enhancing conversion rates.
By integrating a well-optimized mobile booking engine that offers these essential features, you’ll not only increase direct bookings but also improve guest satisfaction and ultimately boost your bottom line.
2: Take SEO to the next level
While SEO has long been a standard strategy for digital marketing, 2025 brings a shift in how SEO must be approached, especially for larger hotel chains that may not own their primary domain but instead operate under subdomains. Even within these constraints, optimizing for search engines is crucial to driving organic traffic and bookings. However, SEO is increasingly complex and requires ongoing effort, including technical expertise and strategic content development.
What’s new for 2025? The evolution of search algorithms emphasizes user experience and content relevance even more, making it critical to focus on:
- Localized SEO: Target hyper-local keywords (e.g., “best beachfront hotels near Miami”) that align with specific traveler searches. This is especially effective for chains managing multiple properties in different regions.
- AI-powered content creation and optimization: Use AI tools to help with real-time content optimization, ensuring your website stays relevant and competitive in search rankings.
- Voice search optimization: With the rise of voice assistants like Alexa and Google Home, make sure your site is optimized for voice queries, often phrased as questions (e.g., “What are the best hotels in Lubbock?”).
- SEO for mobile: As mobile-first indexing continues, ensuring your mobile site ranks well on search engines is vital for both individual hotels and chains.
Remember, SEO is not a set-and-forget strategy—it requires constant updates and expertise to stay ahead in a crowded digital landscape. By keeping up with new developments in search algorithms and technology, your hotel chain can maintain visibility and capture direct bookings in an increasingly competitive market.
