Getting Hospitality Marketing Ready for Day One

James Mason, CEO of Welcome to Yorkshire, appeared across the BBC in the past few days to urge hospitality businesses in the north to prepare for 'Day One'.

In interviews on BBC Breakfast on May 17th and on BBC Radio Humberside's David Burns show on May 18th, he explained that different hospitality premises might be given permission to reopen at different times - but Day One is coming for all.

Speaking to Radio Humberside local legend Burnsy, he added that the two key words for hospitality marketing right now are 'confidence' and 'trust'.

'Day One is coming'

"We know that Day One is coming for everyone. If you're a bed & breakfast owner you can prepare your messaging, you can make sure that your marketing is right and say 'Listen, if you're concerned about having breakfast down in a common room, maybe we can deliver to your bedroom,' etc."

- James Mason, CEO Welcome to Yorkshire, BBC Radio Humberside, May 18th 2020

The date when lockdown is lifted may differ for different businesses - for instance, outdoor venues like campsites and caravan parks could find they are allowed to open ahead of more confined spaces like hotels and guest houses.

But the day is coming and it's important for hospitality marketing in Yorkshire and across the north of England to be ready to capitalise on any opportunities that lie ahead.

Business as Usual and the New Normal

Just a few weeks ago when I wrote my previous post here, we were entering the Coronavirus pandemic. While it's far from over, we are starting to see some progress.

Importantly, I think most of us have a good understanding of what business can be done, and hopefully in the very near future, more businesses will return to trading in a more 'normal' way.

For my part, I continue to take orders as usual, so if you need to hire a writer, I am available.

Marketing Communications and Coronavirus COVID-19

The disease officially named COVID-19 but more commonly known as Coronavirus is likely to take several months to peak and dwindle, with significant implications for businesses of all kinds.

Most people who contract the disease will recover from it, but we are still entering a period of likely substantial disruption to many daily practices we take for granted.

The daily commute, working from a shared office or open-plan workspace, shopping for essentials like food and household goods, are all on the agenda.

For commercial entities the coming months are a minefield as you seek to share important information with your customers, without appearing to take advantage of the situation.

On a personal note, I don't think anyone should try to capitalise on the coronavirus, but certain marketing communications still need to be written and sent out.

As I see it, there are a few scenarios in which Coronavirus could disrupt your marketing communications, so let's take a look at some of them...

What is the Social Media Ratio?

Your Social Media Ratio is a quick way to test if a social media post is 'good' or 'bad' in terms of audience perception.

The different social networks give your followers different ways to interact with you, but they fall into a number of common categories:

• Replies/Comments
• Shares/Retweets
• Likes

Generally speaking, if a post has significantly more replies than likes, it's a good sign that the audience has taken offence and is complaining about the content of that post.

SEO strategy for January

The new year is underway and that means it's time to get serious about your SEO strategy for January and hire a freelance writer if necessary to create landing pages, blog posts and so on.

A lot of people will be starting new marketing campaigns in the new year, so the sooner you can get going with yours, the better.

If you're on the lookout for SEO ideas for January, here are some top tips of where to start.