In order to succeed, it helps to set out your intentions. The new year, bringing a fresh start, can be a good time to reassess and make changes to your lodging tech company’s marketing and public relations strategy. As CEO or CMO, ask yourself what’s going well with the status quo, perhaps your internal team is reaching out to the media and creating inbound content or perhaps you are looking for a specialist agency to build your reputation in short term rentals or the hotel sector? Wherever you’re at, a few key new year resolutions can help to clarify your needs.
Our team has created a 2023 manifesto that, if followed, will bring your public relations and content marketing to the next level. Ready to take notes and make those resolutions?
Develop your thought leadership strategy
In a competitive marketplace, developing your CEO or spokesperson’s thought leadership is a powerful opportunity to increase your marketplace presence and strengthen your brand organically. If you provide a solution, then chances are that you’re an expert in your field and have insight and knowledge, beyond just your product, to share.
Writing opinion articles, becoming an industry ‘pundit’ for news publications, and speaking on webinars, podcasts, and at conferences will help develop your thought leadership and build your reputation.
In fact, an Edelman & LinkedIn study found that ‘54% of Decision-Makers say they spend more than 1 hour per week reading and reviewing thought leadership’, showing that consumption of this content remains high at C-suite level.
A word of warning…. be patient. Thought leadership takes strategy, time, and hard work. But the results are worth it. For some tips on how to develop your own strategy, read Five ways Abode Worldwide builds strong thought leaders.
Invest in your inbound content
Content should be the backbone of your inbound marketing strategy. Your owned content includes your blogs, social media, whitepapers, ebooks, case studies, newsletters and videos. It is your opportunity to shape your story, engage your readers and also share this content (multiple times) with your network and your potential customers.
Content and public relations work well together as a team. Public relations raises the profile of lodging tech pioneers and inbound content has the power to amplify your brand’s story, driving awareness and moving customers further down the sales funnel.
Quality content never ‘sells’ directly. It’s thoughtfully considered, always consistent, brilliantly executed, and shows (but doesn’t tell) your potential customers that you understand their needs. It demonstrates how your solution solves the pain points of your target market better than any other business out there.
With a smart content strategy in place, SEO-optimized blogs, data-rich whitepapers and a well-planned social media calendar, you can connect with your customers and tunnel into your target market. Whether you are aiming for short term rentals, hotels or multifamily the marketing principles remain the same – tell your story in a way that makes your customers want to hear more.
Refresh your keyword search terms
If you don’t have a good idea what the keyword search terms are that impact your market, then now is the time to do some serious research. Ranking for the right SEO keywords and long tail search terms can make or break the effectiveness of your website.
Google states that ‘A website that is well optimized for search engines “speaks the same language” as its potential visitor base with keywords and SEO that help connect searchers to your site.’ The same principle is true for your owned content.
Increasing your brand’s visibility can strengthen the work you’re already doing, including your inbound content, press announcements, thought leadership articles, and even social media posts that you or your public relations agency generate. Be smart and creative, but always focused. Educate yourself on search engine optimization or hire an agency with SEO expertise to help you.
Define your ‘brand story’ (or narrative)
When the Abode Worldwide team starts collaborating with a new tech company, one of our first tasks is to help our client define their core messages by telling their brand story. Your brand narrative underpins everything and is at the heart of all communication.
Your story should communicate what your business is all about, what solution you provide, which pain points you solve and who you solve them for. It will help drive your value proposition, and the way you tell this story is how you engage with potential customers. It brings a human touch to your product – helping customers develop emotional resonance which can impact a buying decision.
Defining your core messages and telling your brand story in an emotive but authentic way, will speak directly to the audience you want to attract and should be high on your priority list.
PR your public relations
When you achieve coverage, shout about it, share it, and then share it again! PR-ing your press wins builds momentum – and if there’s one thing we know, public relations thrives on momentum.
Publications are just like any other business. They want to increase traffic to their website and to reach more readers. The more an article creates engagement, the happier a publisher is – which can further solidify your relationship with the press. Plus, the extra visibility and marketing is also good for you.
Take a read of Five signs your hospitality tech start-up needs specialist public relations for an in-depth look into the benefits of PR-ing your public relations.
Practice patience and consistency
Developing your reputation and brand through public relations and content marketing takes time, effort, and most importantly consistency. If you want quick wins and instant lead generation do Pay-Per-Click.
But if you want to build up a substantial body of coverage, create a sustainable reputation, and develop valuable relationships that will help your business to thrive, then you will need to be patient and consistent. Once you have built up momentum, the results will accumulate and you will be well on your way to taking your business to the next level. It’s a process you need to trust to really see the results.
If you would like to have a chat about partnering with Abode Worldwide on your public relations and content creation, so we can work together to elevate your brand in the new year, please feel free to contact me directly here.
About Jessica Gillingham
Jessica is the Founder and CEO of Abode Worldwide, a specialist public relations and content creation agency partnering with clients operating in the international short term rental, hotel, multifamily, coliving, senior living, and student accommodation spaces. https://abodeworldwide.com/
