Most hospitality business owners understand that a good marketing strategy is key to maintaining a high occupancy rate. However, it often isn’t easy finding time for marketing while juggling all the other tasks involved in running a hotel or restaurant.
This is why many hospitality businesses choose to hire a marketing agency – but just which agency should you hire? Ideally you want to find a company that understands your industry to help you connect with your target customers and stand out among competitors. There are many agencies that specialize in serving restaurants and hotels. In this post, we’ll take a look at 10 of the very best hospitality marketing agencies – the creme de la creme – to help you fill more rooms/tables.
#1) Gourmet Marketing
Based in New York, Gourmet Marketing are heavyweights in the hotel marketing industry. They’re an award-winning agency that has been serving hotels across the globe since 2009 – including small independent hotels and large hotel groups. Their focus is on delivering campaigns that drive direct bookings. Clients can choose from a vast range of marketing services from SEO to social media marketing. If you’re a hotel that is struggling to book up rooms or looking for a way to attract certain types of guests, Gourmet Marketing could be just the right choice of agency to help you get results.
#2) SrveUP
Next on the menu is SrveUP, an agency with locations in the US and Canada that is focused entirely on restaurants. Their strengths include paid social, short-form video and promotion of user-generated content. Think mouth-watering visual ads on Facebook and Instagram. Other services that they provide include web design, SEO, PPC and packaging design. Their campaigns are centered around building conversions, made up of iterative content that is constantly tweaked and perfected.
#3) O’Rourke Hospitality Marketing
A hotel-first agency, O’Rourke is based in Massachusetts and works with boutiques and chains across the US. They provide website development, SEO, social media management, email management and more. Much of this is ROI-focused – they provide reports to help you see the success with your own eyes. Several case studies on the website showcase clear results when it comes to increases in bookings. They could be a marketing agency worth using if you’re looking for measurable results.
#4) inBeat agency
inBeat position themselves as a leader in ‘micro-influencer marketing’. The North American company has headquarters in both Montreal and New York and serves a range of brands that reach beyond the hospitality sector. However, their experience in TikTok and Instagram user-generated content growth makes them particularly well-suited to restaurants and hotels, helping brands to create tantalizing videos and photos that spread. They’re also able to help with paid advertising campaigns.
#5) Lotus Marketing
When it comes to hotel launches and relaunches, Lotus Marketing has the expertise to help you deliver the ultimate grand opening. They provide pre- and post-opening marketing to help build up buzz for your launch – which includes new hotels, renovations and rebrands. On top of this, they’re able to provide ongoing marketing services like SEO and social media marketing. With multiple locations across the US and Canada, they have a lot of presence and are well-equipped to work with brands across North America.
#6) Foodie
Sporting over 20 years in restaurant marketing, Foodie is a seasoned agency that has worked with many brands across the states. From helping to boost website rankings to creating visually striking ads on social media, they’re able to provide an array of marketing services to help boost your restaurant’s web presence – and most importantly drive foot traffic and delivery sales. Consider working with Foodie if you’re looking for a well-established company that can deliver tried-and-tested methods.
#7) LYFE marketing
Looking for experts in social media marketing? American company, LYFE marketing, can help you cook up a successful social media campaign. Their team members are content wizards who are focused on performance-based campaigns. Hospitality is just one of many industries that they serve, however restaurants make up a big part of their client roster. Choose LYFE marketing and you’ll get access to a transparent dashboard to monitor your campaign while being able to choose from affordable plans to match the size of your business.
#8) 80 Days
Luxury and boutique hotels may want to consider partnering up with 80 Days – a UK-based company that also has offices in Malaga and Dubai, working with premium hotels from around the world. They’re champions in brand distinctiveness and compelling storytelling, which they deliver through a range of marketing services from web copy to social media content. You may pay a little extra for their service, but you’re guaranteed to receive that executive finish to help you attract high-paying guests.
#9) Eat Marketing
Eat Marketing does what it says on the tin. This UK-based company is made up of a team of passionate foodies and focuses exclusively on food marketing – which includes restaurants, takeaway services and food producers. They’ve helped many restaurant chains and food companies enter the UK market. They also work with startups to carry out a range of promotional tasks including menu design, packaging design and social media content.
#10) NetSource Media
NetSource Media occupies a unique space in the hospitality industry: outdoor hospitality. They’re specialists in delivering marketing for campgrounds, RV resorts, marinas and outdoor adventure companies. If you’re an outdoor hospitality business looking to climb the rankings or you’re looking for a way to hook customers with ads, NetSource Media could be the perfect niche agency to help you get results.
Choosing your ideal marketing partner
Make sure to find a marketing agency that caters to your specific niche within hospitality – some of the above agencies are hotel-focused, while others are targeted towards restaurants. Consider your budget and collect quotes to find a service you can afford. Some agencies may be able to provide an all-in-one marketing service to cover everything from SEO to social media marketing, while others are better for handling specific marketing tasks like encouraging user-generated content.
