Want to craft a compelling dynamic hotel brand that appeals to your target market and makes you recognizable instantly? Then it would be best if you had a strong brand identity. The good news is that you can find out exactly how to create one, in the detailed but understandable guide below.
The first task when devising a hotel brand identity is to think about your target audience. This means identifying the guests you want to attract the most and what they’ll want from your establishment. The idea here is that by tailoring your brand specifically to them you will increase the number of bookings you will achieve.
Start with the basics – your name and logo.
Once you have defined your target audience, you can begin with the basics of any hotel brand identity: your name and logo. Hotel names that evoke strong positive emotions and imagery are particularly effective here so think carefully before you just go with whatever the establishment was called previously. Also, you’ll need to make sure your name works well for SEO, and that means if another company is already ranking well for your name, you may want to reconsider.
Your logo is a visual representation of your name and your hotel brand identity and should make your hotel instantly recognizable wherever it’s seen. Whether that’s on social media, on the sign outside your front door, or monogrammed on your towels.
Robust visual identity
Continuing on from your name and logo, you’ll also need to devise a robust visual identity for your hotel. Your visual identity is important because it is what ensures that the content you put out across various channels stays consistent and is recognizable as part of your brand.
This means you’ll need to choose specific typography, fonts, and color schemes when you publish content both online and IRL.
Your organization’s values
The next thing you’ll need to do to build your hotel brand identity is to define your mission and values. What are you trying to achieve by running this hotel? Hint: the answer here will always be to make money, but you never want to say that. Instead, think of your mission in terms of how you set out to serve your customers, what it is that you are providing to them, and why.
This should also closely match your business values. These are ways of acting that you feel are important. For example, many hotels highlight sustainability as one of their key values, so you would expect them to act in line with this by using refillable shampoo bottles, offering options to not have clean towels and sheets every day, and using a laundry that focuses on green methods.
Brand voice and storytelling
Another aspect of a successful brand is that of voice and storytelling. Customers respond to the why rather than the what of your brand, so it’s important that you carefully craft a story that encapsulates the reasons that you run your business in the way that you do.
This story should be told in a humanized way, and it should be described in the right language or barn voice to match. For example, if your hotel is all about sophistication then using relaxed and informal language may not be the right match.
Brand your offerings
Last of all, once your brand is established, you will need to use it in almost everything you do. Indeed, a strong brand permeates throughout an entire business. For hotel and hospitality businesses this means using your branding in your rooms, buildings, menus, and staff uniforms.
Many hotels even included branded apparel for their guests such as robes and hotel slides, with some even allowing guests to take these home. Of course, the major benefit of doing this is that it helps to increase brand visibility and remind your guests of the wonderful time they spent in your establishment.
Use a branded loyalty program
A branded loyalty program should be the last piece of the puzzle regarding the hotel brand identity. Remember one of the main benefits of having a robust brand is to encourage customer loyalty, and a program dedicated to this will ensure this. Indeed, brands that can establish this type of loyalty are in a much better position to expand than any competitors that don’t.
Consider your loyalty program carefully in terms of what you offer. Make sure you tailor it specifically to what appeals to your target market to ensure it is as effective as possible.
