The Ins and Outs of Partnership Marketing for Hotels

The world of tourism now covers more ground than ever before, with businesses fighting for visitors in locations both far and wide. To create a bridge between your hotel and the ideal customer, you need the right marketing strategies. 

One great way to get ahead of the curve is to partner with other companies in your industry. 

The hospitality industry is one of the most saturated industries out there. With so many options for lodging, every brand must go above and beyond to make its services stick out. 

Partnering with other brands can be an excellent way to tap into new clientele and diversify your offerings.

Here’s a basic overview of what makes partnership marketing for hotels work and what can trip up even the best-intentioned brands.

What is Partnership Marketing?

Partnership marketing in the hotel industry is a model that uses joint efforts between hotel businesses to boost sales and market share. When multiple brands pool their resources, they can:

• Work together to create strategies
• Develop better products
• Bring in more customers 
• All while extending their core services

Kimpton Hotel Vintage Seattle and PacWesty’s collaboration is a promising example of how independent companies can work with each other to drive success. The hotel teamed up with PacWesty, a van rental company, to offer outdoor explorers opportunities for off-roading in the Pacific Northwest. 

With the partnership, all visitors to the Kimpton Vintage can rent one of PacWesty’s vans. The partnership allows Kimpton Vintage to stay true to its “best-of-all-worlds” image. At the same time, it enables PacWesty to expand its business and reach new customers.

By sharing resources, expertise, and information, these companies can better promote their brands. This leads to a higher likelihood of success for both parties involved.

Importance of Partnership Marketing for Hotels

Partnership marketing for hotels is much more than just a nice-to-have strategy. It’s an inextricable part of building up your brand in the digital age. 

Collaborating with other companies in your niche, industry, or vertical can help in generating more leads, building stronger relationships with customers, and enhancing your brand visibility.

The importance of partnership marketing for hotels is immense. Forging partnerships is a tried-and-true strategy for extending your brand reach. When you partner with other brands that have common interests, you’re doubling the potential of your marketing dollars and creating brand recognition for all involved.

Just look at how New York City’s Mark Hotel is making use of partnership marketing to raise its luxury profile. 

The hotel has figured out an ingenious way to weld upscale brands into its facilities and create an unmatched experience. Years of partnering with elite brands have made Mark Hotel a global trendsetter in luxury hospitality.

Benefits of Partnership Marketing

When it comes to forming strategies around partnership marketing for hotels, there are always doubts and hesitations. Most hoteliers wonder if working with another business will take away from their own brand’s growth more so than it will help. They want to keep the status quo and avoid trying anything new. 

But hotels shouldn’t be afraid of this kind of marketing activities, rather, they should actively seek them out. Forming new alliances can bring you several benefits in the long run. And in this section, I am going to explain just that.

So, if you’re still on the fence about entering new collaborations, here’s a quick look at some of the most obvious benefits.

1. Expands your reach and gets you quality leads

New partnerships can further expand your brand’s reach and bring new customers into the fold. A strategic partnership can help you reach customers who would have never heard of your business otherwise. 

Much like how a fitness company might partner with a yoga studio and agree to show their ads to the yoga enthusiasts within their target market. In the same way, having reliable partners gives your hotel the clout it needs to thrive.

What’s more, your target audience will be more easily persuaded to align with you if they already trust your business partner. 

2. Provides a fresh outlook

Partnerships are all about bringing fresh ideas and new strengths to your business. Working with a new partner introduces you to new ways to market your business and increase sales. 

Each marketing professional brings with them their unique wealth of experience and knowledge to the table. You can take advantage of the insights you can gain by listening to what your partners have to say. And as you draw on their creativity and ingenuity, you’re likely to discover new ideas that will help you stand out in the crowded marketplace.

3. Improves SEO

Another benefit of partnering is the potential to improve your SEO. By promoting each other’s content. This lets both brands gain exposure and aligns them together. 

Link sharing is an easy way to grow traffic and promote SEO, allowing both parties to be featured. This helps both brands gain exposure and aligns them together.

4. Lowers marketing costs

It’s easy for marketing costs to spiral out of control without much to show for it. Most hotels can’t afford campaigns that eat into their capital or product costs. Fortunately, partnership marketing allows you to plug into the same audiences at a fraction of the cost. 

When brands team up, they can create larger promotions while enjoying greater cost savings. Instead of spending too much time and money on separate promotions, two brands can work together to create a single campaign. This creates a win-win situation for both parties.

If you’re wondering what is an example of partnership marketing of this type? It is ‘collaboration’ in hotel marketing. For example, between airlines and certain hotel chains. When you book your flight, you’ll often get a pop-up of nearby hotel deals. In this way, both parties can get in front of their target audience. The result is more bookings, which leads to a higher conversion rate for both parties. 

Partnership marketing in lieu of simple advertising can also reduce the associated expenses of customer acquisition. Seeing as you’ll be reaching an audience that’s already highly likely to be interested in your brand.

5. Strengthens brand reputation

Collaborating with high-profile businesses can boost your image and earn you a spot in the limelight. 

Your industry partners can introduce you to their circle of contacts, spreading awareness of your business and its services. You can either partner with a larger brand to reach a wider audience or with a smaller brand to reach a more niche-specific audience. 

6. Engages customers at the right time

When you work with complementary brands, you can use an integrated marketing strategy to get the most out of your goals. Brands can get noticed by customers who are already interested in their products or services when they are most liable to make the purchase. For example, hotel booking sites show you hotel deals after you’ve booked your flight. 

Then there’s Marriott UK, which partnered with Starbucks to make sure their guests had a nice cup of joe during meetings. Not only does partnership help you engage customers at the right moment, but it also creates a more personalized experience for the users.

Challenges of Partnership Marketing for Hotels

Partnership marketing is an incredibly effective strategy, but it is not without its challenges. Following are a few potential pitfalls you should watch out for:

• Profit-sharing can become a touchy subject for some business partners. Ideally, the decision of how to divide the profits should be made before you sign any contracts. By doing this, both of you will avoid any surprises later on down the road.
• The two of you might not always agree. This is normal for any relationship. But if you can put in the effort to talk things through, you will probably come to a resolution that satisfies both of your needs. 

Getting Started with Partnership Marketing

Building a network of partnerships is key to getting the clout your company needs. However, finding companies that can truly work with you and not against you can be a tricky proposition. 

Here are some of the partnership marketing tips for hotel marketers. Make sure to keep these factors in mind as you look for partners to work with.

1. Identify your objectives

Before you jump on board the partnership bandwagon, understand what you want to achieve through your partnerships. Get a clear picture of your expectations. This will help you pick partners that work for your brand. Having defined objectives will save you from partnering with companies that won’t benefit your bottom line.

2. Choose a business with common interests

The best partnership marketing strategy is also the simplest one. Find something that compliments your business, and then partner with it to offer better value to your customers. 

Hilton London Bankside is the perfect example of how businesses can differentiate themselves through cohesive partnerships. The hotel has created its own niche by choosing to partner with Bompas & Parr, a food design studio. 

Together they created the "world's first" vegan guest suite. This partnership not only created a space with special touches but also introduced an opportunity to create a great story around it.

3. Define what partners expect from you

Establish clear expectations upfront to avoid headaches down the road. To ensure both partners are doing their jobs, make sure that both parties are on the same page. A brand looking to collaborate with you may have different objectives from yours. Look at your differences and work out a strategy that addresses both of your concerns.