Do you remember the ‘Duct-Taped Banana’?
If not, then you must be living under the rocks. Just kidding!
In 2019 at Miami’s Art Basel, a banana duct-taped to a wall was sold for $120,000.
Sounds insane right? Next up, netizens went bananas, resulting in a meme fest.
However, amid all these internet shebangs, many brands decided to take this opportunity to run their marketing campaigns.
But do you know what this type of marketing is called?
It is called Topical Marketing and you can take it from me, it works wonders.
In this blog, I am going to walk you through all the aspects of topical marketing in the hotel industry and how hotels can use it to their advantage.
Table of Contents
What Is Topical Marketing?
Topical marketing (or topical advertising) is about taking advantage of a current event or story to create relevant and related campaigns around it.
Simply put, the idea of this marketing strategy is to gain mass attention by using a subject that has already gained momentum.
Further, when we talk about topical marketing, there’s another form of marketing that needs attention — moment marketing.
Now, if you’re wondering what is moment marketing, it is about creating a buzz with an ad at the moment of an ongoing event or viral trend.
So, be it topical or moment, the goal remains the same — get attention.
Let me help you understand this with the help of real examples.
Duct-Taped Banana
I have already given you the context of this meme-famous event. Now, let’s look at some of the famous marketing campaigns around it.
Felix Baumgartner’s Postponed Trip to Space
Austrian daredevil Felix Baumgartner was planning to jump from 23 miles above the Earth in a specially pressurised suit. But the skydive was called off due to high winds.
While people were just busy tweeting about this event, Nestlé came up with a fantastic idea.
To keep Baumgartner’s spirits high, Nestlé ACTUALLY sent a KitKat into space. Yes, you heard it right!!
Why is Topical Marketing Such a Popular Strategy?
I feel topical marketing is so effective is because of certain psychological factors.
When I was researching, I came across various resources that talked about marketing psychology; how people perceive certain campaigns. I was amazed at how these factors are being used by marketers to make an impact.
So, I decided to compile and present them to you, so that hotel marketers can make sense out of them and use them to their advantage.
Note: I am putting down all my findings in pointers for better understanding. So, do read them all.
- Have you heard about The Humour Effect? It is a cognitive bias that makes people remember information better when they perceive it as humorous. This is a major factor in topical marketing.
- There’s something called Flashbulb Memory which also plays a significant role in making people effectively perceive marketing campaigns. If you aren’t aware of it, flashbulb memory is a detailed and vivid snapshot of the moment or an event. However, many researchers have proven that it is not always accurate.
- How many of you have come across a brand for the first time and then realised that you’re noticing it again and again? Well, I know it could be because of retargeting ads. But we aren’t talking about it right now.
This usually happens because of something called Baader–Meinhof Phenomenon (also known as frequency bias or frequency illusion). It is, again, a cognitive bias in which we notice something for the first time and then keep noticing it often, as a result, we get inclined towards it.
So, if you want your hotel to make that first impression, you need to come up with a campaign. This is where topical marketing works.
Imagine someone coming across your hotel for the first time and later, they keep seeing your brand everywhere. So much that they end up making reservations with your hotel.
Once you get their attention, maximize it. - Topical marketing defines ‘The Cool Factor’ and that’s what makes it supreme. When you create certain topical marketing campaigns, you induce a special spark of intrigue to your brand.
There are several other psychological factors involved in topical marketing. On the surface, it might look like just a few posts about certain events. But when you dive deeper, there are a lot of things involved.
Does Topical and Moment Marketing Work for Hotels?
The answer to this is an absolute YES.
To attract new guests, hotels need to be known to a wider audience, they need to build a popular brand name.
This is where topical and moment marketing comes in.
Topical marketing in the hotel industry has become commonplace today. It is an unbiased form of marketing that works for almost every type of brand, business, and individual. The only thing it requires is a strategic approach to make people perceive the content in a playful and connected way (based on/as per the psychological factors as mentioned above).
But how do you create such content? This is exactly what I am going to explain in the next point.
How Can Hotels Make the Most Out of Topical Marketing?
When you decide to create topical or moment marketing content, you need to perform certain tasks. Or, you can say you need a strategic roadmap.
In this section, I will introduce you to some aspects that you must consider to produce topical marketing content that drives results.
1. Keep an eye everywhere
Topical marketing in the hotel industry isn’t an easy feat comparatively. Not every trending event can be used to create a campaign.
So, to find the most relevant topic for your hotel’s topical marketing content, you must know what’s happening around the world. Therefore, you need to keep an eye on every media platform.
Social media is a great way to know about trending content.
My favourite is Twitter and Reddit. I can find anything and everything on these platforms.
However, you don’t have to go with the same. It depends on you and the type of content you want to find. I am sure, a few trial and error iterations will help you find your go-to platform.
2. Strategically plan for a campaign
This part is a little tricky.
Once you have found and decided on the topic or event, what’s next?
You now have to think of a way to incorporate that topic into your content; it could be a social media post, billboard or even a YouTube video.
You can create pun-intended content, spinoffs, parodies or anything that aligns with your brand.
Next up, you have to promote that content on the relevant platform. Again, I am assuming you already have a presence on social platforms. So, take the best one and go all out on spreading that content.
If you have a budget, you can also go for advertisements. I am sharing some ad templates to help you make the most out of ads.
3. Determine whether your audience is going to engage with the topic
There are several memes and events emerging every day on social media. Before incorporating any trending event, make sure you check whether it is relevant to your audience.
What many marketers overlook is the prominence of knowing whether their audience is going to engage with a certain moment/event/topic.
If you want to make your marketing campaign successful, you have to prioritize your audience. Knowing what your audience prefers is the key to getting your marketing efforts on the pig’s back.
Content isn’t the king, the audience is.
There are several ways to know the needs and wants of your audience. I always prefer working with ‘guest personas’ and I am sure many of you will like it too.
We have a detailed blog on the same. Do give it a read.
All About Hotel Guest Personas
4. Create a strong relation between content and your hotel brand
I know, you’re excited. You want to jump right into the content creation process. But, hold up!!
Marketing in the hotel industry is slightly different. I am sure you know this too.
You cannot expect your pun-intended topical marketing campaign to perform fantastically and push your sales through the roof. That’s not going to happen.
Remember, your content/campaign is going to represent your hotel. Meaning, you have to create a strong relationship between the topic and your hotel.
5. Keep things really simple
This point is more of advice.
I know it is intriguing and you want to ace it by producing the most fun content. I get it, totally!
But, topical marketing in the hotel industry needs a little different approach (i.e. to keep things simple).
The prime reason behind this is to make people understand what you’re trying to convey. The better they get, the more likely they are to engage with you.
Do not over jargonize your content. The motive is to make people consume your content, understand it, and relate to it.
6. Pick the right moment
Here’s another tricky aspect.
Edward, who is a hotel content marketer, came across a hilarious meme on housekeeping. He decided to take advantage of it. But, instead of running a campaign immediately, he waited for a few days.
When his senior enquired about it, he gave a logical explanation. This is what he said:
This hotel housekeeping meme is definitely hilarious and it is going viral (but it has not yet reached an optimum level). What if we run the campaign and the meme just doesn’t work out? So, it’s better that we wait and monitor how it performs in the next few days. If it fails to reach that level, we will discard the idea and jump to some other topic. This way we won’t be risking our budget.
The logic is simple here and I am sure you must have noticed it too.
Whenever there’s a topical marketing post by a brand, it is only after a few days of a topic getting viral. Or it is always when the topic is hot just like the saying — strike while the iron is hot.
7. Know when it’s not working
It is also important to know when your topical marketing is not working. Failures in these types of marketing strategies aren’t something new. They happen, and more often than you can imagine.
So, do keep an eye on all the metrics.
If it’s just an organic post then it might not affect much; but if it’s an ad, then you might lose some money.
8. Learn from the ones who got it right
Hotels are evolving in all aspects. Marketing in hotels these days is much more quirky and effective than ever. Hotel marketers are embracing all the pop culture references and using them in ways to attract guests.
Therefore, if you ever come across a hotel’s social media handle sharing some topical content, do learn from it.
Conclusion
There was a time when people didn’t think that marketing in hotels would change and advance so much. However, it did go through an evolution process.
At present, marketing in hotels is as prominent as any other department. And with the emergence of topical marketing in the hotel industry, it is becoming more relevant.
Hoteliers from all around the world are pouring a good amount of money into these tactics to take their hotel brands to the next level.
Not to mention, even during hotel budgeting, there’s a good slab for marketing and advertisements. It shows that hoteliers aren’t taking a light hand on it.
So, if you haven’t turned to this quirky marketing tactic, then it’s definitely time. Try incorporating the above-mentioned tips (or tweak them accordingly) and see how it works for you.
Also, I have used the term ‘marketing psychology’ above and if you want to learn more about it, we have a dedicated blog — Psychological Principles for Better Hotel Marketing. Do give it a read.
