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So if you are looking to get into blogging or an e-newsletters series to help you increase your attraction factor to meeting and event planners, consider these tips:
- Never rush into the first idea that comes to mind: We thought the very first house we looked at was a winner. Within 6 months of losing the opportunity to another buyer, we could not see ourselves living there. So while strategizing about creating content for your hotel blog, take a step back and ask "Is this the best content for what we want to achieve?" Perhaps you need the input of a content strategist, or a few meeting planners, to ensure your content is on the mark.
- Keep trying: After every house we lost, got outbid on, or just couldn't secure; we were devastated. But we persevered and found the one. The same applies to content marketing. This is a process that may take time, and you may not get it right immediately. But keep trying, and you will start to attract more readers – and eventually, more leads!
- Use trusted sources: When buying a first time home, you get information from all over the place. Some good, some not so good. When creating content for your destination or hotel’s blog or e-newsletter, solidify your position by citing your own organization’s experts AND the occasional outside source. Your Conference Services may be a great gal, but if you can also show that her team building ideas are based on recent research at Harvard, you’ll elevate the trustworthiness of your content.
- Ask for help: Never assume doing it all yourself is the best process. Upon visiting what we thought was the dream house, an inspector found major deficiencies. So it goes for content generation: make sure you have several people committed to generating ideas and contributing. And get help to proof before you post!
- Checklists, checklists, checklists: Finding the perfect home consisted of forming a checklist of everything we wanted, needed, and could live without. Checklists are a great way to ensure you don’t miss some of the necessary fundamentals along the way – does this content give at least one valuable tip to a meeting planner? Does it link to more resources on our website? Does it have a call-to-action? Etc. If you have a checklist of the elements that your content need to have at the start of the campaign, then you are more likely to stay on track.
- Filling the space: When buying a house, you need to account for the space you have, furnishings you have and what you’ll need to get. It’s the same with content marketing. Ensure your material doesn’t feel cramped. Fill it with useful information – content that a meeting planner would find valuable. Never just fill space with promotional stuff. Adapt your layout to what has worked in the past but don’t be afraid to change things around once in awhile.
- Get Social: When you move into your first house, you need extra hands, so you reach out to your social network. The same can be said with your content marketing. Posting your material to social media will bring in those extra visitors you need to ensure the campaign is successful. Never be afraid to use every tool in your marketing arsenal to publicize your content. Just make sure you balance your stuff with other engaging social media tactics.
