4 ad mistakes hotels make

Written By Denise Mantey

Introduction

In a world where social platforms are being consumed like nothing we have seen before. It is important to be where your target audience is. Hotels are spending more on paid socials than ever, but are they all creating revenue from it, are those clicking turning into bookers?

Here at Kinected we specialize in helping Hotel, Hospitality and Event brands turn ads into revenue not just awareness.

Here are our 4 ad mistakes hotel brands make when running ads.

1 - Targeting too generically.

Running ads targeting people who like to travel is too broad, you are targeting everyone but reaching no one.

Kinected’s Way: Embrace Layered Audience Targeting. Don't just target "Manchester." Target:

  • Custom Intent Audiences: Users actively searching for "weekend getaway in Manchester" or "spa hotels near Manchester City Centre."

  • Lookalike Audiences: Of your past high-value guests (etc. those who booked suites or extended stays).

  • Life Event Targeting: People who have recently got married or a time of the season where people like to travel like Christmas(potential celebratory travelers).

This ensures your ads are served to people with a demonstrated intent to book a trip like yours.

2 - Understanding Customer Behaviour.

The same hero section all year round ’Book Now’. While potential clients are at different stages to completing making a booking. Isn’t going to make them book now. One person this could be the first time coming across the brand and another could be an old customer who hasn't booked in a while. 

Kinected’s Way: Implement a Funnel-Based Ad Strategy.

  • Top of Funnel (Awareness): Use video and content ads to target broad travel audiences, building brand recognition.

  • Middle of Funnel (Consideration): Retarget website visitors with specific offers or reminders of the rooms they viewed.

  • Bottom of Funnel (Conversion): Use urgent, direct-response ads with limited-time offers or last-minute discounts to capture ready-to-book users.

Understanding your customers behaviour and understanding the different lifecycle potential customers.

3 - Sending Traffic To Your Home Page

A Home page is too generic and can overwhelm guests leading them to leave. We need guests to book now!

Kinected’s Way: Direct traffic to a mobile optimized landing page. The landing page should be related to the ad.

  • If your ad is for an "Amazing spa facilities," the landing page should immediately feature that package, with clear visuals, bullet-point benefits, and a prominent booking widget.

  • The landing page should be easy to navigate, we want to make it easy for them to book rather than them drop off

4 - Tracking the wrong metrics.

In many cases when launching a campaign brands tend to only track the performance of an ad once the campaign is finished & even then they are tracking the wrong metrics.

Kinected’s Way: Measuring the right data and optimizing it for better performance.  

  • Brands must measure what impacts revenue, not clicks. For example direct bookings attributed to sales

  • A/B Testing Everything: Constantly test headlines, ad copy, images, and CTAs.

  • Competitor Monitoring: Adjust your strategy based on competitor promotions and market saturation.

Conclusion

The hotels that will stand out from the rest and actually convert clicks to booking are the ones who understand consumer behaviour and actually utilise data to their advantage. By eliminating these mistakes you can ensure a return on your ad spend by bookers.


Denise Mantey