Your F&B Venues Deserve Their Own Digital Team, Not An Agency ??
Scot Turner
Rewriting the Rules of Hotel F&B | Founder of Award-Winning Auden Hospitality | Podcast Host | Keynote Speaker
Hotel F&B has a major issue with awareness and commanding its retail space amongst the bigger hotel strategy and this is often where I see the biggest mistakes happening because it's one of the greatest lessons I learnt when moving from hotels to independent restaurants.
It was a lesson that made me truly appreciate how forward-thinking we were in 2014 when as Hotel Manager at the InterContinental London Westminster, we hired our own F&B Marketeer to focus on our operation.
It was a lesson when as COO of a restaurant business with 16 brands we hired individual Marketing Managers for each brand.
Yet it's something that I see 95% of hotels not consider, often because the Sales & Marketing Director can't let go or is fearful of how, by letting F&B run free, it may impact the wider hotel positioning, but this mindset holds operators back from achieving its full potential.
In addition, the days of traditional marketing as we know it for food & beverage are done (or at the very least, become way less important) that's right...
No more press
No more agencies
No more influencers
You may have started reading this article and be questioning why in a few paragraphs I have abolished, marketing, press, PR and S&M Directors, well it's worth it because this is what you should be doing moving forward...
Structure
Don't just hire a Marketing Manager, you need to be more specific, what you really need is a content team. A person or team that have one job and that is to spend all day, every day capturing and creating content for your online channels. You may think this is a luxury but it isn't, your operations team don't have time usually to do this as they are serving your guests, so take this away from them and make it more fluid.
By doing this, you now have so much more content for the traditional marketing outlets to use or even better, hear about you! This will mean now, you don't have to find the press, PR or influencers, they will come to you... in your DM's not emails!
Digital Content
You don't need lots of equipment to get started, a smartphone, non-shaking tripod, lighting and wireless microphones are good to start with, the cost is less than $1,000.
Here are some ideas for collecting content...
See What Shawn P. Walchef explain how to have your own media company during episode 26 of Hospitality Huddles
Collaborations
How can you leverage the power of brands through collaboration? Working with key partners and/or 'influencers' in a collaborative way is a great way to show expertise, your brand and also that others want to work with you.
Remember I talk about community elsewhere on LinkedIn, its super relevant here too.
Find your tribe and look at how you can bring value to both parties and grow your audience and outreach.
This is what independent restauranteurs are doing right now, and here are the case studies to back it up;
Cali BBQ , San Diego, US
Shawn P. Walchef has been the owner of Cali BBQ in San Diego for a number of years and through posting content online ahs built up not only a loyal following across their media channels but also a media company above the restaurant because in Shawn's words, "no one is coming to tell your story" - now he tells it for others.
领英推荐
Learn more about the orange tree story that Shawn shares below and check out Shawn and Cali BBQ Media social channels - if you want to learn more about building a community, this is where to look...
Fallow Restaurant , London, UK
Fallow have gone all in on content creation but in particular YouTube and Tik Tok
This is a perfect example of online storytelling that adds value to the listener as much as sharing the qualities of the restaurant, the content is interesting and educational.
And one hotel to shout out!
Foxhills Club & Resort , Surrey, UK
I am really pleased to see our clients, Foxhills on this list, I recently had a conversation about Tik Tok with Josh Abbott and we spoke about how this is becoming a huge channel, in fact in a recent survey appearing in StudentUniverse’s 2024 State of Student & Youth Travel Report revealed that 89% of 18- to 25-year olds in the U.S., the UK, Canada, and Australia have found new destinations through TikTok.
Next thing I know, up pops the hotel on my Tik Tok feed and already posting some awesome content, one to watch and follow for sure!
The F&B landscape is changing far quicker than the hotel one, so you need to allocate resources to make it stand out from the crowd, tell your story and break away from what you have always done because otherwise, you are never going to change your results.
Create content, tell your story and grow your community.
That is it for this week. If this piece has got you intrigued and you would like to chat more, reach out and let us help you at Auden Hospitality .
See you next time
Scot ???
We practice what we preach at Auden Hospitality - if you want to learn more, then see how we create our content here, follow or subscribe and hit that ?? to know when we have posted;
Our YouTube channel shares videos and shorts that helps you to think differently about your F&B, learn from our team and our podcast guests about all things hospitality.
Our Tik Tok channel is dedicated to our Hospitality Huddles guests and shares the best 5 clips from every episode for you to digest easily
Our Instagram channel offers a short and snappy update on what we are working on at Auden Hospitality
Marketing Director at Foxhills Club & Resort | HMA’s Best Hotel Marketing Team 2024 | Business Travel People Team of the Year 2024
3 个月Thanks Scott! Always great to chat and share insights on hotel F&B marketing, really enjoyed working and learning from you and the team at Auden Hospitality. Couldn’t agree more, content is king and is so worth the time and investment!
Boost Your Hotel’s Guest Retention by 30% with a Bespoke Design Makeover in Just 6 Months—Guaranteed to Enhance Your Brand’s Impact ? Founder at Tanic Design ? Hospitality Interior Design ? Reach me at [email protected]
3 个月thank you for sharing your perspective on hotel f&b marketing strategies.
CEO who values the perspective of all who are willing to unite to exceed expectations. Driven to bring value every day.
3 个月??
I help hospitality brands and leaders tell better stories online. Be the show, not the commercial.
3 个月No agency will ever know what you know about your brand. They don’t have your voice. They don’t have your point of view. Be your own media brand within your hotel group and change the game.
Rewriting the Rules of Hotel F&B | Founder of Award-Winning Auden Hospitality | Podcast Host | Keynote Speaker
3 个月Learn more about how we help hoteliers to think differently by visiting our website www.audenhospitality.com