Pitching Your Travel Blog to a Hotel

Successfully pitching your travel blog to a hotel

In my previous post about pitching tourist boards I shared the one and only thing you must know before you start;…

…Tourist boards work for the hotels, tour operators and other stakeholders in the destination. 

So don’t start by pitching tourist boards directly, start with the stakeholders. Develop a killer idea with a hotel first, then hand the opportunity to the tourist board on a silver platter. Trust me, you’ll be far more likely to succeed in your pitch.

Ok, that sounds great. But how do you best approach the hotel? Here are four steps to successfully pitch a hotel.

TwitterConvo

1. Develop a relationship.

The easiest way to do this is to engage with a hotel or hotels via social media. Tweet them a specific question that will elicit a response, and then keep the conversation going.

On a side note, I’m surprised at how many hotels don’t reply to a direct Twitter question.

Travel companies, if you have a Twitter account please USE IT. If you’re not going to engage in conversations with your social network, please delete your account.

2. Show them some love. No strings attached.

Mention the hotel in an article and be sure to share the link with them right away via social media as well as email. This gives them a very tangible sample of your writing style and ability, and illustrates that you’re passionate and can deliver great content.

3. Share the results.

A few days later, tally up the results of that article and share that with the hotel.  Consider all outlets, including direct views on your blog in combination with social media reach. Tweet Reach is an excellent tool to determine total reach of your content. A simple and direct email, like this example below, has worked well for me in the past when sharing results and moving the conversation forward.

“The article I posted last week was one of my most well-read articles this month. With nearly 1,000 views and counting, I’ll be promoting this all month. I’d love to continue to support you. Would you be willing to offer a limited-time special offer to my readers?”

4. Propose a content collaboration.

You’ve put in the legwork and established a relationship with the hotel, now it’s time to make your pitch to travel to the destination.

During your follow up conversation you can really shine by being creative while staying true to yourself and the mission of your blog.

Most important to remember?

Clearly outline what is in it for the hotel. How will this translate into bookings? Remember, they don’t really care about your article. They care about how it will help them generate more business.

~Sarah

Has this approach worked for you in the past? Share your ideas and tactics that led to a mutually beneficial hotel/blogger partnership.

About Sarah Fazendin 3 Articles

Spending nearly her entire career working in travel, marketing destinations, hotels and tour companies across Africa and other exotic destinations, Sarah knows what it takes to craft perfect trips of a lifetime to adventurous and far-flung places. But recently, when it came to planning her own relaxing beach getaway closer to home, a seemingly simple task, she was lost.

Sarah Fazendin founded A Week at the Beach to provide a comprehensive, curated travel resource laser-focused on one very specific trip: a simple, rejuvenating weeklong beach vacation. Sarah loves blogging about (and traveling to!) Mexico and the Caribbean.

You can follow Sarah on Twitter at @aweekatthebeach

6 Comments

  1. Excellent advice, Sarah – thanks for sharing this!

    I totally agree with your comment to travel companies (and it actually applies to ALL companies – if you’re not going to respond to your customers/potential customers on social media, delete your accounts…..it’s much better to not have that forum available to them than to have it and NOT use it to communicate with them….you’ll be seen as unresponsive and uncaring…..a sure way to lose business!

  2. Thanks so much Trisha! I’ve found both personally and for some of the companies I’ve worked with over the years, it’s best to focus on only 1-2 social media accounts, and not try and do it all. Sometimes I think that may lead to the “ghost” account problem mentioned.

  3. Thanks so much for your advice! Would you say the same thing applies to other companies as well?

    I wrote a blog a little while ago (which will be published at a later date) and linked two companies in this post. They are both companies I was going to use in the future. Perhaps I will give them a little nudge after the post goes live and talk about how we can work together.

    • Yes absolutely!! Showing potential partners what you can do, and doing it, makes all the difference. A small promotion or reference is a great way to get your pitch noticed. Good luck!

  4. Thanks very much, Sarah! This is of great help! May I also ask, what could I offer to the hotel group which I love, if I just got started on my Travel + Food blog?

    • Thanks Jason! It’s always hard when you’re just starting out and don’t have much traffic. Be honest with partners about what you can offer with limited audience, but perhaps sweeten the deal by pitching a series of articles/posts/photos and show you’re willing to work very hard for the brand. That coupled with your growth numbers, showing real month-on-month growth may stand out to them. Good luck!

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