What’s the power of a good tagline when marketing hotels online? Consider these timeless slogans and what they’ve done for their companies: The Happiest Place on Earth; What Happens In Vegas, Stays in Vegas; Fly the Friendly Skies.
Conjuring up a sensational tagline that stands out is a struggle many hospitality marketers face. More often than not, hoteliers get it wrong by focusing too much on what their hotel is, rather than what they offer. To create an effective tagline that exudes your hotel’s experience and sticks in the minds of potential guests, you need to capture these three elements of your property:
- Your hotel’s benefit to visitors.
- Your promise to customers.
- Your hotel brand.
So, how can you articulate all of that in a well-crafted tagline? Here are some hotel copywriting tips and ideas to creating tag lines that will make your hospitality marketing campaigns pop.
Discover 6 copywriting tips and ideas for hotels' tag lines:
1. Aim for an emotional reaction in hotel copywriting.
What’s the key to connecting with people? Get to the heart of their emotions! Make your tagline caring and warm if that’s what moves your target audience. Make it funny. Make it wistful. Make it provocative. Make it an extension of your brand, whatever that may be.
Before crafting a tagline with your hotel marketing team, think about your brand. What is its persona? Its voice? What would that voice say to your demographic? How would it speak to your guests' pain points? State Farm Insurance’s “Like a Good Neighbor, State Farm is There,” is reassuring and exudes a feeling of safety and security. While, Nike’s “Just Do It” gives their health and fitness-minded customers an energetic push to get up and start moving.
Drive more leads with better copy in your hotel ads
2. Don’t be generic.
So many hotels and other companies in the hospitality industry create slogans and tag lines that aren’t distinguishable among their comp set, or even businesses from entirely different industries. Avoid generic and vague words like, ‘best’, ‘quality,’ ‘innovative,’ and ‘a leader in…’. They’re boring and won’t capture any attention no matter what else the slogan says.
Instead, think of creative ways to show your quality, such as BMW’s “The Ultimate Driving Machine.” A smart way to determine if your slogan is too generic, is to ask a stranger to read it and determine which industry or type of business you represent. If they can’t guess hospitality, then go back to the drawing board.
3. Strive for meaning, not wit.
Contrary to popular assumption, slogans do not have to be overly clever and brilliant. In fact, most so-called witty slogans end up not communicating effectively what the business does, sounds dated after a while, or misses the mark with their customers entirely. Consider why your guests would choose you over anyone else and try to jot that down in a handful of words, such as Hallmark’s “When You Care Enough to Send the Very Best.”
4. Make it about your guests.
Repeat this to yourself: It’s not about me. Travelers, just like all other consumers, are selfish and only care about what’s in it for them. That’s why your tag line, whether it’s meant for leisure travelers or when building campaigns for increasing group hotel bookings, has to be benefit-driven. How will guests or meeting planners benefit if they book with you? Consider Burger King’s “Have It Your Way,” slogan, which effectively told their customers they could customize their burgers however they wanted.
5. Keep hotel copywriting short.
The best hotel tag lines are brief and crystal clear. The most successful and memorable tag lines are usually three to seven words in length, and are devoid of any large words or insider jargon that would otherwise confuse customers. To make it even easier to remember, use one- to two-syllable words like the infamous “Got Milk?"
6. Speak to your hotel's target audience with your tagline.
Never stray from your main customer segment. Every hotel has one, even if you believe that everyone wants to stay with you. The success of your hotel lies in how effectively you communicate to those people, so your slogan needs to speak to their wants and the needs. Use language, words and style that resonates most with them.
Try your new copywriting ideas today
Up next, learn more about luxury hotel marketing copywriting, and how to write better call-to-actions for your hotel's website.
Written by Junvi Ola.
