Seven Lead Magnet Ideas for Hotels, B&Bs & Campgrounds
What are your marketing goals as a hotel, campground, or amusement park? Attracting new guests or visitors is probably at the top of your list, and rightly so. With more people searching online for places to stay and have fun, many recreational businesses are stepping up their digital marketing strategies. One problem is that many hospitality businesses spend more time trying to compete with the OTAs on price as opposed to generating more leads and creating loyalty.
Many people start making their traveling or fun day plans weeks or even months prior to the time they place their bookings. Placing more focus on lead generation means tapping into what motivates people to travel or go out and have fun in the first place. This is where lead magnets come in.
What is a Lead Magnet?
There are several definitions for this term. The simplest way to define a lead magnet is anything of value for which your perfect target customer is willing to exchange their contact information. For example, it might be information that drives awareness and helps a potential customer engage with you without feeling like they’re being sold to. It also might be a freebie that will encourage potential customers to give their contact information.
Lead magnets, if you haven’t realized from the definition above, are not about getting a booking from a potential customer right away. Instead, they give your perfect customer an opportunity to introduce themselves to you and identify themselves. They are about establishing and nurturing a relationship with people that are interested in what you have to offer. They are about keeping these people motivated with the hope that they will eventually become customers.
What Makes a Great Lead Magnet?
You may be wondering, “What makes a good lead magnet?” There are various things you’ll need to consider when selecting your lead magnet.
1. Lead magnets should be highly relevant to the target customer
It doesn’t matter how great your offer is if it doesn’t resonate with your target audience. When it comes to lead generation, quality trumps quantity. You should therefore offer something that your target audience is likely to pay attention to and that offers significant value to them. This will demonstrate your authority and show your target audience why they should continue their relationship with you.
2. Lead magnets should be highly valuable
Your prospect will need to quickly decide, “Is this offer worth giving my email address?” The best lead magnets provide great value to the target audience. For example, they should solve a problem that the audience has. Many people would be willing to give their email addresses to access a lead magnet that would save them time, and money, or improve their lives in another way.
3. Lead magnets should relate to your business
Lead magnets are about establishing and nurturing relationships with your dream customer, and therefore, they need to be relevant to your business. This helps position your business in the target customer’s mind and helps them see you as the authority on the lead magnet’s subject. You should, therefore, avoid the urge to make empty promises just to get a person’s email address and never deliver on them. That is simply clickbait and will earn your business a bad reputation. Your lead magnets should instead show your audience why you are the best choice to meet their needs. They should show that you can not only solve their current problem but offer more to meet their overall needs.
4. Lead magnets should not be a glorified sales pitch
Many businesses make the mistake of pitching their business (or business type) in their lead magnet. This is not the right approach. For instance, let’s say you own “The Flamingo Hotel” near tons of great amusement parks in Portland, Maine. A terrible lead magnet title would be, “10 reasons you should stay at the Flamingo Hotel.” People will likely not opt in to this lead magnet, because they’ll know it’s going to be one big sales pitch. Instead, you’d be better off with the following lead magnet ideas and titles:
- [Free Checklist Download] Your complete 13 point checklist for amusement park day (definitely don’t want to forget #7)
- [Free Resource] Tips for getting the most out of your trip to Portland Maine (discount coupons included)
- [Free Video Tour] See our video tour through the city of Boston as we explore the most popular (non-amusement park) attractions
Great Lead Magnet Ideas for Hotels, B&Bs and Campgrounds
1. Map of attractions in the area
Provide your audience with a map of attractions in the area based on their preferences. For example, you may want to include sites such as a skating park or a rock climbing center if many of the people that visit you are people that love to take part in similar activities. If your visitors are mostly honeymooners, you should include places where couples can go to have fun such as restaurants, parks, and more.
2. Free giveaways
Everyone loves free stuff especially when they are valuable. A great giveaway for a hotel or campground would be a free night’s stay. A campground may offer freebies such as free boat rides or discounts on snacks. Give the audience even more incentive to visit you soon by placing a time limit on your offer. For example, stating that the discount or promo code will expire within a month. This invokes the influence principle of “scarcity,” a very powerful force that inspires people to take immediate action.
3. Site seeing guide
A site seeing guide will offer travelers a better idea of what they can do while staying at your hotel, campground or B&B. Since most people will be visiting you for the first time, they’ll love having the inside scoop on the best things to do. A site seeing guide is a great way to help travelers discover more information about the area and motivate them to visit the area. Pro tip: Give your guide a catchy title such as, “The Insider’s Guide to Vero Beach Florida – The Best Spots Only The Locals Know About.”
4. Vacation planning checklist
A site seeing guide will offer travelers a better idea of what they can do while staying at your hotel, campground or B&B. Since most people will be visiting you for the first time, they’ll love having the inside scoop on the best things to do. A site seeing guide is a great way to help travelers discover more information about the area and motivate them to visit the area. Pro tip: Give your guide a catchy title such as, “The Insider’s Guide to Vero Beach Florida – The Best Spots Only The Locals Know About.”
- “Remember, you’ll be doing a lot of swimming and beachgoing, so remember to bring your bluetooth speaker and cooler. Of course, if you forget this or do not have one, you can stop over at “Jimmy’s Beach Shop,” located 3 minutes from our hotel and on the way to the beach. They’ll have everything you need, including umbrellas as it does tend to rain sometimes! If you do stop by, be sure to mention promo code “TARASCOTTAGE” for a free gift!”
5. Loyalty program
Loyalty programs are a great way to establish a long-term relationship with your target audience. Customers are more likely to refer to you if they know they can get a great deal. You can partner up with other attractions in town such as restaurants to offer customers discounts on meals when they book a stay with you.
6. Birthday program
A birthday program is a great way to maintain visibility with customers. There’s no better excuse than a birthday to contact a person to congratulate them on their birthday. You can send a message a month in advance to give the person the opportunity to book a stay or treat their family to a fun day at the amusement park for their special day.
7. Restaurant guide
People love to know that there are great places to have a meal in the area that they plan to visit. Provide your audience with a guide to local food including places where the locals love to eat. Many travelers love to experience the local culture and food is a big part of that experience. Provide detailed descriptions of restaurants you recommend as well as the best that they have to offer. Be sure to place your hotel, campground, or amusement park on the map. This shows guests how far your location is to the spots they are interested in trying.
8. Bonus: Quiz
Get your audience even more excited to visit with a quiz. Everyone loves a good quiz. They’re a great way to create curiosity. They are also an effective way to influence the choices that your target audience makes. For example, give your audience a quiz to help them determine the best way to spend the first day of their trip and then, depending on their results, offer a discount or promotion to that place in exchange for an email address. Another example:
- It’s official: Cravings is the top ice cream shop in our cute little town of Vero Beach Florida (your next vacation destination 😜):. They have over 30 flavors and a ton of baked goodies! Take our short quiz to see which ice cream flavor will be your favorite, and at the end, be sure to enter your email address for a free cone!” Pro tip: This type of giveaway invokes feelings of “reciprocity;” since you’re giving your prospect a ton of free information and even a free ice cream cone, they’ll likely consider your hotel when it comes time to do their booking
Lead magnets are an incredibly effective way to build your email list and build the foundation for establishing long-term relationships with your dream customers. Use them often and watch your bookings skyrocket!
At this point, you might be wondering, “That’s all great, but how do I actually create a great lead magnet and target my dream customer with it?” Feel free to set up a 10-minute consultation and we will show you cost-effective options for creating your lead magnet, advertising it to your target audience, and nurturing that audience to result in more bookings.
