Video is the most powerful tool available to hotel marketeers as it can communicate so much information in such a short period of time. This is massively important when trying to attract casual web surfers who are browsing for content from many different suppliers. If you can stand out from the crowd and communicate your unique selling points in a really quick and exciting video filled with key visuals then you will stand out in their memory.
Video can show off the beauty, style and personality of your hotel by giving viewers a virtual venue tour. The voiceover or on screen text can communicate key messages and the music will set the emotional tone. With all three working together in a well designed hotel video you have a powerful sales tool.
However, nowadays most hotels are using video to show prospective customers how beautiful and luxurious their hotel is, so the opportunity exists to do something creative in order to stand out from the crowd. Hotels have the chance to demonstrate their uniqueness in a creative way by using key visuals.
To define what I mean by this I would describe key visuals as iconic images that remain in the audience’s memory long after the video is finished. It’s important to decide upon these at the planning stage of your video so you can determine what the most prominent selling points of the script are and time these with key images as an aide-memoir for the audience. It has been proven that memory recall is improved when images are associated with complex data. So if one of your key selling points is your unique hotel spa then you might want to plan a key image to occur at the point in the script when you discuss all of the unique features the spa has.
A key visual could be different to the rest of the video by surprising the audience with something abstract, however it doesn’t need to be completely off kilter with the rest of the video. It could still be high-quality, beautifully shot and integrate seamlessly with the rest of the video. It would just add an element of surprise.
Say for example you show a Yak having a massage in the spa as a key image then the audience will recall that surprising visual long after the video has finished and it will be associated with the messages contained in your script.
Or you could just plan a particularly beautifully composed and creatively lit shot of the spa with some attractive people enjoying the surrounds. As long as the image is memorable then the message in the script will also be retained.
What kinds of videos are most suitable for hotels?
The length and tone of the video is important to get right for different stages in the buyer journey. When a prospect is at the beginning of the journey, they are conducting initial research and are not looking for too much heavy detail. They want to be sold on the fantasy of coming to your hotel for a break from their normal lives. It’s important that the initial video they see is short, creative and captures their imagination.
When they are further down the buyer journey funnel, they may come to your website for a second time and will be looking for specific details to help them make a buyer decision. This is where a longer video would work well to answer all the questions they may have.
Review sites like trip advisor have become increasingly popular and make a big impact on buyer decisions but it’s also possible to deliver tailored reviews and customer testimonials through video in a really powerful and compelling manner. A video on your website showing genuine customer testimonials gathered over the course of a day or a weekend from real authentic people will count for a lot more than written testimonials on trip advisor. The videos would need to be authentic and straight to the point to allow viewers to quickly ascertain why they should book your hotel rather than your competition.
What kind of equipment is best to film hotel promotion videos?
There are a few pieces of equipment that are extremely useful for filming hotel promotional videos such as a camera stabilisation system. We use the Movi but there are many different varieties of just such systems. They enable camera people to get smooth, free flowing, beautiful shots that really show off your venue to its utmost. They are essential when doing hotel tours, whether that be a hosted tour with a presenter or a walk through the hotel with just the camera’s point of view.
It’s necessary to have a high quality camera to capture the hotel in all its glory. 4k cameras and a high bit rate will make the colours and details look shiny and attractive when they are colour graded by a professional.
A jib can be a useful tool to get free flowing shots and high angles but it’s cumbersome and could disrupt guests when filming in a busy environment.
When considering equipment it would be wise to look at a drone or UAV. Although these can add significantly to the budget they can set your video apart from that of your competition. For example, a shot flying over a swimming pool can look stunning and will really show off your location and the surrounding area.
What other ways are there to show your hotel?
If you already have a good promotional video showing off the beauty of your hotel there are other videos that you could use to create impact and generate content for your site. Remember video increases dwell time on webpages which improves the all important SEO rankings.
Hotel event videos can be a great way to show off your venue in all its glory. When it’s packed with people having a great time the hotel will look amazing. An event video will help sell the hotel not jus tot corporate clients but to customers alike. It can help you associate your hotel with high quality events and demonstrate some of the key USPs.
As mentioned above, customer testimonial videos can be a great way to get across key selling points in a quick way. They are also great at aligning the customer experience with genuine emotions. Customers who have had a good experience will talk authentically about their stay and the emotions associated with that experience will be conveyed in their voice, their eyes and their body language. This is very difficult to fake which makes the customer testimonial video so much more powerful than dubious written reviews.
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