Whenever I start working with a hotel, I don’t begin by looking at their follower counts or ad spend. I start by asking the marketing team 5 questions. These 5 questions tell me everything I need to know about how they think, where the gaps are, and how I can help them achieve their goals.
1. Who exactly is your dream guest, and how deep have you gone into their psychology? Demographics aren’t enough. I want to know behaviors, emotions, and decision triggers. If you can’t define them clearly, you can’t attract them consistently.
2. What story are you telling online, and is it consistent everywhere? A brand without a clear, repeatable narrative is just noise. Guests don’t buy rooms, they buy stories. And if that story changes from Instagram to TikTok to LinkedIn, you create confusion instead of trust.
3. How are you measuring ROI beyond vanity metrics? Likes and impressions don’t pay your staff or fill your rooms. I want to see a direct link between marketing efforts and revenue. Which bookings came from social, which from UGC, which from influencer campaigns. If you can’t connect the dots, you don’t have marketing, you have entertainment.
4. Where do you rank in AI search today, and what’s your plan to dominate tomorrow? Guests are no longer searching “best hotel in Miami.” They’re asking voice and AI tools very specific questions. If your content doesn’t answer those in detail, you disappear from the booking path.
5. What’s your system for turning one guest into ten? Referrals, user-generated content, loyalty programs. Every guest should fuel your future growth. If you aren’t turning one stay into ten, you’re leaving serious money on the table.
These 5 questions expose blind spots fast. They show me whether a hotel is stuck in outdated strategies or ready to move forward with sharper storytelling, measurable ROI, and future-proofed content.
So if you’re in hospitality, ask yourself right now, how would your team answer these 5 questions. Because if the answers are vague or scattered, you already know why your marketing isn’t driving the results you want.
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If you like the way I look at the world of hospitality, let’s chat: scott@mrscotteddy.com
