10 Minutes News for Hoteliers 10 Minutes News for Hoteliers
  • Top News
  • Posts
    • CSR and Sustainability
    • Events
    • Hotel Openings
    • Hotel Operations
    • Human Resources
    • Innovation
    • Market Trends
    • Marketing
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Regulatory and Legal Affairs
    • Revenue Management
  • 🎙️ Podcast
  • 👉 Sign-up
  • 🌎 Languages
    • 🇫🇷 French
    • 🇩🇪 German
    • 🇮🇹 Italian
    • 🇪🇸 Spain
  • 📰 Columns
  • About us
10 Minutes News for Hoteliers 10 Minutes News for Hoteliers 10 Minutes News for Hoteliers
  • Top News
  • Posts
    • CSR and Sustainability
    • Events
    • Hotel Openings
    • Hotel Operations
    • Human Resources
    • Innovation
    • Market Trends
    • Marketing
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Regulatory and Legal Affairs
    • Revenue Management
  • 🎙️ Podcast
  • 👉 Sign-up
  • 🌎 Languages
    • 🇫🇷 French
    • 🇩🇪 German
    • 🇮🇹 Italian
    • 🇪🇸 Spain
  • 📰 Columns
  • About us

Our Marketing Department? The First 20 Guests…

  • Isaac French
  • 13 April 2025
  • 3 minute read
Total
0
Shares
0
0
0
image

1. build something worth talking about

Word of mouth marketing is the most successful marketing method in history. Why? Because it leverages genuine trust.

There’s no shortcut here. You can’t “market” your way out of mediocrity.

The experience must be there. The land. The thoughtful design. The way light filters through trees and through windows at golden hour. How guests feel stepping outside to water’s edge or into a verdant courtyard at sunrise. The one-off handwritten note waiting for them on arrival.

This is why you have to care so deeply. Your passion is infectious.

Powerful flywheels begin with places people care about deeply.

2. delight obsessively

Your first 20(ish) guests are your entire marketing department.

Delight them so much they can’t help but talk about you. Make their experience personal, memorable, unreasonably good.

I’ve said it before, but it’s worth repeating: Your housekeeping matters as much as your architecture.

A lazy first impression (a smudged window, a half-clean bathroom, a confusing check-in) kills the flywheel before it even spins. Or worse, sends it spinning in reverse.

Most importantly, have a hearing ear for what the guests actually want, and make changes accordingly. This early feedback is a goldmine. Don’t squander even constructive criticism for the gift that it is.

Trending
UK: More people using agents and operators to book vacations

3. document everything

This is my own biggest regret with Live Oak Lake. I was too heads-down to spend much time documenting or sharing the build journey.

But this step is powerful: people love the journey, not just the destination.

Share your process. The small wins. The headaches. The vision coming to life. It doesn’t need to be polished. In fact, better if it’s not.

This builds trust and tells your founding story in real time. And when you keep documenting after you open, it feeds the wheel even faster.

4. turn your guests into evangelists

With the right foundation, this happens organically.

Guests will tag your property. They’ll create content. They’ll tell their friends at dinner parties. They share because they’re proud to have discovered you.

You can help this along by:

  • Creating moments that feel discovered, not staged
  • Designing spaces that photograph beautifully without trying too hard
  • Doing one thing for every guest that goes well above and beyond

Every bit of this adds fuel to the wheel.

5. reinvest into the experience

When you get your first wins, don’t coast.

Pour your early profits back into improving the guest experience. Remember the feedback loop from Step 2!

We added premium hot tubs to every cabin, installed an $80k shipping container swimming pool, and expanded our gardens in the 6-8 months after opening.

Every improvement compounds.

Your property becomes more desirable, guests become better advocates, and direct bookings increase exponentially.

The wheel spins faster.

6. repeat and evolve

This is when you really feel it.

You’re no longer pushing—you’re steering.

  • Guests bring friends
  • Social proof snowballs
  • Your name spreads, often without you even knowing
  • Guests become return guests
  • You keep layering in beauty, improvement, and care

Your property transcends “STR” or “Airbnb” status. It becomes a brand with its own gravity. This happened to us firsthand. We had guests return 3-4 times that first year alone, bringing new friends and family each time!

And you realize: what once felt like heavy lifting is now carrying you.

The beauty of the flywheel is that it rewards patience. It rewards craftsmanship. It rewards hospitality from the heart.

And honestly? It’s a lot more fun than fighting algorithms (or getting de-platformed), chasing ads, and feeling like you’re always starting over

Please click here to access the full original article.

Total
0
Shares
Share 0
Tweet 0
Pin it 0
You should like too
View Post
  • Hotel Operations

Micro Hotel: The future of hospitality sector

  • Jessica Freedman
  • 1 August 2025
View Post
  • Hotel Operations

How Many Linens Are Enough?

  • William D. Frye
  • 30 July 2025
View Post
  • Hotel Operations

Hotel Payment Solution: The Hidden Booking Killer You’re Ignoring

  • Alexandre Nowaczyk
  • 30 July 2025
View Post
  • Hotel Operations

From Click to Confirmation: How to Create a Seamless Booking Journey for Your Guests

  • Nashi Dasgupta
  • 29 July 2025
View Post
  • Hotel Operations

Building a Workplace People Love: Inside Pacifica Hotels’ Playbook for Reducing Turnover – Scott Roby, Pacifica Hotels

  • Josiah Mackenzie
  • 29 July 2025
View Post
  • Hotel Operations

STAAH Tech Fortifies Online Business Operations of Bhopal-Based Amer Group of Hotels

  • Nashi Dasgupta
  • 28 July 2025
View Post
  • Hotel Operations

Do’s and Don’ts of Converting Travel Browsers Into Bookers

  • Automatic
  • 25 July 2025
View Post
  • Hotel Operations

Why Hotel Executives Must Re-Evaluate Staff Capacity Now

  • Automatic
  • 25 July 2025
Sponsored Posts
  • The Future of Revenue Management Is Strategic Leadership – LodgIQ

    View Post
  • Influence Society Publishes Q2 Edition of Societies Quarterly for Visionary Hoteliers

    View Post
  • Case Study: Refinery Hotel Redefines Revenue Management with LodgIQ

    View Post
Last Posts
  • STAAH Launches New eBook to Help Hoteliers Master the Right Channel Mix
    • 4 August 2025
  • Belgian wellness hotel achieves digital harmony with STAAH
    • 3 August 2025
  • Hilton, Wyndham smell the rose-tinted spectacles
    • 3 August 2025
  • Digital Detox Done Differently: How Hector Hughes Built Unplugged into a Hospitality Phenomenon
    • 3 August 2025
  • Philippe Starck fills Brach Madrid hotel with “an infinite number of surprising and mysterious objects”
    • 3 August 2025
Sponsors
  • The Future of Revenue Management Is Strategic Leadership – LodgIQ
  • Influence Society Publishes Q2 Edition of Societies Quarterly for Visionary Hoteliers
  • Case Study: Refinery Hotel Redefines Revenue Management with LodgIQ
Contact informations

contact@10minutes.news

Advertise with us
Contact Marjolaine to learn more: marjolaine@wearepragmatik.com
Press release
pr@10minutes.news
10 Minutes News for Hoteliers 10 Minutes News for Hoteliers
  • Top News
  • Posts
  • 🎙️ Podcast
  • 👉 Sign-up
  • 🌎 Languages
  • 📰 Columns
  • About us
Discover the best of international hotel news. Categorized, and sign-up to the newsletter

Input your search keywords and press Enter.