How are Press Stays Beneficial in the Hospitality Sector?
What is a press stay and how will it benefit your business?
A press stay is where you invite a media body to your hotel, where they can stay free of charge in exchange for an honest review — this could be in the form of videos, social media posts, a blog or an article.
In this blog, we’re exploring the effect that press stays can have on the hospitality sector:
Press Stays in the Hospitality Sector: Coverage for Your Business
A press stay will always deliver the best piece of coverage for you and your business. As the influencer/journalist is staying with you, the entire piece of coverage is about your business — whether that be focusing on your hotel or restaurant. It’s all about you!
The value that a press stay can hold is often immeasurable; with the right influencer, your business can reach thousands of people worldwide.
Increasing Your Visibility
Even though hotels are giving a room away for free, leading to a slight loss of revenue, this is a small price to pay, for what could be an amazing piece of coverage.
Often, hotels can feature in some of the top luxury lifestyle publications through press stays! Imagine if a journalist from VOGUE, The Daily Telegraph or The Times came to stay with you in return for a positive review of your establishment, leading to a huge increase in bookings and traffic to your website?
Impacting Your SEO
SEO is the key to your website performing well on Google. When people search for a key term, you want your hotel to be the first that comes up on the search engine — as this is likely to lead to more bookings than a website that’s on page 2.
If your press stay review/follow-up piece of coverage goes online, too (as well as print), then this will have a massive impact on enhancing your SEO, and getting you found on Google — especially if they link back to your own site. (This is known as backlinking, and it’s vital for proving your trustworthiness as a site to Google!)
Press Stays Aren’t Just “Freebies”
The last thing you should be doing is charging a journalist to stay with you for the night. This should always be complimentary, as the results are most definitely going to make up for the slight loss of revenue, for just one single night!
It’s good practice to cover the costs of their +1, too — nobody wants to go for an overnight stay alone!
With a single post, your brand could be exposed to thousands of people. Whilst they do not always click to book immediately, you’ll be in the back of their minds when they are ready for a getaway. And, the more exposure your brand has, the more it’ll imprint in people’s minds — building the prospective guests’ trust.
Choosing Your Press Stays Wisely
Always make sure that you select publications that are relevant to your establishment; don’t choose a journalist who writes for a medical technology publication.
I can assure you, they will not be interested in writing a review on your luxurious hotel room — and their following is not likely to be the target audience for your business.
Instead, choose influencers and media bods who have a genuine connection to your field; a travel blogger, a local influencer, someone who shares your sustainability values…
What to Do When You Get a Great Review
Finally, if you get a positive review, plaster it everywhere! On your website, on your socials or in your newsletters!
Reposting the links will improve visibility, strengthen those backlinks, and add value to your reputability.
To sum it up, press stays are one of the best PR tactics, and they’re continuing to grow in popularity as people are finally seeing the effects they have.
Keen to seriously grow your business with press stays? Let us help you; contact a member of the team to get started!
