Do you want your website visitors to sign up for your email newsletter? Then hotel lead magnets are exactly what you need.

A lead magnet is a freebie that you offer in exchange for an email address. It can be anything from a PDF guide to a discount code.

The key is to make sure that your lead magnet is something that your target audience will find valuable. Only then will they be willing to give you their email address.

Why you need a hotel lead magnet

A visitor to your website is already a valued customer. Why? Because not only do they know who you are as a business (given they just visited your website), but they are also potentially interested in you. This means that if you could maintain your hotel’s visibility in front of this visitor, there is a high chance of a sale.  But how do you maintain visibility?

Ask yourself this – what is the one thing you look at every day, irrespective of anything? It’s your email! So, if your email newsletters could reach this visitor, you would have a high likelihood of establishing a lasting customer relationship.

Hence, getting them to sign up for your newsletter is important. And lead magnets help you do exactly that. They are a valuable bait to help your business get access to more email inboxes through incentives like discounts, early access to rooms, or similar lucrative deals.

What makes a good hotel lead magnet

A good hotel lead magnet would do the following:

Provide value

A lasting customer relationship is established when you provide value to them in exchange for access. Customers are more likely to trust you if they are made to feel valued. A lucrative discount, or even an early notification when the price of certain rooms (of their choice) changes – are all examples of a good value proposition.

Make it simple to understand

If you have a pop-up dialogue box for website visitors, there is only so much text you can fit in there. There is a high chance that your visitors might not want to read all that and continue browsing. This is why your hotel lead magnet needs to be short, crisp, and easy to understand.

“Sign up to our email newsletter to get a notification every time a new room is available for a few days, and also when we announce a sale” – is not a good way to rope visitors in. It is too complicated and merges two separate incentives. As a rule of thumb, keep your incentives limited to one, but relevant and comprehensible.

For instance – “Get 5% off your next stay!” is a very simple and straightforward offer that does not require much explanation.

Create desire

Your offer should be such that it creates a sense of urgency or FOMO (fear of missing out) in the visitor. This way, they are more likely to sign up for your newsletter to get access to your offer.

“Get early access to new rooms and a 10% discount!” – is an example of an offer that creates desire because it’s a limited time offer (new rooms are available for only a few days) and also provides value (10% discount).

Make it visually appealing

Your offer should be eye-catching and easy on the eyes. This is because people are quickly turned off by anything that looks like an advertisement. A simple design with not too many colours is usually a good idea. You can also use images to make your offer more visually appealing.

Make it relevant

Your hotel lead magnet should be relevant to your target audience. It could be early access to rooms for business travellers or a discount on weekend stays for families. The key is to understand the needs of your target audience and create an offer that would appeal to them.

How to set up a lead magnet?

Lead magnets should take roughly 5 minutes to consume and 5 hours to make.

Pick your customer profile

The biggest error that hoteliers make when using lead magnets is attempting to draw in an excessive number of users. It is smarter to focus on a particular customer profile and make an offer that would draw in individuals who fit that profile.

Choose the customer identity you need to focus on. This could be business travellers, families, solo travellers, etc. Then, create an offer that would be most relevant to them.

(To know more about customer profiles, click here)

Determine your added value trade-off

You need to give your potential prospects a strong reason to give you access to them (once you’ve chosen the ones you want to pursue). This is called an “added value trade-off.”

The finest value propositions are those that your ideal customer already needs, which means you won’t need to spend as much time persuading them. These are services that they are already interested in and would be willing to sign up for. An example of this is if your target market is business travellers, and you offer early check-in or a late checkout as an incentive for signing up to your newsletter.

Identify a frequent issue that your consumer persona encounters, and offer a simple fix. Some examples of good added value trade-offs are:

“Get 10% off your next stay!”

“Get early access to new rooms!”

“Receive a notification every time the price of your favourite room changes!”

Bigger isn’t better in this situation so try not to attempt to produce a lengthy eBook or a month-long travel itinerary. Define it very precisely.

Decide on your hotel lead magnet and articulate it

Now all that is left, is making a lead magnet and publishing it.

To create a lead magnet, all you need is:

1. A headline that articulates what they will get

2. An opt-in form to capture their contact information

3. A follow-up email to deliver the lead magnet

And that’s it! You’re all set up with a lead magnet that will help you grow your email list quickly.

15 Ideas for Hotel Lead Magnets:

Promote email exclusive discounts

Email-exclusive discounts are a tried and tested hotel lead magnet. They are easy to understand and provide value to the customer. Discounts also create a sense of urgency, which encourages people to sign up for your newsletter. If this discount has an expiry, then there is an even higher chance that your customer will end up actually making a purchase in order to not waste it.

To make this offer more attractive, you can highlight how much money they will save with the discount. For example, “Get 10% off your next stay!” or “Save $50 on your next booking!”

Give a complimentary upgrade

Who doesn’t love a free upgrade? Offering a complimentary upgrade is a great way to show your appreciation for your customers. This offer is especially enticing for business travellers who are often stuck in a standard room.

Offer early check-in or late checkout

If you have flexible check-in and checkout times, offer your newsletter subscribers the opportunity to choose their own time. This is a great perk for business travellers who often have early morning flights or meetings.

Provide a complimentary breakfast

Complimentary breakfast is a great way to start the day. It’s also a great way to show your appreciation for your customers. This offer is especially enticing for families who often have to pay for breakfast separately.

Offer a complimentary spa treatment

If you have a spa on-site, offer your newsletter subscribers a complimentary treatment. This is a great way to relax and unwind after a long day of travel.

Give a complimentary airport transfer

If you offer airport transfers, give your newsletter subscribers the opportunity to use this service for free. This is a great perk for business travellers who often have to pay for transportation to and from the airport.

Offer early access to new rooms

If you have any new rooms that are about to be released, offer your newsletter subscribers early access to them. This is a great way to get people excited about your hotel and encourage them to sign up for your email list.

Run a contest

A spin wheel that randomly gives an offer to the customer is both engaging, as well as desirable.

This is ideal if you have multiple customer personas and want to include more than one hotel lead magnet without overwhelming the visitor.

For a spin to win, you’ll want to offer a variety of different prizes. You can offer discounts, free upgrades, complimentary breakfast, spa treatments, airport transfers, early check-in or late checkout, and more.

To make the contest more engaging, you can include a timer that counts down the time until the next spin. This will create a sense of urgency and encourage people to sign up for your email list.

Provide a packing list

This is perfect for those who are targeting families or first-time travellers. A packing list helps to provide value and make the lives of your customers easier. This could be in the form of a downloadable PDF or an email course that covers what to pack for different types of trips.

Including a packing list as a lead magnet also helps to position your hotel as an expert in travel.

Provide exclusive content

Everyone loves exclusivity. Customers can be made to feel valuable by giving them what you wouldn’t give those who don’t sign up for your newsletter. Exclusive content could include local cuisines, a list of undiscovered tourist spots around your hotel, tips on how to make the most of certain travel, etc. Get creative!

Offer a freebie

“Sign up to our email newsletter and get a complimentary breakfast on your first hotel booking”. How does that sound? Amazing!

We all love free things. And your hotel website visitors are no different. Offer them a discount or a complimentary service for signing up to your newsletter. This could be anything from a percentage off their next stay, to a free drink at the hotel bar, to early check-in or late checkout.

Offer a package deal

“Book more than 4 nights with us and get the 5th night free”. Sounds like a plan if you want to retain guests for longer while also collecting their email addresses. Again, there is a huge room for creativity depending on what the tourists of that location are looking for and how you can give it to them.

Travel e-book with itineraries

While this can be a labor-intensive job, it is only a one-time investment. If you wish to provide your customers with more than just a discount, this is a great way to do it. However, make sure that it isn’t stuff that is readily available online. For instance, local markets, undiscovered spots, schedule of crowds at popular tourist attractions. It should be something that is original and exclusive to your hotel.

Share insider/local tips

Things like how to bargain, or how to rent a cheaper mode of transport, etc are very valuable information that is very hush-hush. Putting such tips and how-tos will build a level of trust among your customers. This will make them more likely to continue to engage with your content and ultimately make a booking with you.

Birthday present for subscribers

While collecting email addresses, if you could also collect birth dates, you will be able to personalise your value for the customer. Offering a discount as a birthday present is very likely to be used on a purchase because many people enjoy traveling to celebrate their birthdays. (Not to mention many birthday parties are hosted in hotels).

These are some of the most popular hotel lead magnet ideas. Implementing even just one of these strategies will help you grow your email database quickly and efficiently.