The Hotel Marketing 5.15 | Weekly Brief: July 28, 2025
As of last week, we’ve officially hit the halfway mark to Christmas. That means gift guide pitch requests are hitting inboxes, your PR agency is following up (again) for images, your DORM is deep in the Festive forecast, and guests are already calling to ask about December menus.
So… how’s your Festive planning going?
👋 A quick shoutout to the Hilton Anatole team, who’s likely already in the thick of it. Keep an eye on ChristmasAtTheAnatole.com and scroll below for more inspiration and planning prompts.
Festive Planning Guide complimentary to anyone who makes a referral to the newsletter…link below!
Thanks for reading.
Marketing Briefs
Google's latest conversion metric lets advertisers track the brand buzz their ads generate across Search and YouTube. // Search Engine Land
Advertisers can now quantify how many users searched for their brand on Google or YouTube after seeing an ad – a powerful signal of brand lift previously hard to capture.
Hotel Marketing Takeaways:
This one is still being rolled out, with PPC experts noticing the roll-out via Google FAQ pages. For a resort that places a lot of budget into branded search, though, this is an important update that will allow you to track organic lift that can be attributed to your branded keyword campaigns.
➟ Track Brand Campaign baselines over the last 12 months, along with organic brand searches, so that you can start seeing trends as this new metric rolls out to all accounts
➟ Consider YouTube advertising so that you can futher attribute lift.
Data Shows Best Content Format on Social Platforms in 2025: Millions of Posts Analyzed // Buffer
Buffer’s 2025 study of millions of social media posts reveals that the effectiveness of content format varies by platform: Reels prioritize reach on Instagram, while carousels drive higher interaction, and more insights across LinkedIn, TikTok, Meta and more.
Hotel Marketing Takeaways:
Use Reels to Expand Visibility
Leverage Instagram Reels to attract new undecided guests. It’s your best bet for organic discovery beyond your follower base.
Carousels for Deeper Engagement
Showcase your property amenities, local experiences, or before/after visual stories via carousel posts to drive saves, shares, and meaningful interaction.
Platform-Specific Strategy Is Key
Don’t treat all social channels the same. On LinkedIn, focus on video case studies or thought leadership; on Threads or Facebook, test what format resonates most with your current audience.
Of Note:
▶️ Outrage Grows as Delta to Price Tickets Based on What AI Thinks You'll Pay // NewsWeek
▶️ Swarm by Foursquare…is back? // Apple Store
▶️ …Vine is also kinda, sorta, back // Social Media Today
▶️ YouTube Adds More Generative AI Features to Shorts // Social Media Today
Job Postings & Career News
Job Postings
Similar to RTO mandates by tech companies, I am hearing of a handful of Hotel Marketing Directors who were hired remotely within the past three years now being told their positions are at risk if they can’t be full-time on property. Two of those amazing DOMs are back on the market.
Luxury Travel & Hospitality Senior Digital Marketing Manager | Modern Currency PR | Remote/Hybrid (LA Based)
Part-Time Social Media Manager | Lonely Planet | Remote / Contract
Marketing Account Manager | Majestic Resorts | Remote
Marketing Manager - Holidays | Social House Entertainment / Enchant | Remote
Senior Manager, Brand Marketing | Hard Rock Digital | Remote
Head of Partnerships | Milestone | Remote
Marketing Operations Manager | Actabl | Remote
Senior Marketing Manager | Engel & Völkers | Remote
Senior Manager, Paid Media | National Geographic | Remote
Digital Media Manager - Contract | MSC Cruises | Remote
Career News
Need a career break? Why you should consider an adult gap year. // USA Today
Hotel Marketer’s Calendar
Awards
Conferences
Hotel Data Conference | Aug 6 - 8 | Nashville, TN
Marketing Brew Summit | Sept 10 | NYC, NY
Digital Travel Summit | Sept 15 - 16 | Orlando, FL
IMEX America | Oct 7 - 9 | Las Vegas, NV
Your sales team is going to be here, so a reminder to start asking what assets they need - email banners/signature lines, collateral, booth designs, LinkedIn graphics? Here’s a quick link to IMEX logos and banners to start you out.
ahrefs Evolve | Oct 14 - 15 | San Diego, CA
ILTM Cannes | Dec 1 - 4 | Cannes, France
Holidays and Activations
Black Friday/Travel Tuesday | November 28, December 2
Hotel Marketer Tactics
Are You Ready For Festive?
Bonus: Refer a friend to this newsletter and receive my 20+ page Festive Planning Brainstorm Template, the perfect tool to kick off your holiday planning meetings with internal teams.
Some of my favorite resorts with standout festive programming have dedicated landing pages or even full microsites. I keep a running list of well-executed examples by theme, including Festive, for inspiration. While building the Festive Planning Guide, I also dug into media coverage to see what properties are getting attention.
One surprising pattern? Many resorts remove or archive these pages shortly after the season ends, resulting in broken links from press mentions they worked hard to earn. Something to consider when planning your own campaign visibility and SEO strategy.
Below is a refined list from the Festive Planning Guide, featuring some of the live (as of today) Festive landing pages and a quick scan tactical planning brainstorm guide.
Inspiration // Festive Landing Pages
Tactical // Festive Planning
🎄Planning
Schedule weekly meetings with operations team
🎄Activations and Experiences
Brainstorm experiential activations and logistics
🎄F&B Offerings & Menus
Align culinary concepts with festive nostalgia
🎄Decorations and Ambiance
Create a plan for a multi-sensory environment that evolves from November to early January.
🎄Offers, Packages & Promotions
Drive early bookings, maximize shoulder dates, and layer in exclusive access.
🎄Community, Partnerships & Local Integration
Build connections and broaden reach through thoughtful collaboration.
🎄Messaging, Marketing & Content Strategy
Ensure alignment and festive magic across all guest touchpoints.
🎄Budget
Can your budget keep up with your ideas?
🎄Launch
Execute time! Greet guests, capture photos and videos, and enjoy the season.
🎄Post Mortem
Analyze to identify what went well, what didn't, and how to improve.
The Vibe Quotient
following the vibe // fresh inspiration and a closer look at experiential design, sensory branding, and the quiet details that define unforgettable spaces.
culinary and trends // Bakery Tourism as Experience Design
A rising trend among Gen Z and experience-first travelers, bakery tourism transforms simple treats into destination rituals.
soundscape // Il Sereno Darsena Listening Suite
A lakeside sanctuary designed around deep listening, this suite seamlessly blends acoustically optimized architecture, curated vinyl, and McIntosh sound equipment with the natural rhythm of Lake Como, inviting travelers to slow down and experience luxury in a new way.
storytelling // BookTok-Inspired Trips by EF Ultimate Break
Blurring fiction and reality, this new collection transforms viral BookTok novels into immersive travel itineraries. “With nearly 4 in 10 young-adult travelers reporting they are members of book clubs, 62% expressed interest in visiting locations tied to novels they've read.”
culinary // Farmer-in-Residence
At luxury hotels from Hawaii to Italy, a new kind of resident is reshaping the guest experience: farmers. Beyond the kitchen garden, these storytellers of soil and season offer guests tactile, hyper-local immersion through planting rituals, harvest walks, and regenerative design.
Random Links & Thoughts
Zcard // a print company specializing in key card-sized collateral with unique folds
StaySuitely // focusing on experiential suite stays, Stay Suitely offers a way to promote your suites through brand-approved, opaque channels.
SweetStack // a spin-off company of hospitality media buying agency BlueOnion, SweetStack unites 30+ top media buying tools - AI agents, proprietary templates, disciplined workflows, and expert oversight - in one modular system. Free media campaign brief template at link if you’re curious.
What is the 5.15
Based on a communication method by Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard, the 5.15 is a weekly format designed to synthesize key insights in 15 minutes or less and be read in five. This newsletter applies the same principle to hotel marketing: concise, actionable trends and opportunities curated for industry professionals.
ADCOTO
ADCOTO is a boutique hotel marketing consultancy supporting luxury hotels through interim, ad-hoc, and project-based marketing leadership. I help keep initiatives moving, agencies aligned, and stakeholders confident during times of transition, launch, or growth.
I offer three focused service tiers:
Audit Accelerator – a quick-turn diagnostic and action plan
Fractional Marketing Support – ongoing leadership without full-time overhead
Newsletter + Content Creation – strategic support to power your brand voice and guest communication