Recap from HostelsClub party (ways to promote your hostel)

The annual HostelsClub.com party took place in Venice last weekend, and I walked away with some pretty interesting information about how I (or you) can use HC’s resources to promote my area and my hostel.

Deals and Promotions
There were several things that I didn’t really know about before the party that could be used to promote your hostel pretty easily. For example, their Promotions Page and corresponding promotions listed on the left side of city search results, or the HostelsClub Membership Cards used by travelers to get special deals.

How to use these features:

• Log into the HC back office.
• Update all of the new description sections on their site (Erasmus students, group bookings, and HC Membership card holders) with unique descriptions.
• Offer special deals that are exclusively available for Erasmus students, groups, or membership card holders.

Your hostel then gains more visibility within the city search. What comes next is even more interesting.

Unique marketing opportunity
HC wants to use their customer newsletter and social media channels to promote some off-the-beaten-path or lesser know destinations to boost interest in new areas. They want to promote some of the hidden gems that other booking sites ignore because they aren’t necessarily huge profit centers. If people read it, this could potentially result in more travelers taking an interest in my area who never even knew it existed before. This actually sounds like it could increase demand, so I took some notes.

In order to do this, they need content to send out in their newsletters and blogs. If I write a short article about my area, they said that they would distribute it in multiple languages, plus promote my hostel exclusively along with that plug for my city. (That’s a double win for me!) This is a pretty smart move in my opinion. It gives them good “Google Juice” with unique content for under-targeted regions and it gains the support of hostels that are less appreciated by other sites. (That’s a double win for them.)

Here’s the kind of content they’re looking for in order to promote a property:

• 200 word article or description of your city to tell people why it’s interesting and why they should go there.
• Videos or photos of the hostel and/or special events to show how much fun everyone will have there. You can send 400 pixel banners as well. (All of this without direct contact info, or course)
• Links to any media coverage your hostel receives that they can promote.
• Information about any special events that you’re going to have (one month in advance) so they can promote them.
• Links to all of your hostel’s social media (facebook, twitter, google+, and blog) so they can Like, tag, and Share your hostel.

Anyone who wants to test this out and see if it boosts your business can send any or all of the information above to [email protected]. Even if Ania isn’t your country manager, she offered to get everything to the right person. Please let us know in this forum if you see increased demand as a result!

Feedback for HostelsClub
Something that I found particularly encouraging over the weekend was that everyone I talked to from HostelsClub seemed quite eager to hear ideas and feedback from hostels. They need to gain support from the hostel community if they want to stand a chance of competing with other booking sites, so it’s in their best interest to listen to what we have to say. Some of my suggestions and criticisms were received with far more enthusiasm than I would have expected, and I really got the impression that they’re trying to work with hostels to improve. I like that!

Included in the welcome packet for the party was a sign to put up in the hostel that says, “Stay Calm and Love This Hostel.” I think if HC would send out some more of this kind of promotional material to hostels they could gain a lot of exposure.

What else would you like to see HC do to improve their service for your hostel or for guests?

Mutual benefit
As mentioned previously in other discussions, it’s important to support the booking sites that support hostels. Here are some other ways you can support HC:

• Make sure that your hostel is listed on their site, that you give them availability, and that your prices are competitive with other booking sites.
• Make sure that your cancellation policy and other information is correct in their back office.
• Put the HC booking engine on your website to receive confirmed bookings.

I was pleasantly surprised by HC’s attitude toward hostels at the party. Now I’m curious to see if any of this marketing will actually work to get us more bookings.

*Note: the HostelsClub.com party is an annual event that they organize to thank their top partners for working with them. The party is held in Venice Italy, and it is by invitation only.