How To Make A Marketing Funnel For Hotels

Hotels face unique challenges in attracting guests, driving direct bookings, and competing with online travel agencies (OTAs) for customer loyalty. A well-designed marketing funnel can help hotels showcase their unique experience, capture guest information, and increase direct bookings while building long-term guest relationships. This guide will show you how to build, market, and implement a marketing funnel specifically for your hotel or hospitality business.

If you're a hotel manager, owner, or marketer looking to drive more direct bookings and reduce OTA commission costs, there are several excellent platforms that can help you build effective hospitality-focused marketing funnels without requiring extensive technical knowledge.

The first step to making your hotel marketing funnel is choosing the right platform. However, selecting from numerous options can be overwhelming, especially when you're focused on guest experience and property management. Keep reading this guide to see our suggested picks and a step-by-step guide to making a marketing funnel for your hotel.

The Best Platforms For Hotel Marketing Funnels

When choosing a platform for your hotel marketing funnel, you need specific features that address the unique needs of hospitality businesses. The ideal platform should include visual storytelling capabilities, special offer creation, booking engine integration, and guest information capture. It should also help you segment potential guests based on stay purpose, dates, and preferences. Based on these requirements, we've ranked the top 5 platforms for hotel marketing funnels:

1. ClickFunnels

Get started with ClickFunnels (Free Trial) 🚀

ClickFunnels offers hoteliers a comprehensive solution with templates that can be customized for hospitality marketing. Its drag-and-drop interface makes it easy to create multi-step funnels that showcase your property, collect guest information, and drive direct bookings. ClickFunnels integrates with popular booking engines and email marketing platforms while offering powerful automation features for guest nurturing. It provides a 14-day free trial to test all features.

2. Unbounce

Get started with Unbounce (Free Trial) 🚀

Unbounce provides hotels with highly customizable landing pages perfect for specific packages, seasonal offers, or event accommodations. Its Smart Traffic feature automatically directs potential guests to the landing page variant where they're most likely to convert based on their specific interests. Unbounce excels at A/B testing different hotel presentations and offers to optimize conversion rates.

3. Leadpages

Get Started with Leadpages (Free Trial) 🚀

Leadpages offers user-friendly templates ideal for hotel lead generation and special promotions. Its alert bars and pop-ups are effective for promoting limited-time offers, room upgrades, or special event packages. Leadpages makes it easy to create lead magnets such as “Destination Guides” or “Insider Tips” that provide value while capturing visitor information for your hotel's marketing list.

4. Instapage

Get started with Instapage (Free Trial) 🚀

Instapage allows hotels to create personalized landing pages for different guest segments or package offers. Its collaboration features make it easy for property teams to work together on marketing campaigns. Instapage's heatmap analytics help identify which aspects of your hotel presentation most resonate with potential guests.

5. Elementor

Get started with Elementor (Free Version Available) 🚀

Elementor provides WordPress users with a flexible platform to create custom hotel marketing funnels. Its gallery features, amenity showcases, and room comparison tables are particularly suited for hotel marketing. The platform's free version offers sufficient functionality for many hotels just getting started with direct booking funnels, with the Pro version adding features like popup builders and advanced form widgets.

Conclusion

After evaluating multiple platforms, ClickFunnels stands out as the best choice for hotels due to its comprehensive approach combining property showcasing, guest information capture, and booking engine integration in one system. While it requires a monthly investment, the potential return through just a few direct bookings instead of OTA-commissioned reservations can easily justify the cost.

However, if you're working with a limited budget, Elementor's free version provides an excellent starting point with many essential features for showcasing your property and capturing guest information.

Now that we have identified our top choice, let's show you how to make a hotel marketing funnel using ClickFunnels.

How to Make a Marketing Funnel for Hotels Using ClickFunnels

Building an effective hotel marketing funnel involves showcasing your property's unique experience while guiding potential guests toward direct booking. The following steps will guide you through making a funnel that converts interested travelers into confirmed guests and loyal advocates.

Step 1: Sign Up for ClickFunnels

Create your account and take advantage of the 14-day free trial to explore all features before committing.

Step 2: Define Your Hotel's Unique Selling Proposition

Before building your funnel:

  • Clarify what makes your property unique in your market
  • Identify your ideal guest profiles (business, leisure, families, etc.)
  • Understand their booking motivations and decision factors
  • Determine your competitive advantages versus similar properties
  • Gather high-quality property photos, videos, and guest testimonials
  • This clarity will guide your funnel design and messaging strategy

Step 3: Make Your Property Showcase Landing Page

  • Add a compelling headline highlighting your hotel's unique experience
  • Include stunning property photos or a virtual tour video
  • Add brief, benefit-focused descriptions of key amenities and features
  • Feature guest testimonials with specific experiences mentioned
  • Offer a valuable lead magnet (local guide, special rate access, etc.)
  • Create a simple form to capture visitor information and stay preferences
  • Include trust indicators like TripAdvisor ratings, awards, or brand affiliations

Step 4: Design Your Lead Magnet Delivery Page

After visitors submit their information:

  • Thank them for their interest in your property
  • Provide immediate access to your promised resource
  • Include additional property highlights or hidden gems
  • Add a brief video from the general manager or owner
  • Feature your best available rate guarantee or member benefits
  • Offer a limited-time special rate or package
  • Make checking availability and booking direct simple and prominent

Step 5: Build Your Special Offer Pages

Create compelling direct booking incentives:

  • Design exclusive packages not available on OTAs
  • Include free upgrades or amenities for direct bookings
  • Create member-only rates with visible savings percentages
  • Develop seasonal promotions with clear value-adds
  • Build event or occasion-specific packages
  • Include countdown timers for limited availability offers
  • Make the booking process simple with minimal clicks

Step 6: Make Your Booking Engine Integration

Design a seamless reservation process:

  • Integrate your existing booking engine or reservation system
  • Maintain consistent branding and messaging throughout
  • Include reassurance elements about secure payment
  • Add room/rate comparison tools when appropriate
  • Include room upgrade options and special requests
  • Embed availability calendars with visual pricing indicators
  • Make mobile booking simple and intuitive

Step 7: Develop Stay Purpose-Specific Funnels

Create separate funnel paths for different guest segments:

  • Business travelers (with corporate rates and amenities)
  • Romantic getaways or couples
  • Family vacations with kid-friendly features
  • Extended stay or residence options
  • Group or event accommodation
  • Each with tailored imagery, amenities, and specific benefits

Step 8: Implement Pre-Stay Nurturing Sequences

Set up automated email campaigns for:

  • Booking confirmation with property highlights
  • Countdown emails with anticipation-building content
  • Local area information and activity suggestions
  • Transportation and arrival information
  • Special request or pre-arrival preference capture
  • Upsell opportunities for room upgrades or add-ons
  • Check-in preparation with mobile options when available

Step 9: Create Your On-Property Experience Enhancement

Design digital touchpoints during the stay:

  • Digital welcome materials and property information
  • Mobile concierge or request systems
  • Local experience booking options
  • Dining reservations and information
  • Special event or amenity promotions
  • Mid-stay check-in communications
  • Issue resolution pathways with immediate response

Step 10: Build Your Post-Stay Relationship Funnel

Develop systems for guest loyalty and return visits:

  • Post-stay thank you and feedback requests
  • Return stay incentives with exclusive rates
  • Seasonal promotions targeted to previous experience
  • Loyalty program enrollment and benefits
  • Anniversary or special occasion recognition
  • Referral incentive programs
  • Guest preference profiles for personalized future stays

Step 11: Make Your Special Segment Marketing System

Create targeted campaigns for:

  • Wedding and event venue promotion
  • Corporate and group booking processes
  • Extended stay or residence offerings
  • Seasonal package promotion
  • Local market staycation opportunities
  • Loyalty program member benefits
  • Each with appropriate lead capture and follow-up sequences

Step 12: Measure, Track, and Optimize

Monitor key metrics to continuously improve performance:

  • Direct booking conversion rates by traffic source
  • Lead magnet download rates by type
  • Email open and engagement percentages
  • Special offer conversion rates
  • Direct booking value versus OTA bookings
  • Guest acquisition cost by channel
  • Repeat booking and referral percentages

By following these steps with ClickFunnels, hotels can make an effective marketing funnel that showcases their unique property, captures guest information for direct marketing, and increases profitable direct bookings while reducing OTA commission costs. This systematic approach helps build guest relationships that extend beyond the stay while maximizing revenue per available room.