Hotels and accommodation facilities are constantly looking for reliable suppliers to meet their guests' needs, creating business opportunities for food and beverage distributors and producers. In this context, B2B marketing strategies are crucial for suppliers aiming to reach and capture the hotel market. In this article, we will explore the most effective techniques for implementing targeted B2B marketing campaigns in the hospitality sector, with a particular focus on digital marketing and the products that can be promoted.

Before analyzing the different marketing techniques, including email marketing, social ads, content marketing, SEO, and advertising in specialized magazines, let's first examine the most common destinations where food and beverages can be promoted, considering the specific needs of hotels and other types of accommodation facilities.

Food & Beverage destinations in the hospitality sector

Food and beverage products for the hospitality sector find various applications, enhancing the guest experience at different points during their stay.

Producers and distributors planning communication and marketing campaigns to acquire new clients in the hotel industry can benefit from these diverse applications to meet specific needs effectively.

Breakfast

Breakfast is a crucial moment for hotel guests. Suppliers can offer a wide range of products, both sweet and savory, including refined options like gluten-free, vegan, and organic products. From baked goods, pastries, and cookies to hot beverages like coffee, tea, and hot chocolate, jams, fresh fruit juices, and yogurt, these items can be easily supplied to hotels. Besides sweet items, international guests enjoy various products such as cold cuts, cheeses, different types of bread, and other specialties that can enhance the breakfast offering.

Lunch and dinner

For lunch and dinner, hotels look for suppliers who can guarantee fresh, high-quality ingredients. The availability of gourmet products and regional specialties can make a significant difference in menu selection, offering guests a unique culinary experience.

Welcome tray in room

The welcome tray in the room adds a touch of class that can make a lasting impression on guests. This can include a selection of snacks, sweets, beverages, infusions, single-portion foods, and more. Providing high-quality, refined, or unique products can enhance guests' perception of the service.

Bar products and mixology

The hotel bar is a place where guests can relax and enjoy a drink. Offering a wide range of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, along with high-quality cocktail ingredients, is essential. Mixology products, such as syrups, liqueurs, and bitters, can help create innovative and delicious drinks. A selection that includes both classic products and innovative options can make the service unique and memorable.

In-room minibar products

The in-room minibar is a convenience highly appreciated by guests. Stocking it with a variety of fresh beverages, savory snacks, sweets, and small comforts like chocolate and energy bars offers an additional service that enhances the guest experience. Moreover, if the product selection is carefully chosen based on guests' preferences, the minibar can become a profitable opportunity for the hotel.

Coffee and snacks

Having quality coffee and snacks available is a fundamental service for any hotel. Alongside classic capsule or ground coffee, tea, and herbal infusions, it is important to offer a selection of healthy and tasty snacks, such as cookies, nuts, and cereal bars. These products can be made available in various locations and common areas of the hotel, even through vending machines. This not only meets guests' immediate needs but can also be an additional source of revenue for the hotel.

B2B marketing tools for the hotel target

In the following section of the article, we will focus on effective techniques and tools for promoting food and beverage products to the hospitality sector. Specifically:

1. Email marketing

Email marketing is one of the most effective strategies for directly reaching decision-makers in hotels and accommodation facilities. To maximize the impact of email campaigns, it is crucial to follow a structured approach that includes building a qualified contact list and creating targeted, effective content.

Building a contact list

Building a contact list is the foundation of any successful email marketing campaign. For food and beverage suppliers targeting the hospitality sector, it is crucial to gather information on key decision-makers within hotels, such as owners, purchasing managers, food and beverage directors, and operations managers. Here are some steps to create an effective contact list:

• Using databases and CRM: leverage professional databases, search engines, and CRM (Customer Relationship Management) systems to gather detailed information on hotel contacts. Even a simple search on Google, Google Maps, and local or specialized directories can effectively collect useful profiles and email addresses for campaigns.
• Lead generation through online forms: integrate a contact form on your website and dedicated landing pages, offering free resources (e.g., market research, white papers, discounts, and offers) in exchange for contact information.
• Participating in trade shows and industry events: systematically collect contacts during events, trade shows, and conferences in the hotel and restaurant industry, using digital tools to gather data in real-time.

Another valuable tip is to avoid purchasing large lists, as they often contain irrelevant addresses and "spam traps" (addresses that detect spam communications, risking getting blacklisted and invalidating all future messages. This can lead to image damage and the inability to deliver emails to most users).

To delve deeper into using email marketing, creating targeted lists, and running effective campaigns, read: "B2B Email Marketing in the Food Sector: Key Strategies for Achieving Success".

Creating targeted content

Once the contact list is built, the next step is creating email content that is relevant and attractive to the target audience. This audience includes hotel groups, independent hotels, and non-hotel accommodation facilities (such as B&Bs, agritourisms, campsites, holiday villages, residences, and others). Here are some tips:

• Valuable content: include content that offers added value, such as relevant blog articles, successful case studies, special offers, product news, and invitations to exclusive events or webinars. In the "content marketing" section, we will discuss in detail the types of content and topics that can attract customers in the hospitality sector.
• List segmentation: when possible, segment the contact list based on criteria such as type of facility, size, and geographic location. This allows for sending personalized and relevant messages.
• Professional templates: use professional email templates that reflect the brand's identity and are optimized for mobile viewing. Alternatively, send plain text emails with little or no graphics, as long as they are always relevant and specific. Both graphical and textual approaches have their pros and cons, so it is advisable to test and apply both to reach as many potential customers as possible.
• Content differentiation: personalize messages based on the category and specific needs of the recipient. For example, emphasize the qualities of premium products for luxury hotels, while focusing on value-for-money offers for mid-range hotel chains that can enhance service levels without significantly increasing costs. In any case, link the features of the offered food or beverages with the specific needs of the facility, service quality, guest satisfaction, and brand image.
• Clear call to action (CTA): Every email should contain a clear and engaging CTA that invites the reader to take a specific action, such as requesting a quote, exploring the product catalog, or contacting the supplier for more information on particular offers.

To learn more about creating effective content for B2B email marketing for food producers and distributors, read: "B2B Email Marketing for Producers and Distributors: How to Combine Informative and Promotional Content".

2. Social Ads with targeted advertising for hotels

Using social platforms enables the creation of highly targeted advertising campaigns, increasing the chances of reaching the right audience and achieving concrete results.

• LinkedIn: LinkedIn is extremely useful for B2B campaigns. It provides advanced targeting tools to specifically reach hospitality professionals, such as hotel directors, purchasing managers, and operations managers. By using LinkedIn's filters, you can segment the audience by job role, industry, company size, and geographic location. This allows for direct and immediate B2B targeting, which can be refined further with specific interests, demographics, and geographic data to target decision-makers within your potential client base.

• Facebook: with its extensive user base and targeting options, Facebook is another effective platform. Although less direct than LinkedIn, it offers B2B targeting options to reach owners and managers of accommodation businesses. For example, targeting by job title (owner, director, manager); administrators of hotel and accommodation business pages; interest-based targeting (e.g., hotel management or food service); behavior-based targeting (such as visiting specific business pages or interacting with industry posts); targeting users in specific Facebook groups related to the hospitality industry. Additionally, the retargeting feature allows you to reach users who have previously interacted with the brand or visited the supplier's website, while the "lookalike audience" feature helps to find an audience similar to a specified database of contacts or those who have interacted with the website or page in the past. This can significantly expand the pool of potential clients in the hospitality and food service sectors.

• Instagram: As part of the Facebook ecosystem, Instagram offers similar targeting capabilities with a stronger emphasis on visual content. This platform is ideal for promoting food and beverage products through attractive images and engaging videos, making them more appealing to accommodation managers.

3. B2B content marketing for the hospitality sector

Content marketing is a crucial strategy for food and beverage suppliers aiming to enhance their brand visibility and attract hotels and accommodation facilities. Creating and distributing valuable content that addresses the needs of hotels can help build trust and authority in the industry, fostering long-term business relationships.

The primary placement for targeted content should be on your own website, where it can be organized into a "News" section and further categorized by target (e.g., hospitality, food service, retailers, other potential clients, end consumers, and enthusiasts).

The same content can then be distributed across various channels, including social media (through your pages and sponsored Ads campaigns) and included in email marketing campaigns. Additionally, as we will see in the next section, the same content can be optimized for search engines like Google and Bing through SEO (search engine optimization), making it visible to business clients conducting specific searches, driving targeted traffic and potential clients to your website.

Here are some ideas for content that food suppliers can develop to capture the attention of hospitality businesses:

• Practical guides and white papers: develop detailed guides on relevant topics such as efficient food resource management, menu optimization for various guest types (e.g., vegans, gluten-intolerant), and emerging trends in the food & beverage sector. These documents not only provide immediate value but also establish the supplier as a trusted expert.

• Informative blog posts: articles on best practices in hotel management, culinary innovations, and success stories can be highly engaging. For instance, an article about how a specific product helped a hotel enhance guest satisfaction can capture the interest of other hoteliers. Additionally, content can be tailored to specific hospitality needs, such as breakfast offerings, guest welcome trays, lunch and dinner ideas, mixology, food-based gift ideas, minibar items, room service, and other elements of the guest experience.

• Video tutorials and demonstrations: videos showcasing creative and functional ways to use products can be very effective. These visual pieces can include recipe demonstrations, plating tips, and virtual tours of production processes.

• Testimonials and case studies: Sharing success stories through customer testimonials and detailed case studies is a powerful way to demonstrate the value of your products. These materials can illustrate how other hotels have benefited from using your products, enhancing brand credibility and trust.

4. SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) involves techniques and strategies designed to improve a website's ranking on search engines like Google and Bing. Food and beverage suppliers targeting hotels and restaurants can leverage SEO to enhance visibility, attract qualified traffic, and generate leads in the hospitality sector. Local SEO, in particular, is valuable for reaching hotels and accommodation facilities seeking suppliers in specific cities or geographic areas.

Here are some techniques to optimize your website's ranking, particularly for searches by a B2B audience in the hotel, accommodation, and restaurant sectors:

• Keyword research: first, identify the most relevant searches and keywords for the hotel and restaurant sectors. Consider questions like: "What terms and specific searches might hotels use to find our products?". Keywords should include terms related to the products offered and the target audience of hoteliers (e.g. "coffee suppliers for hotels", "gourmet products for hotels", "breakfast items for hotels", "single-serve cookies for hotels", "bronze-extruded pasta for restaurants"). Additionally, focus on long-tail keywords (longer, more specific phrases) that have less competition and are more targeted, such as "organic pastry suppliers for hotels in London".

• On-page optimization: this involves elements that affect the ranking of individual pages on your website, including "meta tags". Ensure that each page has unique "title tags" and "meta descriptions" that incorporate primary keywords and are compelling to users, as these are the elements users see in search results. Besides these elements, high-quality content that addresses hotel needs and aligns with potential clients' search intent is crucial. Blog posts, guides, case studies, and testimonials should be informative and optimized for selected keywords (using them naturally and avoiding excessive repetition). Utilize headers (H1, H2, H3) to structure the content and include keywords naturally. Additional factors include URLs (the web addresses of specific pages, which should be descriptive, contain relevant keywords, and ideally avoid symbols or cryptic codes) and internal links that connect various pages and content on the website.

• Off-page optimization: key factors include link building activities (acquiring quality links from authoritative sites in the hospitality and food & beverage sectors that point to your site's pages). These external links (also known as backlinks) enhance the site's authority and improve its search engine ranking.

• Local SEO:

  • Optimize your business profile on Google: create and optimize your Google My Business profile with accurate and up-to-date information about your business, including address, phone number, opening hours, and product photos. This helps improve visibility in local searches.

  • Local citations: ensure that your company name, address, and phone number (commonly known as NAP - "Name, Address, Phone") are consistent across all websites, Google Maps, and local directories. Accurate and consistent local citations enhance your website's geographic relevance.

  • Online reviews: encourage customers to leave positive reviews on Google and other review sites. Positive reviews not only boost your online reputation but also influence your ranking in local search results.

• Website performance: page loading speed affects both user experience and search engine rankings. Tools like Google PageSpeed Insights can help identify areas for improvement. Additionally, the website must be mobile-friendly, meaning it should be fully responsive (able to adapt to various screen sizes) and optimized for navigation on mobile devices.

By implementing these basic SEO techniques, food and beverage suppliers can enhance their search engine rankings, attract more qualified traffic, and increase their chances of reaching and acquiring new clients in the hotel and hospitality sector.

5. SEM and sponsored Ads

Search Engine Marketing (SEM), through Pay-Per-Click (PPC) ads on platforms like Google Ads, is a powerful tool for placing relevant promotions and effectively reaching a B2B audience.

By using the same keywords discussed in the previous SEO section (which identify searches by potential business clients), suppliers can create targeted ad campaigns to position their ads at the top of search results, thereby attracting hotel decision-makers and qualified buyers. This approach boosts brand visibility and generates high-quality leads, ensuring that products are seen by potential clients precisely when they are searching for specific solutions in the hospitality sector.

6. Advertising in specialized magazines

Advertising in trade magazines remains a traditional yet effective strategy for reaching a highly qualified audience in the hospitality sector.

Online publications in industry magazines offer additional benefits, such as utilizing various channels (the magazine's website, social media platforms, and search engines) and providing interactive features (such as links to the supplier's site) to encourage direct contacts.

An example in Italy is InfoHOTEL, a portal providing hotel industry news, editorial articles, and in-depth features on specific companies and products for hotels and restaurants.

For food and beverage suppliers, investing in advertising on these platforms can offer significant visibility and help build the brand's reputation within the hospitality sector.

To maximize the effectiveness of advertising campaigns in specialized magazines, it is essential to select publications that best align with your target market. Here are some key steps to identify the right magazines:

• Audience analysis: clearly define the profile of your target audience, including hotels, various types of accommodation (such as B&Bs that may be interested in breakfast products), agritourisms, holiday villages, residences, campsites, beach resorts, and other foodservice operators, ensuring that the magazine effectively reaches your potential customers.

• Reputation assessment: evaluate the reputation of the magazines in the sector by examining the quality and authority of their publications, any partnerships with trade shows and industry events, and the presence of well-known companies among their advertisers. Magazines with a long history and strong reputation often have a more loyal and qualified audience.

• Consider the magazine's circulation to ensure it reaches a sufficient number of readers within your target market. Specialized magazines usually offer a "media kit" that includes audience statistics and classifications. For example, an online magazine might provide data on website traffic and newsletter subscribers as quantitative indicators, and audience breakdown by category as qualitative indicators of reader type.
• Review the editorial content: examine the magazine's editorial content to ensure it aligns with your brand's values and messages. A magazine that regularly covers relevant topics, hospitality trends, practical tips, and industry innovations will be more valuable for high-quality product suppliers. Additionally, editorial content (such as articles promoting companies that produce or distribute products for hotels) should provide a good mix of informative and promotional content. Articles about suppliers should be both useful and informative, as well as promotional, to make a positive impression on readers and potential clients.

Conclusions

Implementing B2B digital marketing strategies can provide a competitive edge for food and beverage suppliers seeking to reach hotels and accommodation facilities. Among various business targets - including retailers, specialty stores, foodservice operators, and caterers - the hospitality sector presents a significant opportunity for market expansion and product promotion.

Effective techniques such as email marketing, targeted social ads, content marketing, SEO, and advertising in specialized magazines can enhance brand visibility, attract new clients, and build long-term relationships.

Additionally, showcasing products in hotels, restaurants, and accommodation facilities can serve as a valuable promotional and branding tool for guests (end consumers). These guests may enjoy specific food specialties during their stay and might be inspired to purchase them independently, creating a synergy between use in accommodation settings and retail sales channels.