In part one we covered what digital PR is and why it helps SEO. In part two we looked at digital PR and AI search. This article goes inside a three&six Digital PR Campaign and explains each step, what you’ll see along the way, and what we need from you.
What Makes a Hotel Story Worth Covering
Journalists don’t cover hotels because they exist. They cover them because there’s something new to say. Most of the stories we pitch fall into a handful of types.
Original Data
Numbers give journalists something concrete to report. That might be a hotel’s own booking patterns, such as how far ahead guests book for a big event, or independent research on a topic the hotel can speak to. Data stories tend to attract links, because publications cite the source.
Timely Hooks
A story has a better chance when there’s a reason to run it now. Seasonal moments, major events, holidays, and new travel trends all give journalists a reason to say yes this week rather than someday.
Expert Commentary
General managers, chefs, sommeliers, and designers know things journalists want to hear. An expert view on a trend, a destination, or a question guests keep asking can get a hotel quoted in a wider story.
Heritage and Place
Historic buildings, restorations, and neighborhood stories give design, architecture, and local writers something substantial to work with. The economics of restoring an older building, for example, can interest business and design press as well as travel titles.
Trends the Hotel Can Speak To
When guests’ habits change, journalists look for examples. A hotel that’s seeing the change firsthand, and can back it up, becomes a useful source.
Most hotels are sitting on more of these than they think. The story is usually there. It needs someone to find it, check it, and get it to the right desk.
Step 1: Find the Story
We start with your property, your market, and our seasonal events calendar, then add independent research on what journalists in your space are covering. The result is a bank of 10 to 15 story ideas, drawing on news-led, data-led, destination-led, expert-led, and trend-led angles, each matched to publications that run that kind of story.
What you’ll see: The idea bank for your hotel, with each idea’s angle, why it’s timely, and the publications we’d target. You pick which ones go forward.
Step 2: Back It Up
Every idea gets a sourced research backgrounder before anything is written. Journalists get a lot of pitches, and facts they can check make a story easier to say yes to. If we can’t verify a claim, we don’t pitch it.
What you’ll see: A research backgrounder with sources for every claim, plus any points we need you to confirm about the property.
Step 3: Write It in Your Hotel’s Voice
Next comes the content itself. Depending on the story, that might be a data-led piece, a guide, or expert commentary, plus a press release or campaign asset where the story needs one. It’s written in your hotel’s tone of voice, so it sounds like the property and not like an agency.
What you’ll see: The draft content for your review. Nothing goes out without your sign-off.
Step 4: Pitch the Right Desks
Each story goes to publications we’ve verified, with a pitch written for that outlet and its readers. We’re honest about fit. If a story doesn’t suit a publication, we don’t send it there. No spray-and-pray lists. We also keep room in every campaign to react when a relevant news hook appears.
What you’ll see: The outreach plan, showing which publications we’re pitching and why, and the pitch emails for your approval.
Step 5: Measure What It Brings In
We track coverage, backlinks, referral traffic, and AI citations, and report them next to the SEO and AI visibility data we already share with you. That way digital PR is judged on the same numbers as the rest of your marketing.
What you’ll see: A campaign report covering where the story ran, the links it produced, the traffic those links sent to your site, and any changes in how AI tools describe your hotel.
What We Need From You
A campaign moves faster with a few things in place:
- A point of contact who can answer questions about the property and approve content
- Background on the hotel, plus any data you’re comfortable sharing
- Quick sign-off on pitches, so a timely story doesn’t go stale before it reaches a journalist
- A heads-up on anything coming up, such as renovations, openings, events, or new menus, that could become a story
Mistakes We Avoid
A lot of hotel PR misses for the same few reasons. We build our process to avoid them.
- Pitching news that isn’t news. A new menu or a refreshed lobby rarely makes a story on its own. We look for the angle that gives it wider interest.
- Sending the same pitch to everyone. Generic pitches are easy to ignore. Each of ours is written for the publication receiving it.
- Overclaiming. Stats that can’t be checked damage trust with journalists. Everything we pitch is sourced.
- Missing the moment. Seasonal and event-led stories need to reach journalists well before the date. We plan around the publication’s timeline, as well as the hotel’s.
Let’s Talk Digital PR Campaigns
Think your hotel has a story worth telling? Get in touch to discuss Digital PR Campaigns. We’ll look at your property, tell you honestly where the stories are, and show you what a first campaign could look like.
More interested in how AI tools describe your hotel? Ask us about AI Citation Outreach too.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many story ideas do you put forward?
Each campaign starts with a bank of 10 to 15 ideas, drawn from a mix of angles. You choose which go forward, and each one comes with its angle and the publications we’d pitch.
How long does a campaign take?
Most campaigns run one to three months, depending on the type of campaign, how the media responds, and the opportunities that come up along the way.
Who writes the content?
We do, in your hotel’s tone of voice. You review and approve everything before it goes to journalists.
Do you work with our existing PR agency?
Yes. If you have a PR agency, we’ll coordinate with them so the stories and outreach support what they’re already doing.
What happens if a story doesn’t get picked up?
Coverage is never guaranteed. If a story doesn’t get picked up by one publication, we review the angle and the targets, and the research and content often still have value, for example as a piece on your own website or as material for another pitch.