Hotel Marketing 5.15 | What Instagram, Clueless, and Missed Flights Have in Common

Hotel marketing takeaways from social updates, summer pop-ups, and public relations DIY

Author

Rachel Watroba
July 14, 2025

The Hotel Marketing 5.15 | Weekly Brief: July 14, 2025

H1 recaps are rolling in, offering a look at travel trends so far and what’s likely coming next. Budget season is approaching, hotel marketers are being asked to do more with fewer team members and tighter resources, and the digital landscape continues to evolve at a rapid pace.

And with that…a clear mind leads to better work. If your only takeaway from this week’s newsletter is to step outside, dive into a hobby or a good book, or connect with someone who lifts you up (with no agenda beyond recharging), I’d consider that a major win.

Thanks for reading.

Travel + Leisure World’s Best Awards 2025 Announced | Travel + Leisure
T+L’s annual readers' choice list is live, spotlighting the top resorts, cities, cruise lines, and more as voted by travelers. The rankings include global standouts and some fresh names across categories, from “Top 100 Hotels in the World” to “Best Resorts in the Continental U.S.” 2025 marks the 30th anniversary of the World’s Best Awards.

Hotel Marketing Takeaways:

Recognition from awards like T+L’s is the result of consistent experience delivery and intentional campaign planning. Use this moment to:


• Research top-ranked properties for inspiration on design, service, and brand presence
• Set up a timeline to encourage guest voting ahead of next year’s awards window
• Add award strategy into your PR calendar and guest communications

Even if your property is not listed this year, you can build toward it by aligning guest experience, storytelling, and targeted outreach.

Instagram Expands Google Access to Public Posts to More Regions | Social Media Today

If you’re reading marketing news online, many headlines are around how Instagram now allows Google and other search engines to index public posts, Reels, and carousels from professional (business/creator) accounts, making your social content discoverable outside the app. According to Social Media Today, however, posts have always been indexable as long as they meet specific criteria; the roll-out is just covering a wider base of accounts and regions now. Still, something to keep updated on and optimize for.

Hotel Marketing Takeaways:

Kayla Miller offers insights for optimizing your content visibility via Instagram

Use Searchable Captions
Write clear, keyword-rich captions that reflect the actual content

Add Alt Text
Always include descriptive alt text on posts to improve accessibility and boost searchability.

Do Light Keyword Research
Use tools like Google Trends or TikTok Creator Search to identify real terms travelers are using—then work them in naturally.

BONUS: From the Cogwheel Marketing Hotel Marketing Call:

Take time to audit your online visibility, both for your personal brand and your hotel. Several marketers noted that the Instagram indexing in Google is confusing, with titles, summaries, and listings that often don’t match the actual content. This disconnect can create confusion for both travelers and stakeholders. As to how to change those if find something inaccurate - test and learn is the takeaway for now.

TIME100 Creators 2025 | Time.com

TIME released its inaugural TIME100 Creators list, celebrating 100 digital creators who are shaping media, culture, and commerce in 2025. These individuals are recognized for building engaged communities, shaping online conversations, and creating content that influences purchasing behavior, taste, and trends.

Hotel Marketing Takeaways:

If the traditional TIME100 is about who’s shaping the world from the top, the Creators list is about who’s shaping it from your phone, and influencing travel decisions, brand loyalty, and booking behavior in real time.

Whether you're partnering with a top creator or borrowing from their playbook, the creator economy offers hotel marketers a powerful roadmap for connection, storytelling, and conversion.

• Build communities, not just audiences
Top creators succeed by forming meaningful connections. Hotels can take inspiration by nurturing loyalty groups, social communities, or local programming that keeps past and future guests connected.

• Lead with storytelling
The most successful creators use authentic storytelling. Hotels should share real stories to create more emotional engagement and brand relevance.

• Use guest voices to reflect your brand
Many creators grew by sharing personal experiences. Encourage guests to share their own moments and repurpose that user-generated content to add fresh, relatable perspective.

Additional News Clips:

  • Exclusive: OpenAI to release web browser in challenge to Google Chrome | Reuters

    • OpenAI is set to release its own web browser in the next few weeks, and Apple is in talks to purchase Perplexity, who just launched their Comet browser.

  • TikTok Refutes Reports That It’s Developing a Separate US Version of the App | Social Media Today

    • Are they or aren’t they? TikTok says it’s not building a U.S.-only version, but the rumors won’t die.

  • Crafting a Hotel Marketing Budget: Goldilocks and the 3 Bears | Cogwheel Marketing

    • At the HSMAI Conference, Cogwheel Marketing unveiled a budget framework built to pinpoint performance gaps, align spend with strategy, and guide precise, solution-driven resource allocation.

Job Postings

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

    • Newly added: 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

    • Newly added: ahrefs is an amazing source for updates, so I’m sure the conference will be packed with actionable insights. They also have a template to use to pitch attendance to your boss.

  • ILTM Cannes | Dec 1 - 4 | Cannes, France

Holidays and Activations

  • Black Friday/Travel Tuesday | November 28, December 2

DIY Public Relations

If you’re lucky enough to have a robust budget that includes room for a public relations agency, you are lucky enough. For those hotels that do not have a budget for public relations, here are a few DIY public relations resources to help you get started, stay visible, and remain inspired to tackle one more strategic item on your to-do list.

Press Release Distribution

  • Cision PR Newswire – Distribute press releases to a broad network of media outlets https://www.cision.com

  • Prowly – Create and send press releases, build media lists, and manage contacts https://prowly.com

  • Prezly – All-in-one newsroom builder with press release distribution and CRM features https://www.prezly.com

Media Database & Pitching

Influencer Marketing

  • Curacity – Curacity is a commission-based guest acquisition platform that partners with 40+ lifestyle media brands to feature hotels in high-impact newsletters, using proprietary attribution technology to track and charge only for bookings generated directly from those media placements, offering measurable PR results without traditional pitching or agency retainers. https://curacity.com

  • Collabstr – Browse, book, and manage creators for short-form content and campaigns https://collabstr.com

  • Aspire.io – Manage influencer campaigns, content rights, and creator relationships https://aspire.io

Monitoring & Alerts

DIY PR Education

Cayman Jack Turns Missed Flights into Margaritas
📍 Airports across the U.S. | Summer 2025

Cayman Jack launched a summer activation offering free margarita kits to travelers with missed or delayed flights. By scanning QR codes in airports and uploading proof of delay, stranded flyers receive a mini moment of escape delivered to their homes.

The Clueless Suite at L’Ermitage Beverly Hills
L’Ermitage Beverly Hills | July 7 - September 1, 2025

To mark the 29th anniversary of Clueless, L’Ermitage Beverly Hills launched a fully themed suite packed with 90s-inspired touches, including Cher’s iconic closet, Polaroids, fuzzy pens, and custom merch. The experience blends nostalgia, luxury, and photo-ready design to create a playful, immersive stay.

5.15 subscriber Madelyn Lydon of Arizona Biltmore shared:
“I recently started a quarterly meet-up called "Current Musings", a creative and hospitality happy hour to share current inspirations, fun projects, and provide networking opportunities in the Valley.”

Located near Phoenix? Connect with Maddie to be invited to the next Current Musings meetup.

I leave social to trusted agency partners, but I follow a few thought leaders for the latest updates and trends. Some LinkedIn profiles below:

  • Anna-Mai’s The Social Tea: A weekly, bullet-style roundup of social media news and trends. One of the few LinkedIn voices I keep notifications on for.

  • Jack Appleby // Future Social: Social media case studies, trend breakdowns, and, honestly, my go-to for the latest social media brand drama and “that didn’t land well” insights.

  • Rachel Karten // Link in Bio Newsletter: Rachel shares insightful breakdowns of platform updates, emerging trends, and real-world brand examples. Her newsletter, Link in Bio, often includes mini case studies and behind-the-scenes takes from social teams you admire.

Anyone else you would recommend for social media insights? Hit reply and let me know.

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 Hotel Marketing partners with luxury hotels during moments of transition, including openings, leadership gaps, or times when everything needs to keep moving without missing a beat. From strategy to execution, I help maintain momentum, align agencies, and keep your marketing engine running smoothly.

If you’re navigating a gap in marketing leadership or planning ahead for a transition, I’d be happy to talk through what support might look like.

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