Why discounting becomes the fallback

In hospitality, discounting doesn’t usually happen because the brand is “bad at marketing.” It happens because the business needs covers quickly, and the marketing system is working too late in the guest journey.

When you’re not consistently creating demand early (brand memory, preference, reasons to visit), and you’re not capturing intent late (the people already searching), the only lever left is price.

Discounts feel measurable. They create a short-term spike. But they also train guests to wait, compress margin, and make your forecasting worse because the business becomes dependent on promotions to hit targets.

If you want the “focus” layer before anything else, the companion piece to this is the 80/20 hospitality marketing plan — how to prioritise the few actions that do most of the revenue heavy lifting.

Who this framework is for (and who it isn’t)

This framework is built for hospitality groups with 3–10 venues where marketing is thin, junior, or simply not pulling together — and where the founder/MD is time-poor and ends up acting as the marketing manager by default.

It’s for you if:

• You have ads, SEO, email and a website — but they don’t feel coordinated.
• You have a junior/solo marketer who can execute basics, but the commercial strategy and measurement are missing.
• You want clarity on what drives revenue today, and what builds demand for the future.
• You can’t afford a whole department — you have a “one-hire” budget and need leverage.

It’s not for you if:

• You’re looking for “more activity” without accountability to bookings, revenue, or a clear scorecard.
• You want a channel-by-channel agency relationship that optimises in silos.

The rest of this guide is deliberately practical. It’s written for operators and owners — not SEO nerds — and it’s designed to be implemented with a lean team.

Pick the commercial North Star

Multi-site marketing falls apart when success is vague. If different stakeholders are optimising for different numbers, you get noise, not progress.

Step 1: choose the North Star

You need one number that leadership cares about and the team can influence weekly. Typically one of these:

• Bookings / covers influenced by marketing (best when tracking is mature)
• Marketing-influenced revenue (best when bookings happen across multiple systems)
• High-intent booking signals (best when confirmations are hard to track): “book now clicks”, “start booking”, “call clicks”, “directions”

Step 2: set 5 supporting metrics (not 50)

Every supporting metric should answer one question: “What do we do next?” If it doesn’t drive a decision, it’s theatre.

For a practical measurement structure, see hospitality marketing reporting: one scorecard everyone understands.

A hospitality funnel that matches reality

Hospitality doesn’t behave like ecommerce. A “conversion” can be a reservation, a phone call, a walk-in, or an event enquiry. That’s why you need a funnel built around intent signals — not just a single checkout event.

If you keep those four jobs clear, you stop expecting low-intent channels to do high-intent jobs (and vice versa). That’s the root cause of a lot of wasted spend.

For how to stop channels working against each other, use joined-up hospitality marketing channels.

Assign channel roles (and stop cannibalisation)

Most multi-site groups don’t need “more channels.” They need each channel to have a clear role, a clear KPI, and a clear handoff to the next step.

Channel roles matrix

To go deeper on high-intent capture, see Google Ads for hospitality groups: a cost-per-booking framework. For organic visibility at scale, see hospitality SEO for multi-site groups.

Multi-site structure: what to centralise vs localise

Multi-site marketing fails in two opposite ways:

• Over-centralised: everything is generic, venues feel the marketing “isn’t about them,” conversion suffers.
• Over-localised: everyone does their own thing, tracking breaks, spend drifts, and reporting becomes politics.

Centralise the system (standards + leverage)

• Targets, budgets, channel mix, and pace (commercial leadership)
• Tracking standards (events, naming, UTMs)
• Account structure (especially paid search)
• Reporting scorecard and weekly rhythm
• Templates and QA (so quality doesn’t depend on one person)

Localise what improves relevance and conversion

• Venue-specific storytelling: what it’s known for
• Local context that reduces booking friction (getting there, parking, “good for…”, private dining cues)
• Event and partnership inputs

One scorecard, not 50 dashboards

If leadership doesn’t trust the numbers, marketing gets managed by opinion. Your goal is simple: a scorecard that answers “what changed?” and “what are we doing about it?”

The minimum viable tracking you need

Hospitality attribution is messy. That’s fine. You still need consistent signals you can optimise weekly. Track:

• “Book now” clicks (from venue pages and menus)
• “Start booking” events (where available)
• Confirmed bookings (where feasible)
• Call clicks and directions clicks (high local intent)
• Menu engagement (often the real decision page)

For a practical setup, see clean tracking for hospitality: what to measure so marketing turns into bookings.

Operating cadence that keeps momentum

Strategy fails when it isn’t operated. The difference between marketing that “sounds good” and marketing that produces revenue is cadence.

A cadence that works for lean teams

• Monthly/quarterly planning session: align targets, budgets, channel mix, and priorities.
• Weekly catch-up: keep momentum and unblock execution.
• Transparent workflows: shared boards with owners, deadlines, and status.
• Weekly priorities + short results note: the feedback loop that stops drift.

If you want the prioritisation method, use the 80/20 hospitality marketing plan.

A 90-day rollout plan

Trying to “fix everything at once” is how groups stay stuck. Sequence your work so you earn the right to scale.

Days 1–14: Foundations (make decisions possible)

• Agree the North Star and the 5 supporting metrics.
• Implement the minimum viable tracking (booking signals + core intent actions).
• Build the first version of the scorecard (venue comparisons + actions).
• Define channel roles and what success means per channel.

Days 15–45: Capture + conversion (stop wasting money)

• Fix high-intent capture (typically Google Ads structure + messaging + landing path).
• Remove booking friction (CRO improvements that lift conversion without discounting).
• Align SEO priorities to revenue pages (venue visibility without internal competition).

Deep dives: Google Ads cost-per-booking framework and hospitality CRO to turn visits into bookings.

Days 46–90: Retention + scaling (compound results)

• Build CRM/email as the repeat-bookings engine (segments + cadence + reporting).
• Roll out winners across venues (what works in one venue becomes a group standard).
• Refine budgets based on the scorecard (double down where you can prove impact).

Retention deep dive: hospitality CRM & email: the repeat-bookings engine.

Resourcing: two ways to run marketing without hiring a full department

Many groups have a “one-hire” budget. That doesn’t mean you can’t run a joined-up performance system — it means you need leverage.

Two common operating models

• Coach & Execute: lead the plan and budget, coach your in-house marketer, and run the heavy-lifting channels (Google Ads, SEO, CRM/email, CRO). If social is covered in-house, you don’t pay for it.
• Run the Department: fractional Head of Digital + execution, owning strategy, channels, and reporting.

If you want help choosing the right fit, read Coach & Execute vs Run the Department: which model fits your group?

Related reading

• Joined-up hospitality marketing: how channels should work together
• Clean tracking for hospitality: measure what drives bookings
• Hospitality SEO for multi-site groups (without cannibalisation)
• Hospitality CRO: turn visits into bookings

FAQ

What’s the fastest way to increase bookings without discounting?

Fix high-intent capture (people already searching), then remove booking friction. If conversion is weak, more traffic just increases waste.

What should we measure if we can’t reliably track confirmed bookings?

Track consistent booking intent signals: “book now” clicks, booking starts, call clicks, directions, and menu engagement. Use them to optimise weekly.

How do we stop channel waste?

Assign one job per channel, align KPIs to that job, and run one scorecard. “Joined-up” beats “busy.”

Do we need a specialist for every channel?

No. Most groups need commercial leadership (targets, budgets, channel mix), hands-on delivery in the heavy-lifting channels, and a cadence that keeps execution moving.

How do we make reporting useful for leadership?

Keep it decision-focused: what changed, why it changed, and what you’re doing next week. If it doesn’t drive a decision, it’s not reporting — it’s decoration.

What’s the best way to run marketing with a “one-hire” budget?

Use leverage: build the system centrally (plan, measurement, templates, QA) and feed local inputs from venues. That way quality doesn’t depend on one person.