Most hotel marketing talks about the product.
The room.
The bed.
The facilities.
The parking.
The free wifi.
All useful things.
But not always the things that make someone stop, lean in, and think:
“I want that.”
That’s what we call getting nodding heads.
And the more nodding heads you get, the more interest you create. The more interest you create, the more enquiries, bookings, and direct revenue you can generate.
What are “nodding heads”?
“Nodding heads” is a simple marketing idea I learned in London while working on Land Rover.
I was a young Kiwi creative, very excited to be working on such an iconic brand. It was Land Rover. It was rugged, premium, beautifully engineered, and FULL of features.
So naturally, I started writing about the vehicle.
The product.
The details.
The new features.
Then a very experienced copywriter named Peter looked at the work and said:
“This won’t get nodding heads.”
At the time, I had no idea what he meant.
But he explained that I was selling the product, not the experience it enabled.
People did not just want a Land Rover because of its nuts and bolts. They wanted what it made possible.
Adventure.
Freedom.
Heritage.
So I flipped the script.
Instead of focusing on the vehicle, the campaign focused on the experience it enabled.
Prospective buyers could go to Africa, travel through Namibia, and spend six weeks with a scientific team tracking cheetahs and leopards in the wild.
That got heads nodding.
Not because people were thinking, “I like the suspension.”
But because they were thinking:
“I want to be there.”
This matters for hotels too
A lot of accommodation marketing has the same problem.
It focuses on the room, not the reason someone wants the room.
The product is important, of course. Your rooms, beds, bathrooms, food, service and amenities all matter.
But they are rarely the real emotional hook.
A guest does not usually wake up dreaming about a room category.
They dream about the experience around the stay.
A weekend away with someone they love.
A glass of wine as the sun drops behind the hills.
A slow morning with no emails.
A base camp for walking, cycling, swimming, dining, exploring, or doing nothing at all.
A feeling of being somewhere special.
That is the difference between selling a product and selling an experience.
Product-led marketing sounds like this
“Stay in our spacious king room with ensuite bathroom, free wifi, parking, tea and coffee facilities, and daily housekeeping.”
There is nothing wrong with that information.
But it is functional. It sounds like a listing. It could be almost any accommodation provider in almost any destination.
It does not make many people think, “I want that.”
Experience-led marketing sounds like this
“Ease into the morning with nature’s soundtrack of birdsong and seabreeze, soaking up the views as they call for you to get out amongst them. Spend the day exploring, then return to your own private sanctuary for a long bath and a glass of wine as the sun sets.”
Same stay.
Very different feeling.
One describes what the guest gets.
The other helps them picture themselves there.
That is where the nodding starts.
The mistake hotels make on their websites
Many hotel websites lead with the building.
A photo of the outside with an empty carpark.
A list of facilities that every hotel already has.
A room with towels on the bed and no people in sight.
A booking button leading to every room category.
But prospective guests are not only comparing your facilities.
They are asking:
“Can I see myself here?”
“Is this the kind of stay I want?”
“Does this feel worth it?”
“Is this better than the other options I have open in my browser?”
If your website only shows the product, you make the guest do the emotional work.
If your website shows the experience, you help them feel the value before they compare the price.
How to find your “nodding heads” experience
Start with this question:
What does your accommodation make possible?
Not just what do you provide.
What do guests get to feel, do, discover, enjoy, escape, celebrate, or remember because they stay with you?
For some properties, the answer might be adventure.
You are the base camp for walking tracks, national parks, cycling trails, surf beaches, wineries, wildlife, or local food.
For others, it might be reconnection.
A place for couples to slow down, reconnect, eat well, sleep in, and feel like themselves again.
For others, it might be a total escape.
No noise. No pressure. No rush. Just space, privacy, nature, and time.
For others, it might be culture, conservation, wellness, luxury, family memories, or the feeling of being hosted by people who know the region better than anyone.
That is where the story is.
Then show it everywhere
Once you know the experience, it should not live in one paragraph on your About page.
It should shape your whole hotel marketing ecosystem.
Your homepage should make the experience obvious within seconds.
Your photography should show more than empty rooms. It should show what guests are really coming for.
Your social media should help people imagine the stay.
Your ads should lead with desire, not just availability.
Your emails should remind past and future guests why they wanted to come in the first place.
Your packages should be built around experiences, not just inclusions.
Your booking journey should support the decision to book direct by making the value clear.
Because the goal is not simply to show that you have accommodation available.
The goal is to make the right guest think:
“That’s exactly what I need.”
A simple test for your hotel marketing
Look at your homepage, your latest social posts, and your current ads.
Then ask:
Would this get nodding heads from our ideal guests?
Would they feel something?
Would they see themselves here?
Would they understand why this stay is different?
Would they want the experience before they start comparing the price?
If the answer is no, you may not have a traffic problem.
You may have a story problem.
Sell the experience that gets heads nodding
Land Rover was an incredible product.
But the product became more powerful when the marketing showed what it enabled.
Hotels are the same.
Your location matters. Your service matters.
But the real opportunity is to show the experience your ideal guest wants to be part of.
That is what gets heads nodding.
Nodding heads is where better hotel marketing begins and rooms get filled by your ideal guests.