Hospitality marketing for riads, boutique hotels and restaurants: what to fix first

"Hospitality marketing agency" is searched about 880 times a month in the UK and the US, and "restaurant branding agency" about 170 times (Google Ads, October 2026). Most of what ranks is written for hotel groups with a revenue team. This is written for the other end: ten to forty rooms, one restaurant, an owner who also answers the phone.

What a guest sees before they book

1. A photograph, on a booking platform, on Instagram or in a friend's message.
2. The name and the listing: rating, a handful of reviews, the first three lines of the description.
3. Your own website, if they look for it, to check the place is real and to compare the price.
4. A way to book or ask a question that works on a phone.

Each step loses people. The order of work below follows the order of that path.

The order of work

Photography: the one investment that pays everywhere

A hospitality shoot is planned around the light of the building, not around the photographer's diary. A courtyard that is flat at noon glows at nine in the morning; a rooftop wants the last hour of the day. A useful shot list:

• Every room category, wide and in detail, with the bed made the way housekeeping really makes it.
• Common spaces at the hour they look best.
• Food and drink, on the table where guests actually eat.
• Arrival: the door, the street, the walk from where the taxi stops. In a medina this answers the first question every guest has.
• People: the team, hands at work, with their written consent.
• Vertical versions of everything, for stories and short video.

Ask for usage rights that cover your website, the booking platforms, social media and press, without a time limit. For locations, seasons and permits in Morocco, see our Morocco photoshoot guide.

A name and an identity guests can find again

Many riads share the same few words in their names, which makes them hard to tell apart in a search. A distinctive name, spelled one way everywhere, is worth more than a clever logo. The identity then has to work at very small sizes (a map pin, a profile picture) and on physical things: the key card, the menu, the sign by the door, the bill. Restaurants need one more thing: a menu that can be reprinted when prices change without calling the designer.

A website that takes bookings

• A booking engine showing live rates and availability, or at the very least a short enquiry form and a WhatsApp link.
• The reason to book direct, stated once and clearly: best rate, breakfast, late checkout.
• The languages your guests speak. In Marrakech that usually means English and French first.
• Speed on a phone, on hotel-lobby Wi-Fi and mobile data.
• Practical facts: how to arrive, where to park, what time the kitchen closes.

How we build these is on the web design page.

Listings: the same facts everywhere

Claim and complete your Google Business Profile: category, hours, phone, website, fresh photos. Use exactly the same name, address and phone number on every platform; small differences confuse both guests and search engines. Answer reviews, including the bad ones, briefly and without arguing: future guests read the answer more than the review.

Social media: rhythm over volume

Three honest posts a week beat a daily stock quote. What works for small properties is the real thing: breakfast being set, the craftsman fixing the zellige, the view at six. Shoot a month of content in one or two sessions rather than improvising every day. Our social media plans are built that way.

What to measure

• Share of direct bookings against platform bookings.
• Enquiries by channel: website form, WhatsApp, phone, Instagram messages.
• Searches for your own name, which grow when the rest is working.
• Review count and rating over time.

What to ask a hospitality marketing agency

• Who takes the photographs, and can we see a full set from one property, not a highlight reel?
• Who owns the images, the domain, the booking account and the ad accounts when we stop working together?
• What will you report every month, in numbers?
• Which of these steps do you not do yourselves?

We are two people in Marrakech and Rabat: one leads brand and image, the other web and campaigns. If you run a riad, a boutique hotel or a restaurant and want an outside view, tell us where you are. The first conversation costs nothing.