Every part of hospitality has the same economic shape. A platform sits between the business and the customer, owns the habit, takes a percentage, and is very good at being found. Restaurants pay reservation and delivery platforms, hotels pay booking sites, venues pay ticketing. The marketing question is always the same: which slice of that demand could arrive directly, what would it cost to capture, and is that less than the commission it displaces.
Work out the true cost of each channel first
Commission, payment fees, the platform's own advertising you buy on top, and the staff time it consumes. Most operators know the headline rate and have never calculated cost per cover or per booking by channel. Until that exists, every argument about direct is unanchored, and it frequently turns out that a modest direct budget is dramatically cheaper than the commission it replaces.
The business profile is the highest-return asset you have
For restaurants and venues especially, the map listing with current hours, real photographs, the menu as readable text, a booking link and recent answered reviews does more than any campaign, and costs attention rather than money. Menus published as images or documents are the single most common and most damaging error in the category, because the menu is what people search for.
Delivery platforms are a channel and a cost, and the numbers differ by dish
Commission on delivery is high enough that some items are unprofitable through a platform and others are fine, and very few operators have run the calculation per dish. Doing it changes the menu you offer on each channel, which is a legitimate and underused lever, and it tells you how hard to push customers towards ordering directly.
The seasonal and daily shape should drive the spend
Hospitality demand moves by day of week, by weather, by season and by local events, all of which are knowable in advance. Advertising that runs evenly wastes money on the nights that were always full and misses the ones that were not. Agree the shape of the week and the year, and let the quiet periods carry the promotion rather than the busy ones.
Reviews are operational feedback that happens to be public
A recurring complaint in reviews is an instruction about the business rather than a reputational problem to manage, and the operators who treat it that way improve the thing and watch the reviews follow. Answering plainly, fixing the cause, and asking satisfied guests routinely is cheaper and more durable than any campaign in this sector.
Questions people ask about hospitality marketing
How do we reduce platform commission?
Not by leaving the platforms, which have the demand, but by capturing the share that would come to you anyway. Calculate the true cost per booking by channel first; most operators have never done it.
What is the most common mistake in restaurant marketing?
Publishing the menu as an image or a document. It is the single most searched thing about a restaurant and in that form it is invisible to search engines and awkward on a phone.
Should we be on delivery platforms?
Usually, and with the calculation done per dish, because commission makes some items unprofitable and others fine. That analysis changes what you offer on each channel and how hard you push direct ordering.
When should we advertise?
On the quiet nights and in the quiet months. Hospitality demand is highly predictable by day, weather and season, and even spending pays for covers you already had.