Market the Memory, Not the Mattress
No one shares a selfie with your logo. They share sunsets, laughter, and the stories that make them book again.
Fall travelers aren’t booking a room. They are booking the view from the porch, the crunch of leaves underfoot, and the story they will tell when they get home.
Focusing your marketing on what your property is misses the point. Guests don’t care about square footage or thread counts. They care about how they will feel when they are here.
This week, let’s break down how to turn your property into an experience guests cannot resist.
Key Takeaways
Guests don’t book rooms, they book experiences.
Use the Experience + Emotion + Invitation formula to turn scenes into bookings.
One story-driven caption can outperform your logo post every time.
Why Experiences Sell, Rooms Don’t
A cabin is not just four walls. It is the trailhead five minutes away. It is the cider stand down the road. It is the firepit where guests laugh until midnight.
When you lead with experiences, guests imagine themselves there. That imagination is what makes them click “Book Now.”
How to Turn Moments Into Bookings
Formula: Experience + Emotion + Invitation = Booking Power
Experience: The leaf-peeping drive, the starlit hot tub, the morning hike
Emotion: Awe, coziness, connection
Invitation: A simple call like “See it for yourself this weekend”
Proof it works: Research shows 75% of travelers say social media posts inspired their trips to a specific destination in 2023. Experiences shared visually, like a fall hike or a fire-pit moment, are what move people to book.
Example:
❌ Property Post: “Stay at Hilltop Lodge this fall.”
✅ Experience Post: “Sip cider by the fire after a long hike through golden trails.”
Quick Wins
Swap one property-focused post with an experience-driven scene
Reuse guest reviews: pull a sentence that captures how it felt to stay
Snap three candid fall photos this week — mist on the river, leaves on the porch, guests cozy around a firepit — and post them with one-line captions
Mini Challenge: Post one experience caption this week. Compare the clicks against your last property post. Run this test before the leaves hit the ground.
Steal This Prompt to Sell the Experience
Here’s your copy-paste AI prompt for instant content.
Instructions: Open ChatGPT (or any AI tool). Copy and paste the prompt below. Fill in the fields with your details.
Act as a boutique hotel marketer. Write 3 social media captions for [Property Name], a [Property Type], about [Season Activity] near [Local Landmark].
Each caption must:
Be under 25 words
Written in second person (‘you’)
Use sensory details (sight, sound, smell, touch)
Each caption with a different emotional angle (adventure, relaxation, connection)
Reflect the voice that appeals to [Target Audience]
Focus only on the guest experience, not property features.
From Prompt to Posts: Three Captions That Sound Like Guest Stories, Not Ads. Each one will highlight emotion and scene so readers picture themselves at your property.
When you sell the moment, you sell the booking.
From Our Blog…
Festival Crowds Are Coming. Is Your Pricing Ready?
Finally
From my corner of New England, the maples are about to turn, and travelers are already watching for ‘peak season.’ Want me to workshop one caption or one offer? Reply — I promise my notes come quicker than the leaf-peeper traffic jams.
Kay 🍍