These five concrete hotel marketing best practices will help hoteliers attract more regular guests
By definition, a regular guest is one who stays at the same property within a two-year period. In practice, however, each hotel determines the criteria for “regular guest” status. This status is often rewarded: regular guests benefit from exclusive offers, discounts or become part of a loyalty program. There are also many benefits to the business: it is less expensive to convince repeat guests to stay than to reach out to potential new guests. In addition, repeat guests spend more per stay on average, are familiar with the hotel's offerings and activities, and are less price-sensitive. In addition, satisfied repeat guests are the best ambassadors for your brand.How do you turn new guests into satisfied regular guests?
First, it is important to get an overview of your own guest base. How many are new guests, how many are regular guests? How do guests find out about your property? How do they book a second stay? What is the length of time between multiple stays, how much time elapses between booking and stay, and how long do guests stay on average? The result is a wealth of guest data that holds great potential. At its best, it can be fully leveraged through automation. Personal communication optimizes automated marketing efforts by creating interest, intimacy, and loyalty.The Right Message for The Right Guest
With data-driven marketing automation, guests can be segmented and targeted with the right message at the right time. Automated mailings, newsletters, organic social media posts or paid social media and Google Ads can be used to guide guests through the customer journey, stopping at strategically important touchpoints. However, it is not only who is being communicated with, but also how.Personalized communication can multiply the impact of automated marketing efforts by creating interest, intimacy, and loyalty. Neuromarketing finds the reason for this in the limbic system, the functional unit of the brain that processes emotions. The limbic system reacts most strongly to stimuli that affect the individual.
Success through Personalization
Addressing people by their first and last name in the subject or header of mailings can significantly improve open and click-through rates. Other elements that can be enhanced by using a personalized salutation include In call-to-action buttons, for example, the combination of name, message, color, and shape can significantly increase the likelihood of click-through and successful completion. Personalized greetings on landing pages attract attention, deepen the sense of familiarity, and thus strengthen the bond between product and guest.Adapting Content to Guests' Needs
The next step in content marketing is to tailor content to user needs. Typically, hotels manage vast amounts of data about their guests' individual preferences. Thanks to data-driven marketing automation software, this data can be used to deliver relevant content. For example, guests who were interested in wellness during their first stay will receive wellness ads or mailings tailored to them, while sports enthusiasts will receive the latest active offers.Length of stay, time of stay and booking lead time also contain valuable information that can be used. Guests who are usually interested in short stays can be encouraged to return with a two or three-day break, while those who stay longer can be made aware of weekly offers. Similarly, early bookers can be tempted with early-year discounts, while last-minute bookers can be targeted with last-minute offers.
Personal information, such as birthdays, is also a way to build loyalty. Congratulations are not only a nice gesture, they also promote recognition and proactively remind guests of their last holiday at the hotel. However, birthday greetings can also have sales objectives: A voucher or discount codes create an incentive to book the next stay. Creating guest profiles and personalized communications – based on interests, booking behavior and personal data – increases the number of repeat guests.
Marketing Automation for Personal Communication
The opportunities that arise from the mass of data are numerous. It is important for accommodation providers to harness the full potential of this data in order to maximize returns. By segmenting contacts into guest profiles and personalizing communications based on interests, booking behavior and personal data, the aim is to increase the number of repeat guests. Manually maintaining guest data takes a lot of time and effort – not to mention money. Marketing automation software can help by taking care of guest communication automatically.With ADDITIVE+ MARKETING AUTOMATION, ADDITIVE offers a tool for marketing and sales automation in hotels that specializes in personalized communication with guest segments. Through continuous, individualized communication via mailings, organic social media posts and social media ads, guests are not only constantly reminded of their positive holiday experiences, but are also proactively encouraged to book their next stay.
