A practical, easy-to-follow guide to use vouchers for online hotel marketing:
Why every hotel website needs to have vouchers
Vouchers are ideal for hotels to generate additional revenue. A wide range of services can be sold at any time and delivered at the guest's convenience. In addition to the financial aspect, vouchers have proven to be particularly valuable in attracting new guests and retaining them in the long term, and are a proven means of voucher advertising for hotels. Distributing vouchers is also a great way to build brand awareness, incentivize referrals and increase the appeal of hotel newsletters (see the ADDITIVE article "The Targeted Use of Vouchers in Email Marketing"). Useful tips for selling vouchers online can be found below.
Ensure internet findability
Vouchers must first be found on the Internet, especially on the hotel's own website, in order to be purchased. The longer and more complicated the search, the higher the bounce rate of potential buyers. Therefore, it is worthwhile to make the vouchers well known and thus force the hotel to market the vouchers.
1. SEO - SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION
The website of the voucher store (voucher system or voucher software hotel) can be optimized on the basis of frequently searched keywords in the context of hotel SEO (search engine optimization hotel) to achieve an attractive position on the result pages (SERPs) of Google & Co. The better ranked the voucher shop, the higher it appears and the higher the click rates. In addition, the explicit promotion of certain search terms around the topic of hotel vouchers and hotel voucher marketing with the help of search engine advertising (SEA) directs interested parties to the hotel's voucher store. This is the basis for making the hotel's own vouchers visible on the web. This is primarily aimed at potential buyers who are looking for a hotel gift certificate but do not yet have a specific hotel in mind.
2. BANNER
Users who are already on the hotel's website should find their way around as easily as possible and not have to spend a long time searching for the voucher shop. The best way to do this is to place a banner on the hotel's website that links to the voucher store and/or the voucher app, or directly to a particularly relevant current voucher (e.g. the Mother's Day voucher in May). This form of hotel marketing also allows passive shoppers – those who have not actively searched for the hotel's coupon store – to pick up the hotel's coupons and draw attention to them.
3. BUTTON
Similar to the banner, a button that is prominently displayed on the home page has great potential to lead website visitors directly to the voucher store or online voucher system. Again, users are more likely to make a purchase the faster they find what they are looking for.
4. WEBSITE MENU
Last but not least, the voucher store should be integrated into the menu in a logical and intuitive way. This way, shoppers can find the coupons they need using the classic navigation.
Successful voucher sales
Once users reach the voucher store, successful sales must be encouraged. It is important to make sure that potential buyers know how to navigate and that any questions they have are answered. The necessary information about payment options, included services and validity period should be provided.
Optimized voucher store features include
- Clear and user-friendly:
The fact that the user can intuitively navigate the site, browse through the coupon store and complete the purchase of a coupon independently is the basic requirement that a coupon store must meet. In order to achieve this, it is advisable to conduct regular tests and to review the structure and visual presentation of the store. - Attractive range of coupons:
The right mix of culinary, wellness, value and accommodation vouchers, as well as some exceptional services with high recognition value, will significantly increase the attractiveness of the voucher store. The ADDITIVE whitepaper "Potentials and possibilities in voucher marketing" explains what needs to be considered when creating and designing vouchers. Inspiration for creative voucher ideas can be found in the free white paper "25 voucher ideas for more hotel sales". - Automate processes for voucher processing or management:
For the buyer, this includes selection, personalization, payment processing, and voucher delivery.
In order to achieve the latter and to make the work at the reception desk much easier, it is recommended to connect the voucher store to a voucher app or voucher software hotel such as ADDITIVE+ VOUCHERS. This allows customers to create their own personalized vouchers, print them out and pay for them using standard payment methods. The hotel generates additional revenue without active intervention and always has an overview of the vouchers created and the revenue generated.
