Engagement: What are your guests really looking for?

Do you know what are the preferences of your hotel's potential customers? What factors can influence their decision? How to generate engagement?

Categorías Travel marketing blog

Salvador Galindo

Soy consultor de marketing especializado en tecnología y mercados internacionales. Mi enfoque se basa en ofrecer respuestas originales y estratégicas que se adaptan a las necesidades específicas de cada cliente. Con una profunda comprensión de las dinámicas del marketing global, he ayudado a numerosas empresas a aumentar su presencia y competitividad, ofreciendo resultados tangibles y sostenibles.

As a hotel manager, you may find this question absurd, but the answer is not as simple as it seems. Do you know what are the preferences of your hotel’s potential customers? What factors can influence their decision? How to generate engagement?and so have the rules of the hotel market. There are several factors that can be identified as the cause: globalization and the increasing affluence of travelers, as well as the evolution of technologies. If customers used to value luxury rooms and sophisticated hotels, now their expectations have changed, they are different from what they were a few years ago. So, let’s think about it and answer the question: What are my guests really looking for?

It may sound secondary, but now offering free Wi-Fi access is not just another extra, it has become a necessity. Business travelers, for example, will need to check their e-mail. If your guests are millenials you know they will die if they can’t update their friends on social networks or post their most recent experiences. wifi is now a must-have tool!

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Your guests will also take into account other more material aspects: for example, when you survey people we can see that great importance is given to breakfast. Today it plays a key role in a traveler’s decision making for two reasons. Firstly, because guests always like to enjoy a nice and tasty breakfast to start their day, without having to leave the hotel. So don’t waste any more time and offer them their breakfast! There is no such thing as a free lunch. But be careful with the quality. People are looking to have experiences. And food is part of the experience. Simply put: consumers love the convenience of being able to have their breakfast at the hotel, and they love the experience of a good meal. Now you know what it has to do!

Speaking of experiences, you might have guessed that it’s not just about food. The consumer will experience different emotions, and personalization for example of products and services make them unique and special. Even small changes count. From giving your customers the option to have a pillow they like, because realistically, when they spend a night in your hotel they want the comfort they paid for. For those who have a car, you could also offer them free parking. In addition, you could include power adapters available for your foreign guests; saving them that little hassle. One by one these little things matter.

It can be easily understood that the price of your hotel rooms is also something that travel consumers care about. These users will be looking for the best value for money, obviously. In other words, your potential customers want value. And not only that, but also honesty. This means they want to be sure that they will receive services that correspond to the same value they will pay for.

And speaking of value. Maybe you had thought that publishing valuable content on your website consisted only of uploading good images of facilities and services with their respective descriptions. This is not enough. Your online users are looking for more information to compare and weigh their options. With branded content you can be much more creative, because it involves creating content that is related to your hotel brand, but not directly to your products or services. In other words, this content must provide value, convey emotions, satisfy needs. In short, the new content generated must be able to connect consumers with your brand. Create engagement.

Last but not least, when looking for the hotel in which to stay, consumers will also take into account the benefits and discounts of your loyalty program. In fact, your loyalty plan is one of the most important factors guiding your guests in their decisions. So think about it: do you have a powerful loyalty software for hotels? do you offer loyalty benefits or do you have a loyalty software for hotels? do you offer loyalty benefits?

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How to improve hotel loyalty with the customer database?

1. The main challenge: your hotel needs more direct bookings

A few years ago, hotels relied heavily on OTAs and tour operators to establish an objective occupancy rate and drive guests to hotels. Until then, hotels enjoyed partnerships with travel agencies and tour operators, and guests enjoyed booking package tours.

However, over time, trends have been changing and travelers, now and more than ever, are looking to make their own choices and book all elements of their trips on their own. Travelers are not only ready, but also willing to book a hotel directly on your website, as long as the sales conditions are similar to those of the OTAs and the booking can be made as simple as possible.

For hoteliers, direct bookings bring huge benefits. Among them, saving on commissions, improving online marketing strategy, increasing profitability and having total control over customer communication. With such promises of direct bookings, it is no wonder that more and more hotels are now pushing their marketing efforts towards the goal of increasing the number of direct bookings on the hotel website.

2. Gain a competitive advantage

It is clear that an increase in the rate of direct bookings would be beneficial for your hotel. But how to achieve this goal

In order to compete with OTAs and tour operators, your hotel must have a competitive advantage. There are two ways to have it: offering a cheaper deal, or offering more value and increasing customer loyalty. While it may be difficult for your hotel to compete with OTAs on the basis of price, offering a customized offer and establishing a trusted relationship with customers would be the best way to attract travelers.

The key to adding value to your hotel offer is to know your customer and offer them what they need. Attracting them through the emotional factor is essential, and you must establish a genuine connection with your potential customers, conveying your beliefs so that your guests can relate to them.

When customers observe that a hotel brand really cares about their experience and tries to find the best solution to make their vacation experience unforgettable, it is easier for them to make the decision in favor of booking directly with your hotel.

A common way to add value and personalize communication with your guests is to implement a loyalty program. With a loyalty program implemented in your establishment, you will be able to tailor your messages to the needs of individual customers, understand their preferences and meet their expectations.

customer-database-hotels

3. How can your customer database help?

So, a hotel needs a loyalty program to offer valuable and personalized services to customers, and thus gain a competitive advantage. To shape your loyalty program, you must have a database of your customers with personal information about them. Hoteliers should create a customer database with basic contact information and more elaborate personal information about guests’ preferences and interests.

Acquiring this personal information will give you the ability to tailor your messages to each potential or existing customer, and offer them content, products and services that meet their particular needs. This will undoubtedly surprise them by the degree of personalization and the measures your hotel takes to provide them with the best possible vacation experience. You would be able to establish a lasting relationship with your customers based on trust, thus ensuring the most satisfied customers, who would be happy to promote your hotel brand.

4. 1. The biggest challenge: Your hotel needs more direct bookings

A few years ago, hotels relied heavily on OTAs and tour operators to achieve an objective occupancy rate and bring guests to the hotel. Until then, hotels enjoyed partnerships with travel agents and tour operators, and guests were happy to book package tours.

Over time, however, trends have changed, and now more than ever, travelers want to make their own choices and book all elements of their trip themselves. Travelers are not only ready, but willing, to book a hotel directly on your website as long as the terms of sale are similar to those of OTAs and the booking process can be made as simple as possible.

For hoteliers, direct bookings bring huge benefits. These include saving commissions, improving online marketing strategy, increasing profitability, and full control over customer communications. With such promise of direct bookings, it’s no wonder that more and more hotels are focusing their marketing efforts on the goal of increasing the number of direct bookings on the hotel website.

2. Gain a competitive advantage

It’s clear that increasing the direct booking rate would be beneficial to your hotel. But how do you achieve this goal?

To compete with OTAs and tour operators, your hotel must have a competitive advantage. There are two ways to do this: offer a cheaper deal or offer more value and increase customer loyalty. While it may be difficult for your hotel to compete with OTAs based on price, the best way to attract travelers would be to offer a customized offer and build a trusting relationship with customers.

The key to adding value to your hotel offering is to know your customer and offer them what they need. You need to build a genuine connection with your potential customers and communicate your beliefs in a way that your guests can relate to.

When customers perceive that a hotel brand genuinely cares about their experience and tries to find the best solution to make their vacation memorable, it is easier for them to choose to book directly with your hotel.

A common way to add value and personalize communication with your guests is to implement a loyalty program. With a loyalty program in place at your facility, you can tailor your messages to each customer’s needs, understand their preferences and meet their expectations.

customer-database-hotels

3. How can your customer database help?

So, a hotel needs a loyalty program to provide valuable and personalized services to customers to gain a competitive advantage. To design your loyalty program, you need a customer database with personal information about your customers. Hoteliers should create a customer database with basic contact information and more detailed personal information about guests’ preferences and interests.

Capturing this personal information gives you the ability to tailor your messages to each potential or existing customer and offer them content, products and services that meet their unique needs. The degree of personalization and the actions your hotel takes to offer them the best possible vacation experience will undoubtedly surprise them. You will be able to build a lasting relationship with your customers based on trust, securing the most satisfied customers who will be happy to promote your hotel brand.