With an ever-increasing number of lodging options, it has become essential for hoteliers to have an online presence in order to stand out from Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) and, more importantly, to capitalize on their own brand.
In addition to their online presence, hoteliers must be able to communicate directly and simply with their customers. This is not only convenient for the hotelier, but it is also part of travelers' habits. Did you know that on average we spend 3 hours and 22 minutes per day on the internet via our smartphones?
PRE-STAY: How to attract new travelers?
With over 18,000 hotels in France, including around 4,000 in the Paris region, it can be difficult for travelers to make a choice. While some may prioritize location or price, more and more customers will take the time to compare the customer experience or service quality. That's why it's important for hoteliers to have an online presence and to know how to sell themselves!
When looking to promote their establishment, hoteliers must keep in mind:
- Their hotel's target audience: Indeed, a hotel will not address families looking for leisure vacations in the same way as young couples seeking stylish accommodations to enhance their Instagram or MICE clients in search of establishments to host their next conference.
- Marketing budget: Implementing digital communication strategies involves a certain financial cost as well as human resources. There are many strategies, each with a different cost, so start by testing with small budgets and then study your ROI (return on investment).
1. The first essential tool: Google My Business
This is provided that you regularly update your business information and provide accurate information (opening hours, contact, photos, etc.).
It's a great way to increase visibility without costing anything and to attract more qualified prospects.
Google Hotel Center is also an interesting tool for hoteliers.
It allows you to increase your visibility through Google Hotel Ads and offer only available room bookings.
To do this, you need to link your Google Ads advertising account and provide your complete inventory availability and occupancy rate
2. Driving traffic to your site: how?
One of the most effective storefronts for attracting new customers is, of course, your website. Many hoteliers who are not naturally "connected" do not realize the crucial role this tool can play today.
In addition to presenting your hotel's universe to travelers, your website should be seen as a sales tool. The idea is to maximize direct bookings in the face of OTAs to increase profitability (keeping in mind that even the largest hotel brands struggle to reach 20% of direct bookings).
The difficulty in competing with OTAs lies in the visibility of your website in Google search results. Often when searching for a hotel by name, it's these results www.OTA.com/YOURNAME that appear first. Adopting a Search Engine Advertising (SEA) strategy, i.e., using advertising links in search engines, can then be essential but above all profitable.
You may not know this, but when a user enters a query in a search engine, the first link that appears is a sponsored link, in other words, a textual advertising announcement. Today, 52% of users click on a sponsored campaign to choose their hotel, and often the spots are already taken by OTAs.
However, if the name you want to purchase is in your domain name, the price of your bid will be about 10 times lower for you than for other players.
In addition to defining bids on their name, hoteliers can generate results on more popular keywords such as their hotel type or location, for example, "hotel in Paris," "family hotel stay," "business hotel," etc.
The SEA strategy is the best short-term way to generate qualified traffic to your site.
Finally, don't forget to think about mobile to attract potential customers. First, over half of searches are now done on mobile! In addition, geolocated mobile ads capture a very interesting last-minute target. Indeed, who has never searched for the best hotel nearby upon arriving at the station? In this case, display ads are more suitable for promoting available rooms or promotions.
To go further and succeed in appearing in the first results of organic search, i.e., those that are not sponsored, hoteliers will need a more significant budget and, above all, time. Indeed, optimizing your site through Search Engine Optimization (SEO) techniques is a long-term job but complementary to SEA. We recommend that you contact specialized agencies if you lack the skills. However, a tip to get started with simple means at your disposal and satisfy algorithms is to keep your blog up to date and add news regularly.
3. Do you need to be on social media?
While all of these techniques will attract potential customers, it is useless to expect results if the establishment has not previously worked on its reputation, especially on social media.A true revolution in digital marketing in recent years, it is now mandatory to have accounts but also to post regularly.
Social networks reflect the image of your brand, give a taste of the experience you can provide them and inform your customers of your news and promotions.
An establishment will need to:
- define an editorial strategy upstream,
- be clear in its messages,
- and enhance its publications with authentic photographs or videos.
This will thus give consistency to its brand but above all improve its e-reputation, a real challenge for hoteliers.
In addition, a hotel will need to choose the right networks. For example, it may prioritize Facebook if its clientele represents primarily leisure and family targets, or Instagram if it is a younger clientele.
IN-STAY: How to offer an unforgettable customer experience through digital means?
In the hospitality industry, digital transition has played a leading role and has disrupted the customer experience. Today, it is difficult for a traveler to visit a traditional hotel without a digital experience. Indeed, they will be looking for an innovative approach during their stay.1. Freeing up administrative tasks to focus on customer dialogue
Many digital solutions are available to hotels to help them manage administrative tasks such as check-in, check-out, and communication with reception
By using solutions like Bowo, employees can save time on their daily tasks, which were previously very time-consuming, and focus on customer dialogue instead
Hoteliers can take advantage of this time savings by involving their employees more, for example, to enhance their brand image or e-reputation.
Indeed, who better than the staff to capture spontaneous moments of life taking place within the hotel?
In addition to developing the brand image and creating content on social networks, this will involve employees who will have more time to interact with customers and more responsibilities, feeling confident in their workplace. Key factors to strengthen their teams and avoid turnover in their hotel.
Digital communication has mainly allowed for the emergence of a new customer journey. During their stay, everything is organized to streamline the visitor's experience.
Thanks to a solution like Bowo, as soon as the customer walks through the doors of their hotel and their room, they will have continuous access to a digital support (accessible via smartphone, tablet, TV screen) that will allow them to easily communicate with the reception. A time-saving solution for both the customer and the staff.
They will be able to access hotel information (service schedules, contacts...) and will have access to a digital Room Directory. No more need to go down to the reception to ask a question.
In addition to having access to internal hotel information, guests will find information and advice on the surroundings (city guide, activities and leisure, restaurants...). Ideal for showcasing partners.
After getting informed, the guest can communicate with hotel staff in seconds.
And this, even before being settled, because thanks to the pre-stay SMS sending protocol, he can communicate his arrival time to you.
The hotelier will also be able to send push notifications to maintain contact.
Through the chat, the customer can directly address the reception for all kinds of requests or services. Breakfast in the room, ordering taxis to get around, in just a few seconds, they will be served and satisfied.
Finally, check-in and check-out will be done automatically thanks to digital technology. No more forms to fill out, which will also save paper.
2.Digital solutions for generating additional sales
With a solution like Bowo, a hotelier can easily generate additional sales with their customers.
They can promote their room service during meal times, as well as their other services.
For example, if your SPA is empty, you can send a push notification to let your customer know that a relaxing massage is available during the next hour! Or encourage them to book their dinner at the restaurant in your establishment.
At a time when the health crisis is intensifying, it is essential for hoteliers to adapt and reinvent themselves.
With a marketplace like Bowo, a hotel can easily select partners and offer external services to the establishment: video on demand service, press edition to offer their clients' favorite newspapers and magazines, an external laundry service if the establishment does not have one, or even partnerships with hairdressers or barbers…
Customers will no longer even feel like they are at a hotel, but at home. Indeed, Bowo allows them to connect directly to their personal Netflix, Spotify, or Deliveroo accounts so they don't lose track of their series, for example. Thus, even within your establishment, each of your customers will have a different experience during their stay.
3. Managing your e-reputation by generating positive reviews
At the end of the stay, take advantage of the opportunity to get the customer's attention and gather their feedback.
This is a real advantage to improve your e-reputation, particularly on OTAs like TripAdvisor, which place reviews at the center of their activity.
POST-STAY: How to retain customers and turn them into ambassadors?
In the ideal case, with all these strategies in place, the customer should finish their stay being impressed. Impressed by the place, the services, but also by their entire customer experience.
They will remember a positive experience of their stay and will be more likely to return. The most loyal customers are the best assets for a hotel, as in addition to coming back, they are also likely to recommend the place to their loved ones and become ambassadors for its reputation.
For a customer to repeat their experience in a hotel, digital communication is essential.
They should be able to follow the hotel's news and hear about it. Indeed, if nothing is done to encourage them to come back, they are likely to want to discover new places, and you may risk losing them.
1. Loyalty: more than just a good idea, a MUST!
A first strategy, for example, is to offer a loyalty program.
Unfortunately, many hoteliers do not take the time to implement such strategies. However, according to Harvard Business Review, the cost of acquiring a new customer is 5 to 25 times more expensive than bringing back an existing customer! In addition, satisfied and loyal customers will be willing to pay more for a night in their favorite hotel than to try out new establishments.
If a customer can enjoy a membership card or access to premium services, they will feel privileged and may even help the hotelier by giving advice or identifying points for improvement in terms of customer experience. Promote your loyalty programs via your social networks or ask your receptionists to promote them to a customer leaving the establishment.
2. Marketing automation, or the art of automating while personalizing.
Sending automated emails greatly enhances the customer experience.Thus, the hotel delivers only relevant content by focusing on the essentials and targeting the traveler throughout their journey. So how does it work?
Marketing automation combines customer data from various sources: a website (individuals who have filled out a contact form), a CRM (individuals who have stayed at the establishment), social networks (followers)...
It's important to note that the more qualified the hotel's databases are, the greater the relevance of the emails will be. Sending an email like "Come back for your next conference" is pointless if the target audience is families who stayed during school holidays.
Once the customer has left the establishment, for example, you can send them emails such as:
- Day 2: "Thank you for staying with us,"
- Then on Day 15: "Book your next night with us now with a 15% discount."
As we mentioned, it is crucial to qualify your databases.
In a CRM, it is essential to use segmentation criteria by type of clientele: families, MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions), young couples, seniors... but also by criteria corresponding to the maturity in the customer journey, such as:
People who have already stayed at the establishment
Loyal customers
Newsletter subscribers
Bloggers
VIP clientele
The ideal frequency for sending newsletters is at least once per month.
For the content, create sections such as news, room presentations, amenities or services, promotional offers, team introductions...
The advantage of having segmented your lists is being able to send targeted emails to different categories of clientele. For example, as Valentine's Day approaches, you can offer promotions to your young couple clientele. For the MICE clientele, highlight your proximity to convention centers (in Paris, for example, just being on a direct line to Porte de Versailles or close to a RER B station going to the Parc des Expositions de Villepinte).
3. Influencers as communication and sales partners.
Loyal customers will become ambassadors and may even become influencers. Influencer marketing is at the heart of all trends today. Hoteliers can especially use this target of bloggers/influencers to promote their establishment.On Instagram, it is not uncommon to see popular individuals offer contests to their followers to win a night in an establishment.
Of course, you must remain in control of this influencer relationship: select influencers who closely resemble your clientele, establish your conditions, ensure they adhere to them... if they have a good reputation to begin with, they wouldn't want to receive negative feedback from you.
Above all, consider this as a business relationship and thus, draft a contract to be signed by your communication partners. You can even affiliate them by offering a commission on sales.
Conclusion
Thus, whether it's in pre-stay to attract prospects, in-stay by offering unique and personalized stay experiences for each guest (thanks to a digital solution like Bowo), or finally in post-stay by turning clients into ambassadors, digital has disrupted the codes of the hotel industry.
Today, it is essential for hoteliers to implement strategies to exist online and especially to stand out against OTAs (Online Travel Agencies) that secure numerous reservations..
So, to your smartphones, tablets, computers!
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