It’s important that your hotel finish out the year strong, and that means you need to step up your marketing game. Last week, we took a look at some of the most important and timely methods for boosting online marketing and conversion rates, but that was only half the story. Read on for more awesome tips in the conclusion to this two-part series.
Create Unique Videos
Video is taking over everything! Auto-play clips show up just about everywhere you turn your head, from Facebook to Instagram. Meanwhile, sites like YouTube are continuing to grow and thrive through this type of media. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to connect with your customers in this fashion. Videos are a great way to show off the many perks of your hotel, demonstrate how to use certain hotel features and technologies like VoIP voicemail and spending limit setup, and highlight cool events going on in your area.
Stay In the Moment
Everything is pretty immediate these days. When something happens, you can count on the fact that someone else has sent out a live tweet about it, or that someone else has recorded every moment on their smartphone or tablet. People who are interested in traveling to your hotel want to know what’s going on in the area and what’s going on with your facility right now. Take advantage of this by using Facebook Live to show off the cool daily activities as they happen at your hotel, or step outside and broadcast the weather with Periscope. Guests can even comment or ask questions in real-time, allowing you to have live conversations and improve your future guests' perceptions of your customer service offerings.
Enjoy Customer-Led Marketing
One of the biggest changes that’s come to the world of marketing in 2016 is that businesses can actually count on their own customers to do a good share of marketing and promotion for them. Whether traveling for family, business, or just for the fun of it, people love to snap photos of where they are and share them with the world. Smart hotels are taking advantage of this trend by setting up fun, unique “selfie stations” or photo booths, complete with props and cool visuals in order to inspire guests to take and share photos that will prominently display the hotel’s name and/or a unique hotel hashtag for all the world to see.
Accept New Payment Methods
Technology is changing the way that people like to pay for goods and services, and it’s important to be flexible so that you don’t lose out on any business opportunities. Beyond the traditional options, such as entering in their Visa, AmEx, or even PayPal account information, hotels need to be ready and willing to accommodate transactions through Google or Apple Wallet, and should also take cues from companies like Stripe, who are pushing towards fingerprint payments and mobile payment.
Create Personal Email Offers
Did you know that people are 12 percent more likely to respond to personalized emails and will act twice as quickly on an offer when their name is included in the marketing content? Personal touches really do go a long way in boosting business.
Round Things Out with Solid Landing Pages
Once your customers have taken action on your offers, you want to be sure that they’re being sent to a simple, direct, and mobile-friendly landing page that will take you all the way home.
The end of the year is not the time to become lax or complacent with your marketing efforts; it’s the time to step up your game. Interested in learning more about how to fill up your hotel through the remainder of 2016 and into 2017? Give the experts at PhoneSuite a call today.
