Hotels that understand digital marketing will use the digital guest journey to capture the high-paying guests. The pandemic has accelerated digitalization, so traditional hotel marketing does not work any longer.
The recovery is here. Many hotels outside the large cities have already reached higher revenue this summer than the summer of 2019. There has not been much opportunity to use much money during lockdowns, so the leisure travels have a lot of money to spend on rooms, food & beverage and activities. Hotels can even capture more revenue during the rest of the year if they have a great commercial activity plan for the fall and beyond.
3 actions to capture more guests
There are three vital areas where you have to build superior knowledge to beat your competition.
Build a strong brand and concept
The starting point is always the local hotel brand which includes the concept, target audience, and the guest opinion. Many hotels took the opportunity to upgrade their facilities during the pandemic to provide a better guest experience during the recovery. Hotels also added touchless guest technology to provide a safer and more streamlined experience. An upgraded hotel seems perfect, but it won't be easy to create marketing campaigns that bring in business for a reasonable cost if you still do not clearly understand your brand.
Focus on the right target group for your hotel
First, find a target group that likes your type of hotel. Then, learn as much as you can about their needs and wishes so that you can craft attractive offerings. Remember, all leisure travelers are looking for value - not the lowest price. After over a year at home, no one wants to risk not having a fantastic experience. People understand that high quality is more expensive than low quality, so protect your brand instead of lowering your rate.
Become an expert in digital marketing
The pandemic has accelerated digitalization by ten years. Before the pandemic, hotels could reach potential guests with traditional marketing. That era is over. It is like using a fax machine instead of email. Today, the only way to get potential guests is through digital marketing and channels. Travel-tech consultant and strategist Max Starkov has written an excellent article about the digital customer journey. You find a link next to this blog post.
Google originally defined the five phases of the customer journey as dreaming, planning, booking, experiencing, and sharing. Digital marketing starts by engaging the guest, then capturing or acquiring the guest, and finally making sure that the experience is so good that the guest would like to return. There are many opportunities to influence the guest's choices and ultimately capture the guest for a lifetime. The article by Max Starkov has valuable ready-to-use information and ideas.
Create a Commercial Team
Digital marketing is one part of the future commercial team in hotels. To capture all and the right potential guests, hotels also need extensive knowledge in sales and revenue. There are five major building blocks to create a high-performance commercial team. Download the white paper to learn more about how to re-energize your team.
