The upcoming year of 2022 will be an exciting one for hotel marketing. With the rise of millennials and their love for digital technology, it is no surprise that the world of hotel marketing is changing. These consumers are very clued in and have a keen eye for hotel reviews. They also turn to blogs, websites, and influencers to find the perfect place to stay. As such, hotel marketing will need to focus on the digital space.
Video-focused marketing
Video is becoming more important for hotel marketing, and it will continue to be a key component of a hotel’s marketing strategy into the future. Video is easy to consume and share, and it’s a highly engaging medium. Currently, there are six billion hours of video watched on YouTube each month. Whether it’s a promotional video or a promotional tour of a hotel, video helps hotels tell more about their brand and appeal to potential guests.
While it’s not as easy as just throwing together a bunch of images and a background track and launching a video campaign, video-focused hotel marketing can be a powerful tool for attracting new guests, driving site traffic, and telling a hotel’s story.
Hyper-personalised advertising
Hyper-personalised advertising is a new marketing strategy for hoteliers. The potential to create highly targeted ads for each individual guest is huge, as hoteliers can easily target advertisements to individual guests based on their preferences. This type of advertising is also cost-effective, as hotels don’t have to hire expensive marketers or employ highly trained staff to create ads.
The hotel industry is currently using artificial intelligence to help improve the customer experience. For example, hotels can use chatbots to deliver relevant content and offer recommendations based on customer preferences. This is a great example of hyper-personalised content. With chatbots, the hotel can offer a personalised experience even before the customer makes a booking.
Mobile-friendly design
Whether you’re trying to increase your hotel bookings, or simply want to boost your online presence, mobile-friendly design is the way to go. The majority of US internet users will access the web on their mobile devices by 2022. That means that if you’re not creating mobile-friendly content, you risk losing travellers who prefer more technologically advanced brands. Fortunately, there are many easy ways to incorporate mobile-friendly design into your hotel marketing strategy.
First, you must create a mobile-friendly website and app. These sites should include digital check-in, easy and convenient reservations, and access to digital services. These apps should also allow for contactless event check-in and onsite attendee management. By making your website and app mobile-friendly, you’ll see a big increase in bookings and revenue.
AI-powered chatbots
Investing in AI-powered chatbots for hotel marketing will enable hoteliers to increase direct bookings. These chatbots can be deployed on instant messaging platforms and social media to provide quick responses to queries. They can also provide links to booking systems. Using machine learning, they can adapt to different contexts and improve their quality of service.
Hotels that have AI-powered chatbots can improve their customer experience by providing personalised recommendations. They can answer queries before, during, and after the booking process and can also suggest activities in the local area. Using these chatbots can improve hotel efficiency, revenue, and guest satisfaction.
Word-of-mouth marketing
Word-of-mouth marketing is a powerful tool for hoteliers to spread positive word-of-mouth about their properties. Today’s travellers value other travelers’ opinions and often leave reviews online. To leverage the power of word-of-mouth, hotels should ask their guests to post positive testimonials on their websites and on sites like TripAdvisor.
The first step in word-of-mouth marketing is to create a high-quality hotel website. The design of the site must be appealing to mobile users. Another step is to send emails to hotel customers. Although you might think that no one reads email marketing, 49% of people want to receive communication from their favourite brands. Using this channel, you can share information about updated hotel facilities, special offers, and events. The best time to send an email is before arrival, when customers are most likely to read it.
Another step is to focus on other forms of word-of-mouth, such as informational WOM and discussions about the brand name. It is important to identify the key messages that consumers are looking for, and create an easy-to-remember association between your brand and them.