As a hotelier, it may be easy to lose sleep at night wondering if your business strategy is doing enough to generate revenue long-term. After all, the accommodation industry is more competitive and complex than ever and juggling multiple distribution channels to reach your ideal audience can feel tricky.
Add to this a fluctuation in travel patterns and preferences, and the rise of social media as a major source of travel inspiration, and hoteliers have a lot to consider.
Building an effective sales strategy needs to account for the above factors, but once in place, hoteliers will be set up for success. For me, there are five key ways to increase bookings across all phases of the traveler journey.
1. Let data guide your decision making
When it comes to driving profitable demand, data is power. Understanding your market is critical to making informed decisions about revenue and operational strategies. Without comprehensive, forward-looking business intelligence data, demand fluctuations may appear random—and leave you feeling like you’re making decisions in the dark.
Having a detailed picture of what’s happening in your market will help you better understand traveler interest, identify spikes in demand, competitively price rooms, and increase bookings. For example, if there’s a business conference or major festival coming to town, use data to learn what’s happening with your competitive set and adjust your strategy accordingly to differentiate your offer and boost sales.
2. Develop marketing campaigns that resonate with new and existing audiences
With data in hand, you can begin to develop precise digital marketing campaigns that speak to the right audiences, at the right time, and on the right channels.
For instance, our latest Travel Dreams research found that 38 percent of German travelers are most likely to be influenced by online travel agents when booking a trip. Therefore, if you know that there are lots of German travelers looking at your market, you may opt to launch promotional pricing or packages on OTA sites.
By comparison, 28 percent of French travelers say they seek advice from in person travel agents and 62 percent are highly motivated by pictures of local attractions and stunning scenery. Therefore, developing visual marketing campaigns full of inspirational photography within global distribution systems, and on the hotel website would be critical-ly important to attract this audience.
To maximize the success of these campaigns, develop specific content that aligns with the various booking stages, whether to spark inspiration or convert lookers into bookers.
3. Provide a personalized and efficient booking experience
To further stand out from the competition, showcase personalized offers and feature-based selling within the booking experience to highlight what your hotel can offer beyond the standard amenities. This not only allows you to monetize your best features but allows guests to enhance and customize their stay based on what’s important to them—whether it’s a premium view, spa package, or access to local attractions.
Showcasing that you can anticipate and cater to guests’ needs, whether they’re traveling for business or leisure, is a fantastic way to impress them. For instance, for large families, consider offering pre-paid airport transfers or discounts on larger suites. For business travelers, consider offering self-service technology, room service, or a snack bar to make their trip more comfortable and efficient.
With 63 percent of travelers saying they would pay more for specific hotel features, personalization has a central role to play in your sales and revenue strategies.
An element that can’t be overlooked here is the booking experience itself. Direct bookings provide additional branded touch points and prevent any revenue leakage to third parties. However, direct bookings can be easy to get wrong if the technology you’re using is outdated. Too many screens with multiple steps can result in cart abandonment. To prevent this, ensure your hotel has a streamlined, modern e-commerce experience. Clearly signpost offers, integrate loyalty program options, and simplify steps to ensure a fast, smooth booking flow.
4. Regularly host meetings and events
Group business is not only a key source of revenue for hotels but a great way to fill rooms during slow periods. Sales and catering technology can help you do everything from prospecting leads, to planning and executing an event down to the smallest de-tail.
Many solutions exist to enhance the group sales process as well. Hotels can automate responses to requests for proposal to close deals faster, introduce digital signatures and expose available meeting space online to capture direct bookings.
Don’t forget, these hotel guests, whether it’s a corporate or leisure event that brings them in, have the potential to become loyalty customers so get to know them! And as ‘blended travel’ becomes more popular (a mix between business and leisure), it’s worth highlighting your proximity to local attractions to entice them to stay a few extra nights.
5. Nurture guest relationships to keep them coming back
Hospitality shouldn’t feel transactional, but an opportunity to make a human connection and provide a comfortable and pleasant stay. This lays the foundation for differentiating your offer to earn guest loyalty.
Once travelers leave your property, the question becomes, how can you win them back? It’s important to remain connected with them, so start by sending a feedback survey to understand what they liked, what they didn’t, and what’s important to them.
A guest management solution can help you automate the process and reach out to guests on their preferred channel, such as email. The information you’ve gathered can be combined with data from their booking, enabling you to reach out with personalized promotions—like offering an early check-in or a birthday discount as ways to entice a return visit.
A strong hotel sales strategy doesn’t just depend on one method of outreach or one audience. It requires a multi-layered approach with data at the core of your decision making. This will help you design marketing campaigns with a strong return on investment, and deliver personalized, positive experiences to impress guests and keep them coming back.
Jill Boegel is head of sales, North America, hospitality, Amadeus