If you are a hotel marketing executive, you are putting the finishing touches on your 2019 marketing plan for your hotel or hospitality organization.

Today, more than ever before, we have access to information marketing professionals could have only dreamed of even a decade ago and most of that is thanks to social media. Keeping this in mind, there are several ways you can improve your marketing efforts while at the same time improving the overall guest experience.

Simplify the Booking Process

For many hotels, the source of online bookings is sites such as Trivago, Hotels.com, and Orbitz.com. The reason for this is these sites have perfected the booking process to make it as easy as possible. Landing pages are packed with information about the room, various rates, and amenities. Go to the “typical” hotel website and it is an exercise in futility. You have to click through several pages and even then, you may still have to do some searching in order to actually book the room.

When it comes to bookings, simplicity is the best solution. The more difficult it is to book a room, the less likely a guest is to come back to the website. At that point, you are leaving it up to fate that your listing will show up at the top of these other sites to secure bookings. Add in the fact you are paying out commissions to secure these bookings, and the bottom line starts to take a massive hit it need not take.

Integration between social media profiles and website (including your mobile app) should be seamless. If you manage to grab a potential guest’s attention with a social media post, you don’t want to lose them because the mobile experience is both difficult and clumsy. Remember, simplification is the key and it will improve the hotel’s chances of creating more direct bookings.

Understanding the Wants and Needs of Your Target Audience

Last week, one of the topics we discussed was email marketing and how to segment your audience to ensure they are receiving the best possible deals for very specific guests. This is going to take considerable effort on the part of your marketing team, but you will see an increase in open rates, click-throughs, and of course, bookings. Take the time to know and understand your target audience so you can create marketing campaigns that will appeal to every segment you serve.

Personal Attention

There is nothing more impressive than a guest receiving a personal touch from the hotel manager that only pertains to them. This could be something as simple as a bottle of champagne and chocolates for a couple celebrating their anniversary at your property. You can also tailor your offers to guests in the same manner. Offer birthday discounts to travelers or an offer in the restaurant to celebrate their big day. These offers can be created with the data gathered directly from guests as well as actually researching your VIP guests on social media.

Social media can play an additional role when it comes to building brand awareness and reaching a bigger audience. When a guest is in the hotel celebrating a big event, make them (with their permission) part of your social media postings. These guests and their friends are far more likely to share a post that includes them, thereby helping you to build brand awareness across their network. Even a few posts such as this every week can introduce thousands of potential guests to both the brand and your specific property.

The bottom line here is that you want to create experiences that generate excitement from potential guests as well as integrating current guests into the marketing of the property. Give them a reason to book directly. Give them a reason to tell people about your property. Give them a reason to share a social media post created by your property. Do that, and those booking rates are sure to climb!

Is your marketing team missing the mark when it comes to integrating marketing efforts with the overall guest experience? If you are looking for executive level managers for your hotel or hospitality organization, it’s time to call Joseph David International. JDI is ranked as one of the top hotel recruiters in the country because we don’t just plug holes, we find the ideal candidate for your specific needs.

For more information about our hotel recruiting services, click here.