There are still many hotel owners that do not perceive digital marketing as a necessity. Rather they consider it a novelty that they can choose to invest in or not. However, considering the recent trends in internet usage and popularity, digital marketing and digital platforms for travelers have changed the entire game. Tourists no longer rely on guides and hotel managers to make arrangements for them. Instead, with just a few clicks here and there on their smartphones, they can get done almost anything — from getting food in a foreign country to booking cars for commuting. Consequently, digital marketing in the hospitality industry is becoming immensely important, and quite beneficial too.

How Hotel Benefit From Digital Marketing?

  • Analytics

The hotel industry is making the most out of analytics. The hospitality arena is about creating a personalized and valuable experience for the guests. With advanced and efficient analytics at their service, hotels can use valuable data to improve their service and target the customer’s specific needs and wants. Moreover, the extensive data gathered by analytics also enable hotels to create well-defined segments amongst their market. They can form a clearer picture of the different types of customers they have, and create a marketing mix accordingly.

Analytic tools such as Google Analytics also provide real-time data that can be used to make instant changes, improvements, and adaptation in your pricing, discounts, offers, and ad marketing strategies. For example, during the festivities of different religions, hotels can offer several different packages such as Christmas discounts, Diwali Discounts, and Ramadan offers. Another huge benefit and use of analytics are in terms of inventory management. Hotels can make accurate and quicker predictions about their supplies by having detailed data about the usage trends and patterns.

  • Location Services

Unlike traditional methods, where the hotel’s address is the only information the customers can access, AI-based location features are a lot more useful. Hotels add an integrated Google map of their location on the website for the guests to follow. Moreover, they also give internal hotel maps to the guests that are useful in a hotel tour or navigating the surroundings.

  • Chatbots and Customer Service

One major tool used in the industry is chatbots as a replacement for real human sales representatives. These are highly intelligent and efficient AI-based tools for all online businesses, and now hotels are using them on their websites and mobile apps.

Chatbots cater to a customer’s questions and queries, such as checking the availability of hotel rooms, pricing, location, and booking details 24/7. As a result, hotels will have to bear fewer labor costs while delivering efficient customer service. Consequently, building an impressive reputation for being highly responsive and helpful to their customers.

  • Reviews and Ratings

People from all around the world will be checking the hotel’s details. They will have their doubts and trust issues with the hotel when online searches are the only source they have for the information. Therefore, hotels take great advantage of customer reviews and ratings to the general public. Potential customers use these ratings to compare the hotel with other alternatives they have. It increases the hotel’s credibility and the customers know what they can expect from the service.

Moreover, the reviews are also very important for the business, as it can help them make improvements and enhancements to their services. They can also do better damage control by responding to and compensating customers who are leaving behind poor reviews and ratings.

Best Digital Marketing Strategies For Hospitality Industry

With cheap internet services becoming readily available, people are depending more and more on digital means of communications. They have started to make travel arrangements online only, considering the expediency it offers. So, if you are working in the hospitality industry, make sure to implement the following strategies in your digital marketing efforts to see notably profitable results.

  • Email Marketing

E-mails are often mistaken as something only used for business communication purposes. Well, this is not the case these days with digital marketing pacing up. You must have come across websites asking for your email address so you can subscribe to their newsletter and get e-mail updates.

Hotels can use the same strategy to keep their customers engaged with their hotel’s activities. E-mail marketing allows businesses to send personalized messages to their customers, such as sending customized messages for birthdays and offering special discounts based on the user’s past behaviors. E-mails can be used to inform customers about your discounts, events, seasonal offers, and new products/services. There are several e-mail marketing tools that you can use.

  • Influencers

Gone are the days for celebrity endorsement as a way of effective marketing strategy. Today, influencer marketing is the trend and the most effective way to get more traffic on your website and have a higher lead conversion rate. Social media influencers have gained a lot of following and credibility, due to their relatable and natural content that is more understandable by the common people. Compared to celebrity endorsements, the audience is fully aware that the celebrity is paid for singing praises about your hotel. And probably got a really huge sum of money for saying just two lines. Influencers are regular people with more time and energy on their hands, which they use to leave behind detailed reviews and personal opinions about your product/service. You can host influencer get-togethers at your hotel, send PR packages in the form of room bookings and discount codes too!

  • Your Own Website

Before having your own website, please make sure you have your hotel listed on Google. This way, when people search for hotels in your specific area/location, your hotel name will have better chances of coming up. The next important step will be to have your own website. Rather than depending on third-party booking apps, build your own personalized website where customers can find all answers in one place.

Some key features you must add to your website include:

  • Several pictures of your hotel rooms and amenities
  • Voice search
  • Booking status and details
  • Chatbots
  • Mobile version/optimized websites
  • Review, rating, and/or FAQ section
  • Location
  • Schedule for upcoming events
  • Social media links
  • Highlights of services and products you offer
  • Virtual hotel tour (videos or 3D images)

Wrapping It Up

Now that you have taken a look at the benefits of digital marketing for hotels, it is time to make some changes in your conventional marketing methods and get a step up in the game. Employing advanced techs such as VR, voice search and AI-run features like chatbots can make things a lot easier for you and your customers.

 

Baldwin Jackson is a successful digital marketer with expertise in search engine optimization and content marketing. The perfect balance of his analytical ability and creative thinking is what sets him apart from other practitioners in the digital marketing realm. He has helped a lot of small and medium-sized businesses in crafting their digital marketing strategies that are not only cost-effective but delivers results as well.

Baldwin is also a proud father of two kids and a Sports enthusiast. When he is not working, you will find him watching ESPN and NFL network. He has been able to get an amazing package on his favorite channels from Buytvinternetphone.com.