The Millennial traveller is not just looking for a comfortable hotel but wants a complete experience. They want their stay at the hotel to be memorable, put up exclusive pictures on their social feeds, indulge in local cuisine and have a unique experience.
So how can hotels lure these customers to their property? How to entice customers with the promise of a memorable experience?
It’s actually not that hard but just requires a little extra effort. Hotels needs to use various mediums to ensure that they not just advertise the property but also highlight information about the city and the various activities that take place locally. This should be regularly updated. A potential customer needs to look no further than the hotels website to have information about the property, the city and local activities.
Here are 5 ways which can help you:
Pictures do speak a 1000 words: Ensure that your website and social pages have high quality pictures and videos that capture unique aspects and features of the property as well as the city. The pictures should not just be basic pictures depicting a room, bathroom or swimming pool, but create an angle or story around them. Ensure that the pictures are taken professionally because this is the first impression that a potential guest has of your property.
360 degree tours or virtual tours are also the hottest craze. Guests love the ability to see a complete view of a property they are researching to stay at, it gives them the security of having a feel of the place before even going there.
Be Smartphone friendly: With 2.16 billion mobile users across the globe, it’s no surprises that most online bookings are now done via a Smartphone. Hotels should ensure that their websites are mobile friendly and are easy to navigate. The website should cover ample information about the property as well as the destination.
An added bonus is, if the property has their own app which a customer can download. Many hotels now have a mobile app which provides local information to their guests so all required information is there at the tips of their fingers.
Create an online rapport with the guest: Hotels should ensure that they interact with their potential guests via their various social medias. Look at Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, websites etc as a two way communication with the guests. Ensure that all queries, concerns, feedback are promptly responded to. This shall create the extra personal touch encouraging the guest to choose that particular property. They would feel comforted with the idea that the hotel does ‘listen’ and would take care of them.
Content Management: Instead of advertisements, hotels should use blogs, and trip reviews’ as a way to highlight a facet of the hotel and city. Well managed content management are very effective and extremely cost effective.
Hotels can use content management to deliver valuable information to their clients and thus get rewarded with their business and guest loyalty. Ensure that the blogs and reviews are available on various social mediums which thereby drives traffic to the hotel’s website.
Tie up with local vendors for special experiences: Hotels should be the one point contact for anything potential guests plan to do locally during their stay. Hotels can offer various local experiences on their websites ranging from city tours, local dining, adventure sports etc. If the hotel can offer most of the things that a guest is looking for, then they don’t need to shop around for other properties.
By using the above cost effective mentioned tips, hotels can motivate potential guests to choose their property and thus increase their RevPar.
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