The hospitality sector is considered dynamic with new industry trends mushrooming up every day.
It goes without saying that the last one year has been tough on marketers in the hospitality industry. The unprecedented times experienced globally accelerated hospitality marketing trends forcing marketers to adjust their strategies.
Marketers have been forced to rethink how they communicate to their potential customers whose needs have changed over a short period.
Below are a few noteworthy marketing tips for players in the hospitality industry.
1. Invest in Millennials
The travel disruption has made Boomers reluctant to travel. This is because older people are at a higher risk of contracting the virus. This is an opportunity for marketers to come up with new ideas targeting millennials who ar more likely to travel. To win the heart of millennials, marketers can invest in loyalty programs such as providing discounts, airline miles e.t.c, so as to encourage them to keep plugging in. It’s also important to ensure millennials relate with your brand by offering packages they connect with.
2. Personalized Communication
Gone are the days when guests were being generalized as customers. In today’s world customers want to be treated as human beings. Tools such as Mailchimp and Zoho, can help you send automated personalized emails thus adding that much-desired personal touch to the communication. Marketers can also use insight data to create a customized offer based on clients’ past buying habits.
3. Target Domestic Tourism
With the uncertainty surrounding the travel industry, foreign tourism might take long to fully pick up. . For instance, lockdowns and travel restrictions in the region make it hard for tourists to visit East African countries. Marketers should pay attention to local tourists and help them build a strong traveling culture. Marketers should consider creating special offers for domestic tourists that will entice them to their hotels.
4. Optimize Content for Mobile
The number of people using their mobile devices to search for their travel destinations and make reservations has been on the rise. Marketers should seize this opportunity by optimizing their content for mobile. Optimizing content for mobile devices enables customers to easily read through your work without the hustle of scrolling up and down.
5. Leverage The Use Of Videos
YouTube has over one billion users making it a great platform to share videos for various hotel experiences. Videos give the audience a more personalized feel leaving them yearning to visit your hotel. Marketers should make sure that they produce high-quality videos that are shared on both digital and traditional platforms.
6. Experiential Marketing
As a hotel, you sell an experience. Regardless of the reason why your client is traveling, be it business or leisure, the goal is to make the experience more memorable. Everything from the booking process, traveling, checking in, and checking out are all part of the experience. You should strive to make the experience easy and simple throughout customers’ entire stay.
