Today, we’re looking at the experts’ forecast trends for hotel marketing in 2016, and best practices to help you ride those trends.
We’re going to look at one big source of revenue loss for you – booking abandonments – and go through a solution to help give you a second chance. After that, take a look at some of the most innovative travel companies’ solutions for guest experiences in 2016, and how top hotels build long term relationships with their guests. Then, peer into the crystal ball for revenue management to find out what’s coming next.
Lastly, take a look at Net Affinity’s own hotel marketing predictions for 2016, built by our digital marketing experts and put into one infographic for hotel marketers everywhere.
Hotels Squander Millions by Ignoring Their Best Prospects
Every day, hotels ignore millions of relevant consumers at the very edge of converting to real revenue: potential guests who have already visited their websites and searched the booking engine for their travel dates.
There is a massive opportunity to regain those lost visitors and reservations. After all, it’s always easier to win business from a previous visitor who has already made it halfway to purchase, rather than from a traveler who has never heard of you before. Hotels investing in reservation recovery technology are transforming abandoned reservations into big revenue opportunities.
How Travel Companies are Improving Guest Experiences in 2016
Even with powerful technological tools like online marketing, email blasts, and high tech rental portals, improving customer experience is now seen as one of the most important hotel marketing tools at a travel company’s disposal. Fortunately, new technology has made this endeavor easier than ever. Utilizing a variety of different software, apps, and automated scripts, travel companies everywhere are taking the high-tech route to making their guests’ stays more enjoyable and more memorable.
From automated pre-stay emails to apps, Inc looks into the future of technology for hotels.
Holiday Guests Build Long Term Relationships
Loyalty is the lifeblood of a successful hotel. But how do you gain the long term loyalty of a guest who stays with you as a treat during the holidays? It’s actually easier than it might be for a one-off guest at other times of the year.
Guests are in ‘discovery mode’ during the holiday, looking for a special opportunity and feeling a bit more spontaneous and suggestible. This year, consider the following hotel marketing strategies to implement a more holistic approach that will allow you to capitalize on the busy season and build long-term relationships with seasonal guests.
The Future of Revenue Management
Predictive Consumer Analytics: This is the future of Hotel Revenue Management.
Keep this fact in mind. Only 12,000-15,000 hotels in the world today use a major Revenue Management System (RMS) tool. The rest of the 500,000+ hotels out there are using either something their chains developed or their own customized Excel spreadsheet as their RMS tool.
Hotels that are not using a RMS tool now will begin adopting solutions over the next five years at a much faster rate than they have over the past ten years.
[INFOGRAPHIC] 16 Hotel Marketing Trends for 2016
2016 is right around the corner, and this past year has seen a slew of changes to the digital marketing landscape. The growth isn’t over, though – mobile is exploding and technology is expanding. That means that digital marketing, still a relatively young and swiftly-growing field, is rapidly growing and changing along with it.
As digital marketers on the cutting edge of new and effective ways to grow business for hoteliers, we at Net Affinity have put some serious thought into what the New Year will bring to the online landscape.
Here’s what we’re predicting.
