How Small Hotels Can Grow More Using Revenue Management

In addition to selling services to right customers at the right time, what contributes to a hotel’s success is an effective hotel revenue management strategy. Despite having remarkable growth in last few years, there are many hotels belonging to renowned chains as well as independent hotels that still haven’t embraced revenue management. While analyzing its role in hospitality industry, I realized that several renowned players of the arena are hesitating to adopt revenue management at a time when it has been playing a notable role in driving hotel’s profits.

Earlier, revenue management was limited to a few sectors like airline. But today, many industries have been using revenue management techniques to avail their benefits. Many chains as well as independent hotels are applying revenue management not just to increase revenue, but also to perform well during off seasons. Through an effective revenue management, rooms and various hospitality services can be priced differently considering their demand.

Revenue management is not just helpful in managing a business effectively, but it also gives opportunities to small hotels to lock horns with big industry players and drive performances to enjoy revenue benefits. Revenue management isn’t only to generate revenue and can be applied to plan strategies that help a hotel work well in all seasons. While having a discussion on revenue management, I have been asked by hoteliers about investment. It is necessary to understand that it’s an investment that produces great results for a hotel. Even a small hotel can have better results than its bigger counterparts by striking in right areas of revenue management.

Focus on inventory management: Rooms are the most valuable asset of a hotel. Therefore, hoteliers can drive success by figuring out how to make the most of hotel rooms. It can be done by improving in-room facilities and offering accommodation at low prices. A hotel’s revenue management should also be focused on embracing digital technologies in the right way. Focus on revenue managers should be extracted from available resources while offering services to guests at minimum costs.

Focus on pricing: An effective revenue management includes all those tactics on pricing that result in hotel room occupancy all through the year. It is also focused on generating revenue for the hotel through restaurant and bar. To make sure that price tactics work, revenue managers should make changes in pricing considering demand and season. Changes can be made in regular rates, special offers, packages and last minute bookings.

Focus on performance metrics: For small hotels where budget is limited, revenue managers should consider the hotel’s performance to understand factors that contribute to its success. Performance measurement can also help in knowing the area where improvements can be made to generate more revenue. By collecting data on different sources of growth, small hotels can make necessary improvements to generate more revenue.

Hotels of all sizes have been using different online and offline strategies to gain attention of potential travelers or increase revenue. Competition rises when OTAs arrive in the contest of promoting a hotel’s services. To remain competitive and generate more profit, small hotel revenue managers should embrace technologies and make use of OTAs. In addition to adopting new tactics, they can design and use an effective digital marketing strategy to improve different sections of hospitality and give tough competition to big hotels.

Investing in revenue management is a beneficial approach that a hotel of any size should embrace to have revolutionary results. In today’s tech-savvy market, it gives equal chances to all hoteliers to generate revenue and stay ahead in the competition. To make it work, revenue management should be applied in the right way by professionals. So, don’t hesitate to invest in revenue management. It will definitely improve your hotel’s revenue generation.

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Tips To Handle Guests Who Want To Check-in Before Scheduled Time

It may be a style statement to come late, but some guests arrive unfashionably early. In hospitality industry, it happens very often when front office encounters early arrivals. A few days ago, I witnessed a situation where a hotel’s front desk was feeling frantic when guests arrived early and their room wasn’t ready yet. For a hotel, it’s a time that can make it stand out from rest of the crowd or may throw it off the game. The front desk of that hotel was lucky to have cool guests who kept calm until the hotel could make arrangements and escort them to their room. But many times, guests get apprehensive when they are made to wait.

As a hotelier, valuing every minute of the guests goes a long way. It makes them feel valued and they don’t mind spending a few minutes in check-in procedure. In this piece of writing, I am sharing some tips that can help hoteliers and front desk in handling difficult situations of early guest arrival. Applying them, hotels can ensure that guests are taken care of, especially when they have arrived early.

Welcome the guests and check their details   

First things first, guests should not be felt awful about their early arrival. They may be tired after their journey, and trust me, a smiling face with greetings like ‘Good Morning/Good Evening’ or ‘we’re so glad to see you’ can make them feel good. They also can be treated with a welcome drink. Even when your guests are aware that they’re early, don’t make them feel they are troubling you.

You can keep them occupied with stuff like finishing check-in details, or inform them about the services they have chosen during their stay at the hotel. In addition, front desk can verify details on check out time.

Tell them politely that their room isn’t ready  

Instead of confusing them or making excuses, tell them honestly that their room isn’t ready yet as the check-in time is ____hrs. Try saying something like ‘I am extremely sorry; unfortunately the room that you’ve booked isn’t ready yet’. Plus, they should also be made sure that the best efforts will be put to ensure that the accommodation gets ready as soon as possible. In the meantime, they can be offered tea/coffee or other services to entertain them.

Speed up the process   

Ask the guests to please excuse you so that necessary arrangements can be made to ensure they get the room as soon as possible. Coordination should be made with housekeeping to inspect the rooms. Tell them to make the room ready. Inform the guests that their room will be ready within _____minutes.

Once the room is ready, assist the guests

After ensuring that the room is clean and all the necessary arrangements have been made, provide key card to the guest. Tell them about their room number and the floor on which it is located. Escort them to their room. Assist them in how to use the card to access elevator and their room’s door. While on the way, inform them about newly added services and how they can avail them. They should also be told about different areas, like restaurant or bar, of the hotel and how to access them.

Open the door for them, and ensure you are available at their service

Assist guests in using card key to open the room. Inform them about in-room services and fire exist point in case of any emergency. Plus, ensure them that they will be given privacy in the hotel. Tell them the procedure to reach you for any kind of requirements. Don’t forget to wish them a pleasant stay before closing the door gently.

Remember that not all guests need discounted services. Being courteous can leave a good impression of the hotel on them. In return, your hotel will receive good reviews from the host, and possibly a permanent guest.

Hotelier Tips To Personalize Guest Experience

In today’s competitive world, businesses are required to make continuous efforts to ensure customers come back again. In last few years, I have noticed that hoteliers change hospitality services at regular intervals to give unique experience to guests every time they visit the hotel. But many independent hotels as well as chains ignore incredible benefits of personalizing services to enhance guest experience.

Today, travelers have lots of options for accommodation. Instead of just comfortable bedding and luxury in-room services, they seek experience. They expect hospitality services that could make them feel special about their stay. Personalized hospitality amenities go beyond luxury services that a hotel creates itself. Creating personal touch for enhanced guest experience not just helps in winning guest loyalty, but also makes them permanent guests of the hotel.

As the competition is increasing in hospitality industry where small as well as independent hotels are performing better than many big industry players, I believe personalizing guest experience is the only way to survive in the sector. But how hoteliers can enhance guest experience through personalized services?

Personalized guest experience is considered as a complicated process that require lots of efforts and funds from the hotel’s side, but there are several interesting and effective methods to serve guests memorable experience without spending much. It is essential to understand what guests expect from a hotel during their stay. Here are those ways to personalize guest experiences and ensure repeat hotel bookings as a result:

Handwritten Notes   

Earlier, I came across a guest review on a hotel where she had described about a handwritten note from the hotel staff where they apologized for poor Wi-Fi service for few hours and ensured uninterrupted Internet. Hotels can use handwritten notes to make guests feel special and tell them the hotel is dedicated to cater them. Handwritten notes can also be given to welcome the guests or when they leave the hotel as an invitation to return.

Special Foods   

Guests love food as much as they hate paying for services that are free in most of the hotels. Food is an easy way to win guests’ heart. There can be complementary foods or drinks provided to guests in their rooms. In addition to serving delicious dishes from the hotel menu, efforts can be made to cater special food requests of the guests.

Special In-room Amenities

Through small talks, staff members can try to recognize guests’ preferences or to know if they are planning to celebrate an event during their stay. Considering the situation, the staff can add more amenities in rooms without charging for them. The room can be decorated in a way that it could reflect guests’ taste.

Season-focused Experience

A hotel’s services can be customized considering the season. Extra facilities and amenities can be added to cater guests in a special way. Smart technologies can be used to simplify the check-in/check-out procedure. Through special services during off season, guests can be welcomed in a special way. After that, they can be given complimentary services without charging any amount from them.

Upgrade Guest Rooms

Special attention can be paid to upgrade guest rooms. In-room services can be personalized as per guests’ convenience. If guests ask for something not very costly, the service can be offered without charging any cost for it.

Hotel staff should be polite and always ready to cater guests. If guests are having an issue, it should be resolved as soon as possible. Hospitality services can be customized to ensure that guests get what they are expecting from the hotel. Sum of these personalized services can offer unusual and unexpected experience to guests, and work well for the hotel. The above-mentioned methods can be used to enhance guest experience without investing on them. In today’s technology-centric era, it is not difficult to personalize the guest experience. All that a hotel needs is paying attention to these small yet beneficial tricks.

Hey Hoteliers, Are You Ready To Cater To the Millennials?

They are everywhere. Everyone is talking about them. Everyone is paying attention to them. Everyone accepts they are redefining success. They are Millennials, a generation of people whose numbers will soon surpass the population of baby boomers. Routinely, I meet many belonging to this generation and observe they are different from individuals from other generations. They are the most educated people on earth and always staring at their phone and have a self-centric attitude. We can learn several things from them.

Every generation wants special attention from hoteliers as their demands and requirements are different from each other. Baby boomers need comfortable in-room amenities, while millennials require quick services in every corner of the hotel. The millennial generation makes the most of technology, and its people want quick technical services even when they are on a leisure trip.

From my experience in the hospitality industry, I have learned that hoteliers need to make extra efforts to draw millennials to their hotels than any other generation. They are harder to impress than baby boomers and Generation X and Generation Z. A brand name doesn’t affect them, and even a small or independent hotel can turn them into loyal guests through quick modern services. They are living their life on the Internet, but they are impressed with a hotel’s services when they experience them in real. So, are your hotel’s current strategies enough to draw attention of millennials? Have you updated your hotel’s services to serve them to this segment of guests? Or you still have a hunch that every traveler is same, and can be impressed with traditional promotional tricks?

I have observed people of this generation and figured out what they expect from their hotel. If you believe millennials should be given extra attention to make them feel happy with your hotel’s services and turn them into loyal guests, here are some methods you can try to lure them:

Provide Them Advanced Technologies  

Millennials don’t just want free Wi-Fi, but they want it fast and strong. As they are using their digital devices all the time, they require charging points everywhere in the hotel. They look for accommodation in smart rooms. If someone is on business tour, they want business and conference facilities equipped with smart technologies. You can impress them by showing your hotel as an updated accommodation place that not just has luxury amenities, but smart facilities too.

Offer Them Complimentary Packages and Services

Every guest admires complementary services, whether it’s just a free drink or special package offers. Millennials want something that seem big and luxurious. You can make adjustments in your services and offer extra perks to guests from millennial generation. For example, you can present free spa facility with higher category room or costly services of your hotel. This ensures that you don’t have to suffer any loss, while guests can be drawn to your hotel.

Offer Them Experience, Rather Than Luxury

Guests belonging to other generations can be lured by showcasing luxury services of your hotel, but millennials should be targeted by offering them experience. Tell them about areas in or near your hotel where they can explore and gain experience. Offering adventurous experience can be the best method to win millennial guests.

Use Social Media To Grab Their Attention

Although people from other generations also spend hours daily on various social media platform, millennials use these websites for many purposes. They make the most of these platforms to understand more about the world. Even before booking a hotel, they explore about it on different social media websites and try to understand everything about it. Study social media and design a strategy that can engage millennials on your social media page. After that, you can lure them with offers and turn them into your guests.

Millennials may be hard to please. But if they are satisfied with your hotel’s services, they will be your long-term guests who are going to use your hospitality services for a long time, while promoting them free of cost. So plan a strategy centric around millennials and turn them into your loyal guests.

Promote Your Hotel Online: 5 Social Media Strategies

Earlier, I met this hotelier in my gym who was spending a whopping amount to promote his hotel on social media, but the results were not favorable. When I asked him about his social media strategies, he told me that he has hired a digital marketing agency that posts some photos of the hotel three or four times a week and works on some paid ads. This is certainly not the way a business should be promoted online.

Social media can provide massive boost to a hotel’s revenue only when effective campaigns run on them. The hotelier wasn’t fully aware of social media power and didn’t know about the ever-changing digital marketing strategies. Apart from basics of different social media platforms, I shared five effective social media strategies which are working well in the online promotion of a hotel. Here are they:

Identify: Why Social Media

Social media isn’t just a luxury or necessity because others are doing it. There should be a strong objective behind your hotel’s presence on various social media websites. Apart from that, everything you are posting over these websites must have some reasons. Instead of just throwing photos of your hotel or your website’s links, make a storyline to engage your followers or guests on a post.

Context And Content: Right Words In Right Posts

Planning posts involving images is an effective idea to gain attention, but it should be done in an interesting manner. For example, a story behind the photo can also be posted to make it more realistic. This method can engage people online and make them more curious about your property as well as services linked to it. Apart from photos, a video about the hotel can be posted with some words about it. But make sure that the content is clean, witty and easy-to-understand. Paying attention to every post will not just help your hotel’s social media account in gaining attention, but it can reach more people through like, retweets and share facilities.

Be Loud: Create Buzz To Make Your Presence Noticeable   

In addition to posting user-centered posts, people can be engaged on your posts by interacting with them. You can reach several online individuals by interacting with them, asking them questions and responding to their queries. Apart from that, your hotel’s digital marketers should also pay attention to your regular guests and stay in contact with them. This can be done by responding to their posts on your hotel’s page.

Use Hashtags: Create Interest To Make People Plan Posts Around Your Hashtags

When it is about reaching lots of online users at one time, nothing works better than a hashtag. Various social media platforms, like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, allow users to use hashtags and get searched by people interested in searches around the hashtag. Using this feature, you can grab attention of those users too who aren’t your followers yet. Apart from starting a hashtag or planning a post around a viral hashtag, you can create user interest by adding humor to the post.

Schedule Your Posts: Reach More People   

People may be on their phones all the time, but it doesn’t mean they are using social media. Plus, all your fans and followers will not be available at one time. For example, if a video is receiving attention of your page’s 40% users at 9 PM on Saturday, it doesn’t mean it will receive same traffic at 11 AM on Monday. So to reach more people, you need to analyze time and days of week when most fans are available on a website. Post every day, but also track people’s engagement. According to several digital marketing researches, weekends are the best time to plan posts as more people will be available online that time. In addition, evening time during weekdays can provide more attention to a post than day time. Schedule your posts as per targeted people of an area.

Making improvements in your social media game can improve your hotel’s overall performance. It will not just help you reach more people online, but gives you an opportunity to turn them into guests.

Customer Loyalty: How To Build It For Your Hotel

Did you know that a hotel has to make extra efforts to get new guests than pleasing the existing ones? I have been asked many times by hoteliers about the role of customer loyalty in the hotel industry and why it is important. Growing volume and rapidly increasing competition make it tough for hotels to acquire new guests with old-fashioned services. In addition, hoteliers have to spend more time and money on applying marketing strategies to grab attention of new guests. Not only this, new customers spend less than a hotel’s loyal customers. So, it is not wrong to say that turning existing customers into loyal guests pays off better than spending time in pleasing others.

Customer loyalty can be defined as willingness of your guests to use your hotel’s services again and again. This is the results of good stay experience, impressive hospitality services and value of products.

As a hotelier, I believe a hotel should continuously look for new customers, but retaining the existing ones is also necessary. This combination allows you to win many guests and stay ahead in the competition. Building customer loyalty requires you to stay connected with your past guests and make efforts to encourage them to choose your hotel whenever they visit the place again. But how you can do it? The best way to make an impression on existing customers is starting customer loyalty program. Here’s how to do it:

Make Great First Impression

You must have heard several times that first impression is the last impression, which is quite true. A small or an independent hotel can be more successful than a chain if it knows how to start with a new guest. In addition to providing the finest hospitality services at affordable prices, you must learn the art of communicating with guests for the first time to turn them into your loyal customers. As check-in the first encounter of a guest with your hotel, make it simple and fast with advance technologies. Your hotel staff needs to take extra steps to make guests feel special and valuable. Take care of guests’ demands and preferences.

Prioritise Guest Experience

While designing strategies and loyalty programs, train your staff to give priority to guests and enhance their accommodation experience. This should be started well before the check-in process, when the guests make bookings online. This can be done by sending email or a welcome message. They can also be informed about your hotel’s speciality, local events and popular places in the neighbourhood to hangout.

Give Extra, Offer Incentive

Free Wi-Fi or complimentary breakfast is a thing of past. Almost every hotel offers such basic services to their guests without any extra charges. You should try beyond these traditional strategies to turn first timers into loyal guests. You can offer incentive on direct bookings, flexibility in check-in time or complimentary trip to popular attractions near your hotel.

Stay Tech Smart

Whether your guests are baby boomers or youngsters, technology can impress them all. Including quick accommodation bookings, self check-in, entry through cars and smart in-room amenities, there are several ways to engage guests through technology and offer them a memorable experience.

Exceed Guests’ Expectations  

From my experience in hospitality industry, I assure you that you are winning your guests’ heart by exceeding their expectations. If your guest demands for a service that is not mentioned in your service list, try to fulfill it by going extra mile. There should be a constant contact with the guest until the matter is resolved.

Devise An Effective Loyalty Program  

A recent study on guest loyalty suggests that one in five individuals become loyal guests of a hotel after benefits offered under customer loyalty programs. Try to understand the customers’ demand and plan a loyalty program that helps in making them permanent customers.

Staying in contact with guests even after check-out can increase the chances of guests’ repeat visit to your hotel. Ask them if they are satisfied with your hotel’s services or they want to see changes in it. Personal contact and giving/asking right questions can help you turn them into your loyal guests.

Online Hotel Bookings: Drive Direct Bookings To Improve Revenue

In OTA-dominated hospitality industry, hoteliers are trying new tactics to bypass OTAs and increase direct bookings online to generate more bottom-line revenue. Although online travel agencies help increase exposure, direct online booking boosts brand loyalty and turns guests into loyal customers.

There’s a hunch in hotel market that OTAs are giving up little grounds to hotels as a chance to drive direct bookings, but my observations and data I studied portray a different portrait. OTAs are not getting smaller anytime soon and there are bleak chances of any shift. Hoteliers have to figure out new methods to tackle OTA channels and also compete for direct bookings in the ongoing hotel war. I have surveyed different data sets to understand how to make hotel campaigns work and boost direct bookings. An effective strategy to drive direct bookings can help a hotel get guests directly through its website.

I have figured out some practical ways to tip the scales:

Hotel Booking Engine For Direct Bookings    

It’s a simple accommodation booking system to increase direct booking on your hotel’s official website. By adding the booking engine to your website, you allow guests to book accommodation through smart devices, like smartphone as well as tablet. Not just room booking, but a hotel booking engine can be used to offer various other purposes too. Some of them are:

  • Advance room bookings
  • Multiple room bookings
  • Extra hospitality services, incentives and packages for limited time period
  • Call for action
  • Personalized bookings where guests can choose only those services they require
  • Easy booking and room cancellation process
  • Automate emails to guests once the booking is done

Attractive Offers On Direct Bookings

What attracts guests towards OTAs and third-party online booking websites is easy access to a number of hotels at one time. They get a platform where they can easily compare room types, services and prices of many hotels. Hoteliers who show the best rates on their websites have high chances to win guests than those who do not pay attention to accommodation prices during the time of direct booking.

Room rates or service prices on a hotel’s official website shouldn’t be higher than costs shown on OTAs or other booking platforms. To make guests aware of special offers on direct bookings, you can add price comparison pop-ups on the website. There are some OTAs that allow hotels to show rates featured on their official websites.

Make The Most Of Social Media      

According to a recent survey, more than half of the hoteliers in the study admitted that they experienced surge in direct hotel bookings after marking presence on various online platforms. Successful hotels and brands also highlight the power of social media while sharing their success stories. It is because people believe in a brand when they see their friends posting about it on social media. A study says that more than 80% travelers are influenced by their friends’ posts on a hotel. There are several ways to use social media to engage people on your hotel’s social media page.

  • Post images and videos of the hotel with gripping stories behind them
  • Hotel’s blogs should be in storyline format
  • Discounts, special packages, quiz and contests on your hotel’s social media page should be highlighted through attractive visuals
  • There should be constant and effective connection between the hotel and guests
  • Every query should be resolved and reply should be given to every comment

Turn OTA Hotel Bookings To Direct Bookings

OTAs charge commission on hotel bookings, but their power cannot be underestimated. Guests can be lured for direct bookings by offering extra when they choose to book accommodation via official website. You can start loyalty programs, update guests with new offers and packages via emails, special offers to loyal guests and more targeted discounts.

OTAs are going to be a part of hotel industry for years to come and they should not be neglected. But you can make right moves to increase direct hotel bookings and decrease the dependency on OTAs. Make your efforts as valuable as you can.


by AVI ARYA | Leave a comment

Characteristics That Make Independent Hotels Perform Better Than Chains

While reading a hospitality magazine, I came across an article focused on stating chains better than independent hotels. But in my view, a boutique or an independent hotel has better chances of achieving success than hotels that belong to a chain. Today when the evolving hospitality industry is giving equal opportunities to properties of all types and sizes, independent hotels aren’t just a place to stay but a luxury place to be. Where chains have a set pattern of services to follow, independent hotels are open to try new things to outperforming chain hotels in results.

There are several other advantages of independent hotels over chains that struck my mind immediately while reading the magazine’s article. I travel many places to attend digital marketing events, and I have used many independent hotels’ services and found them better than luxury chains. Here are some unbeaten characteristics of independent hotels that I believe provide these properties a unique selling point and an edge over franchise or chain hotel:

Unique, Creative Services  

Unlike a multinational chain hotel that offers predictable hospitality services, an independent hotel can provide me new facilities every time you visit it. Through fashionable designs and new décor, independent hotels can offer a unique experience to the guests. Not just in-room amenities, independent and boutique hotels can make changes in other services too to enhance the guests’ accommodation experience. In this way, a hotel becomes more than just a place to stay.

Personalized Service

Instead of standardized services, independent hotels can shift focus to making necessary changes in services to provide memorable experience to guests. Hospitality services that go beyond standard facilities are rare in many hotels, but they are also an opportunity to stand apart from competitors. Many travelers can be lured online by telling them that the hotel is offering services they want to avail. In addition, quality of services can be improved after every suggestion by a guest. Hospitality services can be tailored and updated in independent hotels to make them guest-friendly and revenue making tricks.

Creativity in Accommodation    

Hotels belonging to international chain hotels may have luxury in-room amenities, but then standardization comes again. They are bound to provide standard services with little room to be creative to enhance guest experience. On the other side, managers of independent hotels can let their creativity run in all directions to present guests something unique and creative. They can make changes in room facilities and services or add new items in hotel rooms. To add new guest-friendly in-room services, independent hotels can take help from people over social media or various other Internet platforms. It not just provides a hotel new idea to go creative, but will also promote it.

More Time To Focus On One Property    

Hotels of a chain can be spread across various cities in the country or in different nations. Although every hotel will have a manager, it is very difficult to make changes that could lure guests and provide them unique experience. Plus if changes are made in one hotel, others will have to adopt those changes too. On the other side, managers of independent hotels have to focus only on one property. When they have enough time, it can be invested in planning how to stay ahead of competitors. Owners of independent hotels can explore more and make even small changes that could make the hotel stand apart from others.

Ability To Make Quick Decisions       

Chains contain a layered hierarchy in management. When it is about making a crucial decision, there is a time-consuming process to be followed. Plus, a long time is needed to decide on proposals and their execution. On the other hand, independent hotels can make quick decisions. If a plan is not working, independent hotel owners can shift to plan B quickly.

These are some of the unique characteristics of independent hotels that provide them edge over chains. By making luxury services more interesting at affordable prices, small or independent hotels are not just capable of giving tough competition to renowned chains, but can take a step forward from them.

Capitalize Social Media For Hotel Marketing: Strategies To Create Engagement

A few days ago, a street food vendor requested me to like his page and asked to give ratings to the dish I ate. It was amazing to see how social media has influenced businesses of all kinds. Social media is no longer a luxury, but necessity. Today, more than 2.5 billion people are living their life on social media. At a time when a vendor has realized the power of social media, there are some hoteliers who still feel a hotel’s social media presence doesn’t impact its business.

It’s the Internet which brings hotels of all types on one platform where they get equal chances to promote their services and generate more revenues. It’s the social media’s influence that many independent hotels are performing better than chains and big brands. By using right social media strategies, traffic can be diverted to a hotel’s website and people can be turned into guests by encouraging them to make bookings.

Being a digital marketing professional, I have conducted surveys on social media strategies of several hotels and observed that many brands’ strategies fail. A major reason behind this fall is more focus on number of strategies and less on their effectiveness. Rather than applying the right strategy, these hotels prefer many social media strategies. I believe that a hotel’s social media’s strategy that attracts 1,000 online users is far better than five strategies that grab attention of 100 users each. Hoteliers should research well and use only those strategies that could increase engagement on its social media pages. In hospitality industry, interacting with followers is the best way to turn them into potential guests. There are many other strategies to garner attention of many online users, and here I have compiled some of them:

Reach Out, Pay Attention To Fans/Followers   

For a business of any kind, nothing works better than listening to their social media audience. A hotel must listen to what people think and say about it or its services. This works as feedback for the hotel. Listening to people not just helps a brand understand what guests want during their stay at the hotel, but also develops a relationship between them and the hotel. This strategy can also be used to create content to highlight unique services of the hotel. For example, if a former guest talks about restaurant or gym services of the hotel, create a post about the two categories. It will tell people more about these services and encourage them to use them whenever they visit the hotel.

Use Latest Social Media Tools To Get Personal With Fans

Various social media websites have advanced tools to get personal with others. For example, Facebook Live or Twitter’s Vsnap can be utilized to create videos. An online postcard, image or video can be sent to hotel’s fans online to make them feel special. If the user is former guest of your hotel, record a message for them and thank them for using your services. This method of social media engagement can also be used on fans or followers who have been sharing your posts with their friends or followers.

Remedy Guests’ Concern ASAP

Social media engagement can be improved by showing users that they are being valued. Posts on social media sites should be created in a manner that each post is giving value to all followers. The posts should be focused on upcoming events, festivals or offers in the hotel. In case any user is having any query, it should be resolved as soon as possible. If former guests complain about any service of the hotel, attend it politely and try remedying it in any possible way.

Social media is an effective tool to create brand awareness and figure out what modern-day guests are looking for in their hotels. Engagement on social media is an opportunity for a hotel to connect with potential guests who are with thousands of questions regarding their past or upcoming stay. By connecting with them, a hotel can increase the chances of bookings. So don’t hesitate to make the most of social media to promote your hotel and its services.