5 ways personalisation can help hotels boost direct bookings

Before a guest even books a stay, you can personalise your offering to make sure they choose your hotel or serviced apartment.

1. Leverage the power of email marketing

Guests won’t remember to book with you unless you remind them. Email marketing has long been used effectively but personalising your email campaigns has even greater results.

It is worth trying to get as much data as you can on your customer, even if you get it over a long period of time. As the information adds up you can provide more personalised special offers. Previous booking data allows you to segment lists into family, single or business clients, so you can send relevant emails to these groups. Be careful not to request too much information at once, as this could deter people.

2. Have a strong social media presence

A strong social media presence can be a big draw to increase bookings. Sharing stunning, exciting or funny photos of locations, activities and guest experiences is a great way to leverage social proof.

A more direct way is to encourage people to recommend you on social by offering incentives. Especially as 80% look for recommendations before buying a product. When a friend recommends a hotel you're more likely to look at it - targeting your social media audience to reach their friends is a great personal start. Social media competitions are great ways to win customers, with one in three contest entrants opting-in to continue receiving information from brands.

3. Use location-based push notifications

For customers that have already downloaded your app, location-based push notifications can provide extremely powerful ways of grabbing their attention. It’s all about capturing the in-the-moment desires or needs of customers. Nearly two-thirds of consumers said they want offers that are targeted to where they are and what they are doing (source). And customers who get contextually relevant messages via geolocation technology are 59% more likely to make a purchase (source). Hotels can be the hub of the local area, so why not target your local audience with hotel services or food and beverage special offers.

4. Make sure travellers can book through an app

Mobile apps make the booking process quick and easy, as well as keeping all relevant booking information in one easily accessible place. That is why research shows customers are increasingly turning to apps to research and book holidays.[1] Personalise your app with relevant and targeted special offers.

5. Let AI help you segment your audience

Artificial intelligence is helping companies to create highly targeted marketing programmes which automatically segment the user online experience based on their preferences and behaviours, showing web pages that specifically tap into their interests. This increases user engagement massively, as can be seen in the way Amazon personalises shopping.

AI can also be used in revenue management to create packages and pricing that is unique to each user. With this said, 57% of consumers are willing to share personal data in exchange for personalised offers or discounts.

How Criton can help you

Criton is an award-winning technology provider which enables hotels and serviced apartment operators to take the guest experience to the next level with a sophisticated mobile app. Criton helps hotels to streamline the entire guest journey and maximise in-stay revenue. Get in touch today to find out how we can help your business.