The many ways consumers interact with hotels today are vast and diverse. From browsing social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook on smartphones to watching captivating YouTube videos on tablets, or even stumbling upon a hotel’s website through a search engine query on a desktop computer, the avenues for hotel discovery are ever-expanding.
In this landscape, cultivating a consistent and seamless user experience across all channels has become paramount. Enter omnichannel marketing, a strategic approach that considers all marketing channels to craft the most optimal customer experience. Gone are the days of marketing in isolation; instead, a unified strategy is applied to all marketing channels, irrespective of their distinct functionalities or target audiences.
The rewards of implementing omnichannel marketing correctly can be substantial. A comprehensive analysis conducted by Omni send in 2021, involving over 135,000 marketing campaigns, revealed that marketers who incorporated three or more channels in their campaigns achieved an astounding 494% higher order rate compared to those who solely focused on a single channel.
Industries from business-to-consumer (B2C) to business-to-business (B2B) benefit greatly from effective omnichannel marketing. It can be the defining factor between fostering a loyal base of returning customers or losing their valuable business to the competition.
In essence, by embracing omnichannel marketing and employing a cohesive strategy across multiple touch points, hotels can forge stronger connections with their audience, nurture trust, and ultimately drive superior business outcomes.
The concept of omnichannel marketing in the hotel industry
The concept of omnichannel marketing revolves around prioritizing the customer experience, whereas multichannel marketing focuses on creating individual marketing channels for each platform.
In an omnichannel approach, the focus is on understanding customer personas and their journeys with a hotel across various platforms and devices. The hotel then develops a strategy to deliver an exceptional customer experience throughout the entire journey.
In today's digital landscape, customers expect hotels to be present and attentive across all channels and platforms. Regardless of the specific channel or platform, customers may seek to ask questions, find solutions to their problems, or gain a comprehensive understanding of what sets a hotel apart. Achieving consistency in voice, tone, level of customer service, and the information provided across these various touch points is crucial. This is where an omnichannel marketing strategy becomes invaluable.
By adopting an omnichannel approach, hotels can ensure that their messaging, interactions, and overall customer experience remain consistent across all platforms. This consistency builds trust and reinforces the hotel’s identity and value proposition. Whether it's through social media, websites, mobile apps, or other channels, an effective omnichannel strategy enables hotels to meet customer expectations and deliver a cohesive and engaging hotel experience at every touchpoint.
Significance of omni-channel marketing in statistics
Omnichannel marketing holds significant importance due to its ability to foster stronger relationships with leads and customers. By engaging customers across multiple channels, hotels can effectively educate them about their offerings, enhance their understanding of the hotel, and subsequently improve their expectations and booking opportunities.
Research from Gartner conducted in 2021, involving a survey of 2,196 customers, highlighted the impact of a value-enhancing service experience. When customers have a positive experience:
● There is a 97% probability that they will share their positive experience via word of mouth, potentially amplifying brand awareness and attracting new customers.
● There is an 86% probability that they will spend more money, indicating a higher customer lifetime value and increased revenue potential.
● There is an 82% probability of customer retention, showcasing the ability to cultivate long-term loyalty and repeat business.
However, it's crucial to recognize that a poor customer experience can have detrimental effects on customer retention. PwC research reveals that even when customers in the U.S. have an initial affinity towards a product or company:
● 59% of them disengage with the company after experiencing multiple negative encounters, highlighting the importance of consistent positive interactions.
● 17% of them walk away after just one negative experience, underlining the significance of delivering exceptional service consistently.
These statistics emphasize the vital role of omnichannel marketing in shaping customer perceptions, satisfaction, and ultimately, loyalty. By providing a seamless and exceptional experience across all touch points, hotels can minimize churn, drive positive word of mouth, increase customer spending, and secure long-term customer relationships.
Personalization is vital
Personalization plays a significant role in ensuring a seamless experience wherever customers interact with your hotel. It goes hand in hand with the concept of omnichannel marketing. When customers can receive personalized experiences tailored to their specific needs and preferences, it enhances their overall satisfaction and engagement.
Let's consider an example: A customer initiates a chat with a chatbot on a hotel website seeking assistance with an issue. Later, the customer reaches out to the same hotel on Instagram to follow up. Instead of starting the conversation from scratch, the hotel can provide a seamless experience by referencing the previous interaction and offering the latest information. This cohesive and personalized approach exemplifies the essence of an omnichannel experience.
Personalization holds considerable value for a company's bottomline. According to research conducted by McKinsey & Company in 2021, when businesses fall short in delivering personalized experiences:
● 76% of consumers become frustrated, highlighting the importance of meeting their expectations for tailored interactions.
● Conversely, companies that excel at personalization achieve 40% more revenue from such activities compared to those that provide average-level personalization. This demonstrates the positive impact of personalized experiences on driving growth and profitability.
By leveraging personalization, hotels can create deeper connections with their customers, foster loyalty, and drive increased revenue.The ability to deliver relevant and tailored experiences across multiple channels reinforces the value proposition of the hotel, leading to greater customer satisfaction and long-term success.
Different techniques for hotels’omnichannel marketing
Omnichannel marketing encompasses various techniques that can be applied to hotel strategy, individual marketing campaigns, and the overall customer journey. Here are some examples of omnichannel marketing techniques:
● Hotel Strategy:Establishing Hotel Standards
Developing a set of hotel standards and guidelines is crucial for maintaining consistency across all channels. This includes defining the hotel’s tone of voice, color palette, fonts, imagery, and other visual and verbal elements. By adhering to these standards, customers can easily recognize the hotel regardless of the channel.
● ChannelIntegration
Always consider each platform when planning for individual marketing campaigns and how it will do with the overall journey. Providing consistent customer service contact information across all channels ensures a seamless experience. For instance, when launching a new service, hotels may tease the announcement on Facebook, and offer discount codes in exchange for signing up for an email newsletter. On the other hand, the campaign may also feature a YouTube explainer video shared in the email and also added to the hotel’s website.
● Customer JourneyAnalysis: Data-Driven Personalization
Analyzing data analytics can provide valuable insights into the customer journey. By understanding which external websites refer leads and customers, how customers behave after reading a blog or viewing a hotel web page, and what actions they take after coming to the website from social media, hotels can personalize their messaging and interactions across all channels. This data helps improve relevancy and enables the delivery of more targeted and timely information to enhance the overall customer experience.
● Tracking andIteration: Continuous Improvement
Omnichannel marketing involves continuous tracking and analysis of customer interactions across channels. By monitoring customer behavior and engagement metrics, hotels can gain insights to inform future omnichannel marketing campaigns. This iterative approach allows hotels to refine their strategies and adapt to changing customer preferences and behaviors.
Incorporating these techniques into an omnichannel marketing approach helps hotels create a cohesive and personalized experience for customers, building stronger connections and fostering long-term loyalty.
Implementing effective omnichannel marketing for hotels
Here are six tips for implementing effective omnichannel marketing:
● Create customer personas: Develop detailed buyer personas that outline the characteristics, preferences, and behaviors of your target customers. Identify the channels they use, how they engage with each channel, and their movement across various marketing channels.
● Consider customer platform usage: Understand which platforms your target customers use regularly and how they interact with each platform. Determine where they spend their time and what activities they typically engage in on each platform. This knowledge will help you tailor your marketing efforts to align with their behaviors.
● Establish hotel guidelines: Develop hotel guidelines that encompass the voice, tone, copy, and imagery to ensure a consistent hotel presence across all digital platforms. This will help unify your messaging and maintain a cohesive hotel image, regardless of the channel.
● Identify the pain points and challenges: Anticipate these pain points and provide proactive service on each channel to exceed customer expectations and drive engagement. Have a system in place to track individual customer behavior across channels, enabling personalized service and support.
● Connect to an analytics platform: Integrate your website with an analytics platform (ie. Google Analytics 4) that consolidates data from various marketing channels, such as social media, email marketing, and other platforms. Analyze customer behavior across different touch points to gain insights into their interactions, preferences, and engagement levels.
● Provide customer service across channels: Ensure that your customer service is available and responsive on all channels where your hotel has a presence. Whether it's through social media platforms or community forums have customer representatives actively monitor and engage with customers, providing consistent support and assistance.
By implementing these omnichannel marketing tips, you can create a seamless and engaging user experience across the customer journey. Building stronger relationships with leads and customers and delivering consistent service across all channels will drive digital marketing success and enhance customer satisfaction.
For information on how we can assist your property in developing an effective omnichannel marketing program, please visit the Lodging Interactive website.
