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What if you could transform your hospitality brand with a few easy moves?
In the hospitality business, it’s fair to say that your brand is everything. It’s the key to your success. But if you don’t create a very memorable brand, customers will continue to flock to your competition over you.
To succeed, you need to make sure your hospitality marketing strategies emphasize building and maintaining your brand. But how can you make that brand truly memorable? Keep reading to discover the answers!
As we noted before, hospitality marketing strategies should focus on ways to build your brand. And the single best way to do this is to focus on very responsive customer service.
The “old school” idea of good customer service is being both fast and efficient. While those qualities are still important, customers also seek service that makes them feel like a valued friend rather than just another client.
For example, a hotel owner may use a CRM that tracks important information about each customer. The owner can then use that information to offer customers special upgrades based on their preferences. Not only does this help the hotel owner make an additional profit, but he gets to prove how well he truly knows the customer.
Basically, everyone who interacts with a customer should actively think of ways to make the interaction positive and memorable. As the old saying goes, the customers won’t necessarily remember everything the staff said to them, but they will remember how the staff made them feel.
Sometimes, building an effective brand is about returning to the basics. A great example of this would be revising your current business logo.
An effective logo is easy to describe but hard to execute. For example, the logo needs to tell the story of your brand in a single image, and all without the benefit of words. The Nike logo is a great inspiration: its curved lines promise elegant design and fast speeds, all before the customer even sees the name “Nike.
Take the time to craft a memorable logo that tells your brand’s own story. Not only does this help with hospitality branding, but it will eventually help you sell more branded merchandise as well.
Earlier, we touched on the fact that modern customers expect very responsive service. On a related note, they also expect personalization wherever possible.
The simplified version of this is for your staff to memorize guest names, especially if they are regular visitors. Greeting someone by name when they walk into a hotel or a restaurant greatly increases their chance of coming back.
But you can also use special software to take this to the next level. For instance, you can collect data from customers using AI-powered chatbots and then use that data to make recommendations about hotel services and local entertainment. For that matter, you can use a reliable AI as a digital concierge that is available 24/7 to help out with customer needs.
When done right, this creates a seamless experience in which guests feel like they are being taken care of by an old friend. With this technique, hospitality brands like hotels can finally live up to the “home away from home” experience they have always advertised to customers.
The goal of hospitality marketing is to keep customers coming back due to your great service and awesome experiences. However, the simple truth is that customers are likely to come back if they have a chance to earn a reward of some kind.
The classic version of this is to use rewards programs. Customers who frequently visit the same hotel chain, for example, can build up points that eventually let them book rooms for free. And this kind of incentive is still a great way to keep customers coming back.
But instead of simply using points (or relying solely on points), consider rewarding customers more frequently with smaller incentives. Maybe you unexpectedly offer frequent hotel guests a room with a better view, or even a free glass of wine when they visit your restaurant.
The idea here is that frequent rewards will build and maintain loyalty more than simply encouraging customers to work towards a larger reward. And it’s possible to offer smaller rewards and still use a points system, so your business doesn’t have to make a difficult choice.
Every hospitality brand’s core demographic is slightly different. But one demographic you cannot afford to ignore is millennials. And this is a demographic that favors experiences more than previous generations did.
What does this mean in practical terms? Basically, many millennials don’t necessarily mind paying a bit more for a hotel or staying somewhere off the beaten path if they believe they will get to experience something really cool.
What can you do to provide such experiences? Consider hosting live music at your venue so that visiting your business feels like a special event.
A cheaper option would be to add events like trivia and karaoke. And turning these into regular events will encourage regular visitors.
Finally, consider ways your hotel or restaurant can integrate with surrounding activities. This might include creating photo scavenger hunts for hotel visitors heading into town or offering your own special coupons to guests visiting local restaurants.
Remember, you don’t have to overthink hospitality branding. Simply think back to the time you had an awesome experience while visiting a business similar to yours and do your best to replicate that feeling!
Now you know why your hospitality marketing strategies should focus on branding and how to get started. But do you know who can help you reinvent your brand for the 21st-century customer?
Here at The MRKT Co., we specialize in branding journeys that do nothing less than transform your business. To see how we can begin this journey, simply contact us today!
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Together we’ll do our best work. Let’s get the conversation started and find out how we can create or strengthen your brand and grow your business.