When marketing to our clients, all of us use email campaigns and social media to promote our offers and promotions, but when comparing open rates with push notifications, both email and Facebook have a significantly lower open rates (around 20%). So why are the majority of hotels and resorts not taking advantage of this?
All of us have grown accustomed to push notifications on our smartphones, so much so that 95% of the time according to recent studies we all click on them. In fact, research by startup Urban Airship shows daily app usage increasing by up to 540 percent with push notifications. So this shows that this is a great new tool for your hotel to communicate and target your loyal and receptive guests directly through their mobile devices, which in turn will allow for greater marketing opportunities. So what sort of messages should your hotel or resort have in place to make the most out of your hotel app? Content Management System Proper use of your CMS is important when considering a push strategy; corresponding the information and promotions that are live in your hotel app with your push notifications is vital to ensure that guests can easily receive updates and redeem offers or promotions you may have. This short notification message can be a sample of what the guest will see when they open your hotel app to the relevant page. Most of our hotelier clients dedicate an entire section of their hotel app to promotions which they constantly keep up-to-date; this makes it easier for guests to find the corresponding offer to the push notification they just received.
How & Where Push Notifications Can Be Used via Your Hotel App Push notifications can be used to digitally market any aspect of your hotel and utilizing your hotel’s current offers is a good place to start. The areas that are most likely to benefit from push notifications as part of your hotel digital marketing strategy are as follows:
Increase bookings / Increase RevPAR: Capitalise on your customer loyalty with return deals and repeat booking offers. Those that enjoyed their stay at your hotel enough to keep your hotel app on their mobile device will be prime candidates susceptible to rebooking with the promise of loyalty rewards and future discounts.
Increase F&B Bookings / Increase RevPOR: Many of your guests will research the local area before they arrive and during their stay; they will often search for nearby attractions as well as bars & restaurants, however the first option they come across will be your hotel’s F&B outlets. Sending a push notification allows you to connect with your guests instantly and drive F&B revenue through increased bookings and orders. With F&B having one of the highest margins this is obviously an area worth investing in, and a real chance to seriously boost your RevPOR
Increase Room Service Spend: Other great way is for your guests to order their room service from your app. Apart from the tantalizing photos you can show off, you can offer tips on which wine goes with a certain dish as well the hour the client wishes to receive this service. In properties who have had this installed have seen increases in revenue of over 140%. a push notification can inform guests of the dish of the day and prompt them to book this service
Increase Spa Bookings / Increase RevPOR: Similar to with F&B, guests that receive a push notification regarding your hotel spa they may feel you have created a convenient and valuable opportunity, which will generate revenue for the spa.
Increase Activity Reservations: Most outdoor activities offered by hotels and resorts will have seasonal appeal; therefore a push notification can remind guests of favourable conditions and prompt them to book. Hotelient can help your hotel increase RevPar with an app that was designed by hoteliers for hoteliers.
With a quick return on investment, having a app is the best new way to connect with your clients. We are currently looking for 6 hotels who want to build an app for their business FREE (worth 3,000€), so that we will be able to do a case study to demonstrate the benefits. Email us today for more information info@hotelient.net
