Reducing friction in the booking process can happen one of two ways. Either you remove the roadblocks and make the booking process more streamlined, or you apply forward pressure through the funnel by using psychology tactics that persuade people to do what you need them to do. That’s what we’ll be discussing in today’s episode. Simple things you can apply to your website and booking engine that will have a dramatic impact on conversion rate and the number of direct bookings.
Let’s talk a little marketing psychology.
Goal: To understand what drives consumers’ decisions and then optimize your hotel website to speak to key decision making factors.
Today, we are going to cover 5 simple concepts that you can employ throughout your hotel’s booking process to help positively influence the sale.
#1: Social Proof
Concept = people view behavior as correct if they see other people doing it.
- Laugh track on your favorite sitcom
- Lines outside of nightclubs
Hotel Messaging:
- How many people are currently viewing a page
- How many people have booked a room in a given period of time
- Guest reviews / testimonials
#2: Scarcity
Concept = the more rare or scarce a resource is, the more valuable it is.
There are some interesting studies behind the power of scarcity, including the “11,000 club” experiment. This “exclusive” club offered 11,000 people the opportunity to join the club for one exceptional benefit: the chance to be a member of the club. No information was given – people signed up just to join and be a part of the club.
Hotels can take advantage of people’s FOMO with strategic messaging:
- Limited inventory → “only 3 rooms left”
- Limited time offer → “12 hours left for reduced rates”
#3: Urgency
Concept = suspend deliberate thought and cut through cognitive friction by establishing urgency → Closely related to scarcity.
Read rest of the article and listen to the podcast at Fuel Marketing
