With mornings becoming chillier and leaves beginning to turn, shoulder season is on its way. However, it isn’t the quiet, sleepy travel period that it used to be as concerns over cost, climate change, and overtourism drive guests to book differently. Seventeen percent of summer trips are planned for September after Labor Day this year, compared with only 12 percent in 2022.
NB: This is an article from WebRezPro
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There’s a real opportunity to boost bookings and revenue this fall. If your shoulder season marketing feels stale, now is a good time to look for inspiration. Start by thinking about who your guests are during this season. With the kids back in school, are you welcoming mostly Baby Boomers and Gen Z vacationers? Business travelers? Weekend staycationers? Tailor your marketing efforts to your property’s shoulder season customers for maximum conversions. With that in mind, here are some ideas to work with…
Review Feedback
Read through the reviews you amassed over summer to find out why guests chose your property, what they liked about it, and what they didn’t. Analyzing feedback is one of the best ways to identify areas for improvement in both operations and marketing.
Reviews can shine a light on gaps between guest expectation and experience and, therefore, areas in your marketing that may be misleading. Align your marketing more closely with the positive aspects of your guests’ actual experience to reap the rewards of satisfied guests and rave reviews.
These reviews may reveal unique selling points that you have not considered before, offering a fresh perspective to promote. For example, you may be focusing your marketing efforts on your trendy boutique décor, while your customers are actually more appreciative of your central location.
Highlight User-generated Content (UGC)
Search out guests’ positive tweets and photos about your property on social media that you may have missed over the summer and share them on your own pages. A social listening tool like Hootsuite comes in useful by allowing you to consistently watch for mentions of your brand and other important keywords and collect those mentions on a single dashboard.
From there, decide which mentions to promote further and respond to. Add comments like, “What a great summer! Thanks for spending time with us, [insert guest name here]! The fun never ends at [insert your property’s name]! The firepits are roaring, and the hot chocolate is on!” Your tone should be friendly, cheerful, and succinct. Be sure to tag or credit the guest on anything you repost.
