We’ve all done it… We’ve all stayed at a beautiful hotel, visited an amazing destination, or eaten delicious food at a first-class restaurant. We’ve also taken great pleasure in telling our friends and family about our experiences. That is to say, we have become influencers or trusted brand ambassadors.
Conversely, we’ve also asked for, and received, recommendations from our friends and family, and acted upon these recommendations. In other words, we have been influenced by people we regard as trusted influencers.
This, as we know, is word-of-mouth, however it is offline and unscalable.
Every hospitality business seeks this positive feedback as it enables them to grow organically.
Nowadays, word-of-mouth is digital via social media and scalable, giving hoteliers a huge opportunity to showcase their properties in an authentic way and reach hundreds of thousands of potential customers via their mobiles.
InterContinental Hotels Group stated recently that “mobile will account for 40 percent of online travel sales by 2020”. According to McKinsey, one in every four consumers also uses social media to make purchasing decisions.
What we’re seeing is the evolution of three key pillars. Firstly, consumer behavior related to the purchase journey. Secondly, the way consumers interact with hospitality businesses through mobiles and, thirdly, customer loyalty dynamics. Hoteliers must now sit up and take note, or ignore this at their peril.
If we take the issue of loyalty, some hotels are under the illusion that loyalty starts when the customer checks in. This is no longer the case, given the changing dynamics of the three pillars mentioned above. By using digital influencers, hoteliers have the opportunity to build loyalty before guests even come to stay. You can do this because the images shared by influencers evoke emotion and desire, so at the point when the potential customer starts looking for a hotel, your property should be the first they go to.
The key takeaway is simple. Hoteliers can begin building loyalty even when guests are planning their next trip and so can potentially negate the influence of the competition before the booking stage.
