In today’s digital landscape, hoteliers struggle to attract the attention of shoppers, as well as maintain that engagement throughout the travel planning journey. With only 9% of U.S. travelers knowing what brand they want to book with prior to traveling (Think With Google), everyone is internet savvy and knows how to shop around for the best deals.
Usually, a sticking point or motivator to book is to receive or redeem points, but this is troubling for the single-property boutiques that are not supported by a multi-million-dollar loyalty program like Marriott Rewards, or even upper-upscale/luxury single-properties who have enough funds to invest in their own CRM technology.
The single-property hoteliers with limited budgets need a solution that can help make their website visitors feel special and send one-to-one messaging similar to a loyalty program— without having to invest the thousands of dollars it takes to create one.
The answer? Hoteliers need to create a website functionality leveraging a “closed user group,” which allows them to capture emails and show exclusive rates that do not need to be shared with the OTAs. Showing website visitors exclusive rates they can’t find anywhere else encourages them to stop shopping around right then and there. In addition, following the email capture a hotel can build a list and send specific emails when there is a new offer or even a presale for a large campaign like Cyber Monday.
How Does It Work?
In every OTA contract, it loosely states that the lowest publicly available rate must always be available to the OTA. However, what makes a rate private versus publicly available? When a user has to opt in to a page in order to gain access (aka a closed user group), it makes that rate no longer public, and therefore does not need to be shared with the OTAs.
Following the user entering their email, there is instant gratification by receiving immediate access to exclusive rates. This encourages the website visitor to stop shopping and book one of these available rates.
