Let’s talk a little marketing psychology. It is important for marketers in any industry to have a solid understanding of how our customers think, feel, and act. For hoteliers and hotel marketers, having a clear understanding of the travel shopping journey and what motivates our potential guests is priceless. Not only does it help us sympathize and address pain points during the travel shopping process, but also learn how to better communicate with shoppers during their evaluation and decision-making processes.
Though this complex, and rather fascinating, discipline can get rather granular when studying consumer behavior, there are several simple concepts that savvy marketers can easily master and implement into campaigns.
Goal: To understand what drives consumers’ decisions and then optimize your hotel website to speak to key decision-making factors.
Outcome: To master a few key principles and take your marketing messaging from good to amazing.
In this article, we are going to cover 5 simple concepts that you can employ throughout your hotel’s booking process to help positively influence sales.
#1: Social Proof
A concept that many people are probably already familiar with, social proof demonstrates that people view behavior correct if other people are doing it.
We see this often when our favorite sitcom plays a laugh track at the funny parts or when nightclubs limit entry to create a line outside.
From a hotel perspective, you can easily integrate this throughout your booking process with simple messages related to how many people are currently viewing a specific page or how many people have already booked a particular room or special. Furthermore, hotels can demonstrate social proof by showcasing relevant reviews or guest testimonials at different spots throughout the conversion funnel.
#2: Scarcity
The concept of scarcity simply states that humans consider a scarce object more valuable than one which is abundant. The rarer the opportunity or product, the more valuable it is. This is basic supply and demand and this condition has placed itself permanently in the minds of consumers.
