Whether we are talking about a small boutique hotel, a mid-size establishment, or a large hotel chain, they all have small but mighty unique amenities that can often be overlooked as an opportunity to create an equally unique marketing strategy. As the world continues to wake back up, travel and hospitality is slowly coming back to life from the Covid-19 pandemic. Your hotel’s market and the customer’s specific needs and wants may have changed over the last 2 years, while much of travelling had been minimised to almost nothing.
It is now more important than ever to re-learn the “story arc” of your ideal customer and what brings them to your door. Get to know the sweet spot for the perfect customer and their needs by leveraging the small but essential amenities you already have, and that they actually desire, that will have them book with you over others. Here are a few customer-focused scenarios that pinpoint a few unique marketing ideas designed to target your ideal customer on all SEO-based marketing platforms: websites, social media, online advertising, brochures, you name it!
Scenario 1: The Weary Professional Requiring Respite Upon Arrival
As the world of professional travel for events, presentations, proposals, sales calls, and risk management troubleshooting opens back up – be aware that the weary professional has possibly journeyed with not only travel fatigue, but with a bit of performance anxiety, as most workplace processes, systems and expectations have changed post Covid. Upon looking for a suitable hotel to accommodate their needs after working on their presentation over the 5-hour flight, they arrive tired, hungry and thinking “more than anything, first I need to take a long hot shower!”.
Here is the opportunity to boast not only of the newly installed health and safety protocols, but also to add to the marketing story about your commitment to the environment by sharing the information about the recent upgraded bathroom featuring a GROHE luxury showerhead that reduces water consumption while allowing an invigorating experience.
Scenario 2: The Adventurous Travelling Couple Coming in from a Day of Exploring
Have you ever marketed the water features in the rooms at your lovely establishment? It may seem a bit un-romantic to have a market strategy that includes the shower or other water features at first. However, the adventurer tourist couple on their honeymoon certainly would be curious to know more about the hotel’s new luxury showerheads in an oversized shower room that will fit 2 people. By building up the scenario for the ideal client, you can create a marketing narrative based on a storyline that relates to the potential customer who will keep coming back over and over. Get to know the customer’s story and their story will become yours in the form of testimonials!
Scenario 3: The International Digital Nomad at Home in your Hotel
The international digital nomad is a worker who travels for a living, experiencing life on the road most of the time. They hop from city to city, laptop in hand and love the freedom to work anywhere, anytime and in any time zone. Does your hotel cater to this population? If so, here are a few things that they need and want when their 3-day stay is essentially their home in your home:
- A touch of comfort, clean, simple luxury, and ease
- Rigorous health and safety protocols in place at all times
- A spacious and comfortable workspace with high-speed no-cap internet
- Flexible pricing options for various lengths of stay
Benefits for your Hotel
Each hotel has its own one-of-a-kind features. By telling a unique story in your marketing for the clientele you wish to attract and keep as a regular guest, your customers feel respected, heard and seen for their own uniqueness. Sharing your commitment to lower costs and use of precious resources is one example of marketing to your specific customer’s life outlook and lifestyle. What this means to you:
- Lower energy costs with water and energy saving showers, sinks, toilets, bidets, and bathtub fixtures
- Reduced water bills using new technology-based water saving fixtures
- Branding and marketing new eco-friendly environments