Today, attracting customers directly to the hotel website has become a major challenge. Automated marketing campaigns are proving to be an effective solution for achieving this objective. Not only do they enable you to establish a direct, personalised relationship with customers, but they also reduce your dependence on OTAs and their commissions. This article explores how automated marketing campaigns can increase direct bookings, highlighting strategies and best practice.
1. Understanding automated marketing campaigns
Definition of automated marketing campaigns
Automated marketing campaigns use software to send pre-defined marketing messages to specific segments of the customer database, without manual intervention. They can include the automation of emails, SMS (or instant messaging via WhatsApp, for example), push notifications and other forms of communication.
Importance of these campaigns in the hotel sector
By automating marketing campaigns, hotels can maintain constant, relevant communication with their customers, without overloading staff. This avoids wasted time, redundant tasks and the associated mental workload, enabling customers to be reached at the right time, with the right message and in the right context, increasing the chances of conversion.
Common technologies and tools for automation
There are many tools and technologies available for automating marketing campaigns, such as CRM platforms, email marketing software and multi-channel campaign management tools. Experience CRM, for example, is an all-in-one software package that centralises and automates the management of customer data and marketing campaigns. This makes it easier to create a coherent and effective communications strategy.
A good understanding of automated marketing campaigns lays the foundations for effective customer data management, which is crucial for accurate targeting. Let’s now look at how to retrieve and manage this data.
2. Recovering and managing customer data
Methods for collecting email addresses and customer information
Customer data recovery and management
One of the major challenges in sending effective automated campaigns is recovering the temporary email addresses provided by OTAs. These addresses, which are often anonymised, make it difficult to establish direct communication with customers. To get round this problem, hotels can encourage customers to provide their personal email address during the booking process, thus ensuring smooth, personalised communication throughout the customer journey.
– Online booking forms : Customers provide their personal emails and a few preferences when booking, facilitating direct communication.
– Pre-stay survey : After booking, a survey is sent out to collect detailed information about customers’ specific preferences and needs.
– Points of contact during pre-check-in and check-out : On arrival, obtain additional data such as food preferences and arrival times, enabling the database to be enriched and the stay to be further personalised.
– Loyalty programmes : Encouraging membership to collect data on customer preferences and behaviour, while strengthening the direct relationship.
– Post-stay satisfaction surveys : Gather feedback and adjust services accordingly, improving satisfaction and loyalty.
By effectively collecting this information and ensuring direct communication, hotels can better respond to customer expectations and improve the relevance of their automated marketing campaigns.
The importance of segmentation for personalised campaigns
Segment customers according to criteria such as purchasing behaviour, demographics, holiday preferences, etc. Effective segmentation means that marketing messages can be personalised for each group, increasing the relevance and impact of campaigns. With Experience, a large panel is available directly for customer segmentation. It is also possible to create new personalised segmentations.
Data enrichment techniques for more accurate results
Data enrichment can include validating and correcting collected information, merging duplicates and adding data from different sources such as past interactions and observed behaviour. This provides a complete and accurate view of each customer.
With a well-managed and segmented customer database, the next step is to create personalised content and offers that will capture attention. Let’s move on to their design.
3. Creating personalised content and offers
The role of personalised content in automated campaigns
Personalised content is essential for capturing customers’ attention and encouraging them to book directly. It makes it possible to deliver relevant, tailor-made messages that meet the specific needs and expectations of each customer segment.
Types of attractive offers to encourage direct bookings
– Exclusive promotions: Offer special discounts for direct bookings, not available on OTAs.
– Additional benefits : Offer perks such as room upgrades, free parking or spa credits.
– Special packages: Create offers that include accommodation, meals and local activities to attract customers.
Examples of effective content for marketing automation: personalised triggers
The aim of marketing automation is to maintain a constant link with customers via personalised triggers, which can strengthen loyalty and encourage future bookings.
– Birthday automation: Set up automatic messages sent on a customer’s birthday, including a special offer or discount code as a gesture of celebration.
– Previous stay reminder: After a certain period since the last visit, send an engaging message reminding the customer of the good times and offering an incentive to book again, such as a discount or exclusive offer.
– Event announcements: Promote special events taking place in or around the hotel, encouraging guests to book a stay to attend.
These automations are based on the configuration of trigger rules and the integration of personalised fields in messages, enabling customer engagement to be maintained continuously and automatically.
4. Automation at every stage of the customer journey
Pre-stay communication: booking confirmations, reminders, pre-stay surveys
Before customers arrive, automation plays a key role in the pre-stay strategy. They allow you to automatically send booking confirmations and reminders including exclusive promotional offers, while also carrying out pre-stay surveys to better understand customers’ specific needs. These targeted communications not only prepare guests for their stay; they also encourage direct bookings by highlighting the unique advantages offered by the hotel, thereby reducing dependence on OTAs and their commissions. Through this approach, hotels increase their visibility, build customer loyalty and maximise revenue while reducing commission costs.
In-stay communication: welcome messages, additional offers, satisfaction surveys, etc.
During the stay, automation continues to play a crucial role. The system sends welcome messages to guests, incorporating exclusive offers for additional services such as spa, catering or local activities. This pro-active communication is designed to create opportunities for additional sales, by promoting experiences and services that enrich the guest’s stay while increasing the hotel’s revenue. In addition, targeted mid-stay satisfaction surveys can be used to identify marketing opportunities in real time, ensuring that offers remain aligned with guest interests and needs, maximising engagement and conversion during the stay.
Post-stay communication: thank-yous, requests for reviews, loyalty offers
After customers have left, automated marketing campaigns continue to reinforce engagement by sending thank-you emails incorporating exclusive loyalty offers. By offering special benefits for future bookings, the hotel encourages guests to return directly via its site, reducing dependency on OTAs and their commissions. This post-stay strategy is essential for maximising the return on investment of marketing campaigns by converting occasional visitors into regular customers and optimising long-term loyalty.
By using automated marketing campaigns at every stage of the customer journey, from pre-stay to post-stay, hotels can maximise customer engagement while boosting revenue. These strategic communications encourage direct bookings, build customer loyalty and reduce reliance on intermediaries. Let’s now look at the techniques for optimising these campaigns for even better results.
5. Measuring and analysing campaign effectiveness
Key performance indicators (KPIs) to monitor
– Email open rates: Measure initial engagement with campaigns.
– Conversion rate: Evaluate how many recipients carry out a desired action, such as booking.
– Revenue generated: Calculate the direct revenue attributable to campaigns.
– Unsubscribe rate: Monitor this rate to understand customer interest in campaigns and adjust content accordingly.
Tools and methods for analysing results
Use CRM tools, such as Experience, to monitor the performance of marketing campaigns in real time. These platforms allow you to analyse your campaign data to identify trends, strengths and any weaknesses, giving you the opportunity to adjust your strategies accordingly. In addition, mailing tools such as Mailchimp or Sarbacane offer automation functions coupled with tracking systems. These systems can accurately assess the sales generated by each campaign, enabling you to measure your return on investment and fine-tune your marketing approaches to maximise their effectiveness.
However, these tools are not 100% dedicated to the hotel industry and may require time-consuming manual intervention, such as regular updating of your customer database.
Adjustments and optimisations based on the data collected
Based on the analyses, adjust the elements of your campaigns that are not performing well and reinforce those that are producing positive results. With a quick and easy way to carry out A/B testing on different samples from your database, you can optimise your campaigns at no extra cost to your marketing consultants. Test different formats, content and delivery schedules to continually improve campaign effectiveness.
Conclusion
Automated marketing campaigns offer an exceptional opportunity to increase direct hotel bookings. By understanding and applying automation strategies at every stage of the customer journey, segmenting and personalising communications, hoteliers can not only improve customer satisfaction and loyalty, but also optimise operations and increase revenues. It is crucial to continually measure and adjust these campaigns to get the best possible results. By implementing these techniques, hotels can strengthen their relationship with their customers and reduce their dependence on OTAs.
