The 5 BEST ways to increase repeat guests at your hotel
A highly competitive industry such as hospitality requires you to do everything possible to attract new guests and repeat guests to your hotel.
Investing in guest loyalty and retention strategies is equally important to promote your business to new travelers and increase reservations. Out of all the guests who visited your property, how many will return?
The most valuable asset you have is repeated guests. Unlike one-time or occasional guests, repeat guests provide a steady stream of revenue, offer more pleasant interactions, and speak highly of your accommodations. And as you can imagine, guests who are happy with your property are more likely to recommend it to their friends and family.
Here are the five best ways to generate repeat guests for hotels, motels, resorts, and B&Bs of all sizes.
1. Increase new guests
The first and last impressions are essential to keeping your brand in the back of customers' minds for a repeat visit.
Hotel marketing plays a key role in helping you to attract bookings and optimize revenue. As a foundation, you need to implement SEO (Search Engine Optimization) to ensure your hotel website pops up in search results when travelers are looking for a hotel in your area. Having a hotel blog can serve as a way to add fresh content to your website constantly and this can encourage website visitors to return in the future.
Make sure you take the time to create and maintain a quality hotel website. This will help to improve repeat hotel bookings and encourage online reservations. Pair that website with an online booking engine and property management system that makes it easy to synchronize rates and availability. Make sure your room rates are clearly displayed and extras easily added.
2. Automatic email campaigns to past hotel guests
Your past-guest engagement starts with your post-stay communication email where you let your guests know you value them and care about their experience. In your email, send a promo code that can be used for a discount on future stays. Your guests' hearts will warm when you send them a simple thank-you note as a gesture of appreciation.
Your property management system can automate these emails and texts. As a result, your efficiency increases, your administrative tasks decrease, and your communication becomes a top priority. See our article Get a Better Handle on Email for additional tips on how to improve your email communication.
To build a greater connection with patrons make sure your guest list is segmented based on their past activities, interests, and budgets. By doing this, you will be able to curate and personalize your emails based on their needs and make those emails more effective. Try reaching out to them in a targeted way, for instance, if they had booked for a seasonal event such as Valentine's Day. It is also important to ask customers for feedback and reviews, which are essential for social proof and customer retention.
3. Create exclusive packages and deals targeting repeat hotel guests
Provide your repeat guests with something special along with their hotel room. A hotel customer who books a package before his or her arrival spends more on their hotel room, books more in advance, and is less likely to cancel his or her reservation compared to a customer who buys a standalone room. Package-purchasers paid around 30% more in average daily room rates (ADRs) than room-only guests. Special offers and package deals can drive repeat hotel bookings.
Offering exclusive packages and deals to your repeat guests is a surefire way to increase guest loyalty. In the hospitality industry, this is among the best strategies for customer retention. Discounts or coupons for their next visit, for example, are not only enticing, but also gratifying to the guests because they make them feel more appreciated.
So if you can afford to offer giveaways on visits, don't hesitate - everyone loves freebies. In addition to generating buzz around your business, this could lead to more new customers. Here’s a few suggestions of packages that might help you build a complete offering:
- Comeback Stay and Play Package – Targeting people who took part in various activities while onsite.
- A Ticket for You Just Became a Ticket for Two – Targeting a single traveler hoping they bring a friend next time. Repeat and Eat – Targeting guests with room upgrades and a dinner for two vouchers.
4. Offer a loyalty program to past hotel guests
Over 90% of businesses implement some form of loyalty program in the US alone, with up to 3.3 billion loyalty members. Hotel guest loyalty programs, like Stash Hotel Rewards, help your property attract more guests and allow the opportunity for hotels to build strong relationships directly with customers.
According to statistics:
- 61% of travelers choose loyalty programs that offer a wide range of rewards
- 68% of millennials are loyal to a hotel brand that offers the best rewards
Personalize your rewards program so that guests feel special. Treat rewards members as privileged members and make it easy for members to redeem rewards.
Today, customers expect businesses to offer them personalized promos and relevant rewards as a means of engaging with their favorite brands.
Remember that repeat customers can bring your business a steady stream of revenue since they are likely to spend more than occasional customers. Consider rewarding and appreciating them with loyalty and other reward programs (to run all program activities efficiently) using a loyalty management software.
5. Encourage hotel guests to follow you on social media
Since social media is part of our daily lives, your digital marketing strategy should include social media. After their stay, get in touch with your past guests and encourage them to follow you on social media. This is something that should be highlighted in all your post-stay email communication.
Getting your guests to follow you is one of the fastest and most effective ways to grow your social media presence.
Ensure your page stands out. Giveaways and contests are great ways to get people involved. Make sure you post on social media consistently. Answer comments and feedback. Put relevant hashtags in your posts. Turn your guests into brand ambassadors. Show off guest posts about their stay. Share recommendations for day trips. Inform your guests about upcoming events at your hotel. You should encourage your guests to share their experience.
Posting new offers, discounts, or upcoming events on social media can encourage your customers to return. You can also use social media to collect feedback, respond to complaints, and improve customer service. To keep them interested, you can send newsletters, ask for recommendations, run contests, quizzes, or referral programs.
Conclusion
In the hospitality industry, providing a good guest experience is crucial for customer retention. The better the guest experience, the more likely they are to return. Using these five strategies, you can attract more repeat guests while also engaging the existing ones to book again.
While repeat guests are an important part of many businesses, don't forget that making your business more visible online is just as important as keeping the ones you have. Let us know if you need help driving bookings or implementing any of the strategies we shared above, and we'll be happy to help!
rezStream is a trusted platform for the hospitality & travel industry. Hoteliers use our insights, strategies and actionable tips to get inspired, optimize revenue, innovate processes, and improve the guest experience.