Studies show that 64% of loyalty members are business travellers, and these loyal guests contribute a significant portion of hotel revenue, ranging from 30% to 60%.
Despite the numbers, many hotels are still focusing only on attracting new guests and creating new bookings, when the truth is that re-engaging past guests is an essential strategy to maintain a steady stream of bookings and maximize profitability.
Reengage old bookers by spicing things up
Many hoteliers have tried re-engaging with their existing guests and claim it doesn’t work. And the big difference between failure and success in this endeavor is how you do it.
Using the same template for everyone, only sending out your newsletter or offering the same discount are examples of what not to do.
In reality, there are different ways you can reengage your old bookers, motivating them to make a new booking and come back to your hotel, either to the same city or to another location if that is the case.
You need to spice things up and add some creativity to your campaigns. Engaging and enticing messages that portray interesting benefits and offers are key to delivering campaigns with high conversion.
Here are 5 effective campaigns you can implement to re-engage your old bookers:
1. Campaigns targeted at local guests
Look to reengage with guests who reside in your local area, especially during local holidays or events. You can offer special discounts or packages tailored to these occasions, reminding them of the convenience and enjoyment they experienced at your hotel.
For example, if there’s a popular local festival happening with a red day, create a campaign highlighting your proximity to the event and offering special amenities like late check-out or breakfast included.
Geo-targeting has become essential in the hospitality industry, especially as it finds itself marketing more locally. The more relevant the information is to a user, the more likely they are to convert.
Another example for local guests is offering a relaxing weekend. Get out of the city without actually leaving the city. If your hotel features a spa, invite them for a weekend of disconnection and refocus.
Learn more about different audience segments that you can target in this article.
2. Bring them back on special occasions
Who doesn’t love gifts? Special occasions are a perfect opportunity to re-engage with past guests. Birthdays, anniversaries, Mother’s Day, and similar are important for this.
Nearly 8 in 10 travelers (78%) are more likely to book with properties that offer personalized experiences to them, and almost half are willing to share personal data to create a more individualized stay.
This personalized touch can go a long way in building guest loyalty. Over half of consumers, 56% are more likely to become repeat customers after a positive personalized experience.
Acknowledging their birthday and Mother’s Day for guests that booked a family vacation or anniversary for guests who booked a romantic stay, is a great way of reengaging your old guests and staying top of mind.
It becomes even better if you add an extra gift or surprise for them that will make them talk about you. You will make past guests feel valued, leading to a higher chance of their return.
You can read more about how to adapt your offerings and reach this target here.
3. Invite your existing guests to another location
If your hotel chain has multiple properties in different locations, you can leverage this to re-engage guests who previously booked at one location.
If a guest enjoyed a vacation at your beach property, target them with enticing offers for your city hotel, highlighting its unique features and experiences.
You can accompany this with information about the city, the main attraction and experiences, and of course, a juicy discount they can enjoy in your hotel.
4. Leverage international holidays for international guests
If you have guests coming from all over the world, you can create campaigns targeted at different nationalities and focusing on their special holidays.
If a big part of your guests comes from The Netherlands, why don’t research their most important holidays and vacation times and create a campaign targeted at them? The same will apply to other important countries in your guest database.
By creating personalised campaigns you are able to deliver messages that resonate with them, and maybe even in their own language. This is 100x more relatable than sending a universal campaign to all your existing customers and offering a discount code.
5. Segment based on booking history
Utilize your guest data to identify different guest segments based on their booking history. 78% of marketers report their customer engagement strategies are data-driven, this type of tactics help you to make decisions based on data and track your progress.
You can target guests who haven’t booked in 3 months, 6 months, or even a year. Each time with a different message, a different offering, and a different campaign. You can even tailor your campaigns to their specific needs and preferences: for guests who frequently travel for business, offer corporate packages, or highlight your business amenities. For families, showcase your kid-friendly facilities and activities.
This data-driven approach ensures your re-engagement efforts resonate with each guest segment, increasing the effectiveness of your campaigns.
Discover more about how data-driven can help your strategies for guest segmentation here.
Personalisation for old bookers with the right tools
The secret to reengaging with your existing guests is in delivering the right message at the right time. And for this, you need the right tools. A CRM like Bookboost allows you to identify all these guest segments, understand their preferences, and use all the data to create and deliver these campaigns.
Moreover, you will track their performance and understand which ones work best, so you can repeat them.
Remember, guest loyalty is key for your business’ profitability. Ignoring it and not reengaging with old bookers will have a negative impact on your property.
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