Guest loyalty is often an elusive concept for many hotels. Ever-changing guest expectations and needs have made it even more difficult for hotels to create and retain guest loyalty.
While things like loyalty programs and reward points still have a significant role in driving guest loyalty, hotels that provide unique and engaging experiences are more likely to see an increase in returning customers.
See four ways technology can help hotels drive guest loyalty by offering innovative experiences that will keep guests coming back for more.
Personalized experiences
Today’s travelers are looking for personalization across their entire guest journey. In fact, 75% of consumers are more likely to buy from brands that recognize them by name, recommends services based on past purchases and knows their purchase history.
There are endless technology solutions that add personalization to the in-room experience and can help drive guest loyalty. Hotels can create a custom hotel menu that displays a personalized greeting on the in-room TV. Smart room technology allows guests to control everything from the lighting to the air flow. Hotels can then use this data to automatically set the room to their desired preferences when they return to your hotel.
Sharing your purpose
Consumers are proving that brands who lead with purpose have the upper hand. Accenture found that 63% of consumers prefer to purchase from purpose-driven brands. These consumer expectations give hotels an opportunity to differentiate themselves by sharing their unique brand purpose.
Hotels can incorporate and promote their brand purpose throughout the guest journey. By using WorldVue’s in-house channel feature, hotels can share curated images, videos or text that highlight your brand’s purpose directly on guest room TVs. Utilizing digital signage throughout common areas like lobbies, hallways and reception desks also present an opportunity to further promote your brand’s mission and set your property apart.
Self-service solutions
As part of the desire for more personalized experiences, it’s important for hotels to provide guests with greater control over their stay. Offering options like in-room check-out or concierge services give guests greater autonomy over their experience and can enhance guest loyalty.
Providing self-service options also helps hotels appeal to a wide range of guest preferences. Whether they’re looking for a more traditional, in-person experience or prefer low-touch convenience throughout their stay, technology solutions make it easy for all guests to find options that meet their needs and keep them coming back.
Reliable connectivity
It may go without saying, but the quickest way to drive guests away is failing to create an intuitive and seamless experience. This is particularly important when it comes to connectivity.
Today’s guests expect free and reliable Wi-Fi connectivity delivered in a frictionless way. The number of devices guests bring with them during their stays is steadily increasing, making the need for connectivity solutions that can easily support all of these devices critical. Hotels that fail to prioritize connectivity run the risk of creating a frustrating guest experience and decreasing the potential for guest loyalty.