This post is the first in a series of 6 blogs that will discuss why a property management company may be in a unique position to help your hotel “Get Found” and “Drive Reservations”.
The Guest Life Cycle (GLC)
Few Property Management Systems empower hotel operators and owners to improve the guest experience at every stage of the life cycle. A good PMS should ensure that hotel guests “get what they want” – but can a PMS help bring the guests there in the fi rst place? Can a PMS solve some of the problems hotels face with regards to online visibility and online reservations?
The First Two Stages: Getting Found and Driving Reservations
In the first two stages of the Guest Life Cycle (GLC), several problems emerge.
- Hoteliers have little time for social media or Search Engine Optimization, but getting found via these channels – and more specifi cally, driving online traf fic to the hotel web site as opposed to OTAs – is a critical step towards increasing net return and controlling customer relationships and touch points.
- Next, many hoteliers implement disorganized or sporadic online marketing efforts without first gathering data to indicate which online channels will be most effective.
- Finally, while getting more web traf fic is one way to drive reservations, when a hotel’s web site doesn’t re flect the brand or tell a clear story about the guest experience, or the booking engine is not well integrated, guests may choose different accommodations or book through an OTA. The opportunity cost of these lost reservations is expensive for the hotel.
How can a Property Management System Company Make the Difference?
For a hotel trying to improve occupancy rates by increasing visibility and attracting more reservations using online and social media marketing tactics, how can an end-to-end PMS vendor address the first two stages of the GLC and drive higher occupancy for hoteliers?
We know that hoteliers can use tactics like SEO and social media to increase online visibility. But many do it without much data to guide their strategy. An end-to-end PMS vendor can combine PMS data with online analytics to provide focused recommendations that help hotels get found by the right customers and send web traffi c directly to the hotel web site.
Challenges Addressed in this Blog Series
Here are 6 reasons why working with your end-to-end PMS service provider to combine PMS data and online marketing principles to overcome the challenge of getting found online and increasing booking conversion will lead to higher occupancy rates and better customer relationships for your hotel.
- Reason #1: PMS data helps you establish and market your Unique Selling Proposition (USP).
- Reason #2: Tracking from both your PMS and Booking Engine is a necessity to make good online marketing decisions and improve your web site’s functionality.
- Reason #3: PMS vendors can help hotels understand what online content will improve SEO, drive social media engagement, and establish or control reputation.
- Reason #4: Comparing PMS data to your most profitable booking sources can help you decide where to spend marketing dollars.
- Reason #5: Social media doesn’t work without the foundation you can acquire from proper use of your PMS data.
- Reason #6: With PMS data you can manage reputation proactively, not reactively.
