Building a relationship involves trust and this is no different between hotels and their guests. People are unsurprisingly reluctant to give away vast quantities of their money to organisations they don't trust. To begin building this relationship, people will need to have a strong sense of your hotel's brand. That way, you can begin to engage with them on the other side of the booking process, something often neglected by hoteliers.
While doing our research for 'get a room', we found that in some instances, the change between a hotel's website and the booking engine can be noticeable. The results showed a strong sense of positivity for booking engines that carried through elements of the brand, either through design or photos. By having your set up similar to that of the booking process and previous website pages, it will create a natural flow perfect in helping to keep the levels of energy and enthusiasm high throughout the booking process.
With the introduction of Booking Suit and Synxis' InstaSite and Booking Engine in context suit, the reward for building this relationship and trust in the brand is becoming clear. We didn't even need to analyse them in detail to find that booking confirmation emails can provide a good opportunity to improve the direct relationship.
A confirmation email can suggest a following on social media. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are perfect channels to provide more information to the consumer, not just a special offer. Try including information about local events or tourist trips. All of which will build the relationship and your position as a trusted guide. A good example would be W Hotels, who operate an Instagram profile for each hotel, including content from local events to special offers and suggested activities all of which will be happening at that specific hotel.
You certainly don't want to overload or put them off by highlighting things they are not interested in though. There may well be a beautiful art exhibition in a museum two streets away, but not everyone wants to be told about it. James Bland of BDRC suggests that there is nothing wrong with asking guests a few questions about themselves to help in offering them content that might be useful. It's only going to benefit you both.
Your hotel's website shouldn't just be an outlet to let customers book. It should be an opening into what they can experience. A customer's holiday should start from the moment they choose their destination, so giving them options of activities is going to hype their anticipation and increase the likelihood of them maximising their time at your hotel.
To find out the 8 things that guests want to see when booking a hotel room download our FREE ebook 'get a room' here.