While tourism is reactivating, competition to attract customers is fierce. Capturing this rising demand means offering a more personalized shopping experience and differentiating your hotel’s value proposition. A loyalty program that inspires and convinces your customers can help you achieve this. There has been a lot of talk about loyalty lately, and the growing need to focus on building customer loyalty, but there are still many myths about it. Many hotels and chains become blocked when facing this still unknown challenge. At Roiback we are pioneers in the development of loyalty programs for the hotel direct channel. And as we mentioned in this article from November 2020, a loyalty strategy is an essential tool in a post-Covid scenario. Today we want to tell you five reasons (and we had a hard time choosing just five!) why working on your loyalty strategy is much more than just an idea to consider. It’s a necessity!
1. It is a great weapon to support your direct sales
It is one of the best levers to support your direct channel. On the one hand, a loyalty program allows you to fight against the famous (and dreaded) third party disparities. No OTA is going to ask you to match the conditions of your loyalty program and don’t forget that they also have their own. An extra discount for customers who book directly through your direct channel will be a good incentive for them to opt for it, and it goes without saying that your channel will always be the most profitable.
2. Customer knowledge support
A loyalty program offers its registered users a series of discounts or benefits that boost your direct channel. In exchange for these benefits, the user is willing to share certain information with you (which you will ask for in the registration form). And information is power. Knowing your customers will help you to know what they want, to personalize your marketing campaigns much more and, consequently, to be much more efficient.
3. It is up to 10 times cheaper to build customer loyalty than to attract a new one
We have all come to internalize that a specific budget is necessary to activate campaigns in digital marketing channels that allow us to attract qualified traffic to our website, but what about afterwards? If your relationship with customers ends at the point of sale, you are losing a huge potential. Maintaining the relationship with your customers until they become loyal will make them come back to you when they want to come back to enjoy a vacation. And that will always be cheaper than any marketing investment.
4. The average ticket of a loyal customer is up to 20% higher.
A customer who already knows you and trusts you, your product or service and your brand is much less sensitive to price. So much so that their average tickets are up to 20% higher. They increase their stays, are more likely to book superior rooms and regimes and are, as a general rule, more consumers of additional services. Keep in mind Pareto’s Law: 80% of your revenue is generated by 20% of your customers. Do you know who they are? Indeed, they are your loyal customers!
5. A loyal customer is an ambassador.
Turning your customers into loyal customers means that you have prescribers and brand ambassadors all over the world. Technology and new marketing methods are fundamental allies, but word of mouth still works perfectly and is the best advertising you can count on. As Walt Disney said “Make it so good that they come back and bring their friends with them”. At Roiback we have been developing loyalty programs for the hotel direct channel for years. We have a department specialized in advising hotels to implement and develop loyalty programs, from simple modalities for hotels with little experience in loyalty, to more ambitious ones, offering options with a high degree of personalization and segmentation. For us, the premise is clear. Loyalty is and will be the key to differentiate your value proposition, increase your direct sales and generate much more profitability for your hotel.