To create a loyalty program we have to analyze our business and customers in and out, from top to bottom.
Loyalty programs are the best weapon a hotelier has to get returns on his marketing and sales investments. Furthermore, they also increase the customer base.
When we give our customers benefits on their bookings, they purchase more.
And not only purchase more but do the word of mouth marketing for us.
A happy customer is the cheapest source of marketing. They work a testimonial for others.
When people see how happy your customers are then they also want to buy from you.
Apart from that loyalty programs are also useful against OTAs to gain direct bookings.
So here are some tips to create a loyalty program.
The first step is to study your customers and analyze them for various factors. These factors will help you to make a solid loyalty program.
You will have to analyze how much they spend in a year. How frequently they travel and how much each journey cost on an average.
Then you have to analyze the average span a customer remains in a relationship with your brand. How much they are satisfied with your hotel and how can you improve the satisfaction level.
All these factors will help you in laying a solid foundation for your loyalty program.
Without proper knowledge of your customers, you will be just assuming things. And this can lead to the failure of your loyalty program.
The next big thing in the line is deciding your budget.
Once you have analyzed your customer you will have to think about how much you want to spend in customer retention and how much you want to spend on acquiring new customers.
It is always better to retain a customer than to gain one. So you will have to allocate an optimum budget to your loyalty program.
The decision will again depend on many factors. For example, if you are an independent hotel on a single location then there are fewer chances of a customer returning to the same location.
So you should keep your loyalty program budget limited and increase it with the success of the program.
It is always cheaper to retain a customer than to gain one. So you will have to allocate an optimum budget to your loyalty program.
Now we have come to the main point of making your loyalty program. We have to understand here is that we have to give a reason for our guests to opt for the program.
And that is why it is the most important step, without this all other steps are ineffective.
You will have to justify the customers that it is beneficial for them if they become your loyal customer.
So try to strike the balance. Do not give so much that it becomes a loss for you in long terms.
We cannot expect that people will just notice our loyalty program and start coming to us.
We need to market our loyalty program and share it with the world. We have to educate our customers about the benefits of the program and motivate them to opt for it.
This will not only make our current customers loyal to us but also attract new customers.
When a traveler makes his search for a hotel on online platforms then he will see your loyalty program. This will allure him to make a booking from your hotel.
And not make a booking but also remain loyal to you.
For marketing, you can adopt practices like SEO, Social Media, and Content Marketing.
The last thing that we need is to take feedback and measure the results you got. Then on the basis of these results, you will have to update your loyalty program.
You need to ask your customers how they feel about the program. Also, you need to calculate what effects this program has on your revenue.
And then you will have to make the decision that is necessary.
Loyalty programs are one of the most useful weapons that a hotelier has in this competitive industry.
This was my take to help you out to create a loyalty program. I hope I was able to achieve the target and you liked the article.
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