Black Friday: Essential tools for an effective campaign.

In the hotel industry, it is becoming more frequent as years go by for hotels and chains to offer special Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals. A trend that is consolidating because, from a marketing point of view, it represents a great opportunity to boost direct sales.

Besides, off-season commercial campaigns are perfect opportunities for hoteliers to capitalise on peaks of extraordinary demand without losing competitiveness in a market dominated by commissioned channels.

The biggest shopping weekend, which this year runs from Friday 24 November to Monday 27 November, is just around the corner; but you still have time to create an effective email marketing strategy to fuel your future online marketing strategy while winning over your customer, past and new. Below, we discuss a success story based on the 2021 campaign that may help and inspire you.

The importance of data to disintermediate bookings and use them in campaigns such as the upcoming Black Friday.

All hotels, regardless of their size, have the opportunity to improve their online marketing strategies and compete with OTAs wherever the latter do not provide a real value. And this competition starts with the data.

Historically, the hotel sector has always lacked a key player to scale its direct channel. The main cause was (and still is) the lack of actionable data from a digital marketing point of view.

The scarcity of customer data is due to a number of factors. The main one is the origin of bookings, which go through intermediaries that do not share key customer information with hotels and chains.

Disintermediating a booking means direct savings in commissions for the hotelier, ranging from 16 % to 30 %.

Many of the solutions implemented to obtain more complete guest information, such as manual data collection at the front desk, are not effective enough. However, thanks to technological advances developed for the hotel sector, there are solutions that streamline internal processes, such as the automatic capture of quality customer data.

Systems such as Captive WiFi Portal or AutoCheckin are able to create a verified database of hotel guests in a secure and fast way. This information can be further enriched if it is complemented with data from the PMS or booking engine to provide more accurate customer profiles that allow a better understanding of their preferences and their brand loyalty level.

Tools to boost email marketing campaigns this Black Friday.

Guest data are very important as hotels look to advance their direct sales and online marketing, since it allows them to be more independent, have a better understanding of their customers and control when it comes to establishing the right marketing, sales and revenue strategies.

When a hotel brand collects data automatically, it will obtain between 60 % and 95 % of the total number of guests staying at each property.

For email marketing purposes, more customer information means a more precise segmentation when it comes to launching campaigns and, ultimately, improving conversions because:

• You have a better understanding of the market, identifying niches and establishing targeted strategies that will be more effective.
• Treatment personalisation and exclusivity is an advantage versus competitors, as it encourages loyalty and repeat customer bookings.

In order to manage and organise all this information, it is recommended that you use specific tools for the hotel sector to help you make the most of all this valuable data.

In addition to having a new generation PMS and an automatic data capture system, in order to have a detailed and verified database, it is essential to have a CRM because it makes the communication and customer relationship management process more effective.

A CRM not only allows you to store data on current and potential customers, but also to classify them by variables such as purchasing cycle status, preferences or booking data. This information is particularly important when it comes to optimising email marketing strategies and sending the right email at the right time.

By creating segmentations and automating campaigns, basic functionalities that a CRM allows, it is possible to launch marketing campaigns such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday. There are advanced, easy-to-use tools on the market that go further and are able to:

• Centralise information from all data sources (PMS, booking engine, WiFi portals, digital check-in systems, etc.).
• Manage multi-channel campaigns to communicate with customers, using a combination of two or more channels (email, push and sms).
• Activate pre-, during and post-stay communications with various automation options.
• Track sales per user, providing detailed information on the bookings made by each customer.
• Exclude contacts with already existing bookings from campaigns and automations.
• Accurately measure the return on investment of loyalty campaigns and strategies, as well as the commission savings from repeat bookings of customers who initially booked through commissioned channels.

Email marketing is still the best channel to generate direct bookings from repeat guests.

Case study of one of our clients who chose to use their CRM for the 2021 Black Friday and Cyber Monday campaign.

The 2021 Black Friday strategy of a small chain with 5 holiday accommodations is proof of how effective it is to use a combination of the aforementioned tools (guest data capture system, integration with the PMS and a CRM) to boost email marketing campaigns and disintermediate bookings.

The chain programmed three types of campaigns: a teaser and two promotional campaigns, all segmented by language (Spanish, English and German). Specifically, the teaser was a campaign announcing the arrival of a week of promotions. It is a resource that keeps the audience both tuned in and ready so that they do not miss the date. It also creates a sense of urgency, as they know they have only a few days to decide which destination to choose and which hotel to book.

Meanwhile, the promotional campaign offered a discount if booked through the website using the promotional code provided during the given period. It works because it uses a simple, direct, 100 % sales oriented message and a clear call to action.

In addition, they took advantage of the shopping fever that usually occurs these days to extend the offer period for a whole week: a good option to give more time and increase the possibility of purchasing. In this case, they decided to end the promotion the first Monday after Black Friday, known as Cyber Monday, to make the campaign more profitable.

Results:

• The first campaign (teaser) was sent on Thursday 18 November, achieving a 21 % open rate and a 1 % click-through rate.
• Then, the second campaign was sent on Monday 22 November. The open rate was 21 %, the click rate was 3 % and the average booking was € 1,227.00.
• Finally, the Cyber Monday campaign, sent on Monday 29 November, achieved an open rate of 18 %, a 2 % click-through rate and generated an average of € 1,050.00 per booking.

In summary, the results of the campaigns (Black Week promotion and Cyber Monday) meant 355 K in revenue for the chain.

If you want to go deeper into the principles, learn about all the strategies to follow, discover tips and tricks to turn e-mail marketing into a powerful channel to disintermediate bookings, you can download this comprehensive guide, essential for developing and implementing advanced sales and marketing strategies in the hotel sector.