Community management

Community management on Prezi

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Sixth sense device

Sixth sense device service for hotels on Prezi

Sixth sense device service for hotels

Sixth sense device service for hotels

The shift of consumers' expectations in loyalty programs

The future of travel loyalty programs

 http://www.hotelmarketing.com/index.php/content/article/the_future_of_loyalty_programs

This article publishes the results of a survey led by Loylogic, a provider of loyalty technology solutions, which reveals the expectations of consumers about travel loyalty programs.

Firstly, the article points out that consumers mainly prefer to deal with their points got thanks to loyalty programs on the Internet. It means that hoteliers and travels’ providers should not underestimate the importance of the Internet in their clients’ way of consuming products. It also proves that hoteliers and travel agents should even more interact with their clients online and get information on their profile and expectations via the Internet.

Nonetheless, Facebook appears as the last medium through which consumers are used to run their points related to travel loyalty programs. It reveals that even if customers like to deal with their points online, they are not ready however to do it on social media but rather on sites which are specifically dedicated to it and on which consumers can have their own private account.

Secondly, the survey reveals that, among non-bare essential products, travels represent the most preferred reward of consumers. Therefore, hotels and travel agencies should take advantage of their position of strength in terms of loyalty rewards to their clients.

Thirdly, the article also stresses the occuring shift in consumers’ expectations since clients would like to benefit from rewards meeting their willings rather than rewards whose conditions are imposed by companies. This part of the survey is very relevant as it proves that consumers are fed up with rewards offering a unique option and would prefer to get the travel they want or, at least, different choices as rewards of their loyalty toward brandnames. It is true that travel rewards are often defined according to specific destinations and dates that do not necessarily meet customers’ availability and taste so much so that they can hardly consider they are actually regarded as valuable clients who deserve rewards for their loyalty towards brandnames. Given the increasing competition in travel industry and the ability of  consumers to have access to a wide variety of choices in the Internet, consumers could break their loyalty to one brand for another one if they notice that no differentiated loyalty program is offered to them by the company.

I think that hoteliers and travel agencies should take into consideration the results published in this article in order to change the way they deal with their loyalty programs. It seems clear that they should notably rely on the comments and behaviours of  their clients on social media in order to target their expectations and so keep them loyal. Of course, it would be difficult for brandnames to offer personalized loyalty programs to each of their consumers but they could, at least, identify different categories of clients’ profiles and adapt their loyalty rewards to expectations of these various categories. Why not, for example, publishing a survey on their Facebook / twitter pages or on their website to figure out what types of options their clients want to earn as rewards within loyalty programs.

Such an article emphasizes the necessity for hoteliers and travel agents to revise their traditionnal loyalty programs and adapt them to their consumers’ expectation.

Few ideas to brand your company online

The New Rules of Branding Your Business Online 

http://www.hotelmarketing.com/index.php/content/article/the_new_rules_of_branding_your_business_online

 This article asserts that having a nice website is not sufficient when you hold a business and stresses the importance of being interactive on the web . It gives tips on how to make one's brandname noticeable on the web, which hoteliers should follow carefully if they want to distinguish themselves from their competitors and draw the attention of customers.

It seems obvious nowadays to have a Facebook or a Twitter business page. Though, either companies do not have such pages and only rely on their website to communicate on their brand, either they do not use their business pages appropriately. It's necessary to create its own page on social networks in addition to one website because social networks are much more suitable to directly interact with customers. Websites are quite unilateral in the sense that they provide information about companies to customers but do not allow them to express what they expect from companies. On the contrary, social networks are actual communication tools for both sides (suppliers and clients) provided that companies pay attention and reply to customers' comments on their services. It is true that reactivity on the web from part of hotels requires available time, but it proves to be very efficient on customers' behaviours and choices. To interconnect their activities between their website and business pages, hoteliers have to insert Twitter or Facebook buttons on their website as well as links on their business pages which lead to their site. In addition, they need to use tools, such as Google Alerts for example, to remain aware of what is said about them on the web and to answer to their customers as quickly as possible. Hoteliers can also rely on Google Alerts to check comments on their competitors and domain so that they know what they have to avoid or do to meet customers' expectations. 

If hoteliers do not manage to spend time on developping their presence on the web, they should at least deal with their websites on a more personalized way. Almost all hotels' websites are made on the same traditional frame and tone. Companies need to make their website more interactive to appeal to customers. For example, instead of describing their hotel in a quite boring manner, the owners could invite their personnel to participe to the website and to give their opinion on what they prefer in the hotel or what they do to make customers feel at ease. This could be done thanks to videos posted on the site or testimonies accompanied with pictures. The owners could also share what they like (music, shops, pictures...) on their site and not only speak about their business. Thus, customers could learn more about their characters which is very important since a company necessarily reflects its owners' nature.  In the same way, hoteliers should clearly indicate their target market because it allows people to learn more about the hotel's identity and the type of services provided. At last, hoteliers should not hesitate to publish on their website everything which is related to their current events including rewards, newspapers releases, videos or reports on them in YouTube or TV news... The more hoteliers communicate about themselves, the more customers would be convinced that hoteliers are willing to do their best for their clients.