How to maintain customer loyalty?

Customer loyalty – discover 4 unique ideas to keep your customers loyal and engaged!

Strong and long-lasting customer relationship is a premium quality that every accommodation facility should aim for. Nowadays guests are more demanding than ever which requires you going the extra mile to keep their interest with your services.

Recently we have discussed the first steps of crafting relationship with clients. Now we need to keep the momentum going – today you will learn 4 ways to extend your customers` engagement beyond the first reservation.

1. Create a loyalty program for returning guests

Loyalty programs are among the most popular ways of keeping your customers attached. What is the first idea that comes to your mind when you think of such programs? Exclusive discounts of course! The research conducted in 2018 revealed that over 60% of clients use discount codes and coupons, making it the top-ranking tactic for building loyalty.

What makes the successful loyalty program? Before you write down your ideas for customer benefits, try to determine what types of guests are your desired targets. Check the statistics to find out which customer segments visit you the most and which ones generate the highest revenue. Now build your promotions around these groups.

Loyal customers are happy customers!

2. Keep your customers in the loop with regular newsletters

Newsletters have fuelled marketing activities for many years now. If you think they have been overtaken by social media, here`s a food for thought – the New York Times` had 14 million subscriptions to over 50 newsletters last year! The hospitality industry can still make a very good use of that communication channel.

The first and very obvious method is strictly related to expanding the customer loyalty program – you may use newsletters to send discount codes to your guests. But don`t stop here! Consider offering your guest a voucher for him and his friends. It is a perfect opportunity to gain even more loyal clients as a result! For hoteliers, I also highly recommend including information about the latest and upcoming events near your accommodation facility. This may be the crucial factor for visiting you once more.

3. Stay active with your social media promotions

To say that social media plays an important role in maintaining customer relations is a solid understatement. Considering the fact that we spend more than two hours a day browsing Facebook and other social media accounts, it is the perfect opportunity for hoteliers to interact with their recent and potential guests.

One of the most interesting ways to build engagement with your customers is to organize contests. For example, you may ask your followers to take an interesting photo of their surroundings – the best photographer wins a 50% discount for their next stay or any other benefit of your choice. Other successful ideas include video-relations from events happening in your hotel or revealing the upcoming ones.

7 tips for hotel social media marketing >>>

Actively interact with customers in social media

4. Come up with the unique selling points

To remain competitive on the market, not only you must provide the superior quality of services – the true game is now about pointing out your unique features. Something that makes you stand out from the crowd. Of course identifying the unique selling points requires quite an extensive research – make yourself aware of your competition`s strong assets and adjust offer accordingly.

When speaking of the hospitality sector, you may consider elements such as rare fauna and flora surrounding your facility or one of a kind rooms and experiences they offer (think of hotels that are famous for having haunted rooms!). The biggest advantage of such features is that you may charge premium fees for them! Not to mention they give your loyal customers an irresistible urge to visit your premises once again.

The tip of the iceberg!

When I first started piecing my research together, I immediately noticed that we have only scratched the surface of the subject. Maintaining the customer loyalty is a much more complex topic. Now I am convinced that more articles must be created to give it the justice it deserves. The ideas you learned about today, however, will definitely set you up on the right path. As a next step, we will focus on rewarding our customers loyalty!

Mariusz