Objective: To create a unique interactive promotion to increase hotel reservation during the slower mid-week time period.
Solution: The Inn teamed up with local merchants to gather Coupons and Prizes that would benefit all. A Prize Wheel was added to their website with a variety of both coupons and prizes which were honored as part of a stay at the Inn.
Results: This summer-long promotion yielded over 4000 names and email addresses and increased the occupancy rates during the mid-week time period.
Use this Interactive Hotel Promotion to engage consumers and build your email marketing list.
Gamification Hotel Promotions
Gamification, the use of game-like elements for promotions, loyalty programs, and employee training and or motivation is on the rise in the hospitality industry. The use of gamification to turn loyalty programs into fun, social and online experiences combines technology and motivational psychology to address the basic needs of people for accomplishment, reward, status, competition and self-expression. By focusing on brand new metrics for enjoyment, hospitality companies can tap into rich new data sources to differentiate their brands in a crowded field and achieve exceptional results.
Games are a great way to strengthen customer loyalty and retention by introducing social aspects into loyalty programs that might not otherwise have community-based features. For example, awarding badges for program-related activities, displaying patches on the customer profile on the program’s website, or promoting competition can increase customer loyalty. Laying the foundations for social interaction with users can also improve brands “social media presence and attract the interest of other potential customers.
Gamification has proven to be an effective marketing strategy for engaging potential guests. A relatively new concept, the ability of gamifications to generate a strong sense of interactivity and its addictive nature have proved to be a powerful tool to increase guest loyalty, increase website traffic and increase interest and engagement of new visitors. Suitable for personalization, the gamification concept is a brilliant way to maintain guest loyalty and attract new visitors.
Gamification is a buzzword that has been adopted by many industries in recent years. Gamification is nothing new at its core to the hospitality and travel industry (think frequent flyer and hotel loyalty programs), but as more and more areas such as healthcare, sustainability and finance are beginning to use gamification as a digital tool, social media and hospitality / travel have come to the plate in new and innovative ways. Gamification uses applications outside the game and integrates game mechanics and rewards to motivate users and improve customer loyalty.
Gamification refers to the way websites and mobile apps harness the power of game mechanics to enhance their own brand of digital user experience. This is exactly what video games do, capitalizing on our desire for instant gratification and how they can go from amusing to addictive. Gamification differs in that it uses powerful game elements to connect and engage with the audience.
Games may not sound new, but members of frequent flyer and hotel loyalty programs have been looking for ways to earn extra points for years. Gamification techniques challenge customers by using new technologies known as “funware” and the power of social networks and motivate customers through competition, recognition and rewards. Gamification is the application of game elements such as rules, challenges, rankings and prizes to routine operational tasks as a way for hotel operators to inform their staff about the monotony associated with training.
One of these is gamification, a concept that involves applying game principles and mechanics to different environments. Gamification exercises allow operators to evaluate and reward workers without them noticing. It is well suited to the hospitality industry, where games can improve employee training, loyalty programs and promotions.
A new set of well-designed games can help companies motivate employees, increase customer spending and visits, increase market share, and consolidate gamification – a concept that involves applying game principles and mechanisms in different environments and marketing methods. With more and more hotels adopting the concept, communicating these initiatives through your website and various platforms and channels becomes crucial. We have already seen Accor present its Accor Live and Limitless programs on dedicated pages that illuminate every angle of the gamification process. Lopesan Hotel Group promoted their games on their Instagram and Facebook accounts and many other hotels are doing exactly the same.
Employee games are a way to drive business with friends and family through promotion and mobilize friends to help market the property. Inspired by the example of Travelzoo, an American online travel agency that offers a fun game with trivial questions and an interactive map of your visitors with knowledge of British literature. Media is a rewarding gamification channel in a way that enables you and your website to rise to this position.
A major advantage of service-oriented companies in the hospitality industry is that they build customer loyalty. By internalizing a core component of your business, you motivate your customers to stay with your business to win games. Referral tracking software rewards employees who spend the most and participate in hotel awards.
Airlines and hotels use gamification to boost their customers “competitive edge and increase the stickiness of their overall brand. Status is transferred, and people are willing to work hard to build that status and loyalty to the task.
This is great when you are offering promotional prizes, such as winning a discounted room rate or a rate when a guest arrives at your hotel. An e-mail newsletter sent to thousands of former and future customers seems very attractive and worth a click. You would be surprised how useful this marketing technique can be, and a simple game aspect can overload the effect.
A gamified newsletter inevitably increases sales and is just one example of how gamification can be used to encourage customers. Store leaderboards seem to be boosting competition among customers. Games can be played on customer phones, tablets or kiosks located parallel to the order line.
