Nowadays, holidaymakers can choose from a wide range of accommodation options. In this context, it is becoming increasingly difficult for the hoteliers to stand out from their competitors and to retain (new) guests on an ongoing basis. The modern guest expects not only a comfortable stay, but also an individualized approach that responds precisely to their needs. Standardized offers and generic messages are therefore no longer enough to convince new guests and intensify guest loyalty. Successful hotel marketing therefore requires target group-oriented and personalized guest communication in order to generate long-term success for your own hotel.

<div class="article_quote"><div class="article_quote_contain"><div class="article_quote_quote">"Targeted and specific communication in online marketing means different messages for different segments and audience, but also different times and places or channels where we interact with our guests."</div><div class="article_quote_name u-text-style-main">Erwin Berger, Mountain Resort Feuerberg, Carinthia, Austria</div></div></div>

But how can hotels meet the requirements of targeted, individualized communication in everyday hotel life and use it specifically to increase their own revenue?

Data-based Strategies: They Key to Success in Hotel Marketing

Continuously addressing new desired guests, increasing direct bookings in a targeted manner and increasing guest loyalty - this is exactly where data-based and automated hotel marketing comes in: It becomes the decisive factor for remaining successful in a highly competitive market such as the modern hotel industry. The data-driven approach enables targeted and personalized marketing measures that not only generate clicks and impressions, but can also increase the hotel's turnover in a targeted manner.But what information is used in the context of data-based marketing?On the one hand, it makes sense to continuously optimize the own marketing campaigns based on the available data from various online advertising platforms in order to ensure target-group oriented marketing and thus reach desired guests for the proper hotel.However, what is often forgotten in hotel marketing is the targeted use of the guest data for data-based marketing, which every hotel usually has in its hotel software.

<div class="article_quote"><div class="article_quote_contain"><div class="article_quote_quote">"We have long known that our hotel software has a small diamond in its crown - guest data."</div><div class="article_quote_name u-text-style-main">Dimitrios Panagiotopoulos, Responsible for Marketing and Design at Sonnen Resort in Southtyrol/Italy</div></div></div>

How Your Hotel Software Helps to Market Your Hotel

Whether Casablanca, ASA Hotel, Protel, Mews or other systems - the hotel software, also known as the "Property Management System" (PMS), is the heart of modern hotel business when it comes to managing guest data: this is where a wide range of information such as reservation data, inquiries, check-ins and check-outs as well as information on the age, gender and language of the respective guests are centrally collected and managed.However, the practical implementation of data-based marketing also requires the implementation of suitable hotel marketing software solutions so that hotels can benefit from the stored guest data in the first place. Manual analysis and use of the data is not feasible due to the high effort involved in day-to-day hotel operations. However, with suitable tools, the guest data from the hotel software can be systematically classified according to various criteria such as booking behavior or previous stays.The subsequent use of this processed data in hotel marketing enables the efficient implementation of target group-oriented campaigns: personalized messages are created that arouse the interest of the respective recipients in a targeted manner - and at exactly the right time.In the following, we provide an overview of the technical requirements for using data from the hotel software for targeted marketing campaigns and how this can make the decisive difference in your hotel marketing.

Interfaces: Allowing Hotel Software and Marketing Tools to Work Together

The integration of PMS systems and special hotel marketing software solutions opens up new opportunities in digital marketing for hotels: a corresponding interface enables the connection between the respective systems. In this way, guest data can be efficiently and seamlessly integrated into targeted marketing measures and also automated processes can be implemented. A suitable marketing tool for hotels is either a so-called CRM system, i.e. a customer relationship management system, for recording, managing and processing guest data, or a special hotel marketing software, which reads the existing data from the hotel PMS, processes it independently and thus makes it usable for targeted online marketing measures.

Data Maintenance in the PMS: The Decisive Factor that is Often Overlooked

• The continuous maintenance and updating of guest data in the hotel software is of crucial importance, as only current and complete information can be used for profitable marketing campaigns. Guest data that is not only continuously maintained and updated is increasingly losing value. Therefore, it is important to regularly update the respective guest data in the PMS, as this is the only way to use it profitably for a targeted increase in revenue and business success.

How Can Hotels Specifically Benefit from the Combination of Hotel Software and Hotel Marketing Tools?

Based on the guest data from the hotel's own PMS, the use of special hotel marketing software solutions results in numerous use cases for profitable and personalized online marketing. The individualized communication can be directed, for example, to:

• Regular guests who are targeted with individualized messages
• A specific travel group, e.g. only families or only couples

Some of the advantages that result from this personalization of guest communication are:

• Higher guest satisfaction and stronger guest loyalty: Guests feel valued and understood through individualized messages that contain real added value. Content of this kind also promotes guest loyalty, increases the likelihood of repeat bookings, and thus generates more revenue for the hotel.
• More efficient marketing campaigns: Targeted guest communication based on existing data minimizes scattering losses, which means that the existing advertising budget can be used more efficiently and the conversion rate can be increased in a targeted manner. Targeted campaigns can thus contribute significantly to more bookings and thus to a continuous increase in the company's own success.
• Increasing recommendation rate: Satisfied guests who feel understood and individually cared for are more likely to recommend the hotel to others, and thus contribute greatly to increasing the hotel's own visibility and attracting new guests to the hotel.

Measurability in Online Marketing: Transparent Effects

• Another important advantage of using data from the proper hotel software is the transparent evaluation of the results achieved in online marketing.
  
  By connecting to the PMS, the results achieved, such as online conversions, can be compared with the reservation data in the hotel software. This allows you to see exactly which reservations and revenues have actually been generated. This gives you a transparent evaluation that takes into account not only the classic KPIs such as click, but also the actual reservation data and revenues.