From Zero to Hero: 5 ways a CRM can boost marketing in a hotel

As a hotel marketer, you know that communicating with guests is not an easy task. And turning them into loyal guests can be an even more complicated matter. 

Nowadays, in hospitality, there is a big focus on the relationship with guests, the nurturing phase and the entire guest journey. And that’s why a CRM system has become one of the most useful tools since it allows one to do exactly what its name states: manage the relationship with guests.

For the marketing department, it is a game-changer and as the title of the article mentions, it can take you from zero to hero, enabling you to save time while at the same time achieving better results.  

How to use it?

1. For a deeper understanding of your guests and your projects

Do you know where the majority of your guests are coming from? What language do they speak? Or even more importantly, do you know who are your loyal bookers? According to the Customer, 76% of hoteliers claim that CRM helps them gain insights about the guests and their needs. 

This is perhaps the most crucial role of a CRM: help you understand who your guests are so you can create initiatives that resonate with them.

For example, if you identify that most of your high-spender guests come from a specific country, you can create campaigns on Google ads targeting that region. 

Or, if you see that your upselling campaigns via WhatsApp have higher conversions than the ones via email, you can focus on duplicating these campaigns. 

‍Get inspired - Hospitality Data: How can you use it in your property to increase revenue?

2. To automate your guest communication

A common situation for the industry is to spend hours creating, adding information and sending manual messages to each guest. 

If you have 50 guests checking in on a Tuesday, spending no less than 2 hours writing each message and adding their personal information is no fun. These hours could be spent on more valuable projects like designing a new campaign for the summer or new packages for specific guests.

You can use your hotel CRM to automate your marketing campaigns, making sure no messages and no guests are forgotten and that they always receive the information at the right time. 

The channels you can use will depend on which CRM you have. With Bookboost CRM, for example, you can schedule emails, WhatsApp and SMS. 

You can choose when the campaigns will be sent and even set up conditional triggers. 

From wherever you look at it, you will be saving a lot of time and effort (and money) because tasks that can take up to several hours will be handled in minutes with the help of a CRM. 

Learn more about marketing automation: 5 triggers you can create with a CRM to automate your marketing communication.

3. To personalise your campaigns in minutes 

No one wants to receive messages that seem to be 100% non-original and generalistic. Personalisation can go a long way in every industry, including hospitality. And your CRM can help you to leverage that aspect. 

A CRM allows you to group contacts based on various criteria such as booking history, demographics, and more, so you can identify different audiences such as high-spenders, family bookings, returning guests, and beyond. 

By understanding the demographic information and individual needs of each guest, you can deliver messages that will truly resonate with that segment instead of coming out of ChatGPT, which will have a better reception amongst guests. 

‍Learn about audiences with this article: 9 different audiences you can create for better hotel marketing campaigns.

You might think this will mean spending hours crafting messages, but a CRM can also solve this challenge. For example, Bookboost CRM has personalisation tokens that can be added to a message without you having to type the information for each guest. Things like arrival date, type of room, and information about the guest can be added in seconds. 

4. To clean and centralise your guest data

Accurate and up-to-date guest data is essential to any successful marketing campaign. Hospitality CRM platforms are designed to provide a centralised view of all guest information in one place, allowing you to access quickly the latest insights. 

Hotels normally have dozens of data sources, like OTAs, Review Manager, PMS, Booking Engine, and more. This data sits in different places and causes problems because no one gets a complete overview of the guests and their experience. 

With a CRM, you will get your data cleaned up and structured in a way that will give you clarity. This not only helps streamline customer segmentation and personalisation efforts but also ensures that campaigns are based on accurate data. 

At the same time, it saves a lot of time by allowing you to get all the data into one platform without having to switch between systems to get more information. Your hotel CRM acts as your one source of truth. 

‍Having no data limitations and a visual way of structuring your guest data will help you to have a better understanding of your customers. There is nothing that works better than a holistic view of each guest. 

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‍5. To track KPIs and improve performance  

Having access to analytics is critical in understanding the effectiveness of your marketing efforts. The more you base your decisions on data, the better results you will get. 

However, this can also be time-consuming if you need to look at different tools to get the right data. If you are using a CRM, however, the information is waiting for you. 

If you go to your marketing dashboard, you will be able to see the performance of your campaigns, tracking KPIs such as open rate, click-through rate, unsubscribe rate, and more. 

You can also attribute ROI to the campaigns, in a very effective way of showing how marketing is increasing revenue. 

Nothing is set in stone and the best way to make changes is if you have data to back them up. 

Not just about time but about revenue 

Having a CRM in your hotel is not a “nice to have” anymore. Today, with all this demand for personalisation and segmentation, it has become into a “must-have”. It is very often that marketing departments are pressed to deliver outstanding results while taking care of dozens of different tasks, especially in hospitality. 

And the only way to be able to keep up is by having the right technology by your side to help you optimise your efforts. 

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