6 Tactics We Can Learn from Hotels in Sweden Who Remain Open During COVID-19
/In today's challenging environment, many hotels in Sweden have turned to their direct booking channel and communication strategy, seeking to increase online conversions with guests, and putting themselves in an advantageous position for recovery. Here are six strategies Swedish hotels are employing now that could help inspire your marketing plan of attack as mobility starts to recover in your markets.
1. Providing peace of mind
The first step to capturing online bookings should be to reassure visitors, and doing so boils down to the two words: communication and flexibility
Making sure your online visitors know that you have implemented a worry-free booking policy can inspire trust and increase the probability of them moving forward with a booking. Ligula Hotels were quick to take action by grabbing the attention of users arriving on their website using a Layer to display such a message, guaranteeing customers a safe booking thanks to their flexible cancellation and rebooking policies.
2. Promoting staycations to attract local travelers today
Creating a package for guests to feel pampered, the hotel offers the perfect staycation for those who need a break from everything going on at home. By using targeting options within The Hotels Network tool, the Layer message on the homepage is only displayed to visitors within Stockholm, enabling the hotel to show a personalized message to appeal to their local market.
3. Encouraging guests to book longer stays
Hotel Kungstradgarden launched a series of Smart Notes within their booking engine targeting visitors booking for 2 nights. The messages highlight the benefits of staying an extra one or two nights exclusively to those visitors, giving them motive to extend their booking. By using targeted messaging, hotels in Sweden are nudging guests that are already likely to convert to increase their booking value.
4. Driving immediate revenue through gift vouchers
Making hotel vouchers available to visitors is a clever way to generate immediate revenue while current demand remains low. Using our Hotel Voucher tool, Hotel Kungstradgarden launched a Layer with an integrated voucher feature, encouraging guests to purchase a gift card today. Aiming to attract potential guests who are thinking about traveling after restrictions have loosened, promoting your hotel vouchers will enable you to capture extra revenue while providing visitors with the incentive to stay with you in the future.
5. Leveraging technology to make smart pricing decisions
One tactic is to leverage AI technology, such as The Hotels Network machine learning product Oraculo, so you can segment your hotel website traffic in real time based on purchase intent, ranging from low-intent users (those who are unlikely to convert) to high-intent users (those who are most likely to convert).
The technology enables you to automatically personalise the website experience for each visitor with the strongest and most relevant messaging and offer. This means that you can decide to only show offers to users who really need an extra incentive to make a booking, generating savings in promotional costs. Conversely, instead of offering discounts to high-intent users who are likely to make a booking anyway, you can communicate upselling messages such as promoting a higher room category or longer stay to boost average booking value.
6. Building a strong community of followers
In Sweden, hotel website booking conversion rates have taken a hit these past weeks, albeit slightly less than in other markets. With increased uncertainty in the minds of visitors, many are not ready to confirm a reservation today, but hotels are finding other ways to generate engagement with their website visitors. The above example shows how Hotel C Stockholm is taking advantage of The Hotel Network's subscription feature to launch an integrated Layer to capture emails and grow their base of newsletter subscribers. Given the current situation, it makes sense to collect opt-in subscribers to be able to keep visitors updated by email about any developments at your hotel or exclusive offers. By continuing to nurture followers in this way, moving forward you can hopefully convert more website visitors into loyal brand advocates.
