Knowing how to attract millennials isn’t optional anymore.
That’s especially true in the hospitality industry. The group born between 1980 and 1999 aren’t a small, specialized piece of the pie, they are quickly becoming the largest slice!
By 2030, millennials are expected to be the biggest group of travelers with 78 million people and by 2018 they are predicted to be the largest consumers of luxury travel accommodations as well.
Why marketing to millennials is different.
Unfortunately, getting this group’s attention requires a change in thinking by hotel marketers. The millennials are the first group of people to have grown up with the internet and their expectations and perceptions of companies, especially hotels, have been shaped by that.
One of the first things those in industry can do is recognize the importance of mobile technology. While it might be obvious that mobile is important, what might not be obvious is just how important, check out these eye opening stats about mobile use:
Everyone has a device – in the next three years more than 99% of millennials are expected to be smartphone owners.
They are looking at these things constantly – Millennials touch their smartphones 45 times per day!
And… they are using them for booking – 52% of millennials book hotels rooms for business traveler with a smartphone or similar device.
Mobile marketing is one of the most effective vehicles for properties to reach millennials. Here are some tips on how to get the most out of your mobile marketing efforts.
1) Optimize, optimize, optimize.
Make sure all the features of your main website including information, property photos and the ability to book look just as good on the mobile version. Start assuming that guests will only ever visit your mobile site, and not your main site because that’s increasingly the case.
But optimization for mobile goes beyond just your site. Treat any digital content like it will be read on a mobile device first. 70% of consumers say they will likely immediately delete an email if it is not adjusted for mobile use, and a large portion of these are millennials.
It’s hard enough to get someone to open an email, let alone one that doesn’t look great.
Different styles for different screens.
2) Get an app.
Though most major hotel brands have apps, there are still plenty of smaller boutique and independent properties that do not. Though it might seem like an extra feature that only makes sense for the major chains, as apps become more popular in the industry they are becoming more and more of a standard feature.
Apps not only make the mobile experience more user-friendly, they help build loyalty with customers and give you a great communication channel to talk to guests. There are plenty of companies that specialize in hotel app development, just check our article about this year’s HITEC conference to read about some of them.
3) Be interesting.
Being always connected to the internet means being susceptible to a constant stream of content vying for your attention. It’s harder and harder for marketers to stand out.
So as a rule of thumb remember to be interesting! Would you read your hotel’s email or click on your own banner ad? Or would it get drowned out by the latest Twitter trend or viral video.
Not every piece of content you put out there needs to be a blockbuster or the next social media sensation, but remembering that people are constantly being bombarded with information is absolutely critical!
4) Make your rooms mobile device friendly.
Wifi should be free. That’s a pretty consistent sentiment across millennials. It’s not something that business travelers need to check email, it’s something that most guests are accessing within their first 30 minutes in the room.
Also, hotel rooms should be friendly spaces for mobile technology, easy to find outlets or USB charging stations can go a long way to making younger guests feel comfortable.
5) Have a social media presence.
Mobile and social go hand in hand nowadays. We’ll get more into the specifics of social media in a future post, but for now it’s important to at least understand that you need a social media presence.
If your property is managed under a brand page that’s fine, but if you’re independent and don’t have a Twitter account or Facebook page you may be missing out on plenty of millennial eyeballs!
Start implementing these tips and start winning mobile today! And be sure to stay tuned for the rest of this blog series where we will talk about everything else it takes to market to millennials effectively.
