Gift vouchers are a fantastic way to get in new customers and encourage repeat visits from loyal guests. If you’re not selling as many as you’d like, these proven tactics will get you ahead.
Be Tactful with Wording on Vouchers
What you call your vouchers and the words you use to describe the offer has a huge impact.
Include words such as ‘FREE’ or ‘COMPLIMENTARY’ so the buyer gets the perception that they’re getting more than what they’re paying for. The offer could be something of minimal value to you, i.e. a breakfast, Wi-Fi or a bottle of champagne, but is lucrative to the guest. For example, a romance package could read “Two night stay in our luxury studio apartment with complimentary champagne”.
Target the Right Guests on Social Media
The targeting options on social media platforms, especially Facebook and Instagram, allow you to drill down to your audience based on demographics, behaviour and interests. Make the most of these platforms to push out relevant vouchers. For instance, you can target someone who is recently engaged or interested in weddings with a private dining offer. On LinkedIn, you can promote vouchers offering complimentary airport pick-ups or drop-offs.
Promote Holidays and Special Days
Public holidays or special days such as Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Valentine’s Day etc. are good days to push out vouchers. Create a voucher for such special days – they’re lapped up easily by consumers. It is recommended that you begin promoting these vouchers at least one or two weeks before the day. This varies from market to market. Listen for marketing activity around the day to time your promotion.
Invest in Search
Use paid (SEM) and unpaid (SEO) search to your advantage. Learn about keywords, optimise for search and initiate an Adwords campaign. The results will be seen on the traffic you capture. From here it’s about the conversion of that traffic into bookings.
On-Premise Promotion
Advertising on your hotel premises costs nothing. It does generate awareness and lead to more sales than you give it credit for. Push the vouchers through your front desk and posters or leaflets at strategic places around the property.
Treat Your Loyal Customers
Offer complementary vouchers to loyal customers. Not only does it make your guest feel more appreciated, it helps in directly and indirectly improving voucher sales. Happy guests equates to good reviews and more bookings.
Market Them via Email
Email is one of the most cost-efficient marketing tools. Depending on the data you collect from your audience, you can even target selected customers based on interest and voucher type. For example, couples can be targeted with romance package vouchers and families can be targeted with family holiday vouchers. Here are some more tips on how you can promote vouchers via email:
- Target repeat customers as they’re more likely to book with you. Personalised emails and creative vouchers may be just the nudge needed for them to book.
- Don’t go overboard with voucher promotion. Spamming will get you nowhere, except a dwindling database. Aim for no more than one or two email promotions in a month. Remember by getting them to your website, you’re anyways opening their eyes to your other offers.
- Target booked guests before arrival. Send them non-accommodation related vouchers before they check-in to encourage purchase of additional services from you, and increasing the value of their visit.
Written by Raynor Jeddo, Gift Voucher Engine Product Specialist.
For more information about Gift Voucher Engine click here.