Kobie’s VP of Business Development and Marketing, Bram Hechtkopf, recently wrote an article for eHotelier about how the hotel industry can improve its approach to loyalty marketing this year.
“When it comes to generating customer loyalty, hoteliers need to do more than launch a generic loyalty program – which only succeeds in producing points-seeking ‘mattress runners,’” writes Bram. Increasing a hotel’s base of loyal customers requires a significant investment in connecting with guests, such as using augmented reality apps and launching programs targeted at Millennials and locals living near a hotel property, while also strengthening loyalty fundamentals such as data analysis and tier structures. You can read the entire piece, “Loyalty Programs: Tactics to Boost Results in 2014,” here.
In related news, the first G20 Hotelvision conference took place in Europe earlier this month where customer data was the topic du jour. An executive from the Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group talked about how OTAs (Online Travel Agencies) cannot let Google control the flow of marketing data in the travel industry. “Possess information about your guests,” he said, “do not let another organization do this!” This is, in fact, a huge aspect of what Kobie helps companies accomplish through our Alchemy® platform, to own, manage and optimize their customer data. And once they do, there are endless ways to be creative with it and to improve the guest experience, as Bram lays out in his article.
You can read the entire piece, “Loyalty Programs: Tactics to Boost Results in 2014,” here and share your views with us below or at info@kobie.com.