Hospitality marketing: how restaurants, bars, hotels can use SMS and WhatsApp

Customer service is key for every industry, but for the HoReCa industry it is particularly important. Travel operators, hotels, resorts, B&B, restaurants and cafès need to re-evaluate their marketing strategies and find the best way to communicate with their customers. Adding SMS and WhatsApp to their hospitality marketing strategies will allow them to maximise customer service and customer satisfaction.

Why you should use mobile marketing for hospitality

The advantages of a mobile first communication strategy are numerous.

• 98% of people aged 16-54 own a smartphone
• 47% of people in the UK opt-in to receive mobile marketing communications to receive immediate discounts or loyalty reward points and an extra 20% does so to receive special offers triggered by their location
• Customers are already using their mobile devices to engage with hotels, restaurants and cafes, from researching a venue to booking the hotel for the next holiday
• SMS open rate is 98% and 90% of users open a text within 3 minutes of receiving it
• 79% of consumers would consider purchasing a product from a marketing message received via SMS or WhatsApp
• 90% of consumers say a personalised message would encourage them to take action, like a booking

The benefits of rich messaging

Think about a plain SMS text message and supercharge it, that’s rich messaging. It takes all of the great benefits of SMS like high open rates and personalisation, and adds elements like images and video, chatbot integration, interactive buttons and more. Rich messaging can also be delivered through a variety of channels depending on your customer’s preferences, including WhatsApp Business Platform, RCS, and SMS Landing Pages.

Apicius, the 1st Century Roman gourmand, coined the phrase “We eat first with our eyes” – and the joy of rich messaging is that you can deliver that visual feast to customers along with the more pragmatic messages around bookings, parking, allergies, directions, promotions and much more.

Upgrading to a richer marketing strategy like this is designed to get your visual brand in front of more customers, and improve the chance of higher converting customers who are more likely to return for seconds.

Challenges that could be solved with hospitality marketing

Managing seasonality, missed or cancelled bookings, overbooking, excellent customer service are just a few of the challenges that Horeca is facing on a daily basis. Hospitality marketing and communication channels like SMS and WhatsApp can help mitigate or solve all of them.

Seasonality

Going from overbooking to not being able to rent half of the rooms available or tables is pretty common for restaurants, hotels, resorts. Seasonality is for sure something to consider when planning the year. However, there are a few marketing strategies that could help the hospitality sector to mitigate this.

1. SMS for hotels and restaurants can be used to send offers, discounts, promote last minute deals for low season
2. SMS can also be used to send marketing messages to encourage booking during low-peak season at a better price

Manage bookings effectively

Both SMS and WhatsApp can be used effectively to send:

• Booking confirmations
• Booking reminders
• Online check-in notifications
• Travel alerts

Moreover, it’s extremely important for the hospitality sector to reduce no-shows. Confirming reservations and sending timely reminders closer to the date can drastically reduce customers not showing up.

Thanks to the two way conversations customers can have with businesses via WhatsApp, you can also ask them to reschedule by simply replying to your message.

Recommended: SMS vs WhatsApp: Which is better for your business?

Deliver excellent customer service with SMS and WhatsApp

WhatsApp can also be used to send payment reminders to customers, while SMS surveys can be used to ask for feedback to customers after their stay. Customers often check reviews before choosing a hotel or a restaurant, so asking for feedback and a review may help you in the long term.

Moreover, collecting feedback through surveys (via SMS or WhatsApp) will help you understand how to improve your service and make your customers happier. Happy customers are loyal customers that will come back.

Don’t forget to send Thank you messages to your customers after their stay at your hotel or after eating at your restaurants. 

Start welcoming more guests today

Esendex have worked with a wide range of hospitality providers to help maximise their bookings. If you’d like to find out how rich, mobile marketing could help you, please contact our industry experts today on 0345 356 5758 or email us at [email protected].