How to Attract Millennials to Your Hotel | Hotel Marketing
March 22, 2021|Hotel Marketing

Millennials now make up the most significant portion of the consumer market and possess the strongest buying power, too. It is vital to be familiar with their behavior as a demographic, so you can tailor your marketing strategies to fit their needs.

So how do you sell your hotel to a millennial?

1. Social media is key

90% of millennials are involved in social media (Emarketer, 2019) and spend up to 3 hours a day on different online networking platforms (Globalwebindex, 2019). It would be an understatement to say that millennials are fond of social media.

Tiktok and Instagram are two social media platforms whose popularity has exponentially skyrocketed in the past few years. Interestingly enough, they are both visual content-centered. This trend reveals so much about millennials' inclination to visuals. They love filming themselves, taking photos of just about everything, and sharing it with the world.

This itself is a huge window of opportunity to attract millennials. In marketing your property, the first question to ask is, "is it Instagrammable?" Since it's all about visuals, the place's appearance is a priority.

In selling your hotel, you should highlight the most attractive areas where millennial guests will most likely be drawn to take selfies. An interesting piece in the hotel lobby, quirky decors, immaculate bathrooms. Have all bases covered?

Letting millennials stay in your hotel and having their photos posted all over social media can serve as free advertisement and endorsement without spending anything. This is why it's not enough to offer free wi-fi and think your hotel is already millennial-friendly.

2. Outstanding customer relations

While every guest deserves the best customer service, it is worth noting that millennials pay more attention to this part of their experience than Gen X-ers do. One factor to consider is that millennials are used to having everything quickly and instantly. They expect things to be handed out quickly, complaints addressed immediately and everything done efficiently. They do not have the patience that Baby Boomers have.

Another thing that millennials are so used to is instant messaging. Your hotel should always have someone to answer inquiries and chats, as millennials are not the type to dial and call your call center. It is worth adding messaging platforms such as Whatsapp, Facebook Messenger or Viber to reach your customer service staff. You want to be as approachable and reachable at all times.

And since millennials are constantly connected to the internet and their social media network, the tiniest negative impression or a minor concern that goes unresolved can be easily shared with the online community. This is why it is a must to reach out to them and get their feedback not only as they check out but also throughout their stay. This allows you to address and pacify any unfavorable thoughts they might have before sharing a review online.

Impress your millennial guests by making sure your customer service staff personally responds to any feedback.

3. Efficient booking system

As you already know, millennials favor doing transactions online over other methods. Being constantly on their mobile phones, they are most likely going to make that booking online.

Having a stunning website—again, it is all about vivid visuals—is a sure way to pull them in. Once they are on your page, make sure that the booking process is smooth and efficient. The fewer steps it takes to complete the transaction, the better.

Having too many tabs and pages can make the site heavy and will take time to load. Unnecessary steps that require unimportant details in the check-out page can turn them off and place a reservation elsewhere. When setting up your site, make sure it is optimized and responsive when viewed on mobile devices. The last thing you need is a payment button that does not respond to touch when viewed on mobile devices.

4. More options, alternatives, and inclusivity

The next thing to consider about marketing to millennials is their generational culture. Backpacking and traveling alone is very popular among their group. It's certainly an attraction to them if your hotel offers something that satisfies guests' needs who are traveling solo.

This is one of the reasons why capsule hotels have become a success. Young travelers seeking a place to rest and access clean water find it convenient and practical. If you decide to cater to millennial solo travelers, features such as smaller tables for dining solo, a gym, or a singles bar would be perfect.

You may even run an entire campaign dedicated just for solo travelers in your marketing plan.

5. Value for money

Last but not least, millennials have unique spending habits. Whether they are traveling as groups or solo, millennials are pretty price-conscious customers. Millennials like to get the best value for their money. This is why discount deals, travel bundles, and coupon codes are always a hit among them. The idea that they are getting more than what they paid for is an excellent attraction for budget-wise millennials.

Remember, they might not like to pay premium prices, but your brand's positive exposure to their social media network through their videos, images, and reviews certainly makes up for it.

Learning about millennials as a target market and putting extra effort into meeting their demands does not necessarily mean you can disregard other segments of your audience.

Baby Boomers, for instance, are also an exceptional target audience, which, when pursued correctly, can bring good money to the bank. It is all about creating a perfect balance between the different market segments you serve and making sure that no one is more favored over the other.

If you need help in marketing your hotel, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. Call 888-999- 8086 or go to www.bezla.com

Bezla.com LLC

Website: https://Bezla.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bezla
Phone: +1-888-999-8086
1800 JFK Blvd Suite 300 PMB 91649
Philadelphia, PA 19103