Happy Halloween! 9 Ways to Use Location Services Without Being Creepy
Once considered creepy, using location services to deliver customized guest experiences is becoming the new norm. In fact, location-based marketing delivered via mobile is one of the top five personalization strategies most likely to increase brand loyalty, with three of four hotel guests appreciating when hotels customize messaging and offers.
Savvy hoteliers are incorporating location-based tech into their hotel apps to increase guest engagement and create 1:1 hyper-personalized experiences. Here we explore nine ways you can use location-based push notifications (without being creepy!) to delight your guests and help ensure that they’re more likely to return for future stays.
Your Chariot Awaits
When guests using your app land at the airport, you can send an automated notification that provides them with the instant ability to start tracking your hotel shuttle on a live map. They’ll appreciate the ability to easily see the pick-up location and estimated wait times, eliminating concerns over missing their ride or wasting time standing around waiting.
Come On In!
Geofencing the airport – or hotel parking lot – also lets you send a location-based notification that allows guests to check-in remotely. They’ll appreciate that they can complete the process, receive their room number and instantly get information about hotel amenities, local dining options and attractions before they even set foot inside your hotel.
Open Sesame
With location services, your guests no longer have to worry about keeping track of key cards. You can send a push notification that delivers a mobile key directly to their smartphone, one that activates as they approach their guest room door. You can also digitally provide access to other guest-only hotel areas, such as the parking garage, swimming pool, fitness center and more.
Need something?
With remote check-in and location services, you know when each guest should be arriving. So, you can plan ahead to ensure their room is ready on time and they won’t have to endure frustrating wait times. Upon arrival, you can also increase guest engagement with an automated “Need something” message. Maybe they forgot a razor or toothbrush, or they need more towels. You can delight guests by responding quickly with the items they need to customize their stay.
Keep it Personal
Location services help you create a dynamic, personalized experience for each guest. Integrate guest profile information from your hotel app with location data to present guests with customized upsell and cross-sell offers that will enhance their experience (and your bottom line). For instance, if you know a guest got a manicure at your spa in the past, you can send them a push notification more likely to convert by offering a discount on a mani-pedi and facial package.
Make it Rewarding
Score high in guest engagement by segmenting your guests and sending location-based notifications to specific demographics or groups staying at your hotel. As an example you can segment out your loyalty program members, and reward them with an offer of discounted tickets for an evening performance, complimentary late check-out or other perks.
Dining in?
You can anticipate guest needs and drive foot traffic to your onsite restaurant with perfectly timed promotions. Send a “Happy Hour 4-6:00 p.m., 2-for-1 Drink Specials” message to guests who are on-property during that time window. Or, during dinner time, you can send a push notification to guests who are still in their rooms, highlighting that day’s mouthwatering specials or linking to your room service menu (or both!).
Dining Poolside?
Guests lounging beside your pool can automatically receive a pool-side menu once they arrive. Your guests will love that they never even have to get out of their chaise, but instead can order a frosty, tropical cocktail, pay for it from their smartphone, then relax in the sunshine as a poolside waiter delivers it right to their spot.
Anticipate Their Needs
You can use location services to geofence areas surrounding key points of interest. Within your hotel app, geofences can automatically trigger mobile coupon offers when a guest approaches a specific attraction. Or when guests leave a particular event or performance, you can send a push notification guiding them to recommended restaurants and bars.
Would you like to increase guest engagement using location services
(without being creepy!) at your hotel?
Sources:
[1] “Brand Loyalty 2020: The Need for Hyper-Individualization.” Formation, 2020, https://info.formation.ai/rs/435-BMS371/images/Formation_Brandloyalty_datastudy_vFINAL.pdf.
[2] HIGH TECH FOR HIGH TOUCH: 2016 Hospitality Vision Study. Zebra Technologies, 2016, https://www.zebra.com/content/dam/zebra_new_ia/en-us/solutions-verticals/vertical-solutions/retail/vision-study/retail-vision-study-2021-shopper-study-en-us.pdf.