Four Types of Marketing Automations Every Resort Should be Running

Marketing automations are one of the most underutilized strategies in the resort industry. Sometimes the blame lies with the technology resorts are using, but more often it’s a matter of not seeing all the ways marketing automations can be used to drive the behavior resorts need to be successful.

Here are four of those types of campaigns with an example of each to get the wheels turning.

1. Nurturing Campaigns

Many of the emails you capture through things like website forms aren’t quite ready to book, but they have shown some level of interest. Nurturing campaigns capitalize on this interest by sharing more reasons to consider booking, more ways to connect with your resort, and more moments to build brand awareness and affinity. What we call a “Dream” campaign is a great example of this.

This campaign focusing in on those top reasons people love to visit your resort and inspires them to explore and learn more about the experiences you offer. It’s simple but incredibly effective at moving these prospective guests one step closer to booking.

2. Revenue Campaigns

Yes, marketing automation can and should generate direct, measurable revenue. These campaigns are triggered at moments guests are highly likely to buy and encourage them to book more, book again, or book something they started but didn’t complete. A perfect example of this is a Product Recommendation automation.

Because resorts typically sell more than just lodging, this campaign finds the guests who only booked one products – lodging, spa, tee-times, etc. – and highlights the other things they could also experience during their visit. Not only does it increase revenue, it increases guest satisfaction as well because they’re now aware of other things that could enhance their visit.

3. Guest Experience Campaigns

If you want to know how likely a guest is to return to your resort, you need only look at their NPS score. The correlation between these two things is strong and consistent. Which means that you can increase the likelihood a guest will return next year by making sure they have a great experience today. A simple example of this is the Arrival Day campaign.

This campaign gets ahead of issues that could derail a clean, smoot arrival at your resort and, thus, jeopardize their experience before it even starts. Accurate directions, road closures, after hours arrival info, or a phone number to call if they hit any snags en route are all perfect things to include.

4. Loyalty Campaigns

While traditional loyalty programs are a classic strategy for driving loyalty, but marketing automation can also drive much of the same behavior without the overhead. Whether a guest just came for the second time of tenth time, a Loyalty Recognition campaign is a clever example of this approach.

By surprising and delighting a guest with a special reward for being loyal, the guest sees the same potential for future rewards of a traditional program. Plus, if you play these perks right, the only way for them to use their gift is to return to the resort.

Want more ideas? These campaigns are an excerpt from our book The Ultimate Guide to Resort Marketing Automations. Use the link below to request free, printed copy for your team.
https://corp.inntopia.com/tools/the-ultimate-guide-printed/