Unlike previous years, we did not see a peak in the volume of visitors to hotel sites throughout Black Friday. Site traffic stayed reasonably steady, decreasing -0.9% for the hotel clients who ran a devoted project and -9.8% for those who didnt run a campaign. This pattern is very different to previous editions however appears to have been a trend noticeable in other markets. Perhaps with everything else going on the planet today, individuals were not as eager to look for the lots out there?
A report conducted by The Hotels Network, one of our Professional Partners, shows that this year Black Friday when again had a considerable favorable effect on the hotels direct booking channel.
Lets take a better look at what the outcomes reveal … Black Friday increases direct appointments
These results underline that hoteliers are becoming more fluent when creating and promoting their Black Friday offers, grabbing the attention of visitors efficiently and nudging them towards a direct reservation. The deals weve seen performing especially well are those that utilized behavioral targeting to customize the message to different audiences along with those including a countdown clock. By leveraging these customization and conversion strategies, hoteliers have the ability to show the right message to the best audience at the correct time while producing a sense of urgency, leading to immediate bookings.
It would be a lost opportunity to restrict your actions to Black Friday. You should discover ways to benefit from any dates marked on the calendar that are pertinent to your visitors and hotel brand name: Christmas, New Years, Valentines Day … or why not the less-known however more original Pillow Fight Day or Chocolate Day? You can make any event a prime opportunity to boost direct reservations.
The findings suggest that these hotels successfully produced tactical offers that not only improved the variety of direct reservations but the average booking worth too. Weve seen Black Friday deals of all kinds and types, from extended stays to greater space categories, special advantages, and more. By following tried and evaluated strategies, hotels have actually been able to successfully engage with visitors on their site and motivate them to invest something extra to be able to access these unique deals.
The results of the analysis are encouraging since they show that in spite of the obstacles our industry is facing, the Black Friday period still represents a golden chance for hoteliers to improve their direct sales.
Black Friday is a golden chance.
Its more interesting, however, to take a look at the impact on sales. Despite there being no rise in site traffic, there was a considerable increase in the volume of visitors making a scheduling on hotel sites. In the research study, hotels running Black Friday campaigns experienced an impressive uplift in website conversion of +52% typically compared to only +4% for hotels in the control group with no Black Friday campaigns.
These dates are essential sales periods that generate a substantial increase in your hotels appointments. This year weve seen Black Friday last for days, even weeks. Today its possible to section the visitors coming to your hotel site, so why not make them feel special with customized offers?
As everybody within the industry is participating in this phenomenon– rivals, OTAs, other accommodation service providers– not doing anything is no longer an alternative for hoteliers. This essential commercial date, and the chance it presents to hotel brand names to provoke a spike in direct reservations, is not something to be missed! The secret here is to construct a strong direct channel technique by planning strategically and developing timely, individualized campaigns that resonate among your prospective visitors and trigger an uplift in site conversions.
Taking a sample of 1,000+ THN hotel customers worldwide, weve compared the hotels direct channel results during the core Black Friday duration (from November 17th to November 30th, 2021) to a duration in the previous month (from October 18th to October 31st, 2021). To separate the result of seasonality, the analysis contrasts the efficiency of those hotels who ran a devoted Black Friday project to a control group– hotels who didnt run a project.
How to capitalize on growing demand throughout upcoming essential calendar dates.
Based on the analysis, the growth in typical direct revenue experienced by hotel customers running a project was +73.6% vs just +12.9% for the control group without campaigns. This direct profits growth rate was greater than the +50.7% increase in direct reservations thanks to the average booking value being +15.2% greater as well..
When you have chosen which essential dates you are going to include in your hotels marketing plan, here are a couple of last suggestions to assist you execute campaigns effectively and attain strong growth in your direct reservations..
A common worry about flash sales is whether hoteliers are consuming into their profits when marking down rates. This wasnt the case for our hotel customers running Black Friday projects..
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With the Black Friday and Cyber Monday insanity now over, its a great time for hoteliers to show on outcomes, see if they have fulfilled expectations and assess which techniques have actually proven to be the most reliable ones. At The Hotels Network, weve performed a thorough analysis to understand how the direct channel efficiency of hotels has actually been affected by such a crucial date
The findings recommend that these hotels effectively created tactical deals that not just increased the number of direct reservations but the typical booking worth. These dates are essential sales periods that produce a considerable increase in your hotels reservations.
Black Friday deals do not lower average booking worth.
Unlike previous years, we did not see a peak in the volume of visitors to hotel sites throughout Black Friday. Site traffic remained fairly stable, decreasing -0.9% for the hotel customers who ran a devoted campaign and -9.8% for those who didnt run a project. In the study, hotels running Black Friday projects experienced an excellent uplift in site conversion of +52% on typical compared to just +4% for hotels in the control group without any Black Friday campaigns.
