Prior to the dawn of the web period, there were two sources of long-distance communication– calls and SMS. Telecalling and SMS marketing are still popular among online marketers. For hotels, SMS marketing is one of the easiest strategies to use. There are numerous concerns relating to it. Such as: Is SMS marketing for hotels expensive?Can you automate SMS marketing for your hotel?What sort of projects can I develop for text message marketing in hotels?In this blog site, I will be addressing all your questions and sharing some tips on SMS marketing for hotels.History of SMS MarketingBefore I start on SMS marketing, lets discuss its history. The principle of SMS was 1st established in 1984, by Friedhelm Hillebrand and Bernard Ghillebaert for the GSM corporation. The idea ended up being truth on 3rd December 1992, when Neil Papworth sent the 1st ever SMS to his coworker Richard Jarvis, wanting him Merry Christmas. Since then, SMS has become one of the most extensively accepted modes of interaction after telephone call. These days, we have numerous internet-based applications like WhatsApp, i-Messaging, and WeChat; but SMS still remains a prompt mode of communication and action. SMS became an extensively accepted marketing tool in early 2000. In reality, the limitation of 160 characters brought to life the SMS language.With time, different websites entered the image that allowed users to send out bulk messages for marketing functions. Of these, some were paid while others were complimentary. Here are some fascinating truths about SMS marketing by TechJury, Around 75% of clients prefer getting deals via SMS, with a mind-blowing opening rate of 98%. As a matter of reality, this CTR rate is 9.18% higher than any other digital marketing project. Benefits of SMS Marketing for HotelsConsidering the above-mentioned stats, theres no doubt that SMS marketing is among the finest tools for hotels to reach out to their visitors. Additionally, there are numerous complimentary platforms available in the market for deploying and developing messaging campaigns. Another fascinating fact shared by TechJury mentions that,9/ 10 individuals open advertising text messages, which is substantially higher than the opening ratio of marketing e-mails. The very best part of using SMS marketing for hotels is that it doesnt require any web connection. Meaning, neither the hotelier requires to have a data connection to send SMS, nor the guests require it to open the message. Thats why it can even be used by residential or commercial properties located in remote locations with web connectivity concerns. Here are some other benefits of SMS marketing: Negligible setup costEasy to utilize and understandDoesnt require a great deal of expertiseHelps in reaching a broader audienceSource of direct bookingsCan be automatedRules and Regulations to Follow in SMS MarketingAlthough SMS marketing is quite helpful and can be easily implemented, there are certain rules and policies that need to be followed while producing any text marketing campaign.These rules are laid down by the telecom authorities of every country, mobile carriers, and messaging providers. For instance TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India), TCPA (Telephone Consumer Protection Act) in the US, Way2SMS, Simple Texting, and such others.The rules are usually typical with a little bit of tweaking. Let me inform you a couple of them followed in India: The acceptable time for sending out marketing messages is in between 10.00 AM to 09:00 PM. And any such texts sent out outside this time range will be delivered the next day.Users signing up for DND will not get any advertising messages from any company.Using individual numbers for SMS marketing is strictly prohibited.Users can send and receive just 200 messages per day.Sending any political message is prohibited, particularly during election times.These are just a few of them from the list. And it is obligatory for the users to abide by these rules. If anybody stops working to do so, they may face legal effects such as penalty charges, number being blocked, or suspension of services. Heres an in-depth post you need to read prior to you opt to go with SMS marketing for your hotel.Text messaging laws every online marketer should knowTips to Make the Best of SMS Marketing for HotelsI hope by now you d be feeling excited to purchase SMS marketing for your hotel. So, let me share some suggestions that will help you in achieving much better outcomes through text marketing projects.1. Concentrate on collecting visitor dataYou must have heard that information is the brand-new oil. And the hospitality industry is the sea with an abundance of visitor data. For hotels, there are various sources to collect data, such as: Past scheduling recordsLoyalty program membershipsGuest questions from websiteInbound calls, email, and WhatsAppSocial media platformsOne thing common in all these sources is that guests share their contact number with hotels to get a callback. All you have to do is save those information with you. When done, you can develop different lists according to guest division and after that use it to introduce your SMS marketing campaign. 2. Use chatbot to automate text marketingToday, numerous marketing tasks are automated, and SMS marketing is one amongst them. This is possible just if you have actually released a chatbot at your property. If you are unaware of how to do that, heres a comprehensive blog site we have on chatbots for your reference.IronMan had JARVIS; Hotels have ChatbotsOnce youve installed a chatbot on your website, you can configure it to collect visitor data and send promotional text at particular intervals.3. Create several text templatesTalking about SMS design templates for hotels, you need to have numerous ones for each celebration. Let me discuss with an example.The very first message you d be showing your guests is an advertising deal to garner their attention. It might be something like this:”Welcome brand-new year with a bang. Book a stay with us and get a gala dinner and endless beverages totally free. Contact us: +91852365241/ 2/3″Suppose, a guest found it fascinating and reserved their stay with you. The next step would be acknowledging their booking. The text you will send the guest should be something like this:”Dear XYZ, Thank you for reserving your stay with us. We are anticipating serving you soon. For any inquiries, feel complimentary to call us: +91852365241/ 2/3″These are sample formats of promotional But thats not all. You can develop other templates with recommendations for visitors such as activities, location information, guidelines and policies of the hotel, accessories they must bring, and so on. You need to produce templates that you can send to visitors at every action, right from the day they book your property, till they go to the hotel once again. Guarantee that every message you send out is under 160 characters, or else the guests will receive it partly, therefore beating the whole purpose of going with SMS marketing.4. Buy timely projects A major mistake that every marketer makes is sending advertising messages either frequently or at irregular intervals. In the first scenario, visitors might get inflamed and end up unsubscribing the advertising deals from the hotel. Whilst in the second case, the campaign might not fetch the predicted result. Thats why, prior to you initiate any SMS marketing campaign for your hotel, prepare an appropriate calendar. Look for long weekends, upcoming fests in the town, and other such events. Streamline this task with the income management group, as theyll assist you with ongoing offers and deals to bring in guests.Pro pointer: Target one guest segment at a time. Significance, instead of shooting SMS to all the visitors on a single day, go for one type per day. Corporate visitors on Monday, solo tourists on Wednesday, and so on.5. Collect client feedback through SMSSMS marketing is not simply limited to sending out promotional offers. It consists of other tasks also, such as: Collecting guest feedbackSharing the hotel cab detailsOffering them in-house servicesSending invoice detailsOf these jobs, collecting evaluations is a MUST for each hotel. Factor being, guests mainly leave the premises in rush to capture a flight or a train, and forget sharing their valuable feedback.You can just draft a thank you message design template, consist of an examining link in the very same and send it to guests. In case they fail to do so, you can always send a pointer text asking to share their important feedback. 6. Share updates with internal guests over SMSAs I said above, offering internal services over SMS is a part of the hotels text messaging system. All you require to do is, create an SMS design template highlighting the services offered at your home with a link to your website. Dont overfill the details. Just give a tip and reroute them to your site. Heres a sample format of hotels advertising SMS:”Dear XYZ, make your stay more peaceful by entering our Ayurvedic medical spa. Click the link to know more. (Link)”That way, you can record guests attention, increase check outs on your site, and upsell your services to them. ConclusionI am a millennial, and thats why I am quite familiar with the SMS associated aspects. We were the ones to introduce the world idea of SMS language. During those days, when mobile phones were not in image, we had keypad phones with calls and SMS as the only ways of communication. We utilized to have an unique recharge for text messaging. Today, in spite of all the advancement in mobile technology, one thing that stays consistent is SMS/text message marketing. Even today, if we call anyone for a task or for contact information, we say “kindly text me your e-mail address or contact details”. Thats why text marketing was popular then and even now. I am sure this blog site has actually offered you a fresh perspective if you have been thinking that SMS marketing is useless. Ive shared whatever you need to know about SMS marketing for hotels in this blog site. Attempt implementing the points in your present marketing program and witness it yourself.
Such as: Is SMS marketing for hotels expensive?Can you automate SMS marketing for your hotel?What kind of projects can I develop for text message marketing in hotels?In this blog site, I will be addressing all your questions and sharing some tips on SMS marketing for hotels.History of SMS MarketingBefore I start on SMS marketing, lets talk about its history. Benefits of SMS Marketing for HotelsConsidering the above-mentioned statistics, theres no doubt that SMS marketing is one of the best tools for hotels to reach out to their visitors. Heres a detailed short article you must check out before you opt to go with SMS marketing for your hotel.Text messaging laws every marketer should knowTips to Make the Best of SMS Marketing for HotelsI hope by now you d be feeling excited to invest in SMS marketing for your hotel. Usage chatbot to automate text marketingToday, various marketing jobs are automated, and SMS marketing is one amongst them. Make sure that every message you send is under 160 characters, or else the visitors will get it partially, consequently defeating the whole purpose of deciding for SMS marketing.4.
