If you’re in the hotel business, it makes good business sense to understand what makes your brand more attractive to millenials. Here are my ten ways I can help you appeal to the millennial market. As a photographer, I can help with many of these aspects – don’t hesitate to get in touch!
1. Offer authenticity: millenials are not big fans of traditional advertising and they can spot a stock image a mile away. So don’t use them! Make sure you use real photography as part of your marketing presence – that means your website showcases original product and brand images that really reflect your hotel and the experience that your guests will have when they stay with you.
2. Vouchers and Coupons work! Build trust by offering low-risk ways for Millenials to experience your brand. Trust is important for them and they love vouchers, coupons and other easy opportunities to try new things. This can be a great first-step to building relationships with this generation.
3. Mobile-everything: Your booking engines should be geared up for reservations made on smart phones. Millenials don’t, to a lot of people’s surprise, just spend their days snap chatting and Instagramming their lives. They do a lot of things on their smart phones, and this includes researching hotels, planning trips, and booking accommodation. Offer a great mobile experience if you want to appeal to this demographic – they are likely to complete the whole sales journey on just their phone, compared to older generations who would have either used a travel agent, or done their bookings on a desktop.
4. Give them a little something extra. Millenials love to get more than what they pay for! They are careful with their money and they will often look to use any social clout that they have to negotiate things like upgrades or free services. One hotel in Sydney has leant into this concept by offering a free night’s stay for anyone with over 10,000 followers on Instagram!
5. Be forward thinking with your food: 52% of millenials consider themselves foodies! They’re informed about nutrition, they care about flavour and taste, and they like innovative options. So don’t be afraid to let your F&B team experiment with new ideas and offerings.
6. Make it snappy.Not only should your brand be mobile friendly, but your website should load fast and be high-impact. When I shoot new images for a hotel, I always supply different versions of images for different channels. Photography for your website should be high quality but low file size, allowing your website to load quickly and look beautiful on first impact. Millenials are impatient and they won’t wait. If your site takes too long, they’re likely to just move on.
7. Let them see your value. Show your reviews and customer opinions online, and highlight your ‘social proof’ which is your following on your social media channels.
8. Share the spotlight. Let your millennial guests take an active role in your brand storytelling. This generation loves things that are a little bit different – so make a point of showcasing your most interesting and unique spaces in your hotel – it’s a great way to get your property seen, by your guests as they snap a picture of it on their phone, tag it and share it across their social channels.
9. Be ready to chat! If Millenials have a question for you about your hotel, or your specials, they’ll want an immediate answer. So make sure your team is geared up to chat via mobile and social when those enquiries come through!
10. Set the scene: Millenials love to explore, and love to be part of a community. Don’t just showcase your hotel in your marketing material – show everything that goes on around you in your local area, from produce markets to music events and interesting local stores, makers, artists and things to do.
Imagery by Mauro Risch, The Hotel Photographer
Over the last decade, Mauro Risch has become known simply as The Hotel Photographer. He is trusted by PR and marketing teams, hotel managers and executive brand teams right across the Asia Pacific region. Mauro is the preferred photographer for some of the top operators across the industry, including Intercontinental, Carlson Rezidor, Marriott and Wyndham.
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