Hotel and Social Media trends in 2018 will be impacted by colorful experiences.
The human brain is designed in such a way that people automatically follow their emotions towards a rational decision.
Professional Advertisers has long understood the emotions has on people’s decisions and actions.
Trends we see towards 2018 is that Social Networks is doing more to help brands understand the impact Social Communities have.
I have looked at some of the emerging Hotel trends for 2018 that will make an impact on revenue and occupancy.
In 2017 I presented several techniques, processes and strategies helping Hotels with shifts towards sustainable Content and Social Media Marketing. For 2018 I focus on events and patterns that in nature never exactly repeat because extremely small differences and conditions impact the differing outcomes.
I also looked at how Hotel and Social Media trends will take hospitality to a new level.
Hotel and Community
There is no doubt any longer in 2018 the largest market segment of Hotels will be millennials.
Millennials are more diverse than baby boomers. And they are now really starting to flex their buying powers. This is something Hotels will have to adjust for in 2018.
Millennials are hyper adept at multitasking and are fully immersed in both their digital and physical lives.
Millennials are also a demanding generation that wants a more balanced, healthy lifestyle, and they want to be more informed about companies, their products, and their business practices. They also expect products to do more for them and for their Social community.
Hotels will be required to provide more on-the-go experiences that are easy to share. Connectivity, convenience, and options are important factors for the millennial customer.
Crowdsourced Hotels
This is a trend that some savvy brands have practiced for some years. 2018 will be the year Hotels finally becomes a people brand.
A familiar hospitality people brand many Hotels can model is Airbnb.
This is about including people and Social communities shaping your Hotel. Brands that put in place crowdsourcing campaigns have been blown away by the interest, time and effort their Social community put in place to be part of shaping the future for the brand.
Giving the Social community a say in your Hotels direction gives them a stronger sense of ownership and connection.
Story Hotels
Storytelling is nothing new. The important point for Hotels to understand is that millennials are the stories that add value to their experience. Millennials look for brands they can believe in, be a part of, and make statements through, that echo their personal stories.
Smart Hotel marketers will start taking advantage of cognitive technology that emphasizes the stories in authentic ways. This will put them in a better position to understand the emotions and rationale that drives actions.
Working with the Social community will empower Hotels to emerge as content brands.
Lifestyle Hotels
Lifestyle Hotel brands have been around for a while. It was initially designed to become next-generation boutique Hotels.
Driven by the chains, they borrowed the best elements of boutiques, small, intimate and modern, and throw in advantages only a chain can offer, like loyalty perks, consistency and economies of scale. As a result, lifestyle Hotels are generally more affordable and accessible than boutique Hotels.
In some ways, lifestyle Hotels was on the edge of losing its meaning. Customers were not able to identify themselves with this type of Hotels.
Offering the most desirable and sought-after lifestyles a lifestyle that only can be dreamt about, Hotels will in 2018 redefine the meaning of lifestyle and living. With the best of all the worlds – facilities, features, infrastructure, recreation, environment, shopping, and what not, living in itself is a luxury.
Experience bookings
We know that millennials are not loyal to a specific brand, they are driven by the experience.
Research done by Airbnb show that most Millennials would prioritize travel over buying a home or paying off debt. This highlights the importance Millennials place on travel, and how they are looking to build their adventures through unique experiences.
Total weekly experience guests have increased 20x over the year and are growing steadily. Based on Airbnb’s forecast, under-the-radar outdoor excursions and live concerts will lead the market for experiences in 2018.
Hotels will start model and collaborate with Airbnb to add new unique values to experience bookings.
Capitalizing on the Micro-Moments
In this sharing economy, it won’t be enough just to be present across more micro-moments. Hotels will be expected to stay a step ahead of the consumer, to know their needs even better than they do.
Successful Hotel marketers will have a much deeper understanding of their customers at every encounter. They’ll focus on acquiring a detailed, data-driven view to know them and help them along their journeys. That’s the assistive mindset that will be required to win.
Micro-moments will provide Hotels unique data that will set out a personalized experience.
Artificial Intelligence and Bots first steps to an automated Hotel
Artificial Intelligence (AI) will reshape the future of Hospitality. AI Is already starting to shape our everyday life.
For Hotels, the potential to leverage AI to transform Hotels, bringing radical cost reductions and efficiencies while opening up entirely new kinds of opportunities, is truly exciting.
In traditional online and social advertising, we call a click of an ad or play of a video “engagement”. Engagement with a chatbot, on the other hand, is an active conversation with a user that is prepared to make an educated decision.
Hotels will now provide a personalized customer experience through Facebook Messenger.
The Hotel Content Funnel – a dynamic process
I work on content strategies that support The Hotel Content Funnel. This is an ongoing dynamic process where data, information, and innovation will reach the relevant consumers for a given Hotel.
SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGEMENT AND FACEBOOK ADVERTISING FOR HOTELS
Facebook Native Advertising will help Hotels redefine the customer experience. Take advantage of new innovative strategies that will improve your Hotels ROI.
FREE access to our Hotel Social Media Community – Get more insights and training about Facebook Native Ads for Hotels!
Our Social Media Management team has refined these processes to help Hotels. Contact us today to learn more.
Join our Free Hotel Social Media Community on Facebook for more in-depth insight.
Try something new it will magnetize your Hotel!
Be flexible and identify new ways to make guests happy.
As guest behavior and pattern continues to evolve, expectations will continue to rise. Navigating these changes can be challenging. Learn more about how we can help your Hotel.
About the author
Are Morch is the founder and owner of Are Morch – Hotel Marketing Coach. Get more from Are on Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn | Pinterest | Instagram| Podcast
