Mr. Johnson

Sales & Marketing

The Big “O” - Driving Guest Engagement Online, On-the-Go, and Onsite

By Mark Johnson, President, Loyalty 360 - The Loyalty Marketer’s Association

“Customer Engagement” It’s a term you’ve heard about quite a bit over the last couple of years - and one that should be at the forefront of your marketing efforts.

But what is customer engagement? Is it satisfaction? Is it loyalty? Is it recommending your brand? It’s all of these - plus more.

Engagement is all about strengthening the emotional connection between the customer and the brand by consistently delivering (if not exceeding) the brand promise at each and every touch point. Customers that feel this emotional connection are more satisfied, more loyal and more apt to become ambassadors for your brand.

The 2009 PeopleMetrics Most Engaged Customers Study supports this definition --- and takes it a step further by showing the reverse impact of disengagement. Based on feedback from 20,000+ consumers, the research found that:

• A fully engaged customer recommends a brand nearly 4 times more often and does an ambivalent customer who is setting “on-the-fence” (on average 11 recommendations vs. 3). By contract, an actively disengaged customer will tell, on average, 3 people to avoid (yes - AVOID) a company and its services

• 13% of fully engaged customers post to a blog or website about their positive experiences. The actively disengaged customer is 4 times for likely than a neutral customer to post to a blog or website about their poor customer experience.

• A fully engaged customer visits that company’s website twice as often as an actively disengaged customer and makes three times as many online purchases.

Where does engaging customers begin? For hotels, driving engagement takes place on three levels: online, on the go, and onsite.

Engaging Guests Online

Engaging guests online requires hotels to understand how their guests use the web to get information. Many people use transaction-based activities - comparing rates, view room options, booking rooms, etc. Jasons Travel media reports, for example, that when planning travel, 91% of consumers check out websites related to their destination; 64.5% also read online review of accommodations. As for room bookings, in Q3 of 2009, internet CSR bookings for the top 30 hotel brand grew by 6.6% compared to the previous year, while both GDS bookings and voice bookings declined by 3.6% and 3% respectively. (eTRAK).

While securing online bookings is undoubtedly a critical aspect of a hotel’s online presence, it should not be the only goal. Your online activity presence provides a wealth of opportunity to move your guests along the continuum from “transaction” to “interaction” - and interaction is where you get engagement. By delivering relevant information such as user-generated content, customer feedback and reviews, vacation planning ideas, property photos and videos - price moves down the decision-making-totem-pole and you create a meaningful online experience that drives engagement with your guests.

Consider these statistics:

• In August, 2009, The Center for Hospitality Research at Cornell University issued “What’s Your Hotel’s Reputation Management Strategy?” which addressed the power of user- generated reviews. According to the report, 88% say that user-generated reviews contribute to their ultimate hotel selection; those using the reviews consider what they read to be almost twice as important as brand or reputation in their decision.

• According to the nationally representative survey of just over 2,200 U.S. adults conducted by Ypartnership and the U.S. Travel association in October 2009, nearly 60% of active travelers have visited a social networking site. Their most popular activities while on these sites include uploading photos/videos (49%) and rating products or services (46%). Roughly one-quarter have visited a chat room and/or posted content to a blog. Nearly half (46%) check new postings to their site(s) at least once a day.

• According to the 2009 Benchmark Survey on Hotel Internet Marketing Strategies, Budget Planing and Best Practices by Hospitality eBusiness Strategies, hoteliers strongly believe that internet marketing produces the best results in terms of revenue, buzz, and awareness. Even in 2009's economic environment, 63% planned to increase their Internet marketing budgets in 2009, with a majority of hoteliers planning to raise online budgets more than 15%.

Social media affords hotels an effective channel through which to reach, influence and engage guests. Savvy marketers will seize this opportunity to foster an interactive dialogue with guests who are searching various websites and online communities to find the hotels that best match the needs and wants for their travel experience.

Engaging Guests On-the-Go

Armed with immediate, anytime, anywhere connectivity via their smart phones, today’s on-the-go consumers are no longer tied to their land line telephones and desktop computers. In fact, Gartner Research predicts that mobile web access will surpass traditional PCs by 2013. With the number of cell phone subscribers skyrocketing roughly 25% annually for nearly the past decade, just how mobile have your guests become when it comes to their travel plans?

• The average number of Americans who used their mobile phone to browse the web grew by 61% in 2008 vs. 2007, according to EyeforTravel.

• PhoCusWright forecasts that mobile bookings are expected to reach $160 million in 2010; 67% of overall travelers and 77% of frequent business travelers with web-enabled mobile phones have already used their phones to find local services and attractions.

• 71% of U.S. adults polled by Harris Interactive consider it safe to make a purchase via a mobile phone; 43% of respondents are willing to use their mobile phone to purchase hotel rooms and 40% are willing to use it to purchase tickets for travel.

It’s clear from these statistics that your guests are becoming increasingly mobile-ready and as the trend continues to escalate, the need for your marketing efforts to keep pace will be paramount to engaging them - and keeping them loyal. From the delivery of personalized messages and promotions to expediting booking and reservations, mobile marketing unleashes a plethora of effective opportunities for connecting and interacting with your guests and prospective guests that were non-existent a handful of years ago.

Caesars Palace is leading the way in mobile hotel marketing. In January 2010, the hotel launched a new mobile app which, according to the company, includes the first-ever GPS mobile marketing tool in the hospitality industry. This free app features room descriptions, points of interest, Caesars Twitter feed, and more. Guests can find restaurant hours and hotel information, book a spa or salon treatment, see who is performing in The Colosseum, provide feedback, and more. There is also personalized Caesars Palace electronic postcard customized to display the guest's photo on the resort's giant marquee sign. Guests who opt-in to the GPS capabilities will be receive location-specific marketing offers during their stay.

Guests can also use "Texpress," Caesars’ new mobile phone service designed to fast-track hotel check-in. One day before arrival, guests text the resort to check in. Upon arrival, express users by-pass the front desk check-in line and proceed directly to the Bell Desk, where their room keys are ready and waiting.

Says Neal Narayani, Director of Email and Mobile Marketing, Harrah’s Entertainment, in a company statement, "We have leveraged popular technology to elevate guest service, making it easier than ever for guests to check into the hotel, find information and enjoy varied resort experiences. With these two new mobile device offerings, Caesars Palace guests have access to information and special offers where and when they want them."

Engaging Guests Onsite

As savvy hotel executives know, today’s customers expect more from their hotel stay than ever before. Not only do guests want more value for their dollar, but they want hotels to deliver an exceptional and memorable experience. And who delivers that experience? Your employees!

To deliver an engaging customer experience, your employees must be engaged. With turnover among the highest of any industry - roughly 50% for non-management positions and 25% for management according to the School of Hotel Administration at Cornell - it’s apparent just how disengaged many hotel employees are. And this disengagement negatively impacts your customer engagement efforts.

'The Spillover Effect', written by Allegiance loyalty and engagement consultant, Dr. Gary Rhoads, reports that one out of every ten customers (10%) has been affected negatively by disengaged employees. He found that emotionally engaged employees, on the other hand, believe they are doing something valuable for their company, and that their efforts are likely to make a difference. The positive feelings that employees have about their jobs and employers also influence the level of service they offer to customers. These positive experiences "spill over" to customers, who are then more likely to become advocates for the company's products and services.

"In our research, we have found that increasing employee engagement had a direct effect on customer engagement, which leads to increased sales and profits," said Rhoads. "Companies are missing a significant opportunity by not focusing on employees as a way of increasing customer loyalty and engagement."

Clearly, creating a powerful customer experience requires the full and continual commitment of the people responsible for making it happen. If you concentrate on creating a great environment for your employees, they will focus on creating a great experience for your customers. Research found that contact with people usually has a greater impact on customer loyalty than advertising.

Adopting a voice of the customer view - understanding your guests, their behaviors, their likes/dislikes, and how best to serve them - has always been the foundation of successful hotel keeping. And while social media and new technology pose some interesting challenges, they also open up the floodgates of opportunity. “What we want, when we want, where we want” is the mantra of today’s guests. Those hotels that best reach their guests online, on-the-go, and onsite will deliver on this mantra head-on and build the emotional connection that drives customer engagement and engenders their loyalty and true brand ambassadorship.

Mark Johnson is President and CEO of Loyalty 360 - The Loyalty Marketer’s Association. Loyalty 360 is the only organization that addresses the full spectrum of both customer and employee loyalty issues. An unbiased, market driven clearinghouse and think-tank for loyalty and engagement opportunities, insights, and responses, Loyalty 360 is the source business leaders trust for industry metrics, market driven research, case studies, and networking opportunities. A sought-after speaker and writer, Mr. Johnson is frequently called upon by media worldwide to share his expert insights into customer and employee loyalty issues. Mr. Johnson can be contacted at 513-290-5147 or markjohnson@loyalty360.org Extended Bio...

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