INTRODUCTION
According to Statista, direct marketing efforts have a higher return on investment (ROI) than other forms of marketing. In addition, direct marketing campaigns typically cost 55% less than broad advertising campaigns.
Unlike mass marketing, which typically delivers a standard message to a large market, hoteliers can use direct marketing to send personalized messages straight to target businesses or corporate contacts. This approach can help drive engagement, conversions and sales, while also improving your ROI.
Following are some direct marketing tips you can use to attract corporate business to your hotel or resort.
SEND DIRECT MAIL TO BUSINESSES
While direct mail is often considered a more traditional direct marketing tactic, it is still an effective way to capture the attention of decision-makers. In fact, direct mail has about a 30% return on investment, which is comparable to social media. In addition, direct mail has better brand recall than digital promotions.
Send personalized, branded postcards or letter-sized flyers to businesses to help drive corporate bookings. Make sure to boast the offerings that appeal most to your audience, such as meeting space and business amenities, and if possible, include a special offer and call-to-action to encourage responses. Add a QR code that links to a business-tailored landing page to provide more information, capture leads and track your efforts.
To help control costs, start by sending direct mail to your sales team’s wish list of businesses or to your past corporate clients to encourage repeat business. You may also work with USPS to target businesses in specific areas or purchase a list. If you opt for the latter, make sure to vet the contacts to make sure they are up to date.
Use direct mail with other touchpoints to increase your chances of generating sales.
LAUNCH A TARGETED EMAIL MARKETING CAMPAIGN
Email marketing campaigns are much more cost-effective than direct mail and should be used to stay top-of-mind with prospects.
Tailor your communications to the types of businesses you are targeting and include merge tags to further personalize them. If you aren’t familiar, a merge tag allows you to add personal information to your message without composing separate emails for each of your contacts.
For instance, you can use merge tags that automatically insert the recipient’s first name or the name of their company into your subject line or message. Your email marketing software will have its own code for merge tags, such as *|FNAME|*. This information is pulled from your contact list, so it is important to keep it current and accurate.
To help encourage engagement, you can include special offers or discount promo codes for booking your event space(s) or rooms by a specific date. As an alternative, you could offer perks for booking, such as free parking or VIP amenities.
Set up a drip campaign to automate your efforts and provide a custom experience. Start by sending an introductory email that triggers a new message or action based on the recipient’s behavior. For instance, you may create one follow-up communication for those who open the introductory email and another for those who don’t open it. You also can set up different next steps for those who click a specific link, as another example.
While the initial setup for a drip campaign can take some time, it will be more efficient in the long run.
Include captivating subject lines and A/B test your content to help optimize your efforts. In addition, include UTM codes in your links to help track results.
RUN SOCIAL MEDIA ADS TO REACH CORPORATE PROSPECTS
Leverage your active social media platforms to attract new corporate business. You can use LinkedIn or Meta ads, for example, to push messages to specific groups of people. Use first-party data you’ve collected through direct selling or other direct marketing efforts to create a custom audience to target.
You also can use location targeting, along with additional demographics, such as job titles or company industry, to hone in on new ideal prospects.
Again, make sure to tailor your ads to speak to your target audience, and create multiple versions of ads to A/B test what resonates the most with them. You may also need to create multiple campaigns to prioritize budgets and make sure your targeting is as specific as possible. For example, you could create separate audiences or daily spending limits for different job titles or create separate campaigns for different offerings, such as event or meeting space vs. room bookings.
Create dedicated landing pages for your ads and use UTM codes to track your efforts. This also will help you set up retargeting campaigns, which will be shown to people who take a specific action, such as visiting the landing page.
Make sure to reply to comments or direct messages that result from your ads to provide more information and nurture relationships. Effective two-way communication on social media can help close the deal.