How pre-arrival campaigns help hoteliers engage and delight guests before their stay!

Learn how hotel operators can use email and SMS messaging to boost guest satisfaction and increase room revenue before they even check in with pre-arrival campaigns. Gain inspiration on ways to connect with guests and improve their experience.

Your stellar marketing efforts have resulted in your latest booking: Emily. Maybe she was enticed by a Black Friday Offer, your high reviews, or a saw you featured in a travel guide. Either way, you’ve inspired a stay, and she’s made the booking! Your job is done, and the next time she’ll make contact with your hotel is when she arrives for her stay… right? Wrong!

Emily has just made one of the most critical bookings of her holiday: the hotel accommodation. But in between now and check-in, she’s got a slew of questions:

• Do I need to pack my hair dryer?
• What is there to do in the area?
• Where should I go to eat?
• Should I make a reservation?
• How do I get there from the airport?

You can answer all of the questions your guests have (and more) with a solid pre-arrival campaign!

Why should hoteliers send pre-arrival communications to guests?

Pre-arrival campaigns are powerful tools for hoteliers to connect directly with guests ahead of their stay. Here are some things you can include in a pre-arrival message to your guests:

• Provide key information to your guests about their stay
• Build excitement for their stay
• Build relationships and collect guest preference data
• Take advantage of opportunities to boost ancillary revenue while your guests are in the planning stage!

According to SiteMinder, the average guest books their hotel approximately 30 days in advance. However, extras like dinner and spa reservations are typically booked closer to arrival.

We recommend that hoteliers send at least one pre-arrival communication to their guests, but what exactly you include in the message can vary from guest to guest. Read on to learn how you can send pre-arrival communications that will inform and delight your guests while easing your processes, boosting relationships, and driving opportunities for annicially revenue.

Set the tone for their stay with a personalised welcome message!

It’s proven that the majority of consumers prefer messaging that is tailored to them, so make sure that you’re hitting the right tone by sending a personalised welcome message.

According to Campaign Monitor, emails with personalised subject lines are 26% more likely to be opened!

It’s easy to take one email and transform it into personalised messages for each guest. Start by adding personalisation tags for the first name to the subject line and in the email itself. Then, adjust the initial greeting based on the guest. In this example, we adjusted the message to relate to their relationship with the property. Here’s what that could look like for you:

First Time Stayers – Send a friendly ‘Welcome’ email personalised with their name.

Repeat Guests – Recognise guests who’ve stayed before with a ‘Welcome Back’ message!

Loyal Guests – Take your ‘Welcome Back’ message a step further with unique offers for those special guests who choose to stay with you again and again.

The core email content can remain the same, with key features about your property, but that extra attention at the beginning of the email makes the message feel special to each guest!

For-Sight’s segmentation features allow you to send tailored messaging based on RFM scoring, making it easier than ever to recognise and reward loyal guests. Want to learn more about how this could work for your hotel? Book a discovery call with our team!

Get to know first-time guests a little better!

If this is your guest’s first time staying at your property, take this opportunity to get to know them a little better. It’s just good practice to ask them what they’d like to hear about, rather than bombard them with everything and risk an unsubscribe.

It’s all about how you can make your guests’ experience better for them!

81% of consumers said they ignored messages that felt generic (Attentive), so by involving your guests in the process of selecting what they’d like to hear about, you’re setting up your future marketing communications for success!

Once you’ve gotten to know your guests’ preferences, you can then funnel them into different marketing campaigns based on their interests. For example, if a contact expresses interest in spa packages, a follow-up communication could highlight some relaxing spa deals offered at your property.

Zero-party data is free insight into what your typical guest looks like and what they’re interested in. As you build data, you’ll be able to recognise patterns and create unique segments and guest profiles. Learn more about the power of preference centres in this blog.

Show what you have to offer!

This is your opportunity to answer your most frequently asked questions, set expectations, and make your guests feel confident about their decision to stay with you.

• What is the check-in procedure?
• Can they drop their bags off ahead of time?
• What is included with the room?
• Is there a pool?
• Is breakfast included?
• What time is check-out?

You can also use this as an opportunity to cross-sell other products and services your property offers.

• Highlight your property amenities such as spa, dining, and golf.
• Showcase additional items guests can add to their stay.
• Offer chances for guests to upgrade their room booking.

For-Sight Tip: take care to . Want to learn more? Head to this blog where we break down the difference between transactional and promotional campaigns and why it matters for hoteliers.

Become their guide for the area!

There’s nobody better to ask for travel recommendations than the locals! Think about the insights and recommendations that you can give to your guests for the time they spend outside of their room. Here are a few of our tips for giving relevant recommendations that will delight your guests!

• Are restaurants limited in your area? Recommend they book dining ahead!
• How’s transport? Is it practical to get around on foot/public transport, or should they rent a car?
• What are the local gems? Feature your staff’s picks for things to do during their stay.

To keep your pre-arrival communications current and fresh, we advise that you switch up the messaging seasonally! You can also segment messaging for families, couples, and singles, offering insights specific to each group! Your guests will appreciate the care taken ahead of time to make sure they have a great stay.

Drop a note to your guests on the go with SMS!

Email isn’t the only way to connect with your guests ahead of their arrival. Consider other tools that you have at your disposal, like SMS! SMS may be better used closer to check in to reach guests on the move. They will appreciate not having to search for their reservation information, making the check-in process easier for them and your team!

For-Sight Tip – Segment messaging to only send SMS communications to domestic travellers. You can still opt to send an email message to international contacts instead, who will be less likely to receive SMS communications.

Conclusion

Pre-arrival campaigns give hoteliers the opportunity to connect with guests from the moment they book to the time they check in. Build quality relationships, inspire their stay, and boost ancillary revenue, all before they arrive on site.

• Set the tone with personalised messaging
• Get to know new guests better with preference centres
• Highlight your amenities and address commonly asked questions ahead of their stay
• Stand out as an expert and provide local recommendations for your area.
• Use alternate channels to connect with your guests, wherever they may be!

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