8 Ways to Engage Your Loyal Guests

- Jeffrey Gotimer

Our loyal members are one of the major assets and cornerstones of our hotels. When engaged well, they can be easily turned into brand ambassadors that talk positively about us. Rightfully so, as they have the experience and knowledge of our brand from a different perspective. Here are some concrete ways to engage your loyal guests.

1. Something Personal

There’s a reason why they are called your loyal guests. It means they have been to your property more than once. And since that is the case, you should have enough knowledge and data about them and their preferences to give a thoughtful welcome.

It can be as simple as their favorite dessert as a welcome gift. Personalized with their name.

One of our loyal members before was very vocal about his preference for one of the brand’s bath amenities. When he stayed at another hotel brand, but was still in the same group, he was surprised to find those amenities. The team noted his preference and requested it from their sister hotel. That specific guest could not stop raving about the thoughtfulness behind this.

On another note, don't just give anything standardized and write their name just to personalize it. Hotels normally go for chocolates - but if your loyal guest is lactose intolerant, prefers fruits or something else - this must be noted as part of their preferences. The key thing here is that your gesture needs to be personal but not intrusive and not cookie-cutter.

At a minimal cost and small effort, you have provided something personal that shows you are willing to go the distance.

2. Something Exclusive

Not to get too technical but in marketing, there is a concept called “The Exclusive Value Principle”. In simple terms, the value of exclusivity lies in its power to elicit psychological reward. It provides a sense of belonging and importance.

That’s why diamonds are so expensive because they are rare. If diamonds were as plenty as stones – no one would want them.

This is another way of engaging your loyal guests and showing them their value. Arrange something exclusively for them. An Only for You campaign. May that be in the form of promotional offers, branded gifts specifically labeled as only for them, events where only loyal guests are invited, and more.

As a marketing person – you need to highlight that these activities are designed exclusively for them.

3. Something Emotional

Our hotels are now an extension of our loyal members’ residences. Especially those who travel a lot – some of the most important events in their lives are celebrated when they are staying with us.

May that be birthdays, anniversaries, and such – find ways to remind them that you remembered.

One of our guests celebrated her 100th stay in one of our hotels, unknowingly of course. Because at the end of the day – who tracks the number of times we stayed in one brand? However, the hotel saw this as a way to engage the guest. They did a very simple cake that says thank you for your 100th stay in our brand and at the same time attached a photo of the hotel she first stayed at with a note from that team. The guest was overwhelmed. She felt valued that the team took the time and effort to do this preparation – at the same time, she shared that seeing the photo of the first hotel she stayed at brought a lot of memories.

Connecting with our guests emotionally in a positive way is a sure step toward engaging them and assuring their loyalty.

4. Something Intellectual

These loyal guests are now part of your brand. They have a breadth of knowledge and experience of your brand, your operations, your team, and more that even you would not know.

So, listening to their thoughts is another way of engaging them. However, for their time and opinion – you also need to provide something in return.

Lunch with the CEO or something similar is something that has always been a great way of showing your loyal guests that you value them. A conversation with the head of your organization conveys that they are just not your guests, they are part of your company’s journey.

5. Something Constant

Since that we hope that their loyalty will stay constant, we must provide them with benefits that stay constant as well. Expected, appreciated, and always there.

It can be as simple as an always-on offer, available only for your loyal guests.

An area dedicated to them, whether reserved tables for loyal guests. VIP areas on your bar. Special menus designed for loyal guests. The ideas are endless.

Your work as a Loyalty Marketing person is to ensure that the intent is visible. Signage, posters, e-cards, and more stating their benefits. Anyone will be happy to be bombarded with messaging if it benefits them. It won't be considered noise if you get something from it.

6. Something Entertaining

As a lifestyle industry – we have all the resources and means to entertain our loyal guests. From wine tasting events, menu launches, cooking with the chef, or a premier show with the hotel band are some of the events to entertain them. If you want to go the distance, there are a lot of possible partners who would be willing to provide tickets in exchange for hotel rooms. May that be a one-off concert or an opera show, or a ticket to watch the races.

Once, I managed to sign the brand I used to work for as the Hospitality Partner for an Ed Sheeran show in Dubai. To engage our loyal guests – we designed a pre-concert cocktail and then VIP seating at the concert. The first loyal guests who arrived at the event had the chance to meet the artist. These guests appreciated the event so much, one of them made her photo with the artist on her Instagram profile for more than a year.

7. Something Social

We are all social beings, in one way or another. Creating a community of your loyal guests through specific events, whether in-house or out of the hotel should be something that needs to be designed.

It can be as simple as Drinks for Loyals – which allows them to meet and network with fellow loyal guests staying on your property.

We once designed a half-day desert safari inviting only loyal members. Some of them now are friendly with each other instead of just mere strangers. Not only have you engaged them, but you have also helped them expand their network.

8. Something Automated

We marketers have a lot on our plate. And sometimes – we may have all the ideas and resources, but with all these various projects, there is not enough time. Hence, finding the right tools that can assist and support us in our marketing ways is crucial.

An essential tool for engaging our loyal guests is something automated. Designing a proper lifecycle journey that engages the guests, welcomes them to the property, incentives them to redeem their reward points, encourages them to stay again, and at times celebrate with them, and more is crucial.

Doing this manually is doable but time-consuming. There are a lot of software and tools that provide such. For example, Zoho Marketing Automation is one of the tools that can help you with this. It has ready templates to help you create and send automated messages based on the journey you have designed.

Samples of lifecycle journey that can be included:

• 2 days before their stay – the guests would receive a reminder about their upcoming stay and highlights of their exclusive benefits.

• 1 day after they leave – a thank you for their stay and a summary of the points they have collected from such stay – and what can they do with it if they want to redeem

Creating a lifecycle journey is one of the bread and butter for a loyalty program.

When executed well, these tips on how to engage your loyal guests will speak for themselves. It will increase your customer retention, customer engagement, your bottom line as well. On top of this, it will be a treasure trove for stories giving you ample content to amplify. May that be on social, press releases, or share it as a best practice for your sister properties. Magnify it.

Need more inspiration? You can look at some activities done in the past in my portfolio.

Need more help? Get in touch!