Advanced Digital Marketing Guide for Hotel & Hospitality Industry in UAE for 2021
The world has turned upside down in the past one year and whatever we presumed strange is the new normal. While the novel Coronavirus taught human beings how precious life is, it broke to established principles of business & marketing. As is apparent, not many business sectors remained unharmed, and hotel & hospitality is certainly not one of them.
However, the show must go on and as the effects of the pandemic have started to get subdued, the hotel industry is due for a revival, especially in the UAE. And with business paradigms altered, probably permanently, the ways of marketing, too, have to be revised. Digital marketing, in particular, is something due for an overhaul in 2021. And with the advent of modern technologies, digital marketing has become more expansive than ever.
To begin with, here are a few techniques and digital marketing tips for Dubai and Sharjah based hotels that could prove to be vital in reviving the industry:
Marketing Automation and Digital Marketing for the UAE Hotel Industry
One of the biggest challenges that face the hotel industry in Dubai and elsewhere is that due to the months of lockdown, it would be quite difficult to re-establish brand image. Digital marketing as we know is a vital element in brand creation, however, re-building would require even more aggressive marketing. Digital marketing automation is the best answer to the problem.
A digital marketing company for hotels in Dubai and Sharjah can use automation tools, websites, and software to automate the recurring tasks. This will increase the frequency of content being posted out, and consequently grabbing more attention. All you need to do is set your desired content in the algorithm and/or the tools that will help you put out content at regular intervals. Automation also saves the marketing team time, which can be spent on core activities like content creation, campaign design, data analysis, and much more.
How does this help in post-COVID19 specifically? In many ways! First and foremost, hotels will need to gain guests’ confidence regarding the safety protocols the hotels, restaurants, and cafés have put in place to prevent the spread of the virus. More frequently the guests see your safety net, the more likely are they to trust you. Second, it will help you read a wider audience and different time zones. Since Dubai is among the most popular global tourist destinations, it is extremely important to cover as many time zones as possible.
Augmented Reality for Tourism and Hospitality Industry in UAE
Augmented Reality is a breakthrough technology for the hotel industry, especially during the post-COVID19 era. Applying AR to your digital marketing campaign will allow interested customers to experience the hotel rooms and restaurants before checking in. It will also help hotels to showcase the safety protocols in place, and gain confidence. A potential guest is more like to see an advertisement that uses Augmented Reality, rather than those that use simple texts and images. Live stimulation gives a glimpse into the hotel and answers many of the customer’s queries without the need to ask questions.
Coupled with Virtual Reality and Spatial Computing, AR is easily accessible via smartphones. Modern technology not only makes visual content more appealing, but it also helps you find the right audience. For instance, hotels in Dubai and Sharjah more often than not target an audience with higher spending. AR/VR enabled devices to continue to remain a novelty, and therefore, add a premium advertisement experience for the target audience.
Moreover, the virtual tour of the hotel is not just helpful for the post-pandemic age, but will soon become the norm in the industry. Though initial costs seem a bit on the higher side, the results could be tremendous, and it will allow any hotel marketing agency in Dubai and Sharjah to scrap primitive digital marketing techniques that emphasize more on written content rather than visualization. Therefore, opting for Augmented Reality makes you future-ready.
Promote User-Generated Content using Digital Marketing for your UAE based Hotel and Business
Venture Capitalist John Doerr once remarked, “the next wave of the Web is going to be user-generated content.”
User-generated content is any content posted on the Internet by users. This includes images, testimonials, videos, blogs, social media posts, etc., and using this kind of content has multiple benefits. First of all, it helps build the credibility of the brand, a factor that will be even more important in the coming months. Marketing user-generated content also helps a hotel to build its marketing campaign around the users themselves, establishing long term loyalty.
Secondly, for revival after a prolonged lockdown, hotels need large amounts of content, which can be made easy if user-generated content is taken into consideration. Any established digital marketing agency in Dubai and Sharjah can effectively collect and curate this data on the official channels, making the users trust the brand that markets the views of its customers.
If anything, the pandemic has caused a serious cut in cashflow. Relying on customer-generated content can seriously shrink the digital marketing expenditure spent on content procurement. And despite being freely available on most occasions, user-generated content has better authenticity, and therefore, more reliability and conversion rate.
A study by Comscore stated that user generates content exhibits stronger sales effectiveness when compared with professionally generated content, increasing engagement, and conversion by 28%. The study also showed that viewers have a higher emotional connection with user-generated content than others.
Can AI-Enabled Chat & Email Marketing Generate more Sales for your Dubai / Sharjah based Hotel and Business?
Chatbots are an integral part of digital marketing campaigns, and now is the time to take them to the next level. Integration of Artificial Intelligence with chatbots is one of the best innovations in the digital marketing space and can do wonders for customer engagement. Following the pandemic, customers will be seeking answers to hundreds of questions before they can step into your property. And most probably, chatbots will be their first point of contact.
While it makes life easier for the customers, for they get instant replies to their queries, it also makes marketing less expensive, and also eases your pocket off staffing for the same job. Likewise, having an active AI-powered chatbot gives 24×7 access to potential customers from all over the world.
This goes for email marketing as well. An email campaign powered by Artificial Intelligence can self-analyze various parameters, and adjust the contents, delivery time, and target audience accordingly. For instance, a digital marketing agency like AdEngage, Sharjah, and UAE are two unique markets, which require different strategic decisions. AI enables such an agency to differentiate between micro and macro markets more efficiently, hence targeting the exact niche they intend to.
Blockchain-Enabled Marketing Campaigns Is Easy and Can Boost Sales for your Business or Hotel in UAE
Marketing campaigns incur costs, and that’s what most businesses across the world want to keep down, especially after the months of lockdown. On the other hand, without sufficient marketing, revival after months of lockdown will be a tough challenge. This is the crux that blockchain technology can be extremely useful.
First of all, we must understand the role of blockchain in making advertisements more transparent for the companies. At the core of blockchain lies ethos like authenticity, and transparency, two things that are inadequate in the advertising space. Online advertisements are often confusing, and more often than not, companies end up paying more for less.
Blockchain ensures that you have enough transparency and authenticity of data to make a fair payment, eliminating a whole bunch of intermediaries that plague the industry. In short, blockchain is not about a new element, but making every other aspect more cost-effective and impactful. Giant companies like Unilever are adopting blockchain-powered digital advertising models to save millions of dollars.
Moreover, due to the strict data protection features of blockchain, a social media marketing agency for hotels and restaurants in Dubai and Sharjah can get access to accurate data. Yes, the user data collected using blockchain will be quite less as compared to traditional data procurement techniques, but it will be way more authentic and reliable. This helps shape digital marketing strategies by accurately predicting the tastes and preferences of the target audience.
Geo-Location and Localised Digital Marketing is the key to MORE SALES in the post-pandemic economy
Digital marketing is also about innovations, and geolocation-based marketing is one of the latest trends in the industry. According to the IESE Business School, local digital marketing is “to contact potential clients who are close to our stores by sending personalized messages encouraging them to make a purchase”. In laymen’s terms, geolocation marketing means using potential customers’ physical locations to formulate advertising strategies.
Location-based marketing enables tapping the audience that is readily available within proximity, which, more often than not, results in better conversion. For example, if a digital marketing company for restaurants and cafés in Dubai and Sharjah apply geolocation to their strategies, they can tap the tourists or other individuals around the vicinity of the restaurant or café. Exclusive campaigns during general lunch or dinner timings targeting those nearby will increase the chances of conversion substantially.
Most of the geolocation marketing brings a host of benefits, both in terms of revenue and marketing data for future strategy. Firstly, since the audience targeted is nearby, the effectiveness of this technique is much better than others. Secondly, you can keep a track of the customers targeted and whether they turn in at the hotel/restaurant/café or no. Moreover, converted customers, based on their frequency, can be rewarded exclusively to build loyalty, as they are more likely to revisit than others.
While the abovementioned techniques could prove to be game-changing for the revival of the Hotel & Hospitality industry in the UAE, it is not an exhaustive list. You still need to keep your basics strong, especially on social networking platforms. However, there are a few key areas that you must put extra focus on while promoting your property. They are as follows:
Safety Protocols
This needs no explanation. These are weird times we’re living in, and therefore, everybody wants to make sure they’re safe from any health crisis. Market about the safety protocols you have in place as much as possible, especially on the interactive channel like Q&A on social networks and chatbots, where users have a chance to enquire about it. Also, use AR & VR, and image/video-based content to provide a virtual tour to the customers so that they have little reservations for checking in. For this very purpose, you can invite influencers and digital content creators to have a fair review out for others to check and make decisions accordingly.
Hygienic Procedures
Hygiene is as important as safety protocols, and you like it or not, one will have to market the hygienic procedures, right from food preparations, & sanitation, to room service, and waste management. This might appear a common element, which held importance even during the pre-pandemic age, but the pandemic has just amplified its importance to higher levels. It is not always what’s needed that you must market, but also what the customers want to know.
General Awareness
General awareness here is concerning the pandemic and the administrative policies surrounding it. Ensure that you make your potential customers aware of the government-imposed rules and regulations to curb the spread of COVID19. Also, include the mandatory protocol they need to follow, like wearing a protective mask, maintaining sufficient physical distance, using sanitizers, etc. Apart from this, you must also talk about the risks related to COVID19, the symptoms, and the procedure they need to follow should they experience any of these.
Rewards & Loyalty Incentives
Global tourism is picking up pace, but still is nowhere near what it could be during the normal course of life. Therefore, it is vital to retain the existing customers and build a sense of loyalty among them. For this very purpose, rewards & loyalty incentives are an important inclusion in your digital marketing strategy. Talk in detail about the rewards, discounts, and pleasantries for revisiting customers. Add about the rewards & incentives program on automated marketing, so that you get the attention of users who are supposed to spend a long time in Sharjah and Dubai.
Written by: Noman Shaikh
Loved the ideas? Let our Award-Winning Digital Marketing and Design experts help you with your next campaign. For more information about our services, visit our parent website: www.adengage.in or our Dubai site.
