Tips for Hotels: Attract New Guests with Your Food and Beverages
Leverage your food and beverage offering to bring in new customers
By: Guest Contributor Molly Southern Weinberg of SevenRooms
Competition to fill rooms at hotels is higher than ever, especially as the property rental marketplace gains popularity with travelers. Hotel operators are having to think outside the box to convince guests to spend their time and resources at their businesses vs. using home sharing sites like Airbnb.
While guests may be flocking to use home sharing sites over hotels, they still end up spending on restaurants and dining out. According to Airbnb’s Restaurant Spending Report, their guests spent $6.5 billion at restaurants across 44 cities from September 2016 to September 2017. You can see that once guests book their stay, they still want to explore local food options — here’s where hotels can grab the attention of new guests.
Strategic hoteliers are using one of their key differentiators to stand out and offer the experience tourists crave — their food and beverage offerings. These offerings can provide world-class experiences to guests at your hotel — so let them know about what your hotel offers!
Below are four actionable tips to help promote your food and beverage offering and delight your guests.
- Use Data to Surprise & Delight
With guests expecting personal experiences, especially if they are repeat guests, use your food and beverage (F&B) data to help tailor their stay at the hotel.
Pro Tip: If you find out a guest has an allergy, store this in your database so other teams at the hotel can be aware. Even better? Surprise the guest with some snacks that account for their allergy to show your team is paying attention.
If you have multiple properties, there is no reason the special touches have to remain at one location. There are technologies that allow F&B guest databases to sync with property management systems used across a group of hotels. These moments create a powerful reason to stay with your brand no matter where they travel.
When a guest has a personalized experience they can’t forget, it’s easy for them to become loyal to your entire brand.
2. Promote Your Food and Beverage Offering on Social Media
Use your unique food and beverage experiences as unique content. A foodie might discover your hotel after liking a photo of a limited-time only tasting menu. Post photos of your best-sellers, new menu items, exciting dishes, and beautiful beverages across Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to get your fans engaged and aware of what’s on the menu at your hotel.
Here’s our blog on social media marketing tips for hotels. You can also check out Main Street Hub’s post on the best elements of a great food photo on Instagram here!
You can also leverage the powers of food and beverage promotion on social media by making it easy for guests to book their dinner reservation directly from social media. You can do this by ensuring that there are clear calls-to-action on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter and direct links on social media to your website or booking widget (from OpenTable or Resy for example) from all of your digital channels. The easier you make it for your guests to make a reservation, the more likely they’ll book and explore all the food and beverage options your hotel as to offer.
Here are some other ways to promote social engagement with your hotel through your food and beverage offering:
- Offer unique dining experiences in order to engage with both locals and travelers.
- Personalize accommodation and amenity offers based on guest F&B preferences to make them shareable on social media
- Leverage communal spaces to provide engaging social experiences for guests and locals alike — (this includes creating a space that’s Instagram-friendly — soft lighting, bright colors, and high-quality designs.)
- Provide a reason for guests to engage with the brand on the road and at home.
3. Expand Your Food and Beverage Focus
Forward-thinking hotel owners are adjusting their operations to prioritize F&B. While this looks different for every business, now’s the time to explore how to strategically grow your F&B outlets.
Some hotels are exploring the idea of bringing a flagship restaurant or notable chef into their hotel. Many offer an exclusive rooftop with cocktails to attract the high-energy, nightlife crowd, while others offer a casual lunch spot that melds luncheonette and grab-and-go for those looking for good food, fast, and still others are exploring offering a fine-dining restaurant for dinner that reflects local culture and tastes. When it comes to deciding what kind of food and beverage offering your hotel can offer your guests, it’s important to think about your brand.
What kind of hotel are you? What kinds of guests are you trying to attract and what kind of experience do you want them to have? Once you nail down your brand voice and demographic, you can adjust your vibe and offerings to fit the needs of your guests to keep them coming back.
When it comes to leveraging technology and data, some hotel owners are using that data to personalize services for their guests — by holding a special table, assigning a favorite server, or surprising guests with their favorite cocktail when they check in for dinner. Offering this kind of personalized service can be as simple as recognizing hotel guests when they arrive at the restaurant during their stay, or when they call for reservations. Simple touches like this make guests feel welcome and at-home and will make them want to re-book with you the next time they’re in town.
4. Creatively Market Food and Beverage Outlets
Once you’ve set your new strategy with F&B prioritized, it’s time to promote your services effectively. This can be done in a variety of ways, you can:
1. Offer seasonal or exclusive packages and guest-only services.
2. Entice bookings during shoulder times at your outlets with creative perks.
3. Host special F&B events or experiences like wine tastings or themed tasting menus.
4. Create segmented marketing campaigns to target guests with specific offers based on their preferences and past purchases.
With the power of F&B data, connected and personalized guest experiences can be delivered across entire portfolios of hotels and restaurants. Wondering how to make this a reality for your business? Innovative tech companies in the hospitality space offer an array of solutions to help. Consider working with a third party to reach your F&B goals.
At SevenRooms, Molly is Director of Demand Generation where she focuses on growing their network through a variety of marketing channels. Molly got the hospitality bug in High School and has been in the industry since. From Cornell’s Hotel School, Molly entered the hospitality technology world with a mission to help operators run more successful businesses.
Want more tips on using your food and beverage offerings on social media and beyond to win loyal customers? Get started with Main Street Hub today.
Looking for a reservation, seating, and guest management platform? Chat with someone at SevenRooms by clicking here.
