Is your hotel website failing to excite the four guest personas?
Is your hotel website failing to excite the four guest personas?
Did you know there are four distinct buyers that visit your hotel website? They each have different personalities and values that influence their decision to make a booking.
If your website fails to impress every personality type, you lose revenue.
There’s a reason why we have brand leaders and why customers are attracted to certain businesses. Think Microsoft and Apple. In computer sales their operating systems dominate market share.
That’s no accident.
They don’t use wizardry or trickery to grow their multimillion dollar businesses. They simply have a deep routed understanding of their customers, and an insight into what appeals to the key personality types.
They may use big data and enormous teams for market research, but that’s not feasible for a small hotel or B&B like yourself. Instead, you can start by realising what the four major personalities are. Only then will you know what they value and how you can excite them through your website.
Here are the four key personas, what matters to them, and how you can seduce each.
What are the four personality types?
The four personas are:
- Assertive
- Amiable
- Expressive
- Analytic
Assertive
Assertives are concerned with results. They favour straight talking language that clearly demonstrates how your hotel will benefit them. They like to get the information they want, fast.
They don’t like people who waste their time by repeating facts, or businesses who give indirect answers to their questions. They’re driven and value businesses who exude professionalism and deliver a streamlined service.
How to appeal to the assertive guest
As an assertive guest is someone who cares about the bottom line, they are more concerned with where you’re located, how you compare with other hotels in the area, and what other people say about you — your reviews.
They love facts that allow them to build a clear picture of your hotel.
Be sure to state your location clearly and include any transport advantages, i.e. next to an airport or train station, and any renowned attractions nearby.
Consider how you compare to your competition and your unique value proposition. How are you different? Do you offer a better service at a lower price point? How can you add value to win the custom of your assertive guest?
And of course, include your latest reviews in full view. The more positive reviews you can add to your website the better. The assertive is keen to see proof to support your claims.
Amiable
The amiable guest is heavily concerned with feeling trust, and they value the people behind the business. They crave the personal connection.
They need to feel comfortable about you and your hotel before they commit. The amiable may not carry out extensive research about your hotel, but they do want to be guided through the buying process. Unlike the assertive, they’re not too focussed on gaining facts quickly. They will likely be slow to make a decision.
How to appeal to the amiable guest
Amiables want to know you have staff who are friendly and helpful. They value the people who will make their stay special. They need to feel good about the vibe of your hotel and look to learn the experiences of others before making a buying decision.
Building rapport with an amiable involves sharing positive experiences of your guests. Again, this comes back to your reviews. They want to learn about your hotel’s atmosphere and those special moments between your staff and guests.
They need you to help them visualise their stay. Include links to your social channels where they can see your tagged pictures and comments of previous guests. Look to highlight reviews on your website where guests have had a positive, personal experience with your staff members.
Expressive
Much like the amiable guest, the expressive favours personal relationships. They’re passionate and have strong beliefs.
They are concerned with how their decisions affect others and care about the well-being of those around them.
They want to know you’re looking out for them and have their best interests at heart.
Although facts and figures will support their decision, they’re not too focussed on this factor. Customer service and offering the personal touch will sway their decision to book.
How to appeal to the expressive guest
Just like the amiable guest, the expressive wants to know if your staff will help them. They need to know if you’ll go the extra mile to make their stay incredible. Expressives value stories that show you’ve made another person’s life better.
Again, you need to showcase your reviews. Can you see a theme here!?
The expressive will also appreciate the unexpected but welcome flairs, like a bottle of champagne on arrival, oversized towels, or in-room tech.
If you have special touches, include all the benefits in your room descriptions. You may think they’re insignificant features not worth mentioning, but your expressive guest will be seduced by these unique extras.
Analytic
Guests with an analytical personality care only about facts and figures. They jump past the sales talk and head straight to the details.
They carry out extensive research about your hotel before making a decision and won’t jump into a purchase. They’ll find out as much as they can about you and your competition in a logical way.
They are not concerned with the personal touch and generally won’t engage with your website on an emotional level. You can quickly lose the analytic if you make hyped up claims and don’t back it up with proof.
How to appeal to the analytic guest
Analytics enjoy gathering data to make an informed decision. The more factual information you can provide about your hotel the better. Avoid using overly salesy or flowery language that may make an analytical guest suspicious. They may think you’re trying to hide flaws.
The analytic will value information such as check in times, breakfast and dinner times, menus, prices, what’s included in the room, room types, etc.
Bear in mind a website visitor may be a mix of the major personality types. They may not fit neatly into one category. But now you know the underlying personas you can refine your messaging to please all four.
Think about each one and how you can add or change information to appeal to their values without affecting another. With careful planning, you’ll have a website that presents the information every visitor needs to make an informed purchase.
The Booking Factory
