With so many hotels, restaurants, and hospitality businesses available for guests and customers to choose from, the strategy of guest experience — creating memorable and personalized experiences — is your guiding light. If a customer doesn’t receive an all-around excellent experience at your restaurant, hotel, or business, they will seek it somewhere else.

But, the concept of experiential marketing for hospitality guests can be a daunting strategy to uncover.

Here are 6 beginning strategies to consider when building your brand’s strategy for the guest experience.

  • Identify the Gaps

    Look into what guests and customers are saying about other hotels, restaurants, or businesses. What are the main sources of disappointment in their reviews? What are they raving about on Instagram or TikTok? By pinpointing these gaps, you can tailor your services and features to meet the needs guests aren’t seeing in other businesses.

  • Initiate Small Projects

    Instead of developing one huge project or strategy for customer experience, initiate many small projects for ways to improve your business, such as minor property repairs, updating website photography, or small concepts or instructions for team training. Many small improvements will likely be more noticeable to guests and more manageable for staff and team when strategizing the guest experience.

  • Personalize Everything

    Personal touches are a small way to make a huge impact. Implementing a customer relationship management system to track guest preferences and tailor their experience based on past stays or visits can be a great place to start. From remembering their favorite room fragrance or customizing their meal options based on allergies or preferences, personal touches communicate to guests and customers that they are valued and understood.

  • Celebrate Success

    Operating a business is hard work! Celebrate milestones, recognition, or even the smallest successes to reinforce a positive culture or showcase your achievements to your audience. Your team and employees are the hands, feet, and face of your business, so make sure to celebrate and show your appreciation for them well and often through social media shoutouts, special ceremonies or parties, and gifts and bonuses. For your audience, share positive reviews or public recognition proudly on your website or social media. The opportunities are endless for sharing the good word of how your team and business are impacting their guests and industry.

  • Be Aware of Trends

    Now what we’re not saying is you have to know and implement every single trend. Following the always-changing trend train will create burnout and confusion for your brand. But it is good to be aware of new innovations and ideas. Find a few publications, businesses, or professionals that inspire you, and subscribe to their newsletter, magazine, or social media channel. Not only will this encourage your creativity and innovation to keep flowing, you’ll also have some insight into what the future of your hospitality industry holds.

  • Involve Everyone

    Often the strategies around guest experience come from the top management down to the rest of the team. Hosting regular strategy or feedback sessions for every single employee or team member not only unites and informs everyone around your brand purpose and values, it opens the guest experience strategy up to more ideas and feedback from team members along each and every touchpoint and will encourage team members to think more critically in their day to day work about what guests and customers or even employees interact with. This will also give you lots of ideas for your small improvement projects!

By understanding what guests seek, offering unique experiences, and continuously innovating and improving with the help of your industry and employees, you can create a magnetic appeal that keeps guests and customers coming back. Ensuring that you offer something truly special isn’t just a strategy — it’s a necessity for success and impact.

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