''Set your campaign goals: Setting your goals in advance is not only a good way to make sure everything will be ready for a seamless promotion leading up to the big day, but also an essential step before establishing your offers.''

Black Friday – your golden opportunity to leverage your direct channel and boost conversions!

As one of the biggest commercial events of the year, Black Friday has the potential to overwhelm marketers from any industry, so let’s walk together through every step of the way to a successful hotel direct channel strategy!

Before Black Friday: Implementing Strong Campaign Foundations

Set your campaign goals: Setting your goals in advance is not only a good way to make sure everything will be ready for a seamless promotion leading up to the big day, but also an essential step before establishing your offers.

Define your offers: Although Black Friday is associated with discounted prices in most industries, the hotel sector has the chance to get more creative when implementing offers.  Not ready to slash your rates? Achieve your campaign goals through value-added propositions instead of cutting prices. This includes F&B packages, complimentary breakfast, free room upgrades, or spa vouchers: the options are countless!

During Black Friday: Optimizing the Campaign

Make your offers stand out with creative visuals: As the holiday season approaches, as hotel marketers it’s important to recognize the increasing influx of marketing promotions and messages vying for consumer attention. In this competitive landscape, it’s crucial to optimize your communication strategies to ensure that your offers not only stand out but also efficiently save valuable time and resources.

Trigger the visitors’ FOMO: Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO) is a concept that describes the feeling one experiences when they are afraid of missing out on an opportunity. To encourage the user to book as quickly as possible, create a sense of urgency in your message by incorporating a countdown clock or by announcing that reservations are going fast and room availability is limited. No one wants to miss a good deal!

Stay strategic about your more persuasive discounts: Enticing discounts are a sure way to boost direct bookings for Black Friday, but it’s important to keep an eye on your profit margin as well to ensure your overall revenue reflects the success of your campaign. This is why larger offers should be strategically placed in the online user journey at the perfect moment to stop your visitors in their tracks.

Use Black Friday offers to grow your marketing database: ncouraging newsletter sign-ups on your hotel website is a win-win for hotel marketers. You’re able to entice guests with special Black Friday discounts and ultimately drive more direct bookings, while simultaneously expanding your marketing database!

After Black Friday: The Path Forward 

Conduct a post-campaign analysis:  What worked well during this year’s campaign? Where are your areas of improvement for next year? Make sure to keep track of your best practices and opportunities for growth in the weeks following your campaign to track how it performed as this will be precious information to take into account when it comes time to start planning for Black Friday strategy 2024 (it’ll be here quicker than you think!).

Ready to start planning? Hop on over to https://blog.thehotelsnetwork.com/2023-black-friday-campaign to read the full article and download the  Black Friday Success guide for unlocking all the secrets to crafting a successful Black Friday campaign!