Who isn’t familiar with Netflix? With over 222 million subscribers, this streaming platform has become the favorite of thousands of binge-watchers across the globe. You might wonder what hoteliers could learn from such a different company. Probably more than you would expect, hoteliers can replicate so many elements from Netflix’s strategy, but for today, let’s dive into their online user experience and how to apply it to your hotel website.
3 Strategies Your Hotel Can Replicate From Netflix
Below you will find 3 strategies your hotel can replicate from Netflix’s success to boost website engagement and gain more direct bookings.
1. Shout Your Brand Out Loud and Strong
Netflix’s crystal-clear customer value proposition
Watch anywhere, cancel anytime. Netflix’s slogan strategically highlights two of its unique selling propositions (USPs), allowing them to stand out from the competition from the very beginning.
Communicating their unique positioning right from the get go, combined with their stimulating branded visuals, the online giant is able to convey messages that resonate among users and undoubtedly drive new subscriptions.
Like Netflix, your hotel brand has core values and unique customer propositions, and everyone should know them. With more choices than ever for guests to choose from, it’s crucial to highlight what makes your property unique the second a potential guest lands on your website. They need to know why your property is the right fit for their stay.
2. Craft Exclusive Offers Catered to Each Guest’s Needs
Movie suggestions based on your interests
Personalization is everything to Netflix. The company has developed a technology to ensure that the content featured to viewers matches their preferences. Through artificial intelligence (AI), Nextflix has shifted from traditional customer segmentation towards “taste communities” – groups of users with similar streaming behavior.
With such technology, Netflix can also provide content on a contextual basis, making changes in user behavior based on time of day, day of the week, or holidays, for example. As a hotelier, it makes total sense you take this approach. After all, hospitality is personal, and the technology that allows you to deliver such personalized content to boost revenue is no longer a luxury.
Utilizing the power of machine learning to predict user booking behavior and then automatically personalizing the website content is known as Predictive Personalization (read here how this phenomenon is revolutionizing the hospitality industry). Spearheaded by The Hotels Network, this powerful technique means that hotels can deliver the right messages at the right time to the right visitor and maximize user engagement and revenue.
3. Test Constantly to Reach Perfection
Netflix tests multiple creatives to find the top-performing design for each user
Netflix also employs “consumer science”, where users are shown different visuals for the same content based on their previous browsing history. Taking the hit sci-fi series Stranger Things as an example, users with romantic themed preferences would be shown visuals with the romance between characters.
However, horror fans would more likely be shown images with some of the darker elements of the show. Through constant testing, Netflix leaves nothing to chance and is able to show users the right stimulus to get them into watching the series.
As a hotelier, getting the right content out there is equally important. It would be ineffective to show a family offer to a business traveler, right? You should A/B test to determine what content to show each potential guest, and just as Netflix does, figure out how fonts, colors, and other visuals affect conversion. The key takeaway here? Specific modification of content at the individual user level can generate a higher overall level of interest and engagement.
Free KPI Framework: Top 10 Direct Channel Metrics for Benchmarking Your Hotel Performance
Direct bookings are paramount for hotel brands to succeed today, but the channel's performance management is often insufficient. Still, the real value comes from seeing how your brand compares to the market so you can identify growth opportunities. Data analytics can help you better understand your direct channel results.Click here to download the KPI Framework "Benchmarking Your Hotel brand's Performance".
Whilst different industries, learnings from Netflix’s strategy can be applied to your hotel brand’s website. With the latest advances in technology, data can be used to extract meaningful insights and optimize performance. Deciding to offer visitors what they want by providing a smooth and personalized user experience could elevate your brand and grow your hotel’s direct booking channel.
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