More than a third of hospitality businesses have increased their customer communication efforts in response to COVID-19 according to new research, as venues responded to the challenging market conditions of the past nine months.
It’s no secret that hospitality businesses have had to pivot drastically in order to maximise revenue in recent months, as venues across the country have closed, reopened and adapted to make use of space in ways which seemed unimaginable at the start of 2020.
SMS communications provider TextAnywhere asked hospitality businesses about how they had used communications to maximise the relationship with their customers since the impact of the first national lockdown in March and the subsequent varying of restrictions.
When compared to pre-COVID-19, 39.4% of hospitality firms said they’re sending more messages to potential and existing partners and customers, while just over a third are sending the same amount (37.9%). One in five businesses said they’re sending fewer messages right now (22.7%).
The majority of messages sent by businesses are related to marketing and promotional activity (34.4%), delivery information (21.9%) and customer service (15.6%). The full breakdown of how hospitality businesses have used customer messaging during COVID-19 is as follows:
- Marketing / promotional activity – 34.38%
- Delivery information – 21.88%
- Customer service / process updates – 15.63%
- Appointment management – 9.38%
- Account updates – 6.25%
- Customer satisfaction surveys – 6.25%
- Emergency information – 6.25%
Commenting on the results, Demi Edmunds, communications specialist at TextAnywhere, said:
“The majority of hospitality businesses have had to completely revamp their operations, business models and projections over the past few months as restrictions have taken hold of the industry and put a stop to events, which are often key revenue drivers for many businesses.
“However, hospitality businesses have arguably shown the greatest resilience and adaptability of all industry sectors, introducing new arms to their offering such as take out services, flexible opening hours and introducing new technology to maximise revenue despite social distancing restrictions.
“Maintaining a great level of customer engagement has never been so pressing for pubs, restaurants and other venues, and they have already had to adapt how and what they message customers. Right now, it’s all about striking a balance between remaining top of mind to customers and making them feel comfortable about returning to venues, by reassuring them of various safety measures, without overwhelming them.”
TextAnywhere’s top three tips on how to maintain effective customer messaging over the festive period:
Remind customers of their bookings
Sending customers an SMS reminder prior to their booking is a great way to reduce no-shows, as SMS benefits from a 95% open rate, and it also allows businesses to manage customer expectations – if for example, you require customers to scan the Track and Trace App upon arrival, you can mention this within the SMS reminder.
Furthermore, it also enables businesses to start the customer experience, prior to the booking. By including links to new food and drink menus, brands can begin to get customers excited about their visit, before they even arrive.
Keep your messaging personalised
Customers have come to value and almost expect a personalised service these days. By creating an increasingly personalised experience, via targeted and relevant communications, businesses place themselves in a better position to achieve greater customer loyalty. Just be sure, to have a clear ‘call to action’ in place, for instance ‘Book now’ to make the process as smooth as possible.
Gather customer feedback
A great way to use this time is to carry out research on how customers currently view your business. Even a simple SMS survey, can prove a powerful tool to collate customer feedback. When planning ahead to 2021, you can then use this data to identify any areas of weaknesses, potential new revenue streams and pull together an appropriate plan to address these.
The data forms part of a wider survey which asked 656 international businesses to state how COVID-19 has impacted their business messaging. When looking at all industries, 38% of companies said they’re sending more business communications and just 13% confirmed they were sending less, when compared to pre-pandemic levels.
For the full results of this research, visit https://www.textanywhere.com/content-hub/blog/technology/how-covid-19-has-impacted-business-messaging-for-7-industries-across-5-territories/