The Booking Decision Has Already Been Made

Indeed, the customer has already decided to travel and has planned exactly what they will do and where throughout their trip. At some point, something or someone sparked their interest in a destination, an experience, or even a product. If you, as a hotelier, were the one to spark that interest, you have a strong chance that the customer will ultimately decide to book your hotel, provided your online reputation is solid. Furthermore, if you started a conversation with the user from the moment they entered that process, they are likely to book where you tell them they should. In any case, not everything has been decided yet. That customer who decided to visit a destination and chose one of its hotels has checked prices through different sources, which, together with other users’ reviews, your own content or social content, among other factors, have created expectations, an assumption of the non-financial value of the anticipated services, and whether that value suits their tastes, preferences and needs, and is now about to make a purchase. At this point, the hotel cannot afford to fail. Once the customer has decided to buy, their online search and browsing habits change radically. They stop searching for experiences and start searching for products, brands and prices. The experience becomes relatively secondary; it is time to compare the tangible elements. What the customer finds while browsing and comparing prices will determine where the purchase is ultimately made: through an online travel agency, a traditional travel agency or the Hotel Website. When searching for products, brands and prices, there is a clear purchase decision, the highest conversion potential, and these are therefore the criteria worth bidding on in online marketing. It is enough to observe the behaviour of online travel agencies, which understand the customer’s emotional state at this stage. It therefore makes sense at this stage to:

• Invest in brand keywords in online marketing campaigns. Even more so if it is your own brand and third parties have not been restricted from using it.
• Focus on clear purchase proposals based on price and its benefits, price guarantees or the best available price. Naturally, stop talking about facilities and location at this point. (The customer already knows them well by now.)
• Manage pricing and distribution effectively, applying full rate parity across all distribution channels for this user, ensuring consistency in our distribution and conveying credibility. At this stage, sound Revenue Management practices and maximum consistency in our distribution strategy are crucial to achieving maximum visibility and the best possible price.
• Continue displaying favourable reviews (or less favourable ones) from other users, to reinforce the decision to purchase at the last moment.
• Make clear, firm and unique proposals with one sole objective: to drive the purchase.