Mastering digital for hospitality in time for the festive season

2023 has brought with it an era of fast-moving digital transformation, stemming from all things AI to contactless solutions and diversifying channels to reach audiences. We’ve discussed it at length here.

The primary driver of digital transformation in hospitality is customer experience. The days of a friendly conversation being enough to satisfy customers are long gone. Instead, businesses must leverage technology to provide a seamless, efficient, and personalised experience that meets the ever-evolving expectations of customers.

Ahead of the festive season, arguably one of the most important times for hospitality, Propeller explores the technology available and how companies can maximise its effects. From bustling bars to fine-dining restaurants, Christmas is a boost for all hospitality businesses.

With such high demand over the festive season, no-shows and last-minute cancellations can take a hospitality venue’s earning potential from record profits to a less fulfilling result. It is not a question of why a venue needs a booking system, but a question of which system to use.

We explore this in more depth here, but here is a brief run-down of different types of booking systems for hospitality venues:

• Event-specific deposits
• Cash deposits
• Credit card pre-authorisation
• Online payment systems
• Vouched or gift-card deposits
• Membership or loyalty program deposits

Each approach offers its own benefits and considerations. Ultimately, the choice of deposit type depends on the restaurant’s preferences and the convenience and trust it provides to its valued customers.

Clear policies must be enforced to ensure transparency with customers. Digital teams can create clear policy pages within their website to ensure mutual understanding between venues and their customers.

Social media is a fundamental pillar that brands need to invest in to reach their customers. Taking social media campaigns further and investing in paid media will ensure a venue reaches its target audiences. 

Our work with Young’s to create a paid media campaign for festive booking was a huge success. Finding the best social channels to reach the target audience resulted in a fine-tuned strategy.

With office parties and general get-togethers, the festive season presents a great opportunity to have a fully booked venue for the entire period.  When executed well, social media campaigns will generate a mass of bookings. Take a look at our paid media campaign with Young’s for last Christmas if you need any convincing.

Our creative client ASK Italian runs an annual 12 Days of Christmas campaign to reward their loyal customer base and encourage them to visit their site for every day of the campaign. 

Festive campaigns like this bring a brand to the forefront of their customer’s minds when planning where they want to catch-up with old friends or go out for drinks over the holidays.

Having a strong digital presence, including a mobile-friendly website, will attract and retain customers. Go beyond the tried and trusted snow-effect desktop displays and stand out against competitors.

Seasonal landing pages

Creating a Christmas landing page is a fantastic way to draw attention to a hospitality venue’s seasonal offerings. 

Promotional landing pages goal present all information related to a promotion or campaign. From pre-order menus to ticketed events, this is a great region to host all festive events and offers for your venue.

Personalisation is a surefire way to win customers hearts. Extra details, especially when they are specifically dedicated to an individual, leave lasting impressions on customers. 

Offering customers rewards based on their spending patterns, which can be understood through loyalty or ordering apps, will incentivise them to return to a pub. 

The benefits of digital transformation in the hospitality industry are clear. From providing personalised and efficient customer experience to increasing revenue and profitability, businesses that embrace digital transformation are poised for success in the years to come.

The specialists in hospitality

Work with our team of industry experts for exceptional website design for hospitality brands to boost bookings, drive restaurant reservations or nail your digital marketing plan. 

Striking imagery and the right amount of product knowledge is key to website design for food and drink brands, we collaborate to put your products in the best possible light with an exceptional customer experience at its core.