And the right technology can mean a lot of different things to different businesses, even within the same hospitality industry.
One app that boosts productivity in your hotel might be the same one that caused mass confusion and reduced efficiency in another. So, to approach your software stack in a cure-all, assembly line way could sooner sabotage your efforts than lead to meaningful breakthroughs.
But that’s not the only problem. The hotel industry is known for its long hours and hardworking staff. Where do you even find the time to think, learn, and plan about apps and their implementation within your organization when you can barely keep up with your daily workload?
Well, B2B technology is evolving yet again, allowing tech companies to connect with the hospitality industry in a new, efficient, entertaining way. Here’s what’s on the horizon.
The Micro + Visual Trend Is Maturing & Spreading
Julie Squires, CEO of Softscribe Inc. notes that the Micro + Visual trend is growing. With this technology, tech companies can engage the hospitality industry with newsletters, whitepapers, and short videos sprinkled with humor.
This sounds like just the ticket for hotel business executives and managers, who want to learn about technology, but also don’t want their research process to feel like grade school homework. With this new approach, they can have fun while simultaneously learning about developments that could boost profits, productivity, operational efficiency, and so on.
Squires notes that visuals are key to engaging the hospitality industry. Her firm uses Twitter, newsletters, whitepapers and blogs to spice up otherwise information-dense and potentially stale presentations. In addition, she suggests that B2B companies talk about the benefits of their product upfront, letting the hotel industry know why they should purchase their service.
People in the hotel industry want to feel a one-on-one connection, and tech companies should focus on creating this experience as they look to sell their app.
What Does This Mean For All Involved?
For tech companies who are developing apps and products to serve the hospitality sector, it means better marketing. And better marketing means better results.
For the hotel industry, it means less time doing homework. You can be brought up to speed on the latest and greatest in technological advancements quickly. And you can learn about a lot of different products in a very short amount of time. It also means more fun.
Some of the key elements of the Micro + Visual trend include:
- Pictures. A picture is worth a thousand words. Just look at Instagram or Pinterest, and it’s not hard to see that stories and messages can be conveyed just as effectively with images as they can be with text, and sometimes by using less text in the process.
- Video. More companies are investing larger amounts into video content than ever before. In addition, mobile video has a 6 times higher click-through rate than standard display ads. People are viewing and listening to more media on their mobile devices than ever before, and higher engagement means more conversions.
- Social media. Facebook alone has 1.79 billion active users. We’re all used to consuming large amounts of bite-size content everywhere we go online – Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and so on. Social media plays a huge part in personal connection, and people are starved for that connection more than ever before.
- Mobile. If the stat from earlier didn’t catch your eye, then it’s worth mentioning again. Mobile usage is up, and it continues to go up. Tech companies need to utilize the technology well to connect with their target audience and offer a customized selling experience.
Conclusion
If you’re in the hospitality industry, then you can expect tech companies to start connecting with you in this new way. Prepare to be entertained, educated, and inspired, because personalized, bite-size content is coming your way.