Hospitality overhead messaging is a great tool to communicate with customers. In just a few seconds, you can send information to everyone in your business, regardless of what they’re doing or where they are.
While many companies rely on display boards or employee interactions to share content, overhead messaging remains one of the top ways to make announcements that drive action.
The hospitality industry, in particular, has an opportunity to streamline customer movements and improve company sales with the help of audio announcements. Here are seven types of hospitality overhead messaging your business can use to communicate with customers.
Upcoming Special Events
The hospitality industry is known for its exciting events and seasonal opportunities. If you have an upcoming event that you want customers to know about, make it a part of your overhead messaging. This is a great way to increase loyalty by bringing back customers who are already in your location.
If possible, encourage customers to sign up for the event or buy tickets in advance. This will help you quantify your in-store messaging efforts to see exactly how many people are driven to buy because of the overhead information.
Hospitality Overhead Messaging About Limited Time On-Premise Offers
Hospitality overhead messaging is an important tool to increase the average ticket within your business. You have already done the bulk of the heavy lifting by bringing customers into your organization. The next step is to encourage them to buy more through upgrades, packages, loyalty plans, and impulse buys. This type of messaging works best when the offers are presented as exclusive in-store opportunities to shoppers.
By nature, people don’t want to feel like they’re missing out, so adding a call-to-action tied to that day and encouraging people to take advantage of the offer immediately can boost your in-store conversion rates.
New Product and Service Offerings
Overhead messaging is a great tool to spread awareness of new products or services that you offer. The customers you reach are already engaging with your brand and aware of their existing options, so you can skip that part and focus on the features of your new products or services.
If you’re offering samples or test opportunities in-store, then this messaging can guide customers to that part of your business. For example, a hotel might have surfing lessons that people can try or a bar could have a new menu item that customers might want to add to their orders.
Offering new products and services is a great way to grow your average ticket as well. These items can cost more or serve as add-on to existing options.
Promotions That Increase Customer Loyalty
Building customer loyalty is essential for any business that wants to grow, but it has become increasingly important for companies in the hospitality industry.
Recent studies have found that 77% of consumers participate in loyalty programs (including 46% of consumers that are part of hotel loyalty programs) and the average household actively uses 5-12 of them.
Furthermore, loyal customers spend an average of 67% more per visit and significantly easier to attract and convert than new customers.
Americans are saying they want customer loyalty programs from the companies they interact with, otherwise they wouldn’t use them. Use your overhead messaging to promote your loyalty program and explain the benefits to your customers. They might not know that you have one or understand why they should join it. You can even offer an in-store incentive for signing up that day to boost sign-ups.
Invitations on Connect Online
Along with building customer loyalty, your hospitality in-store messaging can also increase your online presence and overall marketing efforts. Consider inviting customers to follow your brand on social media or join your email or text subscription list. You can use this messaging to highlight the content you share, including important updates and coupons. You might even be able to offer exclusive coupons to customers who check in when they are at your location.
Word-of-mouth marketing is especially powerful in the hospitality industry. More than 80% of people say word-of-mouth influences where they decide to eat, and sites like Yelp and TripAdvisor continue to drive decisions for people who are looking to try new things.
Bring the social media experience into the store and encourage customers to check in, post about their experience, and share your brand with their friends with your overhead messaging, then you could grow your business faster than you think.
Customer Feedback Opportunities
Overhead messaging isn’t just for your marketing and sales teams. Consider using hospitality overhead messaging to solicit feedback opportunities from customers.
Simply letting people know that a survey is available online or inviting them to offer feedback with the customer care team can boost the number of responses you collect over the course of a day. This information is valuable to improve your business and evaluate how your employees are doing.
Closing Information and Operating Hours
If you have specific operating hours that are impacted by the season or simply want customers to know that your business is closing soon, create branded hospitality overhead messaging letting people know.
If customers are aware of your hours, they can plan their visits accordingly to take advantage of what you have to offer. This is particularly important during the holiday season when companies operate at different times and are often closed on certain days.
Letting customers know that your business is closing can also help your staff. If customers leave right when the store closes, then your staff can start cleaning up and shutting down for the night. If customers linger even after they’re supposed to leave, your staff has to stay and cater to them. This costs you extra money to cover their salaries while inconveniencing your staff as a whole.
Weave Hospitality Overhead Messaging Into Your Music Plan
You don’t have to choose between playing overhead music and overhead messaging for your customers. It’s easy to weave the two together so customers enjoy a balance of carefully curated music while teaching people about your business.
If you want to change how customers interact with your brand and add overhead messaging to your hospitality business, then contact Spectrio today. We can set up a free consultation to discuss your business needs and brainstorm ways to increase engagement with your customer base.