How can you use data and analytics to segment and target your guest segments and personas?

1 Step 1: Collect and integrate guest data

The first step is to collect and integrate guest data from various sources, such as your booking system, loyalty program, CRM, social media, surveys, feedback, and reviews. This will help you create a comprehensive and holistic view of your guests' profiles, behaviors, and preferences. You can use tools like data warehouses, data lakes, or cloud platforms to store and manage your data, and ensure that it is accurate, consistent, and secure.

2 Step 2: Analyze and visualize guest data

The next step is to analyze and visualize your guest data using tools like dashboards, reports, or business intelligence software. This will help you uncover insights and patterns, such as who your guests are, where they come from, why they choose you, how they interact with you, what they value, and what they expect. You can use metrics like occupancy rate, average daily rate, revenue per available room, guest satisfaction, retention, and lifetime value to measure and monitor your performance and identify opportunities and challenges.

3 Step 3: Segment and profile your guests

The third step is to segment and profile your guests based on the data and insights you have gathered. You can use criteria like demographics, psychographics, geographics, behavioral, or situational factors to group your guests into different segments that share similar characteristics, needs, and preferences. For example, you can segment your guests by age, income, lifestyle, travel purpose, booking channel, length of stay, or spending habits. You can also assign names and descriptions to each segment to create guest profiles that represent your typical or ideal guests.

4 Step 4: Create and refine guest personas

The fourth step is to create and refine guest personas based on your guest segments and profiles. Guest personas are fictional representations of your key guest segments that capture their goals, motivations, pain points, and expectations. They help you empathize with your guests and understand their perspectives and emotions. You can use tools like templates, stories, or scenarios to create and refine your guest personas, and include details like names, photos, quotes, or backgrounds to make them more realistic and relatable.

5 Step 5: Target and communicate with your guests

The fifth step is to target and communicate with your guests based on their segments and personas. You can use tools like email marketing, social media marketing, or content marketing to reach out to your guests and deliver relevant and personalized messages that address their needs, preferences, and expectations. You can also use tools like segmentation analysis, A/B testing, or personalization engines to optimize your campaigns and improve your conversion and retention rates.

6 Step 6: Evaluate and improve your guest service

The final step is to evaluate and improve your guest service based on the data and analytics you have collected and used. You can use tools like feedback forms, surveys, reviews, or net promoter score to measure and monitor your guest satisfaction, loyalty, and advocacy. You can also use tools like sentiment analysis, text analysis, or social listening to understand your guests' opinions, emotions, and preferences. You can use these data and insights to identify gaps, issues, or areas of improvement in your guest service, and implement actions to enhance your guest experience.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?