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Are you looking to improve the marketing strategy for your hospitality business? With the world of marketing constantly changing, you must keep trying new and innovative marketing tactics to keep your business on top. The use of scent marketing in hospitality has numerous benefits that will improve customer experiences and enhance your bottom line.
There’s a lot of competition and without finding new ways to reach customers, you won’t keep up. Many business owners neglect the power of a good scent marketing strategy. They rely on digital and traditional marketing to do all of their work, but is it enough?
Because so many businesses aren’t taking advantage of scent marketing in their hotels and vacation rentals, utilizing it for yourself will make you stand out in the crowd.
Not sure if it’s right for you? Don’t worry, we’re here to explain. Keep reading to learn all about scent marketing and its benefits.
What Is Scent Marketing?
Scent marketing is the process of attracting and engaging clients and visitors with a sensory experience via scent. It’s not new, but it isn’t widely utilized, making it a valuable option for marketers looking to branch out.
Scent marketing has been used in places like Disneyland for ages. They pump the air with relevant scents for rides and experiences, and they introduce the slight scent of popcorn through the shopping area to encourage guests to buy food.
For an example of how well it can work, a grocery chain has increased sales by up to 9% after utilizing scent marketing. But what does all of this mean for the hospitality industry?
How Does Scent Marketing In Hospitality Work?
So what does this mean when we talk about scent marketing in the hospitality industry?
Scent marketing isn’t only for theme parks and grocery stores. We think it’s most important in resorts, hotels, and Airbnb because your guests will be spending more time at your business.
With your hospitality business, you can take the sensory experience of scent marketing from your lobby to the guests’ rooms, and you can change scents along the way for a customized and tailored approach.
For an example of how you can change a guest’s experience with the power of scents if you want your Airbnb to feel warm and cozy, you can use a scent like Pumpkin Apple Crisp to make them feel like they’re in a quiet lodge in autumn.
You want to give your guests a relaxing experience that will make them want to come back for more. With scent marketing, you can do that. Let’s move on to see how scent marketing can benefit your hotel or vacation rental property.
1) It Improves the Guests’ Experience
As the owner of a hospitality business, it’s your job to give your guests a good experience. They’re trusting you and your hotel or Airbnb to house them while they’re visiting.
With scent marketing, guests are greeted with nice, soothing smells from the time they walk through the door. A hotel that doesn’t smell nice won’t make the guests happy. By using scent marketing, you’re making your space seem more clean, fresh, and inviting, boosting overall satisfaction and increasing positive reviews.
2) It Encourages Repeat Business
Many hotels and Airbnbs see return business from frequent travelers, like those who travel for business. 40% of hotel guests are business travelers, and these travelers are likely to need lodging several times per year.
Return customers are loyal to your brand, but how do you gain this loyalty?
There are the obvious answers; you keep a clean space, you provide wonderful amenities, and you provide good service. But you can also utilize scents as a part of your experience mix.
Smells go through the olfactory bulb which is an area in the brain that disperses information throughout the body. It travels to the amygdala and hippocampus, the areas of the brain associated with memory.
Why does this matter?
Scent marketing makes your business memorable. Guests will associate that scent with your business without realizing it, encouraging them to come back the next time they travel.
Increasing repeat guests may increase your profits by up to 95%.
3) It Improves Brand Recognition
Your brand is everything when it comes to your marketing strategy. Most businesses do the standard branding practices such as providing memorable logos, using a consistent color scheme, and keeping a consistent brand voice or tone.
Your scent is part of your brand, so choosing the right one is important.
If you own several properties, you can choose to use one consistent scent for each one, or you can use a collection of scents that are different with similar notes to give a different sensory experience based on the feeling that you want your customers to have while they’re staying with you. Scents can be adapted to fit different locations, cultures, and local tastes.
As we mentioned before, the scent is linked to memory.
While guests will know you by your brand colors and logo, the eyes aren’t as important as the nose. You’ll provide them with a memorable experience through the power of scent.
4) It Creates a Higher Perception of Value
You run a business because you want to make money. Utilizing scent marketing is a way to drum up business and a way to make it seem more valuable.
Consider how you feel when you walk into a standard motel. It’s clean but sterile. It’s a place to stay and nothing more.
Now consider how you feel when walking into a 5-star hotel. You can smell the food wafting from the kitchen and the scent of fresh linens. You know that this place is valuable and worth the price that you paid for it.
This is what you want from your guests. Not only will it help you keep new ones, but that valuable sensory experience will attract new guests via word of mouth and online reviews.
You want your guests to feel like they’re getting the 5-star experience, and if they do, they’ll spread the word.
Are You Utilizing Scent Marketing In Hospitality?
Too many businesses neglect the power of scent marketing in hospitality. Your guests deserve a sensory experience that will stick in their memories and encourage them to share their experiences and return in the future.
Whether you’re using a soothing blend in the rooms to encourage better sleep, a bright and fresh scent in your outside spaces to encourage your guests to visit your pools, gyms, and outdoor amenities, or a warm and cozy scent to make them feel right at home, you want to make sure that they’re getting the best possible experience.
We know how powerful the scent is. Are you ready to take your business to the next level with scent marketing?
We want to provide your business with scents that are sure to keep your guests coming back for more. Visit our shop and browse our scent blends to find the right ones for you.
