How Micro-Moments Can Boost Bookings at Your B&B

Micro-moments are seemingly insignificant in the grand scheme of things. Many of these moments last little more than an instant, so it might be difficult for B&B marketing experts to recognize them let alone realize the impact that they have on their customers’ online booking journey.

The reality of the matter is, there are many micro-moments that happen every day that play an important role in the customer experience, and you need to use these micro-moments to glean useful data in order to improve your brand reputation.

What are Micro-Moments?

Micro-moments are seconds in time in which consumers make major decisions during the buying experience. What may seem like a brief second or two in the online booking journey is actually a pivotal moment in which hotel marketing experts can capture the attention of their target audience.

Mobile hotel technology trends have increased both the prevalence and relevance of micro-moments in the online booking journey, and it’s critical that hotel marketing experts identify these powerful moments and use the data gained from them in order to improve their online brand management.

Micro-Moments and Mobile

Mobile has encouraged the rise of micro-moments, because consumers nearly always have their smartphone or tablet devices on hand in order to address immediate needs that they have.

For example, 82% of retail customers reportedly use their phones in order to influence a buying decision that they are going to make while they are inside the store. Hotel marketing experts need to recognize that these powerful micro-moments occur with their own target audiences.

In fact, in 2016 alone, 40% of site visits for U.S. travel sites were from mobile users. Hotel marketing trends show that there are several important micro-moments that occur amongst interested travelers: daydreaming moments, planning moments, booking moments and experiencing moments.

Micro-Moments and Dayparting

Dayparting is the act of dividing the day into specific parts in which travelers are most likely to book rooms at your hotel. Dayparting is critical, because it allows hotel marketing professionals to identify when their target audience is most likely to book a room at their hotel.

Many experts recognize that mobile technology is becoming increasingly important to capturing the target audience, and dayparting allows marketing professionals to understand when users are most likely to be engaged with their mobile devices.

Trends show that the majority of travelers are going to be using their mobile devices in the morning hours, as well as in the evening hours. These are the times of day when they are not in the office, for example. While at work during business hours, desktop and tablet usage increases significantly.

So, How Do They Help B&Bs?

Micro-moments can help hotels significantly because mobile technology allows guests to make decisions whenever the impulse strikes them.

If they are having a bad day at work and feel the need to getaway, they can search for great deals in your destination and book immediately if they feel so inclined.

If they are already in a destination but need a room, they can use their smartphone to book a room at your hotel.

Creating a mobile-friendly website and implementing an online booking engine with mobile capabilities will allow you to capitalize on micro-moments and increase mobile bookings for your hotel property.

To find out more about how travelers get to your website, view the free Little Hotelier guide below.