Buyer's journey

Why is it important to monitor the buyer’s journey  in hotels?

Understanding the buyer’s journey is essential to engage potential guests at the right moment, with the right message, through the right channel.

The buyer’s journey typically consists of three phases:

1. Awareness – The guest recognizes a need or desire, such as taking a vacation or attending an event out of town.
2. Consideration – The guest begins researching possible solutions, comparing destinations, properties, and offers.
3. Decision – The guest selects where to stay and completes the booking.

Each phase requires a different communication approach and strategy: during awareness it’s important to attract attention and generate interest through inspirational content, blog articles, or social media posts. 

In the consideration stage, providing clear and detailed information about the property, services, and guest reviews is essential. 

Finally, in the decision phase, removing friction, simplifying the booking process, and leveraging persuasive elements such as limited availability or cancellation guarantees is key.

Analyzing the buyer’s journey also helps identify potential drop-off points: understanding where and why a user hesitates allows hotels to improve the customer experience and increase conversion rates.

Additionally, a thorough understanding of this journey enables more effective marketing campaign planning by allocating budgets and content to the stages that generate the most value.

How is the buyer’s journey analyzed in hotels?

There is no mathematical formula for calculating the buyer’s journey, but it can be mapped by analyzing digital and physical customer touchpoints.

Useful tools include:

• Website analytics (pages visited, time spent, points of abandonment).
• Marketing campaign data (which content or ads generate the most clicks or conversions).
• Guest feedback and reviews (to understand which aspects of the stay or communication influenced the choice).

The buyer’s journey can vary significantly depending on the type of guest (leisure, business, couples, families) and the booking channel, so it should be tailored to the hotel’s market segmentation.