As initially mentioned, the chatbot should always generate benefits from two perspectives: that of the hotel and that of the guests, thereby creating maximum added value. Hotels aim to offer their guests the most positive experience possible. When considering the benefits of chatbots for guests, they can be categorized into affective and functional benefits. Affective benefit refers to the emotional experience of the guests. If the interaction with the chatbot is entertaining or stimulating, guests will perceive this as pleasant and will automatically associate it with the hotel. Conversely, if the dialogue is cumbersome or boring, guests will remember it as equally challenging. Functional benefit, on the other hand, describes whether the interaction with the chatbot was helpful for customers. It concerns whether the chatbot was able to answer the questions and whether the interaction was useful. Can the chatbot provide the restaurant's opening hours in the hotel or recommend nearby restaurants within a few seconds? If so, this service also positively impacts the guests' experience. Together, affective and functional benefits constitute the guests' experiences with a chatbot. In practice, it may occur that one aspect outweighs the other. Therefore, a hotel chatbot should definitely be evaluated and designed from the guest's perspective.
Therefore, the hotel chatbot should match the design and tone of your brand, your wording, and your design guidelines, be targeted to your audience, and integrate optimally into your website.
In the context of a chatbot, the customer experience is crucial. Users of your digital helper should receive a customer experience that matches your hotel and recognize a clear added value in the chatbot. The dialogues should be friendly and competent, much like the interactions they would have with employees of your company. An engaging dialogue that builds a relationship while quickly and efficiently leading guests to the desired solution or information is the goal of chatbot scripting.
In short: A good chatbot influences the conversion rate of the hotel website and leads to more direct bookings. Dialogue marketing, also known as conversational marketing, ensures that more website visitors are converted into bookings. By conveying unique features, special attributes, and the personality of the hotel, enabling direct communication, and establishing a direct relationship with guests, a chatbot can increase the conversion rate. Dialogue marketing involves what is known as pull communication, where potential guests receive relevant content at the right time, thereby making their booking decisions more swiftly. For example, if a guest inquires about wellness offerings, the chatbot can direct them to the booking page for offers in addition to providing an answer. This way, the guest finds all relevant information at a glance and is more inclined to book an offer directly.
Experience has shown that chatbots are particularly successful with guests when they communicate in an entertaining and result-oriented manner. When chatbots use emojis or humor, guests feel as though they are chatting with friends. This naturally entices users to accept recommendations or book additional services that the chatbot has suggested. Hotels can thus strategically use text to direct attention to specific services they want to highlight. The conversation should never lead nowhere. Instead, the chatbot should always have a suggestion for further searches or an overview of the hotel's offered services ready.
The use of guided dialogues via quick response buttons has proven very effective. Guests start the dialogue with a question and can then navigate through suggested responses in the dialogue, learning about other topics and offers. Chatbots that offer guided dialogues have higher interaction rates and thus also higher conversion rates. In DialogShift's chatbots, guided dialogues are already set up and do not require much time to create.
Moreover, it is important that the chatbot matches the design and tone of your hotel. Consider who your target audience is and what they expect from your hotel. Are you a trendy hotel in a big city, or a rural wellness hotel with many older regular customers? If the chatbot matches the brand of your hotel, the customer experience will be better.
Choosing a name for your chatbot is a crucial step in its introduction, and this step should not be underestimated—after all, the name is the first thing your guests will notice about your chatbot. There are various options for naming: from neutral names like Max, to acronyms like Mona (My Online Assistant), to functional names such as "Digital Helper." Of course, you can also come up with a quirky name that makes your guests smile, or derive a name from your hotel’s name. Running a spa hotel? Why not name your chatbot Kurt!
A fundamental rule is: the more personal the interaction feels, the better the user experience and conversion rate.
In any case, when choosing your chatbot's name, ensure it matches the character of your hotel and your target audience. Consider how your guests prefer to communicate, what is important to them about your hotel, and what they expect from your service. Ideally, the design, tone, and name of your chatbot should form a cohesive personality. Generally, the more personal the interaction feels, the better the user experience and conversion. Therefore, we advise against using purely functional names.
Once you have established the personality of your chatbot, it's time to write the texts—that is, the chatbot's responses. It's crucial to keep the character of your hotel and your target audience in mind and tailor the text accordingly. Adjust how many and what types of emojis you use, whether you include GIFs, photos, or videos, and of course, whether you use formal or informal language with your guests.
When crafting the texts, think dialogically. After all, the goal is to facilitate a conversation between the chatbot and the guest. As is typical with chats and digital communication, users prefer short sentences and multiple messages instead of one long speech bubble.
At DialogShift, you have the significant advantage that the chatbots are already pre-scripted. You choose whether to use formal or informal language and simply adjust the suggested response options. This can save you many hours of text work!
