Multi-sensory Marketing: The Key to Guest Loyalty

Chances are you’ve been seduced into more than one bakery or restaurant by the wafting aroma of baking bread, barbecue, or other enticing smells. Just like those aromas make you feel hungry, happy, or content, guests entering your hotel, checking in, and exploring the grounds are also affected by emotional connections to their senses.

Whether traveling for business or pleasure, a hotel stay’s sights and sounds can stir positive and negative emotions in the guest experience. But other senses come into play, too.

“Marketing to a traveler’s taste, smell, touch, sight, and sound highly contribute to creating powerful memories and presents a real opportunity for hospitality experts to develop customer loyalty,” according to EHL Group, a hospitality business school.

According to the Yale School of Management, in recent years, marketers have moved towards engaging all five senses to create emotional connections to products and brands. And it looks like multi-sensory marketing is here to stay.

“Learnings from behavioral science suggest that developing strong multi-sensory strategies will become essential for winning consumer loyalty shortly,” says Yale School of Management.

Is your hotel appealing to all five of your guests’ senses? According to EHL, here are five ways to forge positive emotional connections through multi-sensory marketing for your brand.

1. Sight: Prioritize visuals

A guest’s first visual impression of your parking lot, grounds, and lobby plays a big part in setting the tone for their stay. But what your guests see before booking a room matters, too.

“Making high-quality photos available on your website, social media accounts, and other marketing materials is necessary — but it is not enough,” says EHL. “You also will want to appeal to the visual sense through descriptive copy, clean fonts, a vibrant color palette and an overall appealing design.”

While at it, ensure you have videos for potential and current guests to view.

“Around 65% of people watch videos when planning a trip and choosing a destination, with a further 54% opting for videos when searching for accommodation,” according to hotel software provider SiteMinder.

2. Smell: Connect with memory

When guests enter the lobby, the last thing you want them to remember your hotel by is musty, moldy, or stale air. That sounds like an extreme case scenario, but it reminds us that our sense of smell is one of our most emotionally connected senses.

“Properties worldwide already use signature scents to create a tailored and consistent customer experience and entice brand recognition,” says EHL.

For example, IHG Hotels and Resorts announced in 2021 that Intercontinental Hotels would supply guest bathrooms with bath amenities from the European luxury brand Byredo. Westin hotels infuse their lobbies and bathroom amenities with the scent of white tea, wood cedar, and vanilla.

3. Sound: Soothe with music

“From in-room TV offerings and online interactive platforms to music programming for public spaces or custom music entertainment events, there are many ways music can help hotel brands connect with their customers,” says EHL.

4. Touch: Convey luxury and comfort

Plush towels, soft comforters, and comfy mattresses combine to create the in-room guest experience. Rough, worn towels are off-putting to guests, while soft, plush towels offer a sense of luxury, security, and comfort. The same goes for bedding and mattresses.

Supplying rooms and guests with quality towels, bedding and mattresses goes a long way towards creating a good night’s sleep and pleasant associations with your hotel.

5. Taste: Make guests feel at home

DoubleTree by Hilton welcomes guests with its signature warm, freshly baked chocolate chip cookie at check-in so that guests associate a warm welcome and pleasant stay with their hotels. But why stop at a delicious cookie to satisfy the sense of taste?

Your hotel’s restaurants and bars also greatly satisfy guests through their sense of taste. The same goes for nearby restaurants recommended by the hotel concierge or other hotel staff that guests will associate with the recommendation — and your brand.