Improve Customer Satisfaction, Streamline On-Site Services
Technology is changing everything about how we live – including how we travel and, for hospitality management professionals, how we provide meaningful experiences for guests. We now have the easy-to-implement tools to update and improve the guest experience and, at the same time, increase revenues for properties, thanks to exciting developments in the realm of digital out-of-home (DOOH) content management systems for connected devices. A DOOH network is a platform that allows streaming content including video, music and navigation, in often unexpected places.
DOOH networks are making it possible for any manner of hospitality property – from hotels and other lodging venues to golf carts, gondolas and elevators – to offer personalized content to customers wherever they happen to be, serving up individualized content and useful information. Imagine having an interactive ski resort map with live updates about weather and run conditions right from the gondola, alerting and entertaining riders while they watch premium content from the gondola – perhaps even showing the latest ski movie release.
These interactive entertainment networks are customizable and can be as far-reaching or specific in offerings as properties may demand. For example, a DOOH network can reduce demands on staff by making it possible to make reservations, book tickets, sign up for excursions or other common concierge needs, offering an easy-to-use online portal and allowing customers to make their plans and purchases from the click of a button on their remote control or right from their phones. A DOOH platform can also offer premium streaming content to guests while on-site, varying from in-theater movies to specific streaming networks or channels. Additionally, properties can open up their networks for advertising if they choose, creating an additional revenue stream
Here are a handful of ways a DOOH network can improve the guest and host experience.
Offer personalized customer experiences
New technologies allow companies to provide personalized experiences – from streaming content to concierge-like services. Customers increasingly demand convenience, and connected devices make it possible. Let’s say you manage a hotel that has dining establishments on site. It’s now possible for customers to make reservations right from their hotel room. Or perhaps your business is in a theater or professional sports haven – same goes. Using new technology, it’s possible to purchase tickets without picking up a phone or leaving the room.
Provide seamless streaming entertainment
Anyone who has stayed in a hotel recently knows that, with few exceptions, in-room entertainment is broken. Yes, you can log in to your own Netflix account – if you can remember your password and have the patience to enter said password one letter at a time from the remote! The DOOH experience is simple, straightforward, and doesn’t require convoluted passwords or throw up other barriers to accessing entertainment. All you have to do is log into your account from your phone, connect to the TV and stream. Easy.
Reduce expenses
Using a connected OOH platform makes it possible for properties to save on expenses, including some telecommunication services, like cable. New technologies can provide a variety of seamless streaming entertainment options at a lower cost. What’s more, the same technologies allow operators to offer virtual concierge services, giving guests information they need in an instant, without increasing operational costs or demand on staff.
Create ad revenue
Using DOOH networks, it’s easier for advertisers to reach affluent audiences where they live, work and play. Technology makes it possible to deliver relevant content in a thoughtful, curated manner with increasing value for the end users based on their purchasing profiles. Historically, DOOH networks have struggled to deliver advertisers with clear insight into their customer base but, with available technologies, it's not a challenge anymore and businesses can serve the right ad to the right person at the right time whether that person is in a hotel room, a golf cart, a rental car or the gondola at a mountain resort.
Learn more about your customers
Data is everything, these days. Now DOOH networks equip hotels with the ability to collect insightful information - which ads work, which are ignored? What are guests most interested in doing throughout their stay? Being able to source all of this data from one platform enables hoteliers to make better decisions on future marketing and develop new strategies to improve future sales.
Those are just a few ways a modern digital out-of-home network can improve the hospitality experience for guests and hosts alike.
About the Author
Nick Stanitz-Harper is CRO and co-founder of Edison Interactive, a leading out-of-home (OOH) content management system (CMS) for connected devices in golf cars, rental vehicles, hotel rooms and more. Focused on digitally transforming the customer experience, Edison is known for its vast network of premium displays, digital signage and infotainment solutions.