There are a lot of nuances that come with running a venue — whether that be a boutique hotel, resort chain, event center, or restaurant — that can make things complex for a property manager. Pulling together an event using manual processes and overwhelming to-do lists can have a negative impact on the execution of the event, the guest experience, and potential revenue.
This is where venue management software plays a pivotal role. Also known as event planning software, this cloud-based technology automates processes in hotel events, sales and catering, and Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions (MICE) bookings. Using the power of data, venue management software gives venues direct insights into event trends, guest preferences, and operational performance. A primary example of a solution like this is Event Temple.
When coupled with a data-driven marketing tool, venues see the full benefits of using data to improve customer experiences and significantly boost revenue. Guest data and automated marketing solutions like Ascent360 ingest all the data that exists in your venue systems, cleanses and enhances it for accuracy, and seamlessly creates targeted segments based on preferences, behavior, demographics, and more.
Combining an integrated marketing tool with a venue management solution creates a cohesive data-driven strategy that enhances your marketing, improves experiences, and drives more revenue.
The Basics of Venue Management Software
Venue management software helps you get more done with significantly less work. It allows you to see where time is being allocated and determine what is generating business for your properties, whether that be sales and catering, renting out rooms, or hosting conferences.
Here are a few of the primary features of event management software:
- Extensive reporting — Easily collect data from events including performance, client preferences, and areas for improvement. This helps you make better informed decisions when planning events and identifies which events perform the best at what times.
- Lead management and pipeline — Create a seamless and organized approach for hotel sales and catering management through efficient tracking of leads and guest relationships. With an effective pipeline, you enhance sales success, increase guest satisfaction, and enable data-driven decision making.
- E-Proposals — Create and send templated, customizable proposal documents to not only save up to 50% more time on the back end but make a memorable impact on potential clients.
- Smart mail — Integrate your sales CRM with email and use pre-designed email templates to track customer interactions and ensure consistency in your messaging. Standardized content for different stages of the sales process saves time and enables efficient communication.
With all these features at your disposal, venue management software provides a unified platform that gives you visibility into all aspects of an event. You can manage event details all in one place, reduce errors, save time, and create a better experience.
Integration with Data-Driven Marketing Software
Building an efficient and effective sales pipeline relies heavily on data and how you communicate with your guests. Venue management software integrates seamlessly with Ascent360, a customer data platform (CDP) that combines all your data for a unified view of every customer.
With a crystal-clear picture of your guests and their interactions with your properties, you can use that information to create dynamic segments and build hyper-targeted marketing campaigns across SMS, email, paid ads & direct mail, which in turn leads to more direct bookings, increased revenue, repeat business, and higher guest satisfaction.
Some of the primary benefits of integrating with the Ascent360 CDP include:
- Data synergy — The advanced hygiene engine unifies, de-duplicates, and cleanses your data to create a robust, 360-degree profile of each of your guests.
- Sophisticated segmentation — Build targeted audience segments based on booking history, preferences, lifetime value, and demographics.
- Easy-to-use automation — Effortlessly create automated marketing campaigns that run in the background and continue to nurture your guests at every stage of the experience.
- Campaign effectiveness — Use the in-depth analysis and reporting feature to determine what is (and isn’t) working, and attribute revenue directly to your campaigns.
How you talk to your guests matters — a generic, one-size-fits-all marketing message will have a lackluster effect on your event experiences — and where and when you talk to them matters too. A CDP like Ascent360 helps you identify your guests’ preferred channels, whether that’s email, SMS, direct mail, or paid ad campaigns, to meet them where they are. This will ultimately increase engagement and drive more bookings and revenue.
Ascent360 offers proven-effective, easy-to-build campaign templates that speak directly to your guests, depending on lifecycle stage, such as Post-Event, Pre-Arrival, and Lapsed Customer Win-Back.
The Value of Combined Solutions
Working together, Event Temple’s venue management software and Ascent360’s customer data and marketing automation platform complement each other to offer unparalleled efficiency and insights. The power of data cannot be understated — the more clearly you can see and use your data, the easier it is to optimize the event experience, drive bookings, and boost revenue.
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