Social Media Marketing Strategy for a Leisure Hotel Using Digital Customer Experience Journey Approach: A Study on Innside by Melia Yogyakarta

Abstract

Innside by Melia Yogyakarta is a 4-star business and leisure hotel owned by PT. Saraswanti Indoland Development. In 2018-2019, Innside by Melia Yogyakarta experienced a relatively rapid increase in revenue. However, the Directors of PT Saraswanti Indoland Development are still not satisfied with the hotel's current performance. To improve hotel performance, the target market will be focused on leisure travelers. However, the social media platform owned by Innside by Melia Yogyakarta, which will attract leisure travelers, also does not have a good performance. To overcome this issue, several analyzes and findings are conducted. External analysis is determined by PESTEL and Competitor Analysis. Internal analysis is determined by VRIO and Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning (STP). Then, a survey was carried out to find out the preferences of leisure travelers. The survey was made based on the customer experience's digital journey while staying at Innside by Melia Yogyakarta and hotels in the Yogyakarta. There are six stages of the customer experience journey: the awareness/inspiration stage; research/consideration stage; decision-making stage; preparation stage; in-hotel experience stage; and loyalty advocacy stage. The survey results were processed quantitatively and analyzed descriptively. Based on the survey results, the root of the problem lies in customers' low awareness/inspiration towards Innside by Melia Yogyakarta's social media. The solution to this problem is sought by using the Repositioning and New Wave Marketing strategy to create a horizontal marketing system on Innside by Melia Yogyakarta's social media. Each alternative solution is systematically compiled on the customer journey map. then recommendations for social media content were made to implement the formulated strategy.