What Encourages Guests to Book With You?
It is great to get repeat customers and referrals, they already know about you and are very much looking forward to their stay. These bookings are great, however you will still have to find new customers.
Most potential guests do not know who you are, what you offer, your reputation, what standards you keep, so what is it that helps encourage them to book their holidays with you?
Building Relationships, Trust & Confidence
So the question is how to go about building those relationships and building trust in your business, your cottages and helping customers book their holidays with you? The answer of course lies in your marketing.
So what are the elements that you must have within your marketing to develop that trust and confidence to convince people to do book their holidays with you?
Consistency in your Marketing
It takes time for people to feel they’ve got to know you, your products and your business. You don’t achieve that with one-off marketing activity. You need to commit to regular, high quality communication. If your marketing is high quality and consistent, then you and your business will be seen in the same way.
Checklist – Review your marketing activities, how regular are you communicating, re-confirm your key messaging is truly highlighting why book with you and that you are using striking photos bringing your holidays to life.
Reviews & Testimonials
Guest reviews and testimonialsare a natural extension of word of mouth marketing. They are free and unbiased showing potential guests that other people have had a great time staying at your holiday home. They are happy with what you do for them. Reviews, confirm that you are a credible, trustworthy business and are a very good reason to book with you. You should use your reviews and testimonials widely throughout your marketing – on your website, email marketing, brochures, social media, mailshots etc.
Checklist – Do you use a genuine review service, if so flaunt it. Extract some your favourite guest book reviews and pop them onto your website, social media, emails, etc. Ensure you have clear links to your customer reviews on your website. Reply to as many as you can, thanking them with appropriate comments, set up Google reviews. Maybe make a video testimonial.
Blogging
Blogging gives you the opportunity to regularly showcase your business, knowledge and expertise. It helps enable you to show an amount of your personality and to present yourself as a thought leader. Your blog gives people the opportunity to get to know you and what you offer online in a less formal manner.
Checklist – Start a blog if you have not done so already, write your thoughts and experiences regarding your business, about your area, customer experiences, most frequently asked questions, related interesting articles, what to look for when booking your cottage, etc.
Social Media
Social media is another great way for people to get to know you, your opinions and the way you run your business. It also gives people the opportunity to interact with you and genuinely start to develop an ongoing relationship.
Checklist – Facebook – Update About, Business information, Milestones, Reviews, Cover Photo & Events. Link your Instagram with Facebook, post regularly, respond and use keywords and #hashtags
Google My Business, Google Maps & Google Reviews
This is often overlooked or not kept up to date and is good for your Google rankings. It gives you the chance show on Google the type of business you are and highlights your phone number, website, directions, pictures and very importantly Google reviews. It’s a free and simple way to attract visitors and build your credibility as a business. It is a valuable business listing and where you can connect and engage with customers and potential customers.
Checklist – Start a blog if you have not done so already, write your thoughts and experiences regarding your business, about your area, customer experiences, most frequently asked questions, related interesting articles, what to look for when booking your cottage, etc.
Make Sure You Stand Out From The Crowd
These are just a few ideas to help you build trust with potential customers and generate new bookings. The key is make sure you are doing it better than your competitors and stand out as a business who is confident of what they offer.
