More effective online marketing

Web-based marketing campaigns have become essential for most tourism providers, as the internet has revolutionised how customers research and book their travel. Here we highlight some of the potential benefits for your accommodation business and provide tips on how to take advantage of this powerful marketing medium.

Online benefits

The internet is an ideal marketing tool for your accommodation business. Here are just some of the benefits.

Reduced costs You can communicate more quickly and more directly via the internet at a fraction of the cost of traditional media.

A one-to-one marketing method Your website can be customised according to users' interests and requirements, making it a very personal means of communication.

Greater market segmentation The internet makes it much easier to target your chosen segments, offering different types of information or services according to the profile of the user.

Open all hours Unlike most businesses, the internet can be accessed 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Fast reactions Internet marketing allows you to react very quickly to changing market conditions. You can change prices, offers, information and so on, according to demand, far more quickly than any other promotional activity. You can remove a special online offer when you reach capacity levels.

Promotion and sales combined Guests can look for a room on the internet and confirm a booking immediately by email or online in real time, paying for it at the same time with a credit card or debit card.

Effectiveness is easier to measure You can track guests when they visit your website, assess how long they spend on each area of your site and trace these patterns whenever they visit again, making the internet one of the most measurable promotional methods.

Small businesses are potentially as powerful as big ones Niche operators and smaller businesses now have a more equal opportunity to promote to a wider audience than ever before. A website belonging to a small Bed and Breakfast (B&B) or self-catering property can have the potential impact and appear as inviting as that of a much larger hotel.

Tips to maximise your impact online

Follow these tips to utilise your website effectively and to ensure you’re taking full advantage when promoting your own business online.Update, or at least check your website daily. This will keep it fresh, increase your search engine rankings, and enable you to sell right up to the last minute.Try to offer ‘real time’ online booking whenever possible.Ensure that any enquiries or emails generated via the website are answered as quickly as possible – ideally within an hour or two.Personalise as much as you can. Provide layered information with different levels of detail for different types of guests. Some may want brief room details and a quick booking link, while others looking for specific information, such as accessibility, will appreciate more detail.Take advantage of the ability to target niche markets. You can provide menu items for most of your markets, with a different look, tone and images according their needs – eg families or someone making a business trip.Make sure you know how to obtain and interpret your web statistics. You can monitor the effectiveness of every aspect of your site and respond as necessary.Many internet users appreciate the chance to delve deeper. You could, for example, offer a gallery of additional images, videos or links to reviews and other impartial information about your accommodation and services.Every time you send an email you have a free opportunity to promote your site and business by including a signature file. Try and keep this to 65 characters wide so it can be viewed in almost all email programmes. Include a call to action, which mentions your website and which can be adapted from time to time to reflect changes to your site or your latest online promotion.

Further information

Business Link offers advice on e-commerce and a range of introductory web-related courses on their website at www.businesslink.gov.uk.

www.searchenginewatch.com has gathered together an enormous amount of information about how search engines work and how to optimise your site to improve your rankings.

Find out how to submit your site map to Google to assist them to find your site by going to www.google.com/webmasters.

You can use tools such as www.wordtracker.com alongside your own website usage statistics to find out what terms are being searched for and to consider related words you might use as well.

This feature is based on extracts from the latest title in VisitBritain’s How To series, How to be a web-savvy accommodation business. For more details and to purchase a copy, go to http://www.accommodationknowhow.co.uk/howto.aspx?type=ws.