DIRECTORY

PHOTOGRAPHY

SOCIAL MEDIA

Images play a huge role in the booking process. Here’s some things to think about:

• Create images that sum up the key experiences at your property • Have a look at other properties online and keep note of the types of images you are attracted to on their websites • Avoid using misleading images (e.g. making rooms look smaller/larger) • Whilst mobile phone cameras are a lot better now than they used to be, think carefully before you produce your own.

It won’t hurt to hire a professional. • Once you have a great selection of images, produce different versions (e.g. landscape, portrait, high res, low res). This will save time if you’re planning on marketing your property on a number of sites that may have different image requirements.

1. Setup accounts on Facebook, Twitter and

Instagram early to ensure you ‘grab’ your profile names before someone else does. 2.Consider which social media sites you’re planning to use and how. Create a strategy.

DRESSING & PHOTOGRAPHY

FULFILMENT

• Create images that sum up the key experiences at your property.

• Have a look around and keep note of the photos you are attracted to on other websites.

• Avoid suspicion and misleading photos.

• You’ll never meet anyone who doesn’t think they are a great photographer.

Whilst camera phones are technically capable of taking excellent photos, think carefully about producing your own photos. A great collection of photos is a vital part of the marketing mix.

• Once you’ve decided on the photos you want to use, store them in a separate folder on your computer and well labelled. Produce different versions of the photos - high and low res, portrait & landscape. This will save you time if you’re planning to market your property on a number of websites

• Use Dropbox.com to keep your photos and marketing materials. There is a free version and this will allow you to share photos with partners rather than emailing them across.

You need to make it easy for people to seal the deal and book your property.

Consider the guest booking journet through your website.

PROMOTION

E.G. WWW.A-GREAT-BNB.COM

There are many ways you can promote your business, both online and offline. Offline options could include promoting your business in magazines or specific interest publications.

Online options could be anything from directories to social media to pay per click ads.

Social media is a very popular form of advertisement and can help you to gain interest and followers:

• Set up your accounts on your preferred platforms and create a strategy, thinking about what you will post (pictures, videos, reels, lives, blogs etc.), when you will post and how often you will post • Use hashtags (you can use a maximum of 30 per post on Instagram).

People can search for hashtags and your post will pop up. • Tag locations and any partnerships • *Bed and Breakfast Coach, Yvonne Halling, said that you should use social media to build the “know, like and trust” factor of your business. This means promoting yourself as the face/voice of your business, driving visitors to your website through regular posting of educational, entertaining and engaging content. • National and local media organisations are always looking for stories and you can reach out to them if you think you have something to share: • Write a ‘pitch’ explaining your story. (Maybe you received an award, or installed a new pool, or recently became a net-zero business) Make sure the pitch is simple, interesting and accompanied by great photos • Do some research to find out which media organisation will be the best one to send it to. If it’s a local story, contact your local newspaper, if it’s relevant for a regional or national newspaper, get in touch with a larger organisation. • Send your pitch to the appropriate person. Most websites will have a page of contacts which you can use to get in touch with press people. Remember, there’s nothing stopping you from reaching out on social media! • Online news stories can be a great way to link people through to your website, so even if your story doesn’t get printed, online is great too! • Other ways to promote your business include: • Email newsletters • Tourism and hospitality awards • Google Business Profile

Booking Engine:

• A booking engine is vital. Reme mber if you are running your own website, you are competing with the likes of AirBnb where guests can get an immediate booking acknowledgement (if the property owner has agreed to this setting in setup). • Make a list of your booking terms:

Max days per rent, varying rates for weekend breaks… Many booking engines need specific settings and complicated pricing structures • Many of the website builders will have integrated booking engines. Many of these can embed these into your website. • Many people now just link to their presence on an OTA (e.g. Airbnb) to manage all bookings. • Using external websites to manage bookings may be cheaper than an OTA

OTA:

• There are plenty of large, popular

OTAs but there are also specialist ones such as Dog Friendly, Large houses or those based on lifestyle - advertising properties that are cool / more stylish…

PRESS

• National and local newspapers and magazines are always looking for stories.

Does your property have anything unique?

What would make it news-worthy? • To get your place noticed by the press you need to write to each news source with a story pitch. Make sure it’s simple, interesting and accompanied by a good set of photos (the industry is run by photos) • Do some research on your local area to find out what publications and news outlets are available. Most websites will have a page of contacts which you can use to get in touch with press people.

Remember, there’s nothing stopping you from reaching out on social media! • Online news sources can provide excellent links into your site - this is a key factor used by google to rank the importance and relevance of your website / property.

SEO

• Check out our A-Z of SEO that we did during the

Winter lockdown in 2020. Every day was a different letter of the alphabet accompanied by a prompt or some ‘food for thought’ to help you promote your business and improve your marketing: • luxurybnbmag.co.uk/the-a-toz-of-winter-lockdown/

Advertising

OFFLINE • Are there any local or interest specific magazines you can utilise?

ONLINE Pay Per Click (PPC) Where you pay only when people click on your advert / link.

Examples of PPC are Google PPC, Bing Ads and facebook advertising.

They can be a very effective tool as you can target your audience very effectively. ONLINE TRAVEL AGENCIES (OTAs) E.g. Booking.com and Airbnb. Used well you can find guests from all over the world and manage many administrative tasks.

The best Holiday Rental Marketeers use OTAs where needed and do what they can to encourage guests to re-book directly.