Understanding the challenge
For quite some time now hoteliers have been facing a big challenge: convincing guests to book directly through their websites instead of using Online Travel Agencies (OTAs). OTAs offer travelers great convenience and competitive prices, which makes them popular, but the commissions they charge can really cut into hotel profits. To deal with this, hotels need to focus on increasing direct bookings and relying less on these third-party platforms. This blog will dive into effective marketing strategies to reach these goals, emphasizing the importance of content creation and digital marketing.
Creating great content is a "must-have" strategy
Building a strong online presence
Having a strong online presence is key for any hotel wanting to increase direct bookings. Setting up a professional and engaging profile on platforms like Meta (formerly Facebook) and Google is a great start. Making sure your Google My Business profile is complete and up-to-date, along with managing a Meta Business Manager account, lays a solid foundation for reaching more people.
Let the guests create engaging content
To attract guests to book directly, hotels need to create engaging and relevant content that grabs their attention and pushes the website up on google search results. High-quality images, videos, and blog posts can highlight the unique experiences your hotel offers, tempting potential guests to choose you over competitors. One way of getting guests to organically produce content for you is investing in something “instagram friendly” in your venue. It could be a massive ice sculpture or a crazy-big Christmas tree that makes guests want to pose in front of it for a post on social media, and hence spread the word. Remember that if you go down this path, your instagram friendly site must be something quite eye-catching for it to be effective.
Understanding the target audience
Knowing what potential guests are looking for is key to tailoring your content effectively. By addressing their questions, interests, and preferences, hotels can create content that resonates with their audience, making direct bookings more appealing. This targeted approach ensures that your marketing efforts are not only relevant but also effective in reaching those most likely to book directly.
Prices on your website must be on par with the OTA pricing
As a guest you don't want to check out the website of the hotel just to find out that it's actually much cheaper to book via booking.com. This is a tricky thing to solve but give it a thought. At the very least you want your site to encourage the guests to pick up the phone and have a conversation before placing the order on an OTA.
In summary
Moving away from relying heavily on OTAs to promoting direct bookings isn't just about saving money; it’s a smart strategy for building a more sustainable and profitable business model. By creating great content and using digital platforms, hotels can boost their online presence, attract more direct bookings. Regardless of how you do it it's not going to be easy to reclaim guests from the OTAs. They spend enormous amounts on making sure that they rank well on google, but just giving in to their dominance is not the solution.
Best of luck with your content creation!
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