How to find the best platforms for your hotel?

How to find the best platform for your accommodation?

Finding the best platform to display your touristic hotspot, is one of the most important tasks as a business owner. You prefer to target on the guests that are suitable for your place, because you know best which guests feel at home at your accommodation.

Here are 10 steps to help you determine the right platform for your hotel:

1.          Define Your Target Audience:

•           Identify your ideal guests and make a list with the type of guests you welcomed. Like, business travelers, singles, couples, groups of friends, tourists, families. You can add specific niches like luxury travelers or eco-conscious individuals. From experience and welcoming your guests and thoroughly reading there reviews, you would know which guests were most happy at your place.

•           Consider their demographics, preferences, and behavior when choosing a platform. Where do your guests come from, what do they seek in the surroundings of your accommodation and how do they prefer to book?

2.          Set Your Marketing Goals:

•           Determine what you want to achieve. To boost your bookings you need to know where your focus needs to be on. If it's increasing bookings the whole year round or during some specific low season period, brand visibility to get more direct bookings on your own website, or reaching a new market.

3.          Understand Your Budget:

Evaluate your marketing budget, including advertising costs and platform fees. Choose platforms that align with your goals and budget while maximizing your reach.

4.          Analyze Competitors:

Research your competitors and see which platforms they use. Don’t be annoyed that your competitors are doing well, see it as a proof that there is market for what you both are doing. Learn from them. Assess their success and identify gaps you can exploit. Maybe the close watch to how they work, will inspire your creativity and you get new business ideas to reach your goals.

5.          Evaluate Online Travel Agencies (OTAs):

OTAs like Booking.com, Expedia, and Airbnb are popular platforms for hotel bookings. We are premier and elite partners of these platforms because of our excellent connectivity.

However don’t underestimate the value of the smaller online travel agents, who work on a specific niche market. There are a lot of smaller online travel agents where we can inform you about.

Those smaller travel agents that can help you reach your goals. As BoostmyBookings we can advise you and probably also connect you with them. Consider using multiple OTAs to diversify your online presence. Assess their reach, fees, and terms and conditions. Depending on your location, the typical characteristics of your accommodation and your target audience, consider these niche platforms or local directories that cater to specific interests or regions. We can connect with many of the smaller websites but also bigger, yet unknown online travel agents.

6.          Optimize Your Website:

If you would like your recurring guests to be able to inquire or book and pay online, this is the best platform of all. Your own booking engine and your own hotels website is most crucial to save on money in commissions. Ensure it's user-friendly, mobile-responsive, and has high-quality images and descriptions.

Your guests need to be able to see availability and prices in a blink of a second. There are many ways to reward your guests for a direct booking. Make sure to offer them extra’s and nice upsells like a late check- out, lazy Sunday, a bottle of bubbles on arrival. Also accommodate their needs to communicate their special needs, like a baby cot, high chair, early check- in or baggage drop. They will appreciate as well that they know what to expect for the check – in. Especially if you have guests that have travelled a long way, the will be happy to know what to expect. Little things to be extra hospitable is to contact them upfront about their wishes. We can automate these personal attention with our booking software and can make you a booking engine to gain direct bookings and reward your recurring guests.

To check your Domain Authority, you can use a checker. There are free tools to do so, like Ahrefs. If you have a poor outcome, don’t worry. There are many ways to improve your visibility and to gain visitors to your website. You can start with adding unique content to your website. Try to focus on the audience you target in one of the first steps of this blog. Determine SEO strategies to improve organic search visibility.

7.          Leverage Social Media:

Utilize platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to showcase your hotel's personality. Don’t be afraid to write about your daily business and also to make it a bit more personal if you own a small boutique hotel. Your guests are upmost interested in knowing the story on your business, how it all started and why you are doing what you are doing. Analyze which social media posts will win you the most likes or responds, so you learn and improve.  Engage with your audience and run targeted ad campaigns.

8.          Email Marketing:

Ok, not everybody will like email marketing.

But if you have a list of guests that keep coming to your place, they will be happy to receive updates and news. So build and maintain an email list to communicate directly with these guests. They are curious if you make improvements to your accommodations and will also be the ambassadors for you if you have promotions. Like lastminute discounts or specials. Mouth to mouth is still one of the valuable ways to win clients! Send personalized offers, newsletters, and updates to encourage bookings.

9.          Consider Review Sites:

One of the ways to gain direct bookings is to have a good Google Page. The Google page is your online guestbook. Your guests can post photos on it, during their stay and will do so if they are very happy (or not 😉) A good Google page will help you to gain direct visitors to your website, if you manage it well. Google Maps is the place where you can work and manage your Google company page.

Encourage positive reviews on sites like TripAdvisor, as these can influence potential guests.

A personal note to ask your guests for a review. We advise to communicate with guests to ask them for a review. If you think, how do I manage all reviews? Well we have a good way to automate the review process. So don’t worry. On the other hand, it is very important to encourage your guests to give their feedback personally and offline. Because feedback is something you want to hear as quickly as possible and work on the improvements.

Respond to reviews, both positive and negative, professionally and promptly. Even... when it is really hard!

10.        Monitor and Analyze:

Use analytics tools to track the performance of each platform. The biggest platforms have a special page to analyze who your biggest competitors are and what their pricing and availability is. Adjust your strategy based on data to focus on the most effective channels. We have tools to automate your pricing strategy but also suggestions how to manually manage it, if that is your style.

The digital landscape is constantly changing. Be open to trying new platforms and technologies to stay competitive. Seek Professional Advice if you're unsure about which platforms to use or how to optimize them.

Remember that the best platform for your hotel may evolve over time, so it's essential to stay informed about industry trends and adapt your strategy accordingly. Additionally, maintaining a strong online presence and providing excellent guest experiences are key factors in attracting and retaining customers on any platform.