Paying attention to your rental's direct reservations is a good way to grow your business, but it alone won't be enough. To maximize your direct booking revenue, continue with the following strategies for growth:
Expand Your Booking Engines
Expanding your booking engines will allow you to capture more of your local market and eventually drive them to your own website. By using more engines, you'll have a better chance of reaching customers who are willing to pay higher rates.
Find Guest-Driven Bugs
Guest-driven bugs are bugs in your website that are only triggered by a particular user. While these bugs are easy to spot, they can be hard to fix. Learn how to find them and fix them for better customer service in the process.
Track Your Results
Conversion analytics will help you see which aspects of your booking engine and website need tweaking to give your customers the best possible experience. Track your website's performance and optimize it to your customers' needs.
Serve Customers in Their Own Language
Language barriers can get in the way of your customers' ability to book. By using service providers like Google Translate, you'll be able to make your website available to more customers than ever before.
Optimize for Local Searches
Google's new local search algorithm will make your website more visible to local customers. The best part? You don't need to do anything differently on your website to take advantage of this change!
You need a hotel with a great listing in Google Maps to take advantage of local search. This will be a lot easier to achieve if you use a booking engine that allows users to book through Google Maps.
Have a Great Mobile App
More and more people are using apps to book their hotels and other services. In fact, a whopping chunk of all mobile transactions is now done via apps. A great mobile app will allow you to capture yet more of your local market and speed up your customers' booking process.
Let Customers Book with Credit Cards
Before you can collect on credit cards, you'll need to set up a merchant account. In general, you'll want to avoid working with a third-party vendor and instead find a payment service provider that allows you to keep all of your transaction fees.
Offer Multiple Payment Options
By offering alternative methods of payment, you'll make reservations easier for everyone. You may be surprised by how many prospective customers wish they could easily choose between their credit card or cash.
Reach Customers via Social Media
Social media can be a great way to reach a new market of customers. But to be successful on social media, you need to post engaging content related to your industry. Avoid generic "travel" content.
Invest in Advertising
Advertising is a great way to get more exposure to potential customers. Some of the most successful booking engines offer a wide variety of advertising opportunities. However, to get the most out of advertising, you'll need to create a specialized campaign that brings out the best in your rental property.
Conclusion
In the digital era, customers have the power to make or break your business. To capitalize on this power, you'll need to rely on digital marketing to get your business in front of potential customers.
The key to digital marketing is understanding your customers. This is where operational reviews come in. Get new reviews via a review exchange, and learn how to use them to improve your booking engine.
By measuring your results, you'll see what's working and what isn't. This will help you make the most of your investment in digital marketing and book more customers through your main website.
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