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Content marketing is not a new thing, although the term has evolved quite recently, but the roots can be traced back to over 100 years. As a small business owner, you have witnessed the transformation of marketing from offline channels to a more digital driven landscape, not to mention that the online or digital or whatever you may like to call is more personal than the old school marketing methods.
The core idea of content marketing lies in creating informative, helpful and educational content that will raise your customer awareness about your hotel, food or whatever you take pride in. This marketing technique proves that the business really cares about their customers and take the time to do whatever it take to win their hearts.
Defining your expectations from your website
A recent study conducted by Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration says that acquiring hotel customer through the website is the least expensive way. Although you might be thinking that I need a good amount of traffic for a good conversion rate but we will discuss that aspect a little down the line.
“Companies spend, on average, 25% of total marketing budgets on content marketing. (Heidi Cohen)”
Reservation queries that require you answer by email or telephone could become a hassle to plan and will raise your expenses in the longer run. It is advisable to automate the reservation process, this will not only reduce your operating cost but save a lot of time.
So, we want to deduce a little here that your website is crucial and if you are thinking of growing your online booking without an impressive website then it be a futile effort. Think of your website as your base of operations, if the base is weak then any traffic you are able to draw would not be able to convert.
Let’s get into a little more detail here and discuss what elements of a website are most important and what can you do to convert visitors into leads.
Your Content tells your story
Do you think the content in your website makes sense and delivers your brand story? The answer might make you think. There are many hotels websites with a lot of content, but a lack of harmony in the content fails to deliver any story.
Marketers looking to drive more traffic to their Web content without an overhaul of programs should rethink visual images; video and images drive 13% more traffic than traditional content. (MediaPost)
What to do:
- Develop primary & secondary goals of your website
- Develop marketing persona of your target market
- Prioritize space on your all of your pages according to the goals
- It’s all about design, if your website fails to deliver the message in a good (both design & content helps) way then don’t expect a good conversion rate from your hotel website
Your home page is the most important elements in the conversion process.
- A strongly featured image should project most enticing elements of your hotels, this may include exquisite entrance of your hotel, relaxed atmosphere, bright rooms and blue swimming-pool.
- Although, your hotel is something people want to see but don’t miss to add a description. A page full of images looks good, but it’s the right choice of words that help your customers convert.
- Call-to-action buttons are a must have if you want the traffic to move from visitors to potential leads.
Provide CTA button with relevant descriptions such as “book a room” on your homepage slider, if you are a hotel then over 60% of the traffic will either be here to book a room or get more info regarding pricing and room availability. - There might some seasonal offers going around your hotels, have you ever thought of creating a separate page and run a campaign around? If not then it’s time to think like a pro, a static website made with no goal of conversion is an expense for your, think different and blend in a unique recipe to get the most conversions through your website.
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