Top Tips for a New Year
1. New Year, New Prices?
If you haven’t checked and updated your Guestlink details in a while, now’s the time to do it; you can be sure that visitors will notice anything out of date, even if you haven’t. It’s not just your prices – perhaps you have a new award to shout about, and remember to update your availability to maximise your web entry. Forgotten your log-in details or need a Guestlink refresher? Please simply get in touch
If you haven’t checked and updated your Guestlink details in a while, now’s the time to do it; you can be sure that visitors will notice anything out of date, even if you haven’t. It’s not just your prices – perhaps you have a new award to shout about, and remember to update your availability to maximise your web entry. Forgotten your log-in details or need a Guestlink refresher? Please simply get in touch
2. A picture is worth a thousand words
We’ve all heard the saying, but many of us put off adding new photographs to our websites or using them on social media as much as we should. If you’re guilty of this you could be missing out on valuable enquiries and bookings. Why not make a New Year resolution to add Spring, Summer, Autumn & Winter photo galleries to your website?
Important: The www.visitmidwales.co.uk website now pulls principle images on your web entry from ‘iphone images’ in the Guestlink system. Please log-in and check that you have images added to this section.
We’ve all heard the saying, but many of us put off adding new photographs to our websites or using them on social media as much as we should. If you’re guilty of this you could be missing out on valuable enquiries and bookings. Why not make a New Year resolution to add Spring, Summer, Autumn & Winter photo galleries to your website?
Important: The www.visitmidwales.co.uk website now pulls principle images on your web entry from ‘iphone images’ in the Guestlink system. Please log-in and check that you have images added to this section.
3. Tactics that encourage repeat visitation
We hope you’re one of the many businesses who welcome the same visitors or guests back time and time again. Most of us are familiar with the statistic that your existing customers are 10x more likely to buy from you again than new customers, and it costs anywhere from 4-10 times more to acquire a new customer than it is to retain a current one, so it makes sense to be focusing on them. They can also become your best advocates for your business, and we all know how beneficial positive word of mouth can be.
If you’re not getting as many repeat visits as you’d like, how can you address this?
We hope you’re one of the many businesses who welcome the same visitors or guests back time and time again. Most of us are familiar with the statistic that your existing customers are 10x more likely to buy from you again than new customers, and it costs anywhere from 4-10 times more to acquire a new customer than it is to retain a current one, so it makes sense to be focusing on them. They can also become your best advocates for your business, and we all know how beneficial positive word of mouth can be.
If you’re not getting as many repeat visits as you’d like, how can you address this?
- Firstly… is there a reason why they’re not returning? Make sure you ask for feedback from all your visitors/guests and act on this. It could be in the form of a simple customer survey or a chat while you’re serving breakfast
- Are you actively targeting them? It may seem like an obvious question, but you might be surprised at how many businesses sit back and wait for past visitors to simply re-book. With increased competition in the marketplace now’s the time to be proactive…Find out why they stayed/visited you last time. For example, was it to attend a specific event? Is there something similar coming up that you think might be of interest to them?
- Do you have a customer database and are you using it? This ties in with the point above; it’s important to keep your customer records up to date. You don’t need to bombard previous guests with messages to re-book but a 'Happy New Year' message goes a long way to show them you care and value their custom.
4) Getting new visitors
‘We’ve got plenty of returning visitors, it’s the new ones we need!’ we hear you say. So, how do you go about targeting new visitors? It all comes down to your marketing. Who do you want to target and why? (Tip: the answer isn’t ‘everybody’).
Once you’ve segmented your market place (narrowed it down to the people you’d like to target) you can work out the best way to reach them. It’s often useful to look at your website from a potential visitor’s point of view. Can they find the information they need? Are you making it easy and clear for them to enquire/book? Be honest with yourself here, and if you’re finding it difficult to be objective then do feel free to contact us for impartial advice.
‘We’ve got plenty of returning visitors, it’s the new ones we need!’ we hear you say. So, how do you go about targeting new visitors? It all comes down to your marketing. Who do you want to target and why? (Tip: the answer isn’t ‘everybody’).
Once you’ve segmented your market place (narrowed it down to the people you’d like to target) you can work out the best way to reach them. It’s often useful to look at your website from a potential visitor’s point of view. Can they find the information they need? Are you making it easy and clear for them to enquire/book? Be honest with yourself here, and if you’re finding it difficult to be objective then do feel free to contact us for impartial advice.
5) ‘It’s all about Social Media…’
You’ve probably heard that social media is one of the best forms of ‘free’ advertising. In some instances this can indeed be the case, although be mindful of the cost of your time to update your social media channels.
Are the potential visitors you want to target active on social media? Is this where you need to spend more (or less) of your time to encourage new bookings? Different businesses have different goals when it comes to social media; perhaps it’s simply ‘raising awareness’. To ensure you don’t lose sight of what it’s all about (and to save yourself valuable time in the process), consider using tools like Hootsuite to schedule social media content and tracking mechanisms to monitor how many people are clicking on your links etc.
You’ve probably heard that social media is one of the best forms of ‘free’ advertising. In some instances this can indeed be the case, although be mindful of the cost of your time to update your social media channels.
Are the potential visitors you want to target active on social media? Is this where you need to spend more (or less) of your time to encourage new bookings? Different businesses have different goals when it comes to social media; perhaps it’s simply ‘raising awareness’. To ensure you don’t lose sight of what it’s all about (and to save yourself valuable time in the process), consider using tools like Hootsuite to schedule social media content and tracking mechanisms to monitor how many people are clicking on your links etc.
Remember, the MWT Cymru team are here to help and support you on an ongoing basis, so if you have any questions about developing and improving your business or making the most of your membership benefits, please call us on 01654 702653.