Your advice to new B&B - guest acquisition?

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undersea

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We hope to close on our property, do some preparations, and begin seeking guests in late spring. As taxes/mortgage/utilities/insurance start right away, primary interest is creating revenue.ASAP
I have been through posts related to this, but there's a big difference between a B&B: a) around for years with repeats and referrals b) with no reputation or past guests. In addition, new inns will be at the bottom of any listing sites.
So considering these avenues:
boo king. com , TA, crai gli st
Air bnb
yellow page site (free listing only)
claiming listing on yel p
Monthly cheapest listings on: B & B . com, ILo ve Inns , bnb fin der [if little use, will drop any or all] - $20/30 a month is not a hardship.
Obviously, connecting with area businesses or CoC...
Tourist sites (there is a large one as we are in a vacation area)
Not sure about state and regional B&B sites, whether they are a waste of time or not
Any and all thoughts, or additional suggestions welcome. I realize there are strong thoughts on some of these, but prefer constructive input rather than bad past experiences...
I plan to use Squar e, REz Key, MyA lloca tor
 
Get your own website up and running ASAP, and start blogging about the work you are doing to prepare your inn. Yes, you won't have finished pictures of nice rooms, but you can fill your site with information about the area, things to do, reasons for visiting, etc... Take lots of pictures! Be prepared to start taking reservations now for when you open.
Similarly, start a Facebook Page -- get all your friends to like and ask them to get their friends to like it -- maybe even invest $50 in FB advertising targeted to your ideal guest profile with page likes as your goal. Make sure the content you post is really engaging, and post regularly.
Google+ and Google maps.....
Get your business listed on Manta.com, Hotfrog.com, and any other general business directory sites you come across -- just make sure that your listing information is always consistent -- same spelling, same address, same phone number, etc...
Once you get assigned a phone number, and have a business address, do searches on those to see what if anything turns up. I think the property you were looking at used to be a model home, so there might be stuff out on the web still pertaining to that address left over from the builder/developer, etc... You may want to "claim" those listings, or work on burying them if you can.
Think about scheduling an open house once any reno's are complete, or if your Chamber has a series of networking events, sign up as a host. The locals may not be your direct customers, but they could be a source of referrals. Similarly, your local bank branch may have opportunities for their business clients to set up displays in the lobby -- another good way for people to learn about what you have to offer.
Is there a state or regional tourism association or guidebook? Our local chamber does a cooperative advertising program purchasing several pages in the state tourist guide. You may think print is passe, but it still brings in some business for us.
Tourist maps are another advertising venue, if there are any for your area (http://www.discoverymap.com/ is one company that produces maps all around the country). If you want your business to be found, you may want to put it on the map! See reference to Google Maps above (which you set up via Google+, I think). Also think Bing maps, MapQuest, etc.... There is a whole industry built up around geographic data -- think car GPS's, etc... As with your name, phone number, and address, you want to make sure that your geographic location is consistent, too. Might be a good idea to take note of your lattitude and longitude coordinates, as some services will use those to place your business on their map (more accurately than just a street address).
Along the print lines, design an eye-catching business card and Rack Card or brochure, as soon as you can.
 
Skip Craigslist unless you want rooms by the hour. But look at Air.
Do a search for lodging in your area like you are a guest coming to stay. What comes up first? Are there directories that show up? bedandbreakfast.com (abbr: bb.com)? bnbfinder? bbonline? Whatever shows up at the top then you want to be on there until you get your own site up and running and showing well on searches.
Now. If there are a lot of inns in your area you might have to pay out to get high enough in those directory listings to make a diff. Ex- there are 5 B&B's in my town that list on bb.com so I don't have to pay top dollar to show up. If you have 20 places you're competing with it's different. Also, bb.com sells space in my town's listing to any and all comers within 50 miles so a few other places show up in the list.
Go after the free stuff that gives you a link. Be aware you will then be inundated with email to pay for a better listing.
Create your listing on all of the search engines. You need a URL so getting a website is #1 priority. Once you have the URL it is so much easier to set up on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or wherever you want. You have to give info or it's a waste of someone's time to follow you.
State and local tourist sites may be free. My state site is free but we also belong to a for profit site with practically the same name. My local site is more expensive than anything anyone is paying to be on TA. Never sure if that's worth it or not.
Start coming up with reasons why anyone would stay in your area. These are the things you need to know to create a website worth having.
 
Morticia said:
Skip Craigslist unless you want rooms by the hour. But look at Air.
Do a search for lodging in your area like you are a guest coming to stay. What comes up first? Are there directories that show up? bedandbreakfast.com (abbr: bb.com)? bnbfinder? bbonline? Whatever shows up at the top then you want to be on there until you get your own site up and running and showing well on searches.
Now. If there are a lot of inns in your area you might have to pay out to get high enough in those directory listings to make a diff. Ex- there are 5 B&B's in my town that list on bb.com so I don't have to pay top dollar to show up. If you have 20 places you're competing with it's different. Also, bb.com sells space in my town's listing to any and all comers within 50 miles so a few other places show up in the list.
Go after the free stuff that gives you a link. Be aware you will then be inundated with email to pay for a better listing.
Create your listing on all of the search engines. You need a URL so getting a website is #1 priority. Once you have the URL it is so much easier to set up on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or wherever you want. You have to give info or it's a waste of someone's time to follow you.
State and local tourist sites may be free. My state site is free but we also belong to a for profit site with practically the same name. My local site is more expensive than anything anyone is paying to be on TA. Never sure if that's worth it or not.
Start coming up with reasons why anyone would stay in your area. These are the things you need to know to create a website worth having..
Click to expand...
My local site is more expensive than anything anyone is paying to be on TA. Never sure if that's worth it or not.
Have you looked at your stats? Or asked your guests? If they aren't referring, I wouldn't be paying them. Our local one is losing folks big time for a do nothing attitude.
 
EmptyNest said:
Morticia said:
Skip Craigslist unless you want rooms by the hour. But look at Air.
Do a search for lodging in your area like you are a guest coming to stay. What comes up first? Are there directories that show up? bedandbreakfast.com (abbr: bb.com)? bnbfinder? bbonline? Whatever shows up at the top then you want to be on there until you get your own site up and running and showing well on searches.
Now. If there are a lot of inns in your area you might have to pay out to get high enough in those directory listings to make a diff. Ex- there are 5 B&B's in my town that list on bb.com so I don't have to pay top dollar to show up. If you have 20 places you're competing with it's different. Also, bb.com sells space in my town's listing to any and all comers within 50 miles so a few other places show up in the list.
Go after the free stuff that gives you a link. Be aware you will then be inundated with email to pay for a better listing.
Create your listing on all of the search engines. You need a URL so getting a website is #1 priority. Once you have the URL it is so much easier to set up on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or wherever you want. You have to give info or it's a waste of someone's time to follow you.
State and local tourist sites may be free. My state site is free but we also belong to a for profit site with practically the same name. My local site is more expensive than anything anyone is paying to be on TA. Never sure if that's worth it or not.
Start coming up with reasons why anyone would stay in your area. These are the things you need to know to create a website worth having..
Click to expand...
My local site is more expensive than anything anyone is paying to be on TA. Never sure if that's worth it or not.
Have you looked at your stats? Or asked your guests? If they aren't referring, I wouldn't be paying them. Our local one is losing folks big time for a do nothing attitude.
.
Click to expand...
EmptyNest said:
My local site is more expensive than anything anyone is paying to be on TA. Never sure if that's worth it or not.
Have you looked at your stats? Or asked your guests? If they aren't referring, I wouldn't be paying them. Our local one is losing folks big time for a do nothing attitude.
Click to expand...
Because so many are using mobile devices a lot of traffic is coming thru as 'not set' so I'm finding stats less than helpful these days.
Guests do say they found us on the map but way more have no idea.
 
Morticia said:
Skip Craigslist unless you want rooms by the hour. But look at Air.
Do a search for lodging in your area like you are a guest coming to stay. What comes up first? Are there directories that show up? bedandbreakfast.com (abbr: bb.com)? bnbfinder? bbonline? Whatever shows up at the top then you want to be on there until you get your own site up and running and showing well on searches.
Now. If there are a lot of inns in your area you might have to pay out to get high enough in those directory listings to make a diff. Ex- there are 5 B&B's in my town that list on bb.com so I don't have to pay top dollar to show up. If you have 20 places you're competing with it's different. Also, bb.com sells space in my town's listing to any and all comers within 50 miles so a few other places show up in the list.
Go after the free stuff that gives you a link. Be aware you will then be inundated with email to pay for a better listing.
Create your listing on all of the search engines. You need a URL so getting a website is #1 priority. Once you have the URL it is so much easier to set up on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or wherever you want. You have to give info or it's a waste of someone's time to follow you.
State and local tourist sites may be free. My state site is free but we also belong to a for profit site with practically the same name. My local site is more expensive than anything anyone is paying to be on TA. Never sure if that's worth it or not.
Start coming up with reasons why anyone would stay in your area. These are the things you need to know to create a website worth having..
Click to expand...
Have not said yet, but the primary tourist sites including B&Bs) here are 800 poconos. com (regional) and Visit PA .com (statewide). Have not tried yet, but think inclusion might be free based on the tourist tax that hotel/motel/inns have to pay. I think this funds the $6 million or so 800 poconos . com uses to advertise... There are a few dozen B&Bs in the four county area.
Will definitely do the free search engine stuff. Have it saved somewhere (cannot remember), but there is a good site that will submit to all the major search engines.
we actually have a stunning set of services we plan to offer, but cannot do much until we actually have acquired the place. And having good services does not mean much if no one knows you exist. There is a lot of 4 season activities and resorts here, although the Poconos have declined a lot the past 30 years from what they used to be.
 
Harborfields said:
Get your own website up and running ASAP, and start blogging about the work you are doing to prepare your inn. Yes, you won't have finished pictures of nice rooms, but you can fill your site with information about the area, things to do, reasons for visiting, etc... Take lots of pictures! Be prepared to start taking reservations now for when you open.
Similarly, start a Facebook Page -- get all your friends to like and ask them to get their friends to like it -- maybe even invest $50 in FB advertising targeted to your ideal guest profile with page likes as your goal. Make sure the content you post is really engaging, and post regularly.
Google+ and Google maps.....
Get your business listed on Manta.com, Hotfrog.com, and any other general business directory sites you come across -- just make sure that your listing information is always consistent -- same spelling, same address, same phone number, etc...
Once you get assigned a phone number, and have a business address, do searches on those to see what if anything turns up. I think the property you were looking at used to be a model home, so there might be stuff out on the web still pertaining to that address left over from the builder/developer, etc... You may want to "claim" those listings, or work on burying them if you can.
Think about scheduling an open house once any reno's are complete, or if your Chamber has a series of networking events, sign up as a host. The locals may not be your direct customers, but they could be a source of referrals. Similarly, your local bank branch may have opportunities for their business clients to set up displays in the lobby -- another good way for people to learn about what you have to offer.
Is there a state or regional tourism association or guidebook? Our local chamber does a cooperative advertising program purchasing several pages in the state tourist guide. You may think print is passe, but it still brings in some business for us.
Tourist maps are another advertising venue, if there are any for your area (http://www.discoverymap.com/ is one company that produces maps all around the country). If you want your business to be found, you may want to put it on the map! See reference to Google Maps above (which you set up via Google+, I think). Also think Bing maps, MapQuest, etc.... There is a whole industry built up around geographic data -- think car GPS's, etc... As with your name, phone number, and address, you want to make sure that your geographic location is consistent, too. Might be a good idea to take note of your lattitude and longitude coordinates, as some services will use those to place your business on their map (more accurately than just a street address).
Along the print lines, design an eye-catching business card and Rack Card or brochure, as soon as you can..
Click to expand...
Thanks you for your ideas.
Will be getting the website up soon. Blogging the activities is a good idea, but not really have any following yet. Family is not too near and we just moved here 18 months ago, so not have much local reach, personally.
Was a model home but the business (sign still on lot) seems to have gone defunct in the 90s, so doubt there is much web presence - not sure of name. The address got hit by the 911 thing, to no one was even sure of the correct address until a few weeks ago. Home is next to nothing except a restaurant and as a commercial property, runs by its own rules in address and listing services. Then some buyer tried to put in a couple hundred unit store and lock in the back yard (almost 16 acres), was approved and never developed it. Good thing - it is a beautiful wooded hilly lot, and they could have destroyed it.
Property is just above a well known tourist spot and a large inn/conference center (160 units?). Too bad we are past them, traffic wise. The good thing is, we are just before the post office and schools, so there should be at least some drive by traffic.
Thanks for the business directories. Had it in mind a while back. I was planning to search. Maps were on my radar, but could not list all my plans in this thread. Definitely all free, useful publicity is a good way to
 
undersea said:
Harborfields said:
Get your own website up and running ASAP, and start blogging about the work you are doing to prepare your inn. Yes, you won't have finished pictures of nice rooms, but you can fill your site with information about the area, things to do, reasons for visiting, etc... Take lots of pictures! Be prepared to start taking reservations now for when you open.
Similarly, start a Facebook Page -- get all your friends to like and ask them to get their friends to like it -- maybe even invest $50 in FB advertising targeted to your ideal guest profile with page likes as your goal. Make sure the content you post is really engaging, and post regularly.
Google+ and Google maps.....
Get your business listed on Manta.com, Hotfrog.com, and any other general business directory sites you come across -- just make sure that your listing information is always consistent -- same spelling, same address, same phone number, etc...
Once you get assigned a phone number, and have a business address, do searches on those to see what if anything turns up. I think the property you were looking at used to be a model home, so there might be stuff out on the web still pertaining to that address left over from the builder/developer, etc... You may want to "claim" those listings, or work on burying them if you can.
Think about scheduling an open house once any reno's are complete, or if your Chamber has a series of networking events, sign up as a host. The locals may not be your direct customers, but they could be a source of referrals. Similarly, your local bank branch may have opportunities for their business clients to set up displays in the lobby -- another good way for people to learn about what you have to offer.
Is there a state or regional tourism association or guidebook? Our local chamber does a cooperative advertising program purchasing several pages in the state tourist guide. You may think print is passe, but it still brings in some business for us.
Tourist maps are another advertising venue, if there are any for your area (http://www.discoverymap.com/ is one company that produces maps all around the country). If you want your business to be found, you may want to put it on the map! See reference to Google Maps above (which you set up via Google+, I think). Also think Bing maps, MapQuest, etc.... There is a whole industry built up around geographic data -- think car GPS's, etc... As with your name, phone number, and address, you want to make sure that your geographic location is consistent, too. Might be a good idea to take note of your lattitude and longitude coordinates, as some services will use those to place your business on their map (more accurately than just a street address).
Along the print lines, design an eye-catching business card and Rack Card or brochure, as soon as you can..
Click to expand...
Thanks you for your ideas.
Will be getting the website up soon. Blogging the activities is a good idea, but not really have any following yet. Family is not too near and we just moved here 18 months ago, so not have much local reach, personally.
Was a model home but the business (sign still on lot) seems to have gone defunct in the 90s, so doubt there is much web presence - not sure of name. The address got hit by the 911 thing, to no one was even sure of the correct address until a few weeks ago. Home is next to nothing except a restaurant and as a commercial property, runs by its own rules in address and listing services. Then some buyer tried to put in a couple hundred unit store and lock in the back yard (almost 16 acres), was approved and never developed it. Good thing - it is a beautiful wooded hilly lot, and they could have destroyed it.
Property is just above a well known tourist spot and a large inn/conference center (160 units?). Too bad we are past them, traffic wise. The good thing is, we are just before the post office and schools, so there should be at least some drive by traffic.
Thanks for the business directories. Had it in mind a while back. I was planning to search. Maps were on my radar, but could not list all my plans in this thread. Definitely all free, useful publicity is a good way to
.
Click to expand...
Once you get all the business pieces together and the place is ready to open write up a nice blurb for your local paper and have someone come out from the paper to take pix.
 
I didn't see if anyone mentioned a fb page. We joined our states B and B association. We also had an open house when we opened. We are in a small college town, not a tourist destination. We are also the only game in town. If you have industry in your area reach out to them and let them know you exist. We have only been open since August of last year. Love this forum, everyone is great!
 
Lea Ann said:
I didn't see if anyone mentioned a fb page. We joined our states B and B association. We also had an open house when we opened. We are in a small college town, not a tourist destination. We are also the only game in town. If you have industry in your area reach out to them and let them know you exist. We have only been open since August of last year. Love this forum, everyone is great!.
Click to expand...
Thx
What I keep seeing is that fb is useless if free. Few of your followers see your commercial activity unless u pay
 
undersea said:
Lea Ann said:
I didn't see if anyone mentioned a fb page. We joined our states B and B association. We also had an open house when we opened. We are in a small college town, not a tourist destination. We are also the only game in town. If you have industry in your area reach out to them and let them know you exist. We have only been open since August of last year. Love this forum, everyone is great!.
Click to expand...
Thx
What I keep seeing is that fb is useless if free. Few of your followers see your commercial activity unless u pay
.
Click to expand...
I think we are throwing in the towel on using FB in a meaningful way.
 
happykeeper said:
undersea said:
Lea Ann said:
I didn't see if anyone mentioned a fb page. We joined our states B and B association. We also had an open house when we opened. We are in a small college town, not a tourist destination. We are also the only game in town. If you have industry in your area reach out to them and let them know you exist. We have only been open since August of last year. Love this forum, everyone is great!.
Click to expand...
Thx
What I keep seeing is that fb is useless if free. Few of your followers see your commercial activity unless u pay
.
Click to expand...
I think we are throwing in the towel on using FB in a meaningful way.
.
Click to expand...
My experience is that one can still get organic reach IF you post truly engaging content. Yes, while it is damped for business pages, FB still works on the principle that content that people like/comment/share gets shown to more people.
Of course, a lot of the engagement we get is from a dedicated fan base (people who regularly engage with a particular page's content are more likely to be shown that page's content in the future), but for our business, which gets a lot of repeat business, this is valuable -- keeping our regular returning guests excited about the place -- they become ambassadors. It is exciting when we do have content that "goes viral" (of course, this is all relative; for us "viral" means our reach extends to a few thousand people, rather than 150...).
 
undersea said:
Lea Ann said:
I didn't see if anyone mentioned a fb page. We joined our states B and B association. We also had an open house when we opened. We are in a small college town, not a tourist destination. We are also the only game in town. If you have industry in your area reach out to them and let them know you exist. We have only been open since August of last year. Love this forum, everyone is great!.
Click to expand...
Thx
What I keep seeing is that fb is useless if free. Few of your followers see your commercial activity unless u pay
.
Click to expand...
undersea said:
Thx What I keep seeing is that fb is useless if free. Few of your followers see your commercial activity unless u pay
Click to expand...
That's of a line like saying if I can't exercise for an hour each day why bother exercising at all.
Your guests are going to expect to find you on fb if for no other reason than to see what's happening when they're not there. It keeps you in their mind for next time.
Sure you don't have guests yet but once you do there better be something for them to look at regularly.
And you're not doing commercials for your followers. You're providing them with info to decide on you next time.
 
Harborfields said:
happykeeper said:
undersea said:
Lea Ann said:
I didn't see if anyone mentioned a fb page. We joined our states B and B association. We also had an open house when we opened. We are in a small college town, not a tourist destination. We are also the only game in town. If you have industry in your area reach out to them and let them know you exist. We have only been open since August of last year. Love this forum, everyone is great!.
Click to expand...
Thx
What I keep seeing is that fb is useless if free. Few of your followers see your commercial activity unless u pay
.
Click to expand...
I think we are throwing in the towel on using FB in a meaningful way.
.
Click to expand...
My experience is that one can still get organic reach IF you post truly engaging content. Yes, while it is damped for business pages, FB still works on the principle that content that people like/comment/share gets shown to more people.
Of course, a lot of the engagement we get is from a dedicated fan base (people who regularly engage with a particular page's content are more likely to be shown that page's content in the future), but for our business, which gets a lot of repeat business, this is valuable -- keeping our regular returning guests excited about the place -- they become ambassadors. It is exciting when we do have content that "goes viral" (of course, this is all relative; for us "viral" means our reach extends to a few thousand people, rather than 150...).
.
Click to expand...
My Valentine's breakfast photo got over 4000 views. We have 550 fans. That was viral for us. For days after our stats were way up.
 
My take on Facebook (keep in mind, I've only doing this 10 months, but I have been in Marketing quite a bit before) for inns, is that the advertising dollar for dollar is a much, much weaker (non existent for me) ROI than google adwords. However, it is a great place to engage your past customers, as they tend to come and like your page, and seeing you post every so often keeps you in their mind when they come back. Much of our repeat business follows us on Facebook.
 
Morticia said:
Harborfields said:
happykeeper said:
undersea said:
Lea Ann said:
I didn't see if anyone mentioned a fb page. We joined our states B and B association. We also had an open house when we opened. We are in a small college town, not a tourist destination. We are also the only game in town. If you have industry in your area reach out to them and let them know you exist. We have only been open since August of last year. Love this forum, everyone is great!.
Click to expand...
Thx
What I keep seeing is that fb is useless if free. Few of your followers see your commercial activity unless u pay
.
Click to expand...
I think we are throwing in the towel on using FB in a meaningful way.
.
Click to expand...
My experience is that one can still get organic reach IF you post truly engaging content. Yes, while it is damped for business pages, FB still works on the principle that content that people like/comment/share gets shown to more people.
Of course, a lot of the engagement we get is from a dedicated fan base (people who regularly engage with a particular page's content are more likely to be shown that page's content in the future), but for our business, which gets a lot of repeat business, this is valuable -- keeping our regular returning guests excited about the place -- they become ambassadors. It is exciting when we do have content that "goes viral" (of course, this is all relative; for us "viral" means our reach extends to a few thousand people, rather than 150...).
.
Click to expand...
My Valentine's breakfast photo got over 4000 views. We have 550 fans. That was viral for us. For days after our stats were way up.
.
Click to expand...
Can you track any reservations to your FB page as a result? Just because you get high stats, if they don't convert to a reservation, what good is it?
 
EmptyNest said:
Morticia said:
Harborfields said:
happykeeper said:
undersea said:
Lea Ann said:
I didn't see if anyone mentioned a fb page. We joined our states B and B association. We also had an open house when we opened. We are in a small college town, not a tourist destination. We are also the only game in town. If you have industry in your area reach out to them and let them know you exist. We have only been open since August of last year. Love this forum, everyone is great!.
Click to expand...
Thx
What I keep seeing is that fb is useless if free. Few of your followers see your commercial activity unless u pay
.
Click to expand...
I think we are throwing in the towel on using FB in a meaningful way.
.
Click to expand...
My experience is that one can still get organic reach IF you post truly engaging content. Yes, while it is damped for business pages, FB still works on the principle that content that people like/comment/share gets shown to more people.
Of course, a lot of the engagement we get is from a dedicated fan base (people who regularly engage with a particular page's content are more likely to be shown that page's content in the future), but for our business, which gets a lot of repeat business, this is valuable -- keeping our regular returning guests excited about the place -- they become ambassadors. It is exciting when we do have content that "goes viral" (of course, this is all relative; for us "viral" means our reach extends to a few thousand people, rather than 150...).
.
Click to expand...
My Valentine's breakfast photo got over 4000 views. We have 550 fans. That was viral for us. For days after our stats were way up.
.
Click to expand...
Can you track any reservations to your FB page as a result? Just because you get high stats, if they don't convert to a reservation, what good is it?
.
Click to expand...
EmptyNest said:
Can you track any reservations to your FB page as a result? Just because you get high stats, if they don't convert to a reservation, what good is it?
Click to expand...
You know my repeat guests call me, they don't book online. I can't trace a single reservation to the fb page. It doesn't mean I should stop posting.
I'll never know if someone saw the photo and liked the page and then decided to call or go online.
It's free. Like the blog. Free can be with what you pay for it or it can be worth a lot more. Plus it's a place to have fun amidst the drudgery of laundry.
 
Morticia said:
EmptyNest said:
Morticia said:
Harborfields said:
happykeeper said:
undersea said:
Lea Ann said:
I didn't see if anyone mentioned a fb page. We joined our states B and B association. We also had an open house when we opened. We are in a small college town, not a tourist destination. We are also the only game in town. If you have industry in your area reach out to them and let them know you exist. We have only been open since August of last year. Love this forum, everyone is great!.
Click to expand...
Thx
What I keep seeing is that fb is useless if free. Few of your followers see your commercial activity unless u pay
.
Click to expand...
I think we are throwing in the towel on using FB in a meaningful way.
.
Click to expand...
My experience is that one can still get organic reach IF you post truly engaging content. Yes, while it is damped for business pages, FB still works on the principle that content that people like/comment/share gets shown to more people.
Of course, a lot of the engagement we get is from a dedicated fan base (people who regularly engage with a particular page's content are more likely to be shown that page's content in the future), but for our business, which gets a lot of repeat business, this is valuable -- keeping our regular returning guests excited about the place -- they become ambassadors. It is exciting when we do have content that "goes viral" (of course, this is all relative; for us "viral" means our reach extends to a few thousand people, rather than 150...).
.
Click to expand...
My Valentine's breakfast photo got over 4000 views. We have 550 fans. That was viral for us. For days after our stats were way up.
.
Click to expand...
Can you track any reservations to your FB page as a result? Just because you get high stats, if they don't convert to a reservation, what good is it?
.
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EmptyNest said:
Can you track any reservations to your FB page as a result? Just because you get high stats, if they don't convert to a reservation, what good is it?
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You know my repeat guests call me, they don't book online. I can't trace a single reservation to the fb page. It doesn't mean I should stop posting.
I'll never know if someone saw the photo and liked the page and then decided to call or go online.
It's free. Like the blog. Free can be with what you pay for it or it can be worth a lot more. Plus it's a place to have fun amidst the drudgery of laundry.
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Facebook is a good source of what is called "Social Proof" -- people planning a trip will look for validation of their choices, perhaps by looking at reviews on TA (or other site), and probably at Facebook, too. If they see a healthy FB page with regular posts and an engaged audience, that helps reinforce that they've made a good choice. So no, the booking isn't directly attributable to FB, but I think it sure does help! (And you don't necessarily need a lot of "reach" to have a valuable page in this regard, as these people seeking social proof will be going to your FB page to check on it).
 
EmptyNest said:
Morticia said:
Harborfields said:
happykeeper said:
undersea said:
Lea Ann said:
I didn't see if anyone mentioned a fb page. We joined our states B and B association. We also had an open house when we opened. We are in a small college town, not a tourist destination. We are also the only game in town. If you have industry in your area reach out to them and let them know you exist. We have only been open since August of last year. Love this forum, everyone is great!.
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Thx
What I keep seeing is that fb is useless if free. Few of your followers see your commercial activity unless u pay
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I think we are throwing in the towel on using FB in a meaningful way.
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My experience is that one can still get organic reach IF you post truly engaging content. Yes, while it is damped for business pages, FB still works on the principle that content that people like/comment/share gets shown to more people.
Of course, a lot of the engagement we get is from a dedicated fan base (people who regularly engage with a particular page's content are more likely to be shown that page's content in the future), but for our business, which gets a lot of repeat business, this is valuable -- keeping our regular returning guests excited about the place -- they become ambassadors. It is exciting when we do have content that "goes viral" (of course, this is all relative; for us "viral" means our reach extends to a few thousand people, rather than 150...).
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My Valentine's breakfast photo got over 4000 views. We have 550 fans. That was viral for us. For days after our stats were way up.
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Can you track any reservations to your FB page as a result? Just because you get high stats, if they don't convert to a reservation, what good is it?
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The good of it is recognition. It is like in politics - name recognition helps a lot. So if they see the name of my inn if posting in FB makes it something they recognize, it may become a rez someday. One thing I think we need to do though is to identify our locations with our posts. When I do a share (and I do a lot of sharing), quite often I will put the location of what I am sharing as a frame of reference.
 

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