Time wasters and video of our inn

I've been promissing them a site redesign for the last year... maybe I should move that up my to do list.

My mom hired a university student to film and edit.  The student also did the voice over.

BTW I am not a fan of hot tubs.  I typically avoid them. Same with jacuzi tubs, even my own....

Wow Paul does everything need to be on the homepage?

I digress, sorry. I didn't click any of those videos, why? People in them, I don't want to see anyone in a hot tub.  But I am American, perhaps the 20 somethings in Canada love to see this. (?)

Here is some data that can be used...

http://www.irishmountain.net/ has videos for each suite and the main entry.

The Cabin Loft page was visited 5,561 times in the last 9 months.  The video on that page was watched 1,322 times.

On the home page there is a video too.  It was viewed 2,327 times in the last month.  The home page was visited 14,605.

So... I'd say on a room page the video is being watched 1 out of 5 times.  On the home page it is more like 1 out of 7.

I THINK (correct me if you know) that YouTube only counts a view if the user watches the entire video.

Paul

It gets back to more of the inn less of the innkeepers.  I know it is debatable, we say the innkeepers make the inn, and yes they do, but you don't know this until you are there.   Just like pets, I will be best friends with a pooch at an inn, but having them central on the website means they wander in and out of my room etc.  It is a fine line. Guest interviews may be worse than innkeeper interviews.  IMO.

So a photo of the innkeepers welcoming you to the inn is just right! The rest just seems to unnatural to me. A video of what to see and do in the area I LOVE, I am all for that!

 The setting was off putting to me on that, you have these uber casual innkeepers in flannel and piercings and then this overly elegant B&B.  Now you know near us we have this hip little town, music festivals, hiking, groovy vegan food and all that, so I would guess the video would be produced a bit differently for that clientele.

Nothing against that inn or the innkeepers, I am sure it is indeed lovely and they are great people.

How about posting your inn video on your FB account and Blog, to me that is a place someone would want to view the video.  

Don't get me wrong, I HAVE VIDEOS on our website, not innkeeper videos.  To me, and again, just my opinion, they remind me of a mortuary ad.  The music is always terrible, the innkeepers stiff and boring, it doesn't do justice to the inn.  If people think photos are staged, an inn video is the umpteenth stage. Put something more FUN on youtube and share it on FB and Twitter and your blog.  

Jay I just looked at the FortPutn first video and it makes me run away screaming.  No I am not exaggerating.  So they are there on the website if someone wants to view them, nervous guests, poor sound, earthy innkeepers in an very elegant setting, it is all just too ...not what I want, not what I want to represent our inn, not anything anyone I know is interested in.

Next study, if there is one, give them samples of a variety of inn videos, then give us their demographics and how many B&B's they visit per year, and price.  If anyone wants to keep prodding and find a great Inn video, please post it, I want to see it, I really do.  

I'm a bit baffled by the unanimity of the anti-video sentiment here.  There are good videos and bad videos - no different than good photos and bad photos....good web sites and bad web sites. 

PAII conducted a study with Texas Tech University 2 years ago.  In the study we asked 300 innkeepers - what do you think is important to have on your web site?  Then we asked 300 B&B guests - what do you think is important to see on a B&B web site?  Needless to say, there were plenty of variances.  One of the big variances - meaning things that your potential guests WANT to see on your site, but you don't think are relatively important - was information about food - they want to see more photos of food, explanations of the kinds of things you will serve, etc. 

Relevant to this thread, B&B guests want to see videos more than innkeepers feel it's important to provide them.  You can do a highly-produced or over-produced video that feels too much like a commercial, or you can "keep it real" with the tone and the kind of things you include.  It would be hard to completely avoid the "I feel like I'm being sold to" feeling one might get when looking at a video, but anyone clicking on a video on a B&B web site probably expects to see something that was made for the purpose of convincing them to make a reservation. 

I think video can do things that some photos can't - you can hear about the inn in the innkeeper's own voice - that plays nicely with the "authentic" kind of experience many innkeepers try to deliver.  Video of the grounds and house sometimes "feels" more real than what you see in a still photo. 

Here's just one example of some innkeepers who have kept their videos from feeling, IMHO, "over-produced." 

http://www.fortyputneyroad.com/videos

The newer generation of your guests - Gen X and Gen Y - love watching videos on line.  We do it all the time, probably several times a day.  Keep in mind that the oldest Gen X folks are now in their mid-40s, so it's no longer really the future generation of guests.  They're really the "now" guests.

Just some food for thought as you keep getting messages/solicitations to have video on your web sites.

Jay

Here is a photo of a real inn in action...this is just half of the breakfast cups/glasses/parfaits from our 8am seating. Around here if someone doesn't empty the dishwasher it is 50 lashes.

DH said I am weird, you take the weirdest photos...I said, I know, I will somehow blog this...

I'm with you folks on videos on web sites.

I find most of them condescending, with photos I can look at what I want to look at, what's important to me, with a video you are forced to look at what the owner wants to show you.

Me too, I just find them all to look very fake and my attention span is just way too short.  Give me clear, detailed photos any time.  And for heaven's sake show me the bathroom...yes your quilts and decorations are lovely, but how big is the john, are you not showing it because it's done in 1970's yellow linoleum???  Missing bathroom pics make me move on.

ditto against the videos.

i don't like them. 

at least, if you're determined to show videos on your site, have them hosted on your own site or photobucket ... but not on youtube.  some place that shall remain nameless had a porn video and a joke / rude video come up on the same page when you clicked the link to bring you to the b&b video on youtube.  not a professional image ... not good for prospective guests to see.

I'm not impressed by videos on B&B websites.  Give me great pictures of the guest rooms & their baths, common areas, the outside of the inn, and the food!  I don't have the attention span to watch a video.  They can be fun on blogs, though.

That is all they ALL are after - our money. And they do NOT care if we get nothing from it - they got their money.

There is a site that had free listings and Paid listings were available. I guess I did not do my due diligence. Turns out all I got for my PAID listing was more text that people do not read and a couple of photos. BUT the kicker is that I am thinking PAID gets placement - WRONG. This group does not believe in that. So since my city began with S EVERY darn city in the State that came before my city alphabeticly - even if they were free listings - came up before mine. They did not care - they HAD MY MONEY!

Good grief...there are folks out there advertising $199 or some ridiculously low price for doing an inn video.  L A N I E R....forget about her...all she is after is your money