How to Get More Weeks Booked Using Competitions & Offers
Alright – we all looove direct bookings right?
Why build your Direct Bookings? More control over our businesses, freedom from the OTA Trap, No Commissions = More Profits
ELAINE WATT
But where to start getting more Direct Bookings?
Well, you’ve got a huge opportunity right at your fingertips – your own holiday homes down weeks.
How to Get More Weeks Booked Using Competitions & Offers
In this episode I share two ways I’ve been using competitions to grow my Direct Bookings – 2 different ways for two different goals. One long term strategy, one short term strategy.
How?
Online Competitions
Strategy One – Long Term with a Goal of building awareness of my Brand, becoming the Go To accommodation provider for Worcestershire.
#WorcestershireWednesday
I’ve been heading out and doing a Facebook Live each Wednesday with a local business owner. On the Live I offer something cool -I visited one of my favourite cafes and we offered a voucher for coffee and cake with mates.
At an adventure golf centre we offered 2 x family vouchers and asked people to share to enter and tag their mates they’d like to compete against in an afternoon of Golf!
So I’m building, long term, and in a really cost effective way, brand awareness, making great connections and enjoying every single bit of it!
This is long term, I’m not expecting immediate results of a direct booking as I’m not asking people to join my email list. Being around on Facebook, getting exposure through shares and doing something really fun in our area as well as attracting visitors and showcasing our gorgeous area is really hitting the spot.
Strategy two – Short Term goal of building my email list so I can invite potential guests to come and stay at one of our places and build my Direct Bookings
I share a beautiful graphic Via Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn & Instagram
I choose my competition prize – so far I’ve gone with £250 Voucher and a seperate competition for a Long Weekend
Now this is a bigger prize so it’s got to be more of a commitment from people entering to be in with a chance of winning and for me this is a n email address and I send them to a URL where they can enter their details and from there they get an automated response telling them they’re in the draw and asking them to confirm their email and that they’re happy for me to contact them for future marketing.
This first email is super important from a GDPR perspective. We have all been battered with GDPR so we know what it – message me if you’d like an email template for this. Happy to share!
How to Get More Weeks Booked Using Competitions & Offers #BookDirect #BookDirectHour #LoveYourGuest Listen now www.hlspod.com/comps #holidaylet #vacationrental Click To Tweet- Decide on the competition, think about the different factors I mention in the podcast and choose what is right for you
- Choose your method of collection/entry.
- Check the current online competition rules and adhere to them. You will definitely need a Terms and Conditions page and you should have a Privacy Policy already. Ensure you are registered for data protection, which you should be anyway, in the UK you need to register with the ICO (Information Commissioners Office) this will vary according to your location, this is for the UK as that’s where I’m based – check the rules for where you’re based.
- I talk about Mailchimp for email marketing and for collecting email with a form you embed on your website using a code provided by Mailchimp – head to the online courses page to learn how to do this step by step in my Mailchimp Course
- I also mention Aweber for email marketing and for collecting email with a form you embed on your website using a code provided by Mailchimp – head to the online courses page to learn how to do this step by step in my Aweber Course I also mention Opt In Monster and Leadpages (Leadpages is a big step up and has lots of extra functions you may not yet need, this is an affiliate link so if you join Leadpages after using this link I may get paid a small commission, I only ever share products and services that I have used and tested extensively and Leadpages is a staple for me in my online marketing arsenal)
Something you must make sure of when you are choosing a method of collection – it must be mobile responsive! There are many other options available than the ones I’ve mentioned here so have this front of mind when you make your choice.
4. Drive traffic to your competition opt in. I talk about sharing on social media and using paid advertising on Facebook which is a big subject – let me know if you’d like to learn more about Facebook marketing.
5. Follow up.
Follow up is a must – the first email should be the GDPR can we send you future marketing type email. You’ve got to have them agree to this to be able to contact them in the future with marketing materials
This is a short but really packed episode and I’d be really happy to go into detail on anything I discussed here and here’s how:
