Listing sites are great for exposure, but when it comes to the actual bookings; guests booking directly through your website using the Bookalet widgets means no commission fees. Here are some top tips on how to increase your number of direct bookings.
Create a Brand & Use Social Media
Whether you have just one property or over 100, creating a brand automatically makes your holiday let business more memorable as well as, to potential guests, more trustworthy. Create a logo and design business cards that you can leave in your holiday let for guests to take and hopefully share with friends when they recommend your holiday let. Promote your brand using the logo you have created on social media. An increasingly large number of people are planning their travels using social media for inspiration.
For example, if a potential guest is already following you on Instagram, you have a chance to pop up on their timelines every now and then as a little reminder of your brand. This means you are likely to be one of the first businesses they think of when they are planning a trip.
Start an Email Marketing Campaign
One of the most successful digital marketing techniques is through email marketing. We recently published another blog post with a guide on creating a successful email marketing campaign for your Holiday Let business, you can read it here!
Set up Discount Codes
Encourage guests to return with a discount code that works only for direct bookings. Be sure to also share the discount code in your newsletter emails too! You can set up a discount code by going to Properties > Edit properties < Edit, then scrolling to the tab named ‘Discounts’. 
Create a Blog
Adding a blog to your website will help to improve your SEO and drive more traffic to your website. Be sure to include key words like names of local tourist attractions as well as local towns/ villages.
Helpful Articles
Why your holiday let needs a blog
Email marketing tips for Holiday Lets
How to Use Instagram to get More Bookings
How to Market your Holiday Let Over Hotels
How to Improve Holiday Let SEO
February 25, 2020
