If you have a vacation property that you rent out such as a cabin, you need to be online marketing it to make sure it is recognized by a wide audience. Whether it’s a computer, a mobile device or a phone, about 80-90% of people go online to read reviews and do searches of where they want to stay. That means if you aren’t online, you are missing out on most of your potential audience.
Even if you do most of your business offline or require your customers to register by phone or in person, it still is a good idea to do online marketing. Studies show that 86% of people use the web to find a business at which they are going to make an offline purchase. If you are not online, most people are not even going to know you exist.
In doing online marketing, it is important to have an online presence beyond just a Facebook page or Twitter feed. While these are low-cost methods of advertising online, they aren’t as effective as many small businesses think they are. A study found that organic search is used about three times as much as social media when people are looking for a business, so it’s important to use both to capture all the potential traffic out there.
When advertising your lodging business online, whether you are offering cabins, a campground, an RV park or some other type of accommodations, it is important to focus on search engine optimization. Search engine optimization, usually referred to as SEO, drives 75% of all traffic online. SEO is the process of emphasizing specific keywords to make sure your content rises as high as possible on search engine sites such as Google. Being on the first page of a Google search can make a huge difference in how much business you are able to generate because most people don’t go beyond the first page. You also need to make sure that your website is optimized for mobile because more and more people are getting online these days using smartphones. If you are not very good with computers and social media sites and you don’t have someone on your staff who is, then it can be worth it to work with a digital marketing firm that can help you with website and SEO issues.