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Using Web 2.0 Effectively for Inn Marketing

It seems that for the past few years, a day hasn’t gone by where I haven’t seen the term “web 2.0” used in some capacity. While the term was originally coined as a reference to the use of advanced web technologies like AJAX and Javascript, the more common use has become marketing language referring to sites that have interactive features. Rather than being just a web version of a brochure a “web 2.0” site is a place for visitors to interact with the site owners and more importantly, each other.

The call for innkeepers to just “Join the web 2.0 phenomenon” is a scary one. Innkeepers should certainly be aware of the phenomenon, and participation in it can be an excellent marketing tool. Properly utilizing these interactive web services can be more effective than most online directory subscriptions and it will cost you nothing but some of your time. Of course, improperly jumping into interactive web content can be disastrous.

As far as our industry is concerned, this model of interaction works well for third party marketing sites (such as Trip Advisor) and for “top level” sites; such as Yelp, Yahoo and even PAII and other industry organizations. This model does not work well for the direct to consumer site (such as your inns own website). While we certainly want to get feedback from our guests and visitors, our own website is still our most powerful marketing piece and we cannot allow that to convey any message other than the carefully crafted one that we have created. Many businesses were quick to jump into adding “web 2.0” features to their sites, only to regret doing so later. Rather than adding features to your site, take advantage of the many other sites that are already online offering the interactive functionality.

So how do you get involved in this frenzy in a careful and controlled manner? Well here are 10 tips for getting your Inn out there into the “Web 2.0” world.

1. Stick to a plan. You should already have a pretty solid branding in place for your inn. You have a website, you have brochures and business cards. Don’t stray too far from your already crafted brand. If you don’t already have a strong branding, I would suggest not diving into this project until you have crafted one. Don’t just dive into the world of blogs and forums because you read an article about it, or heard a speaker at a conference talk about it. Know what your goal is in this project. Make sure that your goal is something quantifiable. Perhaps you want to see x number of reservations from the new traffic in x number of months. Know how much time you want to invest in the process and be sure that you can afford to use that time to take on this project. This isn’t set it and forget it marketing. Don’t get started unless you are ready to commit the time needed to make it successful. I spend about 4 hours a week participating in forums and on blogs for the purposes of increasing traffic to my website. Putting in much less time than that would not likely result in much of a return.
2. Create a consistent online identity. To make this marketing project successful, you will need to sign up for many different forum, blogs and social networks. Pick a unique name that is available and likely to remain available on the next great new thing. Don’t be concerned about making the name contain your town names or anything like that, just be consistent. There is no SEO aspect to your username. Using a consistent username on every site creates a subtle “link” between these sites and yourself. As users see you in several places, you begin to establish yourself as an expert (hopefully) and your online persona will gain credibility. I have had many people mention that “they see me everywhere online”. When in fact, they are just researching their trip to the area and see my username active on every site that is relative to our area.
3. Use Google. Do a Google search for forums, groups, blogs, articles, etc… about your area. Some of the large travel sites have very active user forums. Take advantage of that. Be a local expert. Don’t just limit it to travel sites though, be creative. If you happen to have a national park nearby, search for groups talking about the park. If you are a great chef and love to talk about food, find a forum or group for chefs or foodies. Love craft beers (like me) join a craft brewing forum. There is no limit or boundary to where you can get involved. Just be sure that it’s a topic that interests you and that could perhaps also interest potential customers. Which leads us to…
4. Know your customer. Don’t go trying to make this work in areas that are uncomfortable for you. Do you really think that your customer is on MySpace? Maybe they are, but if you aren’t comfortable there yourself, don’t even try. Also, consider your Inn when deciding where to jump in using your Inn profile. If your Inn does not accept pets, participation in a forum of pet lovers would seem off brand and would stand to confuse your message and your potential guests. Sure you can still participate in those forums, but you should not be using your inn identity for them. The most important part of making this successful is finding user forums, blogs and social network groups that you are comfortable chatting and participating in and that ideally you can present yourself in as an expert.
5. Complete your profiles. Fully fill out any profile information at every network you join. This is where the SEO part of this project starts to come into play. Make sure that you include links to your website, a bio and photos if you can. Include a bit about why you are an expert in the area of the forums topic. Use a consistent email address , but not your inns main email address. Create a unique one for this project. a good suggestion would be to use your name like Joe@yourinn.com. A separate email address will make the results more traceable as well as make it easier to fight the inevitable spam that will come from a public address. Just remember, the profile should be about YOU, not your inn. You are working to establish yourself as an expert in this community. That will inherently create interest in you, and therefore your inn. This leads me to the most important tip I can give…
6. Do not advertise. You are participating in a “Social Network”. Just like in real life, nothing turns off your friends faster than trying to sell them something. You are here to share your wealth of knowledge and to participate in conversations about a topic that is interesting to you and exciting to talk about. Of course, you just happen to own a beautiful Inn in an interesting area. Let this already interested audience come to you. Believe me when I say that they will. One of the forums I regularly post and participate in ranks 4th on all of the referrers to my website and has resulted in at least a dozen bookings that we are aware of. Don’t feel that you need to make an ad out of every post, it won’t work and will get you flagged as a spammer. You should never even mention your inn unless it is in response to a direct post asking about it. But…
7. Add a signature line to every post. The signature line is the most important part of this process. It is the way that you will subtly advertise your inn and add to your inbound links which will help with your websites search engine ranking. Make sure that the anchor text (the actual linked text) is appropriate for both the community you are writing in (the forum, blog, etc.) as well as for the search engine optimization of your site. For example, if you are participating in a forum about pets and happen to have a pet friendly inn, try using text like “Bill and Sue Smith. Proud parents of Fluffy and Kitty at the Maple Tree Inn in Vermont”. This is a subtle and effective way to promote your inn, but not sound like a salesperson. You will be surprised how many folks will click on that link if your posts are interesting. Providing interesting or intriguing content and discussion creates a desire for the other users to know more about you (or your pets, or your model train collection, or whatever…) and the signature line link is the way for them to do that.
8. Be an expert on your topic. You are an innkeeper, which means that you are already an expert on many topics. You are also “living the dream” of many of your readers. Make the most of that. I have been participating in about 6 forums regularly since I have become an innkeeper. Every one of them has led to a discussion (brought up by other users) about the inn. As I said earlier, let them come to you. The fastest way to become an expert is to look for existing topics that you can jump in on and post your knowledge. Answer others questions and share your opinions. You can be slightly more adventurous in your posts on these sites as you again are making an effort NOT to sell anything. If topics you are well versed in don’t yet exist, create them. Be careful here though as nothing will set off a forum faster than posting a topic or comment that is already addressed in another thread.
9. Use good link content. Although many blogs and public forums block indexing of links in their comments, many others do not. In the interest of building good links, be sure that if you chose to include a link in the body of your post or comments, your content is relevant to the page you are linking to on your site and that your anchor text is both relevant and useful. Link to distinct landing pages of your site, not your sites main page. For example if you are posting a comment about restaurants in your town, and you happen to have a great list of restaurants, link to the actual restaurant page on your site not to your main page. You can create essentially infinite pages on your website. If a topic comes up that you think would make a good webpage, create it. I have added a page of local shops, a page of bike paths and a page of places to rent kayaks and canoes as a direct result of the discussions I have had in forums. These have become some of the more popular entrance pages of my site.
10. Type till your fingers are numb. There are countless avenues for you to employ these tips. The most important aspect is being consistently visible. This takes time, patience and more time. That is why I suggest that you only participate in the groups and forums that are of interest to you. A “one off” posting in a forum will not be very effective in getting someone to visit your website, let alone your inn. Post at least something weekly to every forum you participate in, more often is better.

Overall, never forget the point of what you are actually doing, advertising your Inn. So start posting, be yourself, follow these 10 tips and get your Inns rooms ready for all of your new business.

Tim and his wife Amy own Forty Putney Road Bed and Breakfast in Brattleboro Vermont. A recovering I.T. Director and lifelong geek, Tim’s tips, thoughts and meanderings can be read and discussed here at innkeeping.org and occasionally in some of the great publications from PAII.

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