As an Innkeeper, You Are in an Internet Based Business

According to Forrester Research, 83% of travelers are on-line, with that number expected to reach 90% by 2011.  In a survey conducted by HeBS, most inns are seeing the majority of their bookings coming from on-line marketing channels causing 63% of hoteliers to increase their Internet marketing budgets and decrease their off-line marketing budgets this year.  This data backs up the personal experiences of most lodging owners who have invested in their Internet marketing presence.   Even people who call in to book rooms have most likely viewed the hotel’s web site before calling.

All of this leads to one undeniable fact:  Today, hospitality has become an Internet based business.

No, you are not selling products on EBay.  You are not drop shipping from your house or providing a membership based service on your web site.   What makes hospitality an Internet based business is the fact that most travelers are researching their travel options on-line.  Therefore these potential guests are demanding that you sell your service (hospitality) on-line.  So although your actual service may be provided on-site at your property, the sale (where you make your money) takes place over the Internet.

By switching your mindset from having a physically based business to an Internet based business it makes it easier to put your marketing priorities in order.  For the vast majority of lodging properties, off-line marketing such as print advertising and radio do not provide nearly as great a value as on-line marketing does.

The value of on-line marketing compared to off-line marketing

Print advertising is very inefficient.  It requires advertisers to pay the costs for ad creation, paper, printing, and distribution; most of which will be distributed to people who will never be interested in your service in the first place.  This, however, is not the primary factor that makes it less effective than Internet marketing.

With off-line marketing, you are typically interrupting people to push your message in front of them.  Whether it is an advertisement in a magazine, a commercial on the radio, or hanging posters in local shops, the majority of people who come across your advertising are not actively looking for your service.  To most people, your off-line marketing is more of an interruption to their day than anything else and yet, you have spent money to market to each and every one of them.

Contrast this with Internet marketing.   People who come across your on-line marketing are generally people who are actively searching for your service.  They have performed some intentional action in which they were specifically inquiring about the services you offer such as typing “Los Angeles bed and breakfast” into a search engine or clicking on your listing from an on-line directory.  Subsequently, most of the leads you are paying for are far more qualified than with other forms of marketing.   This is called “pull marketing” because you are pulling people in who are actively trying to find your service.

Keep off-line marketing’s value in perspective

This is not to say that off-line forms of marketing are completely ineffective.  In fact, they can be great for branding your business and a few do directly generate some bookings.  A majority of small and medium size hotels, however, just don’t have the budget to advertise for branding purposes alone.  Besides, even for branding purposes, the Internet offers more concentrated opportunities, such as advertising on niche sites where your consumer groups typically visit (i.e., web sites that focus on skiing, nutrition, fishing, leisure travel, etc…).

When it comes to marketing for the purposes of directly increasing occupancy, the return on investment with Internet marketing is far greater than off-line marketing for most hotels.  Lower advertising costs, qualified leads, and consumer demands mandate you market your lodging property primarily on the Internet.

Keep your priorities straight

As you plan your marketing strategy, keeping a mindset that you are an Internet based business will help keep your priorities in order and occupancy on the rise.  Let your competitors blow their marketing budgets elsewhere while they wonder why you are doing so well.