special offers - freetobook

3 Ways to Power Direct Bookings

Posted on July 18, 2017July 18, 2017 by craig

1. Show the benefits of booking directly

Why should I book directly ? Answer this question in your customer’s mind and you will increase your direct bookings. Use some subtle “book direct” images and text to show that booking directly on your website is the best thing that guests can do.

Customers need to be convinced that they should book directly, it can’t be taken for granted. Present a message that re-assures your potential guests at the exact point they are thinking about where to book. As a little gift we have created some images, please help yourself to some “book direct” images, use them freely and share them widely. Link to “Book Direct” images…

2. Don’t hide your Book Now button

A potential guest has made it on to your website, so make sure that they can easily find your book now button. Is your booking button in a prominent position on all your web pages ?

Your “Book Now” button or “Search Availability” should be easily identifiable and should be on every page of your website, not only on the Home Page. If potential guests can’t find it easily you are pushing them away and they could proceed to some other property or end up booking through an Online Travel Agent (OTA). Make it easy to book so you don’t lose the direct booking.

Typical errors include putting the booking button too low down on the page forcing customers to scroll to find it, others hide it under tabs and menus like Accommodation, Rates or even Contact. Show your booking button clearly, simply and prominently to increase direct bookings.

3. Reward direct bookings

Reward guests who have or are about to book directly with you. Display a special offer for direct bookers using an offer for everyone or if you want to be a bit more selective use a promo code.

With a special offer you can ensure guests can book your best rates directly via your own website. This could be for a selected period or for a minimum stay, or simply make it available for all stays, it’s up to you. Creating a reward for direct bookers will certainly increase your chances of getting the booking direct. When I do a booking directly I’m always looking for that little reward to clinch the deal.

Direct Bookings using Promo Codes — Promo Codes for Direct Bookings

Using Promo codes is more selective, the customer needs to know the promo code. There are various types of offer from the simple discount to complimentary drinks or a room upgrade. A little something that shows you are willing to reward direct bookings on your website. It’s a win for everyone, guests will feel special, rewarded and will more than likely mention it in their reviews. This helps the overall book direct message because future guests learn of the benefits of booking direct when reading the great reviews the rewards have generated.

Get creative and invent original rewards for direct booking.

To find out more about some of freetobook’s direct booking benefits take a look at Promo Codes, which can help you encourage customers to book with you again, and facebook book now button using a facebook call to action button.

Keep an eye on our blogs for tips on how to improve your direct bookings and start cutting into that commission bill.

3 Tips for Special Offers

Posted on March 30, 2016April 20, 2017 by craig

We all love the feel of getting a great deal and the same goes for potential bookers on your website. The truth is Special Offers drive direct bookings, that’s why we make it super easy to create them in freetobook. Simply visit tab “Specials” and create a new offer, it’s live and available in seconds.

Here are 3 top tips to help you create a successful Special Offer.

1. Keep the Offer Active – Special Offers help differentiate you, help you stand out against the competition….. so try to keep an offer running all the time.

2.Give a good deal – The best offers give guests a great deal, but don’t worry if you don’t have a big budget even a small amount can make all the difference.

3. Better deals in low season – If you think you have periods where you are not selling then focus your offers on those dates eg. off-season, weekdays or other low demand dates.

On freetobook you can easily open and close your offers (in Close-Outs under the tab “Availability”), so why not set-up a couple now and just open/close them when you need them most. Remember, if you don’t need to have the offers open on peak dates…. just close the high dates out.

Reduce your commission bill with promo codes

Posted on November 5, 2015November 6, 2015 by craig

On the phones we hear the pain many accommodation owners feel when they get the monthly commission bill from their OTAs. Particularly annoying is finding repeat or regular customers who somehow end up booking through an OTA rather than directly. Many of you are looking for tools to help fight back against rising costs from the Online Travel Agents. One excellent way to do this is by using promotional codes.

A promo code is a private special offer that gives customers a discount when they book online directly with you. Essentially you give them a small discount making it cheaper to book directly, they save and you reduce your commission bill with more direct bookings. They simply type a promo code into your online booking page and it gives them a special direct discount.

The first step is to think about how much of an incentive you want to give to direct bookers. Perhaps your OTA commission is 15% and you want to give your customers 10% off thus saving you 5%. In the example we give the hotel offers a ten percent discount but you decide the amount yourself (you set it and you can easily change it).

Next you create a “Promo Code” in your freetobook account. Once you have your promo code setup (eg. DIRECT10) you now need to let your customers know about it, ensuring they know that booking directly on your website will save them money. The simple message is “Book direct and save” but you do have to promote it. Here are some clever ideas to help.

At Guest Checkout – Hand your guest a little business card with your promo code on it. This lets them know they are special and that they will always get a better deal booking directly with you.

At reception – Put up a little plaque or sign stating that you always guarantee the best rate when guests book direct and that some guests might get a special discount when they book again. Give them the promo code so they can use it to claim their discount when booking direct.

On your email signature – When you email guests about coming back to stay with you mention your promo code so they can get their special private deal. Again this reinforces the book direct message in a place where they might be considering making a booking with you.

We all like to feel special, using promo codes is a great way to show guests that you value their business and want them to come back and stay. Its a powerful message, book direct and save… here is a little exclusive discount because we value your custom. You want them to come back and/or tell family and friends about the special deal they can have by booking with you directly next time – promo codes do that for you.

The video below shows how the promo codes work, all you need to do is login to your freetobook account select the tab “Specials” and “Promo Codes” on the orange bar. To get a little further information see the promo codes section on our website.

Planning ahead for your promotions

Posted on September 17, 2015September 17, 2015 by craig

This week’s guest blog is from US based social media and marketing expert Heather Turner, “Chief Logroller” at Forfeng Media. Here Heather helps you plan your social media calendar for holiday events and special promotions.

The time to start planning ahead for your promotions throughout the year, is best done in slow season when you actually have a little down time, a little space to actually think and work on your marketing for the upcoming year.

Developing a social media and content calendar in advance is key to getting promotions out in an stress free, and timely manner so you have the best chance for a journalist to pickup an event or special for a story, and to make sure you work any kinks out of the special or offer in advance. If you are doing specials in conjunction with other area businesses, i.e. a discount at a local restaurant in conjunction with a stay, or free or ½ price tickets to a museum, for example, as part of your packages, it’s best to be able to make those connections and iron down the details as far ahead in advance as possible. When making joint package deals its very important to stress to the partnering business that they will be getting a lot of free publicity out of it. Working some numbers up, and letting them know where and how you will be promoting it, and them, is leverage for getting you a better deal on a partnership offer or discount.

If you are hoping to get your special or offer picked up by the news for inclusion in a newspaper or magazine, be cognizant of the fact that the lead time for both is very different. A newspaper generally needs several weeks leads time to run an article. Monthly magazines generally need three to six months.

Realistically any unique specials or promotions should be up online on your website at least 6 months prior to the actual event. If you send press releases out about it, it should be send out at least 4 months or more prior. Advertising them on social media should start being pushed out at last 3 months prior, 2 at the very latest.

If you have something that you know will book up and sell out in advance, advertise it on social media at least 4 months in advance so that if you get the inevitable cancellation or two you have time to rebook it. Developing the social media calendar will help you keep on track for when you are scheduled to start promoting your specials.

Specific Holidays, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Father’s Day and Mother’s Day are generally high traffic days for lodging packages, and many potential guests do like to plan ahead for those. You may want to consider starting to advertise these on your social media channels a little earlier than the rest of your other packages.

Posting your specials on social media should not be done more than once a week, each post should be unique, have an appropriate and inviting picture accompanying it (make sure you either own the photograph or image, have permission to use it or have purchased it from a legitimate stock photo source), and be written in a way that utilizes the soft sell approach.

As an example of the soft sell post: Father’s Day is coming up soon. What better way to thank your Dad for being there for you and your family then treating him to a weekend away from it all. Our special Father’s Day Package includes a full day of golf at the historic Beach Head Golf Club, followed by a day on the water fishing for Bass on Lake Bestinach. For more information about this special Father’s Day package please visit http:thejanedoeinn.com/fatherdayspecial.

VS. the hard sell post: Father’s Day Package, June 18-19, Package includes 18 holes of golf, cart included. River tour with Bass fishing instructor, $360 for the weekend D.O.. Exclusions apply. Book Now at 800-555-1212.

Make sure to keep your social media calendars from previous years, and note when you have gotten the most traffic and bookings for each previous year on them. You should also include anything of note that happens during the time your packages have happened. The Christmas of 2013 had a horrible snowstorm resulting in cancellations, Easter of 2011 had a travel ban, etc. Long term this helps you better plan for next year, as well as being able to look back and see what previous years results were based on what you did for marketing as well as any external events that may have happened that were outside of your control.

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8 Great Ways to Boost Bookings with Special Offers

Posted on September 4, 2013September 5, 2013 by craig

special_offer2 — Special Offers can increase your profits!

Everyone loves a bargain, that’s for sure. Indeed, in these cost-conscious times, everyone practically demands a bargain. But Special Offers, if handled the right way, can be a great method of generating bookings you wouldn’t otherwise have had – and therefore boosting your revenues rather than diminishing them.

Here are some tips:

Get what you want out of them. Use your Special Offers to encourage the right kind of bookings for your business. For some, that may mean long-stay discounts, because you take revenue on extras like food and beverages. For others, it might mean enticing guests to stay over low season dates. In both cases, the right kind of Special Offer can bring you extra business.
Use them strategically. Switch a Special Offer on only when you know it’s going to be difficult to sell your rooms at your normal rate. This could be a particular night (i.e. Sunday) when business is slow.
Spice them up with something extra! Consider adding an additional, cost-effective enticement rather than simply lowering your rates (e.g. a free box of chocolates and bottle of wine, free afternoon tea, kids eat free etc.)
Make sure they’re an obvious bargain. Don’t just drop your rates and hope that someone will notice! Your online booking system must show the reduced rates as a discount/offer (e.g. 10% off or an extra night free) in order to create a strong perception of value and thus entice bookings.
Make sure people actually know about them. Get busy advertising your latest Special Offer on Twitter and Facebook. And if you keep an email database of past customers (which you should), you could send a Special Offer email out to them as well, in case they want to stay with you again. (When you do this, make sure there’s a link to your website’s booking engine on the email.)
Make them seem scarce. Have a Special Offer that expires relatively soon, to encourage customers to take advantage of it before it vanishes. Or, if you have only 3 room types, you could attach an offer to just 1 of them (i.e. the one you find most difficult to sell).
Keep bargain hunters on their toes! Vary your Special Offers. Don’t inadvertently lull your customers into expecting an offer over certain dates. Use different offer types and see what works best for you.
Make them obvious. Put Special Offers where your customers will find them, right on your home page. Add them to your email signature too, so that you’re advertising them even during the daily routine of contacting people about other things.

3 Must Do Things for 2013

Posted on January 10, 2013March 13, 2013 by iain

email05Cloud — 1st Place to the prepared

Happy New Year, it’s going to be a good one…. but it’s important to have everything in the right place for 2013.

Here are 3 “must do” things for 2013:

1) Ensure you have rates loaded for the whole of 2013 – January is one of the busiest times of the year for new bookings. Early bird customers are looking to book dates throughout the year. Don’t lose out. Have your rates loaded until the end of summer or even the end of the year. If you don’t have rates loaded they can’t book.

2) Create at least one special offer…especially for your low season dates – If you have some low season dates in the winter months load a special offer to help persuade customers you have the best value. Do a last minute offer or a longer stay offer, eg 10% off when you stay 2 nights or more.

3) Show off your very best images on your freetobook widget – Pictures are so important, customers will look through all your images and make an assessment of what you offer. It’s quick and easy to make a judgement on appearance, so make sure they get the right impression with a great set of photos.

share best practise — more direct bookings

As with any engine, they all need a bit of a shine every so often and a little oil….