More return from a hotel website

Ask any hotelier about his (entrepreneurial) wishes and you immediately know: he wants to be able to welcome more guests, generate more publicity and ultimately this should lead to business growth. Unfortunately, the hotelier does not always know exactly how to achieve these wishes and ambitions - practically and operationally. Something with online marketing? Something with Internet advertising? Quite complicated. After all, technological developments are happening at lightning speed and are almost impossible to keep up with. As far as Becurious in Amsterdam is concerned, it is then time for the next step: "Talk to the hotel marketing coach."

We are visiting Tim Assenbroek. In 2017, he started at Becurious, the fast-growing digital marketing strategy agency for the hotel industry. "From day one, my ambition was to offer clients more effective online marketing services. Think not only about the optimal set-up of Google Ads and Facebook and Instagram ads, for example, but also SEO (Search Engine Optimisation). Of course, what the most effective choice of tools to deploy depends on the hotel. Each hotel company has its own target groups, requirements, challenges and positioning. People often know that SEO works well for the long term and that placing online ads is fine for the short term, but they often lack the knowledge - and time! - to do it really well. After all, how do you set up an ad? What do you say or not say in a blog? What do you communicate? What words do you use? What images do you choose? This is exactly where I provide support or just arrange it. For example, I create a very focused content calendar for some clients."

Assenbroek explains that everything starts with defining the strategic goals. "Fortunately, these are usually fairly clear on the horizon," he says. "The most important thing is to mainly generate direct bookings. So much less through booking sites, to which you as a hotelier have to pay commission. In other words: how do you rank above the ads of a company like Booking.com in Google? I understand that hoteliers are sometimes wary of the cost of online marketing, but if we show them that the return is very high and that an investment in online marketing is much lower than the commission you have to pay to the booking sites, the choice is quickly made."

According to Assenbroek, many of his clients start working with the content instruction prepared by the online marketing team. "For example, a client writes his own blog posts. We check these for the correct use of keywords, among other things, after which the posts are placed online. I also put together smart mailings for clients. The hotelier has no time for this himself. Indeed, many hotels do not employ their own marketing or communications staff who can do this on a regular and effective basis."

So as far as Assenbroek is concerned, the hotel marketing coach is no superfluous luxury for the hotelier with ambition. "A good coach by definition allows his client to grow and prosper," he concludes. "Moreover, count on the challenges becoming more complex in the coming years. Think, for example, of the use of AI, connecting data and the ever-increasing integration of the various hotel systems. The hotel marketing coach structures this for his clients, generating greater returns from their own hotel websites."

Wouter Smeets of Landgoed Altenbroek and Hotel Kint in Valkenburg sees the hired hotel marketing coach as an extension of the in-house marketing department, after Becurious previously built the websites. "The coach effectively fills in areas of expertise we don't have in-house and don't have the time for. As a result, he not only thinks along, but also thinks ahead for us regarding the use of online marketing for our estate and hotel. Pretty important, because for us it's all about generating more direct bookings through our website." Wouter therefore describes working with the hotel marketing coach from two perspectives: practical and strategic.

"Moreover, I have discovered that Tim knows a lot about the ins and outs of the hotel industry. This industry-specific knowledge results in even better online marketing for us. We are happy with it. Last but not least: Tim is also just a nice guest."