The study, “Vacation Rental Marketplace: Poised for Change” (purchased report) reveals that the current 2.8 billion in online booking of vacation rentals is 12% of overall vacation rental revenue - and is expected to grow by 17% by 2010.

As someone who prefers vacation rentals, the amenities to cost benefits are astounding and it’s apparent more of the market is catching on.  I love having a kitchen and a washer and dryer when we’re on vacation.  I have kids - both are messy and picky - so when I can make them breakfast or lunch they’ll eat - and keep them in clean clothes without packing two weeks worth - it’s completely worth not having an elevator or on-site restaurant.

“12% of vacation rentals were booked online in 2007 compared to over half of all leisure travel that was booked online, so there’s a tremendous long-term upside to this market, many consumers are frustrated by the difficulty of finding the right property, overcoming issues like a minimum required length of stay, and booking through a company they can trust. Companies that can help consumers overcome these issues will be best positioned to capture this opportunity”

Douglas Quinby, Senior Director, Research, PhoCusWright

Play up the benefits of a vacation rental over a plain hotel room in your marketing efforts:

• Emphasize per-night pricing even if you have a minimum stay
• Consider making your minimum stays as short as possible.  The article indicates that 60 percent of vacation-rental stays are for fewer than seven nights!
• Play up the convenience of the kitchen and the laundry
• Multiple bathrooms are a huge deal when you’re traveling with teens

  

Offering great deals with vacation rental benefits can help bring more converts to the industry.  People dont perceive a “deal” as getting something cheaper, they want VALUE for their dollar.  So beyond offering all of the great amenities of a vacation rental - add something small but beneficial onto their stay.

• Gas cards for those driving to your destination - many people are choosing to vacation closer to home with the current economy - and a kickback on the gas it takes to get there is always welcome
• Grocery store gift cards are neat for getting the fridge stocked with staples and goodies for their stay
•  A comprehensive in-unit list of restaurants, activities & attractins in the area.  I stayed in a condo in Orlando and they had some Disney brochures right in the room for us when we checked-in.  We were able to plan the next day that evening without having to go find info on how to get there, when they opened or what to bring.
• Stock some staples in the units if they’re used enough.  I would love to check in and see coffee, filters, laundry detergent, fabric softener, dish detergent and soaps in the unit so I dont have to get that first thing after I walk in the door - or remember to do it after a long day of sight-seeing the next day

Let folks find the same information they’re looking for when booking a hotel.  Reviews are key to this step. 

The online vacation rental market is growing - there is room for expansion on almost every level.  Making sure you’re playing the game and growing your competitive market share should be your primary objective right now.  Blizzard is poised to help you wether the economic storm and come out on the other site ahead of the competitor that cuts marketing.  Give us a call if you’re ready to take the next step!

Let’s start off with some good news. For eleven years Blizzard Internet has brought clients successful online marketing campaigns. We’ve been through it all. From the burst of the dot com bubble, to Google surpassing Microsoft as “the most valuable global brand”. We’ve gone through the ups and downs of Internet marketing before and have always managed to come out on top. Through the years, we’ve gained knowledge and perfected our products. We know what works and what doesn’t work and realize your success is dependant upon our success. We currently have over fifty in-house employees and have a team of experts specifically dedicated to innovation and adapting products to economic trends. To be successful within the travel industry our experts have always felt strong about one thing, with or without the effect of a struggling economy, you cannot neglect your website. In fact, we are currently in the process of redesigning our own company website, as well as, beefing up our search engine optimization. If anything, we feel it’s more important now than ever.

In a survey conducted by MarketingProfs on how the economy is affecting marketing decisions it stated marketers are turning away from traditional marketing tactics and spending more online. MarketingProfs further explains the benefits: First, most publishers are having a hard time filling prime advertising space, which means you have a chance to buy at a stellar price. Secondly, if you can manage to hold on while your competitors panic and irrationally slash their budgets, you’ll most likely come out on top when the recession ends. Harvard Business School professor John Quelch writes, “This is not the time to cut advertising. It is well documented that brands that increase advertising during a recession, when competitors are cutting back, can improve market share and return on investment at lower cost than during good economic times.” I believe Quelch sums it up best by stating, “Successful companies do not abandon their marketing strategies in a recession; they adapt them.”

Our friends over at Google are already adapting by brainstorming new ways to boost business within the travel industry. In fact, at Google’s annual TravelThink conference, more than a hundred travel executives took a survey in which the findings are quiet reassuring.

“Ninety-four percent of travel executives said online advertising would provide the strongest return on investment compared to other media in the next 12 months. Some twenty percent of travel advertisers will spend more than $10 million in online marketing this year, and more than half will spend $1 million or more. Search engine optimization was the top marketing tactic along with e-mail, according to the study commissioned by Google.”

JupiterResearch at Google’s TravelThink 2008

Within the hospitality industry, the Internet is by far your most resourceful weapon in this economic battle. Remember it’s all about strategy and your return-on-investment. You cannot afford, especially in times like these, to waste your time with unrelated traffic. While it may not be a time to experiment with new snazzy marketing tactics, you can take assurance in relying on your past/proven techniques. This brings me to my last point, Internet marketing allows you to track and put your money where it’s most valuable. Blizzard’s SEO Team Leader, Carrie Hill, states:

“The best thing you can do is spend marketing dollars where you can measure, analyze, and realize your ROI. I don’t know any other way — any cheaper way — than to use your Web site and online advertising to bridge the gap the poor economy is creating.”

Carrie Hill, SEO Team Leader, Blizzard Internet Marketing

Blizzard Internet is here to guide, consult and direct you through the tough days ahead. Among all the economic uncertainties, you can take confidence in us. Our expertise, knowledge, stamina, and proven ROI results will help keep you afloat. You simply can’t afford not to have us onboard!

Work Cited
- http://searchenginewatch.com/showPage.html?page=3631161
- http://www.hotelschool.cornell.edu/research/chr/news/newsroom/detail.html?sid=35039
- http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/5878.html

Blizzard Internet Marketing, Inc. of Glenwood Springs, Colorado is renowned as one of the leading providers of professional Internet marketing services for the travel and hospitality industry in the United States. Blizzard has enjoyed steady growth for more than ten years and has recently taken another strategic leap forward in appointing George Meshkov as the new Vice President of Sales.

Mr. Meshkov lends to the Blizzard team more than 15 years of valuable experience in the hospitality industry. Having worked for First Resort Software, ResortQuest, Infogenesis, and Instant Software, George is well versed in needs and expectations of Blizzard’s clients and target market. With a strong background in both marketing and sales, Blizzard is confident that his leadership will raise the bar for the company and is prepared for an exciting future.

Specializing in Search Engine marketing (SEM), Search Engine Optimization (SEO), website design and hosting, Blizzard continues to position itself to become the premier hospitality Internet Marketing company in the country.

I wrote an article that posted today over at SearchEngineWatch about the benefits of marketing online vs. offline. There were some pretty amazing travel stats in that article that I wanted to post here also.

JupiterResearch shared some astounding findings at the TravelThink 2008 meeting convened by Google last week in New York City. They reported that 94 percent of surveyed travel executives said online advertising would provide the strongest ROI compared to other media in the next 12 months. That’s only the travel industry.

Something that we run into quite often is the skepticism that comes with online marketing. I combat this skepticism with one word…there is literally one word that can stop all skeptics in their tracks…

Analytics…

No other advertising medium can show you HOW someone found your brand, where they went when they visited your site, what images and content appealed to them, how they went through the buying process….and how much money they spent. Offline advertising affords the ability to track via unique phone numbers…but do you know how much money you’re making off of those unique phone numbers? It’s likely you dont.

In the economic climate we’re faced with today - I contend that diverting unmeasurable offline advertising dollars (glossy brochures and restaurant menu banner ads) to measurable online marketing strategies- be it Paid or Organic - will show you a solid return on investment. The beauty of online advertising is you KNOW if an ad buy is making money - if it’s not - you change it, end it, try something else…and track that “something else” every step of the way.

Can your glossy color brochure do that?

currency image courtesy jenn_jenn

Q: Should I buy .mobi?
A: We believe it is good to own your .mobi domain. Claim it as yours and keep others from buying your brand.  However, you don’t need to build a site on it because it is not very highly searched at this time.  Blizzard’s Mobile service solves the need for a site on the .mobi domain.

Q: How does Blizzard Mobile service work with the different phone & mobile devices?
A: Today’s traveler has technology at their fingertips.  They may not always know how to use their tools to the fullest extent so it’s our job to make it easier for them. This is the genius behind the solution developed by our R&D Team.  It is all handled at the server level.  The request from a mobile device comes in, the server identifies the technology then serves up the proper format.

Q: Why do I need this if I’m in the hospitality industry?
A: There are many reasons your competitors are using this marketing tool.  Someone searching for a hotel after a conference that lasted longer than expected will search for a local or airport hotel.  A family taking a long road trip may realize they need a break and a pool. They will use their phone to search for available lodging along their route.  This is great for filling up your last rooms.  Yes, even my vacation rental customers get last minute walk-ins! Business travelers waiting in airports have time on their hands to plan the family trip and search for the perfect vacation rental.  Sometimes it’s easier to use a phone for quick research than to fire up the laptop.  These scenarios happen more than you may realize.

Q: If I already have their reservation, why would a guest utilize mobile search?
A: This is the hook!  While your visitors are driving to your location, they may realize the directions are at home on the kitchen table.  Mobile search allows them to view directions, find your phone number to confirm their reservation, or get your address so they can map the quickest route to the nearby theme park, unique beach, favorite ski resort, or other area attractions.  Provide an additional touch point to your guest, prior to and during their stay.

Q: How will this help my business in the current economic situation?
A: Service!  You want to provide the best experience for your customers.   Show them that you are there to help with every stage of their vacation. Businesses who take this a step further place audio tours on their mobile-friendly pages that can be played while driving explaining the various points of interest in the region.  Provide a Concierge Tour that highlights your property to get them excited about your resort.  Record a kid-friendly game about the geographical area, the wildlife, and things they can be looking for. 

Give your customers obvious benefits to stay with you again and again by offering new services.  Grow & strengthen your loyal customer base before your competitors do.  The small investments you make now can keep you ahead long into the future.

If you are still skeptical, please watch our newsletter for more information from Mary Bowling.  This ties directly into post-click marketing techniques that Carrie Hill recommends.  As always, contact your Account Manager or Project Manager if you have more questions about this or other effective online marketing opportunities.

Image credits: Blackberry courtesy  Marvin Kuo Slider phone courtesy  swskeptic

What gaps does your site have that a redesign will fill? The following is a list of points to consider when redesigning your website.

Budget
Is a complete redesign within your budget? Your budget may determine the extent of your redesign. Do you need a new look, more traffic, higher ranking by search engines, a blog, a tracker, more pages, better photos, a reservation engine, hosting and maintenance? All of these, and more, should be considered when redesigning your website to help fill the gaps.

Simplify your navigation.
A simple navigation is like giving really good directions that will take a visitor from point A to point B. If your visitor can get around your site quickly and easily you have given them great directions and they will repay you by staying at your site for a longer amount of time which is what you want. Simplify and clearly define the meaning of each title in your navigation.

Site Map
A site map is a representation of the architecture of your website. The site map helps visitors and search engines find pages on your site.

Contact Information
Tell the visitor who you are, where you are and how you can be reached. It’s only polite.

Call to Action
Your phone number or email may be a call to action. Reserve or book now button. Join our newsletter. Seasonal specials available. All of these require the viewer to take action. Get the viewer involved.

Email Marketing
Email Newsletters can create a bond between your Hotel, Inn or Resort and your reader. Promote news and specials that are useful and convenient to the reader. Most newsletters are quickly scanned. Keep it brief and give them an option to unsubcribe if they choose.

Blog
If you have a blog. Keep it going. Post weekly. Create a community of readers. Write about what is relevant and time sensitive. In the hospitality industry you can post specials or write about the daily happenings in and around your resort. Wordpress is an open-source (free) blogging software that makes your blog easy to use and maintain.

Cosmetic
Does your website need a facelift? That first impression is a lasting one. Know your target market. Create an image that appeals to your target market and promotes credibility for your business. Choose fonts and colors for your website that are clean and friendly to the viewer. Professional photos always improve a website. Choose photos that showcase your Inn, Hotel or Resort. Keep the file size small for quick loading times. The text content of your site should be kept to a minimum but enough to convey a clear message. Viewers scan text for information rather than actually reading it. Check spelling and grammar. If you have any pages that are not working correctly, fix them a.s.a.p. Unify pages by consistently using the same format. Fonts can be easily formatted with CSS.

Online Presence
SEO experts can help your website get a better ranking by search engines. High ranking by search engines means more viewers can find your website faster. Meta tags and H1’s that are managed by experts will help your website get more hits or viewers, leading to more reservations.

Tracker
Tracking and analyzing your website traffic enables you to maximize the effectiveness of your online marketing. The tracker works by including a small amount of html code to each page of your website. The tracker records first time visitors, returning visitors, visitors that made a purchase among other statistics.

Reservation Engine
If you choose to have a reservation engine that takes the viewer to a new page, design that page to have the same look and feel as your site. Headers, fonts and colors should match your site. Here at Blizzard the team has developed BRE; Blizzard Reservation Engine. BRE is a product that allows your booking engine to be customized and SEO friendly.

Maintenance
The last gap you want to fill is maintenance. You have a beautifully designed site now and you want to keep it up to date and well maintained. Keep your photos and specials up to date with the seasons. Have a SEO expert examine your site every couple months to improve your online presence. Correct any spelling or grammar mistakes immediately, and anything else that is not working correctly. Take the time to care for your site and it will reward you with frequent visitors who will return often.

“mind the gap” image courtesy markhillary

This becomes doubly frustrating when they see their competitors getting away will all kinds of shady tricks, such as using false business names, creating multiple listings and listing their enterprises in places where they are not located. Spammers are a clever and persistent bunch and found ways to circumvent the checks Google set up to prevent these kinds of problems.

Now, Google Maps has published official Business Listing Quality Guidelines. They are accompanied by the threat of “being permanently removed from Google Maps” as a possible consequence for non-compliance. The guidelines also include a link for reporting abuse and another for filing a reinclusion request if your listing is tossed out.

In addition, they state, “Google may respond negatively to other practices not listed here. If you have any question about whether or not a tactic is deceptive, we recommend you stand on the side of caution.”

Check out the new Local Business Listing guidelines for particulars.

Blogging has definitely changed over the past few years, going from what I remember as a personal thing you might do on your free time on your online personal website or MySpace page to now something you feel you must do in order to keep your visitors attention, inform someone about something, keep your popularity up, rant off about something, etc.  Believe it or not though, blogs have been around since the mid 1980’s.  Most early bloggers were journalists who typically wrote about their personal life with text, video and images.  Blog’s typically were just an easier way to have a diary and weren’t intended to make you popular or give you social status through the internet.

The Cons of Blogging
Blogging without the right mindset is perhaps one of the worst things you can do when blogging.  Let’s say you work for a large company and you tend to share a lot of knowledge with your customers through the use of blogs.  This is a good thing, until you’re doing it for the wrong reasons.  Now I’m a fan of blogs don’t get me wrong, but have you ever read a blog and thought, “What was the point of that?”  When you blog you need to have the right mind set.  If you’re writing for a company and feel your writing will benefit the reader and you can honestly admit to yourself that, then you have nothing to worry about.  When a person blogs a lot and is fairly decent at it, it can lead to fame in the virtual world, with readers from all over the country and world going online and visiting your blog site.  The problem with this is when you start becoming popular you don’t want to lose your status.  So you’re more then likely going to be trying to write either more or better blogs to keep your readers coming back, while staying consistent.  Now the problem comes when you honestly don’t have anything to write about yet you write anyways.  This is where blogging can turn either pointless or narcissistic and risk turning into an all about you article.  We, the readers, already know you’re an awesome writer; you don’t need to go on an ego trip and brag about yourself, doing so will typically do the opposite of what you want and turn off readers from your site.

Blogs also take away the great feeling of finding things on your own through research and exploration, and blogs aren’t always accurate.  Which leads to the next point, you don’t want to believe everything someone says or blogs about.  Don’t be a sheep, no matter how popular or famous someone is, do some of your own research as well.  Blogs tend to be a one way conversation, you post and receive a comment, typically will not go any further.  When you do actually write a good blog you have to compete with others just to try and get ranked or even have your blog read.  Another downside to blogs is you don’t get paid to write them unless you are extremely good.  It’s also hard to be original these days because so many people have written about the same or similar topics over and over.

The Pros of Blogging
Blogging of course has its benefits as well.  If you are truly a good writer or know how to get your point across better online then you may indeed be a good blogger.  Blogging can give a person fame, e-fame, status and popularity by being good and capturing and maintaining visitors.  Blogging allows the person to become more creative and improves your typing speed, accuracy and internet knowledge.

Blogging can be good for sharing information on specific topics, giving your professional opinion about something.  Blogging can simply be a diary for you or a way to express yourself and how you feel that day or about a particular situation.  It can also be a personal reference to something that maybe you need to save for a future time.  By writing you may improve the view point from an outside person or company on how they see your company.  Blogging can also improve your search engine rankings which is pretty much a free thing except for your time and optional blogging software.

Now a days blogging programs can be used to create websites for your company such as Wordpress.  Even though they were created primarily for blogs you would be surprised how well they can pull a website together just as well as any other web site design program, not to mention you have a blog style and website in one program.  Some of the side effects to blogs can b
neovaine, becoming an author of books or magazines, create new friends all around the country or world, great for your resume or even a replacement of needing one if your good enough, you can create your own brand, influence people or start your own business!

So as you can see blogs have changed a lot in the last 10 years and can serve multiple purposes.  If used correctly and with the right intents blogs can be a very powerful tool for you and your company.

The key to handling these issues with professional efficiency is a PLAN. What will you do if a hurricane hits your hotel next week? Do you have a step by step marketing checklist to make sure things are set in motion with a simple phone call? Take the time to set yourself up now – and the obstacles Mother Nature leaves behind will be less daunting.

Marketing in Spite of Mother Nature

Using your website is a great way to keep your current guests, future bookings and possible customers informed as to the status of your property or properties. Spend a few minutes with your webmaster or SEM company coming up with a plan that can be put into action with a quick phone call or email.

Keep guests/ future guests updated
Here are a few examples of hotels using their web sites keeping guests and even employees updated as to the status of reservations and closing:

(click image to enlarge)

From MoodyGardens.com

(click image to enlarge)

From Wyndham Hotel Galvez

These are both excellent examples of taking the time to convey a small bit of information. I bet every guest and employee that visited the Moody Gardens site felt a bit of comfort in knowing they’ve been thought of and they know the property will open again on Sept. 21st.

Having a policy in place and published is also a good idea. Wyndam’s Hurricane Policy is really good, and lets guests know where they stand.

(click image to enlarge)

Post photos
Sometimes damage caused by Mother Nature can completely miss certain areas, or the devastation to certain areas can be exaggerated. If your area and property missed the brunt and is open and comfortable for business – then post date-stamped photos to prove it.

Transportation updates
Airport closures, bridge malfunctions – things happen and when a guest may be inconvenienced getting to your property – providing them with information on the easiest route will alleviate having an already disgruntled guest showing up at your front door. You might send them an email w/ alternate directions, send a sms/text message to their cell phone. Maybe even meet their flight with a driver to deliver them safely and without hassle. Taking advantage of small opportunities to excel in a time of adversity is a great way to earn repeat customers.

Family and Friend Messages
I had some friends that were stuck in the Cayman Islands during a tropical storm a few years back. I don’t know the exact circumstances but a change in direction along with limited flights and they were stranded. The resort they were staying in offered them immediate access to a phone and computer as soon as they found out they would be riding out the storm so they could notify loved ones that they were being taken care of and would contact them as soon as they could. The hotel’s location made this preparation necessary – and because they were treated like royalty with intense rain and winds whipping around outside – my friends have gone back to the same resort every year since.

So take the time during your off season - or right now - to formulate a plan of attack - and a plan for getting your efforts off the ground. It can be as simple as calling corporate - or your marketing firm or webmaster in a different city or state.

Content management is the process of separating website content with its design elements.  To better grasp this concept, let’s dissect a typical webpage:

1.    Header – This is typically where your logo and your navigation will appear.
2.    Content – This is where your text and images will appear.
3.    Footer – This is where your contact and copyright information typically appears.

To keep the website consistent, we are going to separate these three elements by making them separate files or putting them separately into a database.  For this example, we are going to put them into separate files (header.inc, mycontent.inc, footer.inc).  Now let’s put it all together with the help of server-side programming:

Within this page’s code, it calls to “include” header.inc, mycontent.inc and footer.inc.  So now going back to our first example regarding the phone number change, let’s say that we have setup our 40 page website with content management in mind.  Instead of your webmaster having to manually open up 40 files, they will only have to open up one file to make this change (footer.inc). Once saved and uploaded back onto the server, the change will appear throughout the entire site, which will save lots of time and money on website maintenance.

Planning Ahead For The Future.

A majority of the time pages may look inconsistent on sites not setup for content management.  This in turn looks unprofessional to your site’s visitors and may not give them the confidence to make a purchase.  If you get a different designer to add a new page, this can also add to the inconsistency and lead to a website maintenance nightmare.

With a content managed website, expanding your website gets easier down the road if you want to add new pages.  A site setup with content management in mind allows all new pages to be consistent with the rest of the website.  Not to mention that it saves a lot of time for your web designer as well.

Now let’s say that your site is looking a bit outdated.  No problem if your site is setup for content management.  Since you have separated your content from your design, all you will have to modify are your design elements (header and footer).  This also relieves the headache from your web designer since they won’t have to spend too much time retrieving the content from your old website.

Database-Driven Content Management Systems

In the above example, we separated the content and the design elements into files.  Unfortunately, this can get kind of hard to manage, when you have numerous files on your server.  Therefore, it is a good practice to put your content into a database so that it can be easily managed without the clutter.  There are a lot of content management systems or CMSs out there that provide certain functionality.  Among the vast selection, there are three that are widely supported, constantly improving and the best part is, they’re free!

Drupal
Drupal is a feature-rich open source content management system. Among its features, it provides search engine friendly urls, blogging functionality, discussion forum support and tracking and statistics reports.  This CMS is not platform dependent, so you can install it on just about any server operating system.  It is also database independent, meaning that you can install it on MySQL, PostgreSQL or any other SQL database.

Joomla
Joomla is another great open source content management system that is setup best for community-based functionality.  It features search engine friendly urls, a simple installer, document management and a wide range of community support.  Out of the box, Joomla is not setup for blogging, but that feature can be added with their extensive extension directory full of great add-ons.

Wordpress
Wordpress is another open source CMS built originally as a blogging platform, but evolved to be a great content management system.  Out of the box, blogging functionality is setup by default and its interface makes it relatively easy to get started.  It provides the ability to setup search engine friendly urls and provides a file structure that is easy on the developer.  With a wide-range of supported plugins, this CMS can provide just about any type of functionality.

Content management should be an essential step when you design your website.  When it comes to growth and page consistency, you will be ready.  Not only is it a good practice, it will save you a lot of time and money down the road.

Source Links:

http://www.wordpress.org
http://www.joomla.org
http://www.drupal.org