On a usual Monday morning in the office, we recently had this discussion about seemingly irrelevant billboards placed around town. The odd lawyer asking you to connect as you drive through the state highway, or perhaps a footwear brand with a billboard in the middle of nowhere. But are these really irrelevant?
We talked about this in one of our articles. Relevance is subjective, and sometimes, branding is the sole purpose to place a billboard, anywhere. The more your potential buyers or ‘guests’ see your name, the more they think, ‘Hey, this must be THE place to stay‘. It’s the billboard effect that no one can ignore!
The Billboard Effect Explained
The Billboard Effect: Still Alive and Well
Introduced by Chris Anderson, an Associate Professor at Cornell University, the Billboard Effect unveiled its impact on hotels, showcasing a substantial increase in reservations through their official websites subsequent to appearing on Expedia.com.
This phenomenon, initially observed in 2009, persisted in 2011, exhibiting not just marginal upticks but impressive spikes of 7.5% and 26% respectively. A significant portion of customers opting for direct bookings on an official website had first explored the hotel’s details page on Expedia.com.
In 2017, Chris Anderson revisited the concept in a new report titled “The Billboard Effect: Still Alive and Well.” This report delved into the influential role of a second party in steering hotel reservations towards official websites.
The study highlighted that 39% of direct bookings originated after prospective guests conducted research on a hotel’s official website. Additionally, it revealed that 31% of individuals who initiated their search on an official website concluded their booking on an OTA.
Most notably, the report disclosed that a substantial 65% of guests who ultimately booked directly through a hotel’s official website had visited an OTA before finalizing their reservation. This underscores the enduring impact of the Billboard Effect on consumer behavior within the hospitality industry.
Taking Advantage of the Billboard Effect
The Billboard effect is only one element of a complex online distribution ecosystem.
With several OTAs, meta search engines, social media channels and powerful marketing tools like Google Ads, you also need to tap into other strategies.
Here are a few tips to make the Billboard effect work for you.
1. Get Listed on Online Travel Agencies
For a small to medium-sized property, it’s important to be listed on 4-5 OTAs.
While most of your bookings may come from Booking.com, and a few from Airbnb, it’s never good to put all your eggs in one basket.
Warren Buffet agrees!
Depending on your content value on Booking.com, your property may be listed below competitors.
Also, a higher commission may be charged when you don’t seem to have a back-up plan.
It’s good to be listed on a few OTAs that suit your interests.
Rate parity needs to be promoted on all channels, but should be favoured on your official website.
A friend to all is a friend to none.
OTAs aren’t necessarily your friends, and you can’t solely rely on their strategies to boost your bookings.
We recommend you use a Channel Manager.
If you want to know more about maximizing your hotel’s online presence with a Channel Manager, read this
post.
Also, here’s an article explaining how to
choose the right Channel Manager for your property.
2. Get Listed on Authority Portals
Google Maps
Fun Fact – Did you know that Google allows travellers to book a hotel directly from search results without leaving the search page?
Take control of your presence on Google. Just sign up on Google Business Profile,
and start using different services, tools and apps to
leverage your content strategy.
You can easily add your hotel’s website link, images, email, contact number, location and other details that potential guests might find useful to make a booking decision. It’s fast, easy and free.
If you have the budget, spend some money on ‘Book on Google’ button or
Google Ads, which are still more economical than OTA commissions – when managed properly.
Most importantly, Google allows you to directly get in touch with your potential guests. A deal-maker perhaps!
For an in depth look into Google Maps, read our article:
Google Maps for your hotel: All you need to know!
Tripadvisor
Fun Fact – Did you know that
83% of TripAdvisor users claim that they’d ‘always’ or ‘usually’ reference reviews before making a booking decision?
Your property can be listed on TripAdvisor free of charge. Claim your property (if it already exists) or register,
upload images and high-quality content, and ask your guests for reviews.
Don’t just stop at getting reviews. You also need to engage. According to 85% customers, a thoughtful response to a review significantly improves the overall impression of a hotel.
Managing your reviews smartly can increase profits, and of course, online visibility.
For an in depth look into Tripadvisor, read our article:
Four basics steps to get your hotel on TripAdvisor Reviews.
Metasearch and GDS
If you’re an established brand, it can be beneficial to list your property on Metasearch and GDS Systems.
Travellers neither search for just one keyword nor click on a single result to book an accommodation.
While Metasearch engines show varied rates for the same room type on a given date, GDS allows the sale of rooms to bigger companies and travel agencies in larger quantities.
Plus, you’ll be able to insert a link directly to your hotel website while bidding on a CPA or a PPC model.
For an in depth look into Metasearch and GDS, read our article:
GDS, OTA and Meta: What’s the difference?
3. Make Your Website Direct-Booking Friendly
Have you ever wondered why OTAs are often preferred over official websites?
There’s of course the Billboard effect, which lets a guest view multiple properties on a single page, but there’s another key factor – the interface.
A bad user experience on your
official website can not only make a potential guest leave it for an OTA, but may even make the user lose interest in your property altogether.
Optimizing your website for a better SEO ranking and a user-friendly experience requires you to work on the latency period.
Quick loading, easy navigation, multiple device access and high-quality content, including images and videos, are some key areas of focus.
Overall, content should revolve around engaging information and stories, even in the form of testimonials, about the amenities, rooms and neighbourhood.
For simple tips to build a great hotel website, here’s an insightful article:
8 simple tips for a great hotel website.
4. Improve the Booking Process
Booking drop-offs are the most common problem with official websites of hotels.
It’s one thing to attract billboard visitors from OTAs to your website, but another to encourage them to book a stay through it.
Your website should have a user-friendly Booking Widget (or Booking Engine),
thereby eliminating the user’s unending search for a ‘query’ button.
Each step of the process needs to be carefully reviewed. You need to make sure that content on the website looks appealing, offerings are clear,
nothing distracts users, and that you request as little information from the user as possible.
Testing your website is crucial and should be done on a periodic basis.
The payment process needs to be smooth, and you need to ensure that pre-stay and post-stay communication keeps on going.
5. Improve Direct Offerings
There are many different ways to make sure bookers are enticed to book directly with you and not on OTA websites.
We recommend you make a pricing and distribution strategy before changing your offering.
It’s also important to carefully check your reports to quantify the effects of change.
Here are some strategies that could be useful:
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- Best Rate Guarantee
Though rate parity dictates specific terms related to the pricing of your room, it’s important to provide value to guests.
Anyone booking through your website should receive the best value.
You need to use content on the website to tell potential guests that they’re getting the best deal.
-
- Rewards
Direct bookers deserve a little extra. Add-ons can be a great way to provide a better experience to guests.
You can offer in-room breakfast, free drinks, free upgrade etc. A little extra from your side lets you build loyalty, and even helps save that huge OTA commission.
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- Special Deals and Packages
Creating special deals and packages for your website is always a good idea.
Advertise the offer repeatedly in your newsletter or
social media channel. With repeat guests, using emails is a good strategy.
6. Invest in Content Marketing
Content lays the foundation for improving your reach, visibility, branding and sales.
Your main channel, your website, needs to have
engaging content that provides value to the visitor.
Whether you’re using a corporate blog, persuasive promotions on the website or a new section, it’s crucial to produce fresh content to improve organic performance of the website.
It also means that you’d be spending less on PPC and advertising campaigns.
Unfortunately, many hoteliers still just bank on the Billboard Effect and don’t realize the importance of using other strategies too.
Omni-Channel Marketing
The Billboard effect is not the only element in the huge distribution ecosystem, especially now,
when we’re introduced to omni-channel marketing,
dealing with various devices and sites in the customer’s journey. However, the billboard effect is still an important element in increasing direct bookings, visibility and ranking.
As an independent hotel, you may not be able to afford high advertising investment.
But why aren’t you using the presence on OTAs since you’re already there?!
Something to think about, and talk over with us, if you’re up for it.
Tools like PMS (Property Management System) and CM (Channel Manager) only assist lodging establishments in operating more simply, saving time, and being more efficient compared to not using them. However, that is not the root of growth or the challenges faced in the accommodation business. If you want to effectively manage OTA channels and create stable growth, you should have a clear understanding of how OTA platforms operate, such as their nature, operational models, and how they display, calculate displayed prices, and collect prices (after deducting commissions). Of course, larger hotels that want to approach it systematically will do it synchronously from the beginning, but smaller lodging establishments wanting to reduce operational costs should overlook it and focus on optimizing display and providing outstanding customer care.
Synthesized by: OTA Lyst
