Tag Archives: promoting

The Power of Visual Storytelling: Tumblr

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visual storytelling tumblr

 

We have been promoting the book The Power of Visual Storytelling: How to Use Visuals, Videos, and Social Media to Market Your Brand by Ekaterina Walter and Jessica Gioglio. This particular blog post will give a sneak peak into the authors comments about Tumblr.

 

For those not familiar with it, Tumblr is a social media channel that allows users to quickly reblog posts (texts, images, links, quotes, music, or videos) by others. Recently, Yahoo! purchased Tumblr for $1.1 billion. Tumblr is for quick visual inspiration and consumer lust. Users can only add comments if they reblog your post.

Tumblr Statistics:

  • 50% of posts on Tumblr are photos
  • Total unique worldwide visitors are more than 117 million
  • 52% of Tumblr visitors are male
  • 46.5% of Tumblr visitors are 18-34 years old
  • 35.2% of Tumblr visitors have a household income of greater than $100,000 per year
  • The average users spends 1 hr. 38 min. of time each month on the website doing nothing, but consuming content
  • The average Tumbler visit lasts 34 minutes

Tumblr Strategies:

  • Follow other Tumblr users and reblog relevant content
  • Post, promote, and participate in the Tumblr community
  • Let pictures tell the story on your Tumblr account, with text being secondary
  • The best time to post is between 7-10 pm EST on Monday through Thursday and anytime on Sunday
  • Use relevant tags so that your images show up in searches
  • Reblog plenty of content from other users
  • Keep a focus on your goals and repost only what is relevant to your message
  • Have a strategy and calendar to keep a steady stream of quality content
  • Keep a good mix of product info, lifestyle posts, and other content to not appear overly commercial
  • Combine visual, text, quotes, audio, and video in your feed
  • Stay consistent with tags and use a handful of “official” tags
  • Keep content fresh and post often
  • View analytics to see what sort of posts drive the most traffic, but still post a variety
  • Spend some time getting to know that platform and the kinds of content that people post

A Tumblr blog can be incorporated directly into a corporate website, which is great for search engine ranking. Businesses can use Tumblr as an overview of what is on their website.

 

Image by Marcus Berg of Unique Angles Photography

Posted in Blog and Social Media

Valentine’s Day is Coming

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valentines day is coming

 

 

Valentine’s Day is coming. It is time to start promoting how your bed and breakfast will be celebrating it. This is a great opportunity to put together a package deal for couples.

 

 

  • Make a connection with a local florist that you will only use their service in exchange for them giving you a discount.
  • If your bed and breakfast does not offer spa services, maybe you can arrange for a nearby spa to offer you a deal on massages, facials, and nails.
  • You may be located near to a card and candy gift shop.  This is another opportunity to make exclusive arrangements with them.
  • Look at romantic restaurants in your area and ask the manager if you can arrange for your couples to dine at their restaurant.
  • If you have a concert hall or arena in your area, you can check to see the performances showing or games being played during that time.
  • If you have rooms with their own private hot tubs, this is the time to emphasize that in your marketing.
  • Lastly, do not forget the wine or sparkled juice as well as dessert for two in the room.

The more you know about the couple, the more you can personalize the package.  Try to find out their preferences in food and entertainment.  What they would like done at the spa or if they are more likely to enjoy a concert or a game.

Sometimes one person is surprising the other person with this romantic trip. You can join in the fun.  Make sure to price your package at a cost where you will be making a healthy profit from your package after paying the other places.  This is your chance to play Cupid on February 14 because Valentine’s Day is coming.

 

Image by Marcus Berg of Unique Angles Photography

Posted in Holidays

New Year’s Eve Resolutions

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new years eve resolutions

Do you have any 2014 New Year’s Eve resolutions for your bed and breakfast?  Here are some possible improvements or new beginnings with your online presence:

1. Your Website:

  • What are its strengths?
  • What are its weaknesses?
  • What opportunities come about? (business)
  • What threats does it have? (competitors)

2. Your Blog:

  • Do we have one?
  • If so, is it attracting more visitors and more bookings?
  • Do we need to hire someone to blog for us?
  • Can that person blog about a variety of issues related to innkeeping?

3. Your Social Media Presence:

  • Facebook–does our B&B have a Business or Fan page?
  • Twitter–do we regularly tweet?  do we know what to tweet?
  • Pinterest–do we post pictures of our B&B?  pictures of our food?
  • Linked In–do we have a profile as an innkeeper on Linked In?
  • You Tube–do we have videos promoting our B&B?

4. Your Membership in Associations & Organizations Giving Web Presence:

  • Professional Association of Innkeepers International (PAII)
  • BnB Finder
  • BB Online
  • Bed and Breakfast.com
  • Select Registry

5. Your Public Image and Community Outreach:

  • Conferences–do we attend conferences on Innkeeping?
  • Business meetings–do we hold business meetings at our B&B?
  • Weddings–do we offer weddings?  If not, could we?
  • Music–do we host concerts or recitals?

So think about your website, blog, social media presence, associations, and public image & outreach goals for 2014.  Kristi Dement, of Bed and Breakfast Blogging, wishes you a prosperous New Year full of wonderful guests that stay at your bed and breakfast!

 

Image by Marcus Berg of Unique Angles Photography

Posted in Blog and Social Media

Hosting Group Meetings

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hosting group meetings

 

Have you ever thought about facilitating a local event? Depending upon the size of your bed and breakfast, you may be able to accommodate hosting group meetings.  These could be chamber of commerce meetings, book groups, business leads groups, or some kind of club with a particular interest.

 

These are opportunities for local people who are not familiar with your bed and breakfast to be introduced via their group meeting.  You may decide to be available to give tours before and/or after the meeting to attendees.

This is also a way to make money because the groups will be compensating you for using your space to hold their meetings. Word of mouth will spread quickly that your experience hosting group meetings and other events such as weddings or music performances.

When people come to your bed and breakfast for a local event, they may be reminded that this would be a great place to spend the night.  Your bed and breakfast could be the perfect place for them to send their out of town relatives who are visiting.

Bed and breakfast blogging can devote blog posts promoting your events on your website. The events will draw more people to your bed and breakfast as they visit your B&B or read about your events in your blog.  It is a win-win situation!

 

Image by Marcus Berg of Unique Angles Photography

Posted in Events

Trip Advisor Certificate of Excellence

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Trip Advisor Excellence

TripAdvisor®, one of the world’s largest travel sites, offers trusted advice from real travelers on a wide variety of travel choices (including bed and breakfasts). TripAdvisor branded sites make up the largest travel community in the world, with more than 200 million unique monthly visitors and over 100 million reviews and opinions covering more than 2.5 million accommodations, restaurants and attractions. 

 

Trip Advisor also awards hospitality excellence only to establishments that consistently achieve outstanding traveler reviews on TripAdvisor. Stephen Kaufer, president and CEO, TripAdvisor said, “The Certificate of Excellence award provides top performing establishments the recognition they deserve, based on feedback from those who matter most – their customers.”

Winning bed and breakfasts can showcase their success a number of ways, including displaying the Certificate of Excellence they receive, uploading the award to their own website, or by promoting the achievement to local media with a press release. Last year’s winners promoted their award to great advantage through social media, highlighted their success on Twitter and on their business’s Facebook page, as well as notified past guests and customers of their win, thereby encouraging repeat visits!

TripAdvisor provides access to promotional services and tips for successful PR campaigns through the Management Center. To qualify for the Certificate of Excellence, businesses must maintain an overall rating of four or higher, out of a possible five, as reviewed by travelers on TripAdvisor. Additional criteria include the volume of reviews received within the last 12 months.

If your bed and breakfast earns awards, Bed and Breakfast Blogging, can write about it in a blog for your website. Awards of this caliber make a great impression on potential guests and make great content for your website!

 

Image by Marcus Berg of Unique Angles Photography

Posted in Associations and Ratings