These 3 Great Direct Booking Websites Have This In Common...

I analyzed three direct booking websites to pick apart their marketing.

I wanted to see if different stays at different price points choose different marketing tactics.

More specifically, I wanted to learn:

1. Do higher nightly rate stays invest in more expensive marketing? Like ads.

2. On the other side of the same coin, do lower rate stays rely on cheaper options? Like search and social media.

My theory was "no." I thought all three types of stays would do similar things.

But... I had the time to do this and quite frankly there's nothing better to do in the Wisconsin country side.

You can only "drive windows down on a two lane highway" so many times.

So I threw on my speedo and dove in like a Olympic Diver.

The Three Stays:

And associated nightly rates.

• Campground (Low cost: $30-$65)

• Multi-Door Cabin Property: (Medium cost: $150-$250)

• Boutique Hotel: (High cost: $475-$590)

Each stay is in a different state with a different audience. However, here's three things they have in common:

1. They all have a direct booking website.

2. They invest in marketing. (That's how I got introduced).

3. They are well established (3+ years old).

This is what I learned from my deep dive.

Insight #1: Direct Search Traffic Increases with Advertising

When someone comes to your website off a direct search, that means they are looking for you.

All three direct booking websites had been advertising for a while. All of them did Google ads. Some did both Google and Meta.

Meaning total website traffic is higher now compared to the pre-ads days.

Here's something interesting though:

Ever since they started advertising, direct search traffic increased.

That tells me people are:

1. Seeing the ad for the first time.

2. Deciding they don't want to book yet.

3. Coming back days or weeks later to book directly.

That's the beauty of advertising. You can either:

1. Get a booking immediately off someone seeing your ad.

2. Plant a little seed of joy in their head and reap the reward down the line when a guest is ready to book.

It's a two prong approach these stays understand.

Insight #2: They All Do Email Marketing

And I wasn't surprised.

I've said this before and I'll say it again. I think email is the best marketing medium.

Once you get someone's email, you can market to them forever without being at the mercy of the Google or Meta algorithm.

Plus, it's nearly free ($10-$100 per month).

I don't have data on how often each of these stays send an email to their list, but it's at least once per month.

And they get bookings from each email sent.

Again, for nearly free.

Insight #3: Search Is Still King

Most direct bookings (over 50%) came from a mix of organic and paid search.

This goes to show that search is still king.

I mean, it makes sense. Everyone Googles. But, I'm not saying:

• Don't advertise on Instagram.

• Avoid posting content on social.

• Pull your listing from Airbnb.

I think doing those things actually improves Google searches.

I'm just saying doing SEO and Google Ads is necessary because guests want to book through search.

My Deep Dive Recap

Here's what I learned from analyzing three different stays at three different price points:

1. They all focus on SEO.

2. They all focus on advertising.

3. They all have an email list.

I think it's good to compare. Too often, I find myself:

• Wanting to reinvent the wheel and work on marketing strategies that are way too creative.

• Trying to take marketing short cuts.

• Quit early on the marketing tasks that require consistency.

Seeing that others are successfully doing what I already know is right - resets my focus.

Sometimes, it's a much needed reminder.

That's all for today. I'll see you in the next article.