Promotion is like bloodline for business today. Are you focusing on the effective promotion of your guest house? No matter how good the product or service you have created, unless people are aware of the existence of your product or service, they will not give it a chance. Promotion alone is not the only element, effective promotion is the key to gain maximum benefits.

This will require testing new things, evaluating them and if not successful then re-engineering the techniques. There are many ways to promote your guest house to your target audience. Identify Your Market Segments Guest houses are preferred over hotels by visitors due to some reasons. 2 most common reasons visitors mention are: Guest houses have a house like a touch.

As its name suggests too Guest houses are cheaper than hotels (generally) As a guest house owner identify what type of visitors generally drop in. Are they businessmen or families for most of the time? You can facilitate both but surely a family with young kids, newborn babies and toddlers can be irritating for businessmen.

Knowing your segment will help you to design and implement the right marketing and promotion strategies. Set SMART Business Goals for Your Guesthouse Every business needs to have SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Timely) goals. Being a guest house some of the goals you must set are: Number of rooms booked Number of inquiries received monthly and quarterly Set goals so that you know what to achieve and you can work on “how to achieve”. Identify and Promote Your Unique Selling Point Let us keep this simple.

Can you convince the customer in 30 seconds to book your guest house by telling him something great you offer but other guest houses don’t? That simple statement which differentiates you from other guest houses is your USP (unique selling proposition). Just in case if you do not have any, question yourself what makes you better or different from other guest houses? Unfortunately, if you are not getting answers, you don’t have a USP. Brainstorm to figure out how you can make your guest house different from others. You may not need rocket science to develop and execute one.

Do Not Sit Back Idle – Be Active Being a guest house owner you cannot afford to sit back idle. Be active and Keep promoting your guesthouse Make a website and update regularly Share photos Be consistent on Social Media platforms Start blogging Your activeness will let people know about your guest house existence. Apply 80/20 Rule to Your Marketing This is a powerful law of distribution by Pareto principle who states that roughly 80% of events are caused by 20% of causes.

The same rule is more or less applied in marketing, sales, and revenue. However, you might not see exactly the 80% and 20% division, however, it is an efficient way to identify which segments are coming up with a greater share of the revenue for your guest house.

This will help you to avoid wasting your precious time on the rest of the 80% chunk which is bringing in only 20% revenue. Integrate Off-Season and On Season Offline Marketing Digital marketing is growing in Pakistan at a sharp pace yet a smart business would never avoid offline marketing.

Try Distribute flyers Share visiting cards Try other off-line marketing activities within your set budget Test Spending on Marketing in Off-season or On-season Every business has peak seasons and off seasons and it has always been debated that business should advertise more in off-season or on-season.

Spend on marketing and advertising your guest house in off-season and on-season. After the season is over analyze which gives better ROI, marketing in off-season or marketing in on-season. Give A Valued Item for “Free” “Free” is one of the most engaging and attention-grabbing words for customers. Leverage your sales with the free offer, For example, one-night free stay with every two nights booking in your guest house.

You can especially put this type of offers in off seasons when your revenues shrink but unfortunately, the fixed costs still exist. Befriend with Other Guest Houses Conventionally other businesses operating in the same industry are considered “competitors”. That means other guest houses are your competitors. But you can benefit from befriending competitors.

Yes, you can! There are two ways to benefit each other. Create a referral program with guest houses in your locality. When the season is on, they can manage the overflow of booking by referring to you. You can return the favor in the same manner If your guest house is in Islamabad launch a referral program with a guest house in Karachi and guest house in Lahore Investigate The Local Guest House Industry You simply cannot avoid keeping a sharp eye on guest house industry.

Some very important questions which you need to keep looking are: Who is your competitor What are their rates What offline marketing activities they do In what season they are more active in off-line marketing Where does your website stand in search engines against your competitors Optimize Your Guest House Website and Optimize Smartly Today customers search products and services online. Having your guest house website alone is not enough.

You need to optimize it to get better results. And optimize it smartly. For example, if your guest house is in Gulberg Lahore you can target keywords like Guesthouse in Gulberg Affordable guest house in Gulberg 3 Guesthouse in Lahore Instead of targeting generic keywords like: Guesthouse in Pakistan Smart optimization can lead you to effective online marketing. Do Not Overlook Online Partnerships The e-commerce industry is getting a boom in Pakistan. You will see many online ventures in recent years. Do not overlook online partnerships. Being a guest house, Guestkor Pakistan is the best online hotel booking partner you can have. Currently, Guestkor Pakistan has 2000+ registered hotels and guest houses. Your competitor might be the one getting facilitated from online booking through Guestkor.

So aren’t you missing an opportunity? Add Linked In To Your Major Marketing Plan LinkedIn is the world’s largest social media platform for professionals (and businesses). LinkedIn can help you to attract business clients for your guest house. Surely you don't like to miss the opportunity to get some customers from the b2b domain. Strong Online Presence Is a Must The trend of searching for information online before buying has increased over time.

Some interesting facts show a strong relationship between searching for information about any product or service online and buying decisions are: 71% of consumers are more likely to make a purchase based on social media referrals 50% of social media purchases take place within a week First 5 results on Google account for 67.60% of clicks Results from position 6 to 10 get only 3.73% of clicks The figures show how important it is to be digitally present.

The trend of online searching by travelers for booking hotels and guest houses is increasing. If your guest house is not present online i.e. on social media platforms and on search engines you will be losing a decent number of potential customers.

Conclusion Businesses today need marketing and promotion more than ever to keep reminding existing customers about their services and attracting prospective customers. No matter you are one of the 5-star hotels in Karachi, a 3-star hotel in Islamabad or a small guest house in Peshawar, you cannot skip the marketing your hotel needs. Fortunately, there are several channels available to help you in this regard. Apply our tips in your practices and let us know what type of activities you generally do to market yourself.