Amid all the frenzy of keeping up with Twitter and Facebook and now Foursquare and YouTube and Blogging and sorting out which directories to list on, and responding to the never-ending flow of emails from directories telling you to hurry and post your latest specials for this month, your latest photos, your latest hot deals, your best recipes and oh, yes, did you remember that you actually have a business to run? sometimes it is nice to … just … take … a … step … back, take a deep breath, and remember what it is we’re trying to do here.

Now, that’s better.

What we try to do

All the different things we’re called upon to do, and sometimes we think we’re required to keep up on, can get so fragmented, that they can pull us in too many directions and keep us from our real job. Recently there was a thread on a B&B forum (I’ve seen the same series of questions and comments on several different forums – the topic pops up every now and then) asking, quite appropriately, how to decide which (pay) directories to list on. The discussion evolved into a discussion of the value of directory links for search engine ranking. Innkeepers must be experts in search engine optimization (SEO) and in statistical analysis of directory listing results, you see.

Meanwhile, every so often there is another blog post about measuring return on investment (ROI) from social media (meaning Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, etc.). Some say it is worthless. Others find value in social media. Innkeepers must be experts in determining ROI in the newest, cutting edge media, too.

And, of course, all innkeepers must be great copywriters so they can blog regularly, post to their Facebook page, and also keep the website up-to-date, post tweets on Twitter, check-in on Foursquare, and, between breakfast, cleaning, shopping and check-ins, run off a couple of quick inn videos and post them to YouTube.

But there’s a secret. We tend to think that everyone else is doing all of these things successfully, so we must do them, too. The secret is, they’re not. Most are only doing a few of these things, if any. Most are not doing them all that well. A few are doing several of them. Even fewer do them really well.

Gaining perspective

Don’t misunderstand: All these things that we busy ourselves about – social media, blogging, seeking the best bang for the buck on directories, etc. – are good things. What we sometimes lose sight of is that they are part of a much bigger picture.

Perhaps as a result of the sheer volume of new information, and the detailed information we must master, we have turned to “experts” to tell us what we need to know. The result is that we have a lot of detailed information on relatively narrow subjects. Only rarely, however, do we put these subjects together into a larger picture.

I will admit at the outset that I am not a trained marketing expert. Consequently, I may not use “correct” marketing-speak. I may miss some things the trained marketer may know. Mea culpa. However, both for our Freeport Maine Bed & Breakfast, and for our other businesses and elsewhere, marketing has been a significant part of my experience.

Much as I dislike the term “heads in beds”, that is the bottom line for most small lodging properties. Some are thrilled to have any guests, any time. Others seek to attract a particular segment of the traveling pubic. But at the end of the day we all need to count the revenue from those guests to pay the bills.

Re-thinking marketing

The level of detail provided by the “experts” (some are truly experts in their area; others are most definitely not), seduces us into a “bottom-up” approach to marketing. We examine each individual directory, social media site, etc., and try to see if it is worthwhile.

If we step back from this a bit, we’ll see that what we are really doing with that approach is letting each of these small contributions create our overall marketing plan, with no real objectives or strategy. It becomes an ad hoc plan.

Wouldn’t it make more sense to start at the top, and see how all these things can work together to accomplish your objectives?

Starting at the Top

1. Setting Objectives

Begin by defining your objectives. It is fine to have big, general objectives (I want to make a profit), but the more specific you can be, the easier it will be to measure your progress. For most small properties, it will be selling a certain number of rooms in a year (or month, etc.), or increasing revenue (or profit) by a certain amount.

Whatever you may set as your objectives, translate them into both money and bookings, so that, based on your average booking value, you know how many bookings you need, as well as how much money you need, to achieve your goal.

Set narrower objectives, too. More visitors to the web site/blog/Facebook page (how many more?). Longer average visits to the web site (how much longer?). You get the idea.

2. Create a Strategy to Accomplish Your Objectives

All the things we started out mentioning (directories, blogs, social media, video, your web site) plus the more obvious, paid advertising, are your tools to accomplish these goals.

If blogging once a week brings you X bookings per year, and blogging twice a week brings you 30% more, will that help you reach your goals? If so, then you should be blogging twice a week.

Similarly, if adding a new directory can add 3% to your annual bookings, and you think that is worthwhile, then you should add that directory. How do you know if a directory will add 3%? That isn’t easy to determine, and results will differ by directory, by your geographic region, and, in some cases, by the membership level you purchase on the directory. Our article on evaluating directories covers many of the considerations. Be wary of claims by the directories that they can produce a certain number of bookings. While these may be based on their click-through rates, they are, at best, averages and, at worst, an effort to sell you something. Higher levels may help, but there will be no guarantees.

What about Facebook, Twitter, etc.? Most of the debate centers around the difficulty in attributing booking results to social media. In this internet age, we are accustomed to relating clicks on our web links with bookings to determine the source of a booking. Social media isn’t that straightforward. It usually requires more time and attention than a simple web page or website, and bookings don’t always come with technical data to show they originated with Twitter or Facebook.

In addition, as with directories the value may lie in more than just matching bookings to the source. Directories can provide value through their reviews, or through publicity they generate for you, despite never sending you a booking directly. Social media is relationship building. If you make friends through social media, and the friend refers another friend, you may have bookings you will never be able to identify as coming from social media, yet the investment of time has paid off.

As mentioned at the outset, discussions of directories (and other potential referral sources) often leads to a discussion of placement in organic search results. However, this is really combining apples and oranges. Listing on directories should be viewed as having value (or not) on their own merit, not whether they help your site place well in organic search results.

Why would we say that? Google’s official view is that paid listings (like paid listings on directories) do not enhance the reputation of your site. We have seen exceptions – most likely where Google has not discovered that the listing is a paid listing – but generally paid directory listings do not help you place well in general search results. It does appear that they can be of some help in local search results, however, so don’t dismiss directories as not helping at all with search placement.

One of the best summaries of the factors that help your site place well in search is Google’s own SEO Starter Guide (pdf).

3. Measure Your Accomplishments

Use a tool to help measure your results. A web-based statistics program such as Google Analytics will help you see where the visits to your web site are coming from, how long the average visitor stays, how many pages they view, etc. If you configure ecommerce tracking you may also be able to track some of the revenue to the source (this is very difficult to configure correctly using online booking systems, but can be done). Other systems, such as Intell-A-Keeper make no effort to trace web site visits, themselves, but track booking sources.

No online tool is perfect. At the very least, it is very tricky to track bookings attributable to social media. Even Intell-A-Keeper can not track a booking source if the guest last visited the referral source too long ago for their computer to have retained the information.

Consequently, you’ll need to create your own record of the things you are trying to measure, and how they are working.

Getting Started

Most likely you’ve already begun using some (or even all) of the tools mentioned. If so, you only need to set your objectives and begin measuring the results. If you need to adjust your use of the tools, to better meet your objectives, or to aid in measurement, what are you waiting for? Do it!

If you haven’t begun using the various tools, or some of them, don’t just dive in! Set up your objectives, and think carefully about how each tool fits those objectives. Decide which social media tools are right for you. Decide which directories are likely to pay off (considering all the different areas of value they may bring), and be sure you are signed up for only those who will help you reach your goals.

If you don’t have the background or the skills to do some or even all of these things, don’t despair! There are a number of bed & breakfast-centered companies (several of whom are mentioned above) who can provide help with some, or all, of these services. Others, including PAII, provide training in using these tools, to help you learn to do it yourself.

Most important of all, however, is measuring the results so that you know when you’ve accomplished your objectives!

At this week’s 2010 PAII Innkeeping Conference, we presented a workshop on Reputation Management. The slides from that presentation are below.

Some of the attendees at the session had specific questions, and the audio will reflect those questions and answers. The audio will be available for purchase from the PAII website.

If you have questions, please feel free to contact us or leave a comment.

Most Bed and Breakfast owners realize they need to list their property on more than one directory, so this series (Part One can be found here) does not intend to present a magic formula for finding the one listing that will solve all problems. The objective is to present some guidelines to help evaluate any directory in determining whether to begin listing with them, or to continue listing with them.

Some things to consider will apply whether you are deciding to try a new directory or keep a current listing. Others will apply only once the listing is in place.

Some basics to consider

The first thing most of us would consider is the cost of the directory, and that would not be a bad idea. However, it is important to make sure that if we compare the cost of Directory A with Directory B, that both are giving us the same features and value, or that we can see the reason for higher or lower rates.

Consequently, when comparing rates (and most directories have different membership levels, with different features offered at each level), it is important to compare features, exposure via search engines, etc. Here are some of the things to consider:

1. Base cost for the listing
2. Cost of any additional items (such as a link to your availability calendar, extra photos, videos, etc.)
3. Whether the directory provides links to your web site and availability listings
4. Whether there are opportunities to post photos, videos, and other media
5. How many photos and/or videos you may post

Another consideration is how visible the directory is for the searches your guests will use. Imagine yourself in the position of a guest searching for lodging in your area. Search just as the guests would. How well does the directory show up in the search results? Check at least the three major search engines (Google, Bing and Yahoo!). If you have access to AOL, you could also check there. Directories that do not show up well in the search results for your area are not likely to send a significant amount of visitors to you. This is true for national and international directories as well as regional, state or provincial directories, or local directories.

Beyond the basics: Visibility

Visibility can be evaluated by performing a series of searches on at least Google, Bing and Yahoo! to see where the directory appears. Here are some suggested searches to try (substitute province or other regional description for city, state, etc., as appropriate):

• city, state, “bed and breakfast”
• city, state, bed breakfast
• city, state b&b
• “bed and breakfast”, city, state

Search Engine Usage

Try all variations of the above, plus adding “inn” as well as any regional terms (mid-coast, southern california, etc.). Bear in mind when using search engines, that while Bing usage has been increasing, both Bing and Yahoo! are far less widely used than Google. The current (as of this writing) market utilization is shown in the StatCounter image at right (click the image to visit the web site and see a larger version), where the red line is Google, Yahoo! is yellow, and Bing is the lighter blue.

For your search engine optimization (SEO) or search engine marketing (SEM) tasks, you may already know other terms to use. To find relevant search terms use one of the keyword research tools (many are free), such those from Google’s AdWords, Yahoo!’s Advertising, or one of many other tools (hint: try searching for “keyword research tools“).

If a directory is not showing up well, they may not be a good investment, unless they provide value in some other way.

Beyond the basics: Reputation

A directory has a reputation, just like any other business. Part of that reputation is the cost vs. benefit other innkeepers have experienced with it. Consult other innkeepers in your area, as well as those on various innkeeping forums, such as the PAII forum, so see if there have been prior discussions of the value of a particular directory.

Another part of the reputation is to see whether or not other properties in your area use the directory. We are aware that some guests have expressed concerns when several properties appear on a directory and one does not, that the missing property may be out of business. Visit the directory (or several directories) and see which properties (and what proportion of the total properties in your area) are listed on that directory. That may help you decide how important it is to be listed on that directory.

Beyond the basics: Performance

Tracking performance of directories is one of the most difficult things to do well. The simplest, but probably the least accurate, way is to simply ask guests where they found you. We are aware of instances where online analytics software proves a guest found a property via one directory, but the guest claimed to have found them via another. Add to that the truism that guests generally make several searches, often visiting multiple directories, before making a booking (whether they book online or by phone), and you have a recipe for inaccurate reporting.

The internet provides great opportunities for tracking, but with that comes another word of caution. There is a great inclination to accept computer generated data as accurate, but it isn’t aways the case. Like any data, computer generated data is only as good as the system that generates it.

Most systems use a cookie on your computer, created when you visit a web page, to determine where you have been. Most analytics software used to track bookings (as well as visits to your web site, etc.) stores only the most recent site visited which referred the guest to your site. In other words, only the last directory visited, or the last site visited with a link to your site, gets credit for “sending” you the guest.

Some would say that this is appropriate tracking, as the last directory visited is the one that “closed the deal.” However, when there is an opportunity to see better data, as some systems can provide, it becomes clear that the last directory does not necessarily deserve the credit, or at least all the credit, for the booking.

Tracking tools include:

• Google Analytics
• Intell-A-Keeper
• Super Statz
• Urchin
• Others

Google Analytics is the only system mentioned that is free, and it is very powerful.  Intell-A-Keeper uses a proprietary system to track historical referrals, so that more than just the last directory gets credit for a booking.

Make certain your analytics software properly tracks the source of bookings (in Google Analytics, for example, this would mean properly setting up a Goal for the creation of a booking, and tracking the referral sources of the bookings). Once you have that information, you’re ready to track the performance of the directories you subscribe to.

Part of the measure of performance is the number of visits a directory sends to your web site. Most analytics software will allow you to simple create a filter of the referral sources, showing only your directories. That gives you some idea of the value of spending money on the directory.

A more important measure for your bottom line is the return on that investment (ROI). For our purposes we’ll define the ROI as the cost of the directory subtracted from the money earned from that directory, divided by the cost of the directory. Or, in arithmetic terms (revenue – cost)/cost.

At left is a sample spreadsheet with several directories, the number of room nights booked and attributable to the directory, the total revenue represented by those bookings, the annual cost of the directory, the cost per dollar earned, and the ROI.

Looking at the last two rows, there is quite a cost difference between two national directories. Yet, the amount of revenue they produce is not that different. The ROI tells the tale, as the less expensive directory has an ROI of 27, while the more expensive directory ROI is a far smaller 5.9.

The two regional directories have similar ROI’s, even though they are very different in cost. As we can see – each produces an appropriate amount of revenue for the cost.

The local directory seems out of line with the others, with its ROI of only 4.

Making decisions

Now that we have some real data, it is tempting to consider dropping both the Local directory and National Directory 1, as both have relatively high costs and low ROI. We would do well, however, to remember that there can be more to the story than these statistics reveal.

The first thing to consider is whether or not you are utilizing all the features of the directory to maximize its ROI. It would hardly make sense to drop a directory for not performing well, if you have not availed yourself of all the ways you can make the listing work for you. Do you have lots of high-quality photos? Videos? Do you have a well-written description of your property? Are your rooms, rates, availability and specials prominently mentioned? Should you try a higher (or lower) listing level? If you lower your listing level to a less expensive level and your revenue does not change, your ROI will be higher.

The other significant consideration in evaluating a directory with a relatively low ROI is whether they provide value not reflected directly in bookings (revenue). This is especially true with local, state, or regional directories, but can also be the case with national or international directories. For example, a local or state directory may also do marketing for the state or city, bringing awareness to the potential guest, long before they begin to search for lodging. Or perhaps they publish print materials bringing people to the area. They may also provide information and/or political clout to help the industry, as well. National or international directories may provide you with publicity opportunities that go far beyond the revenue reflected in the ROI.

If it is possible to deduct the amount of the directory fees that is attributable to the non-revenue-producing areas, you should recalculate the ROI with those figures deducted. If not, still keep in mind that it may be worthwhile to tolerate a lower ROI in exchange for the added value these other services bring.

Once you have considered all the added value items, you can then add that to the mix in determining the true value of the directory to your business.

Do you have any experiences to share about evaluating B&B directories? Please post them in the comments.

As innkeepers we receive solicitations from online directories almost daily. In addition, there are many well-known directories that we feel we should (perhaps we must) be on. It seems that everyone wants your money, yet there are no guarantees of any return, just a lot of salesmanship about how important it is that you be on this directory. Which should you be on? Which can you ignore? Is it a question of cost, alone? What’s an innkeeper to do?

On the innkeeping forums, the question of which directories to subscribe to, or whether it is “safe” to drop a directory that doesn’t seem to be performing, is a frequently raised topic. Sometimes other innkeepers provide good insights, and other times the answers are more emotional, based on a positive or negative experience with the directory in the past.

What is needed is a consistent, objective way to to evaluate the directories, so a better decision can be made about where to spend precious resources. This first article will discuss evaluating features and costs of directories. Part Two will discuss other selection criteria and measuring the results of a directory subscription, and Part Three will discuss measuring the return on your investment (ROI).

Cost vs. Features

Most directories have a variety of membership levels and rates. Because of this it is important to be sure that you are comparing equivalent features when comparing directores. For example, the “gold” level of one directory may include features that another has at a “silver” level, or a “platinum” level.

The easiest way to compare features is to make a list of the features at the level you are most interested in. You can do this on a piece of paper, but it may be easier to use a spreadsheet like Microsoft’s Excel or OpenOffice.org’s Calc (free) or Google Documents.

In the first column, second row, enter “Price”. List all the features from each directory in the first column (starting at the third row). Directories may use different names for some features, so make sure you don’t duplicate entries.

Next enter the names and levels across the top row (such as “BedAndBreakfast.com Gold” or “BnBFinder.com Mid-Level”).

Now you’re ready to fill in the details. If an item a “yes or no” item (the directory offers it or not – like a link to your website), just put an “X” if they have it, and leave it blank if they do not. If it is a numeric subject (number of photos, for example), put the number in the cell. Don’t forget to enter the cost of each in the “Price” row. If there are additional cost items to make the directories comparable, be sure that is also reflected in the price. An example would be a directory which charges an additional fee to add a link to your availability calendar (some do, some don’t).

A sample spreadsheet for comparing directories is available online at Google Documents.

Summary

The first step in comparing directories is to be certain you are comparing like information. If you are deciding whether to subscribe to a new directory, it may be helpful to evaluate the cost of the directory and its features against other directories. Make sure you are including features at the same price level, or make sure the features are similar and look at the difference in cost.

Next time we’ll look at reasons one directory with similar features to another may be priced higher or lower than the other one, how to measure performance, and why you may want to choose a directory on a basis other than cost and features.