Guest Blog From Reel Magic Media on the B&B Promotional Video

Recently Paul wrote an article on 'The 10 Most Important Elements to a Super B&B Homepage' Here he discussed some different ways to improve your website and persuade the customer. One of those was having a ‘Promo Video of Your B&B’.

We’ve all been there; looking for places to stay and trying to make sure you get the right location and accommodation. After all you want to make sure you get your holiday right!
Well written information, a website which is easy to navigate and photo’s showing off the B&B are all great. However not all customers will take time to look at all of this. A web video is a great way of catching the customers attention.

Showcasing your B&B is easy with a video by using a short, smart, professional and informative video, placed in a prominent position on your home page.

Here are some benefits:

1. A web video welcome message will make your B&B look more Professional. 

2. Improve bookings by offering more than your competitors and showcasing your B&B with the entire media package (Text, Photo’s and Video).

3. A video will communicate with your future customers no matter their language, and provide them with knowledge and peace of mind in advance of their visit.

4. Convey whatever you want to the customer; whether it be warm greetings, friendly and informative customer care or just plain professionalism – your video can do this with the aid of specific shots, music and narration or on screen-text.

5. Reduce all those 'Frequently Asked Questions' by including some of them in the video via friendly voice over or just on-screen text. Or even bring your customer testimonials to life in text within your video.

6. Talk about the local conveniences, attractions and where the B&B is situated. This could include important information, historical clippets or seasonal events. 

Here are some examples of videos I have created with Real Magic Media in Warwickshire’s Shakespeare country:

Bradbourne House

 
 
 
Adelphi House

 
 
Ashgrove House

Reel Magic Media are currently taking B&B video orders across the UK. 

www.reelmagicmedia.co.uk

'Trip Elated' - The Hippy New Trip Advisor - Only Groovy Hotels Allowed!

Trip Elated, a new review site that launched last week, has been in the making for a while, but with confidence in TA at an all time low, the timing of their launch couldn't have been any better

Trip Advisor got a mention on Watchdog on Thursday night. The legal story of the hotels against them has been on Channel 4 News and every time you hear it mentioned more hotels have joined the battle. It's a PR nightmare for them and if they do lose in court, consumer confidence will tumble.

Enter then, on a wave of slightly hippy, psychadelic positivity our new kid on the block. Trip Elated. A place where moaning, bitching or backstabbing isnt welcome and only positive vibes allowed. The theory is that if bad reviews aren't posted, then only the good hotels get through the door.

"Travellers don't want to hear lots of bad reviews," said co-founder Amanda Brown, "It doesnt matter whether it's a cheap hostel or a honeymoon paradise, so long as the traveller has good things to say then we want to be the place they come to rave about it."

At first look I thought that Trip Elated was a bit of an idealistic notion, but the more I think about it, the more I think it might work. For a hotel to be on Trip Elated at all, then you know it must be pretty good. If people have gone to the site to rave about it, then the place has had a really positive affect on them which they wanted to share, not the other way around.

So just by finding a hotel there, you will know that someone has loved their stay.  

I agree with Amanda that I don't want to read about bad places. I want to go and stay somewhere that is the best place for my budget. If I'm backpacking for example and I see a hostel has some good reviews, then I know it's going to be good. I don't really want to waste a lot of time reading about carpet stains.

I'm sure there will be a mountain of issues that Trip Elated faces, like Trip Advisor has, but if TE get the right procedures in place early, then they will make it much easier for themselves when the reviews start rolling in...

Please TE don't ignore hotels with issues like TA have done.

Then we will all be elated!

http://www.trip-elated.com/

 

This Week in Bed No 5 - Don't Throw Your Guests Out For a Bad Review!

Today Fran and Jono report on a hotelier who made a guest leave because of a negative review, a new 100k initiative in Scotland and a hotel that is inviting locals round to observe their every move. All this and much more in just 7 minutes and 9 seconds. 

Please turn your volume up full!