September 2012 Newsletter
This Month’s Newsletter:
Although there’s still time, the ‘Indian Summer’ doesn’t appear to have made an appearance (in North Devon, at least!), so we’re throwing ourselves into Autumn and looking ahead to gain those end-of-year bookings whilst planning for 2013...
Autumn Images
We’re still inundated with enquiries from bookers looking for short breaks during September, October and November, so keeping your listing seasonal can always gain a few extra click-throughs from your ‘My Favourites’ listing to your site. If you have any Autumnal photos of your property, you can add them at any time. Indoor images of hot buttered crumpets on a plate in front of a roaring fire look good, as well as trees in full autumnal plumage. Alternatively, if you have any particularly stunning shots, email them to info@mfhc.co.uk, and we’ll feature them on our Facebook page with a link back to your listing.
Traffic Growth – Good News!
As a consequence of our social media work for My Favourite Holiday Cottages and the ongoing optimisation of the site, the number of unique visitors to the site hit new heights in August, and we are now attracting 20,000 unique visits a month. Judging by the analytics for September thus fa
Bookings on a Knife Edge?
Rick recently wrote a brief and quirky article about the importance of having a knife sharpener in your property. With many properties being used for dinner parties by guests, having blunt and ineffective knives can cause major irritation for the person in the kitchen. Knife sharpeners aren’t that expensive - and if they only secure a single repeat booking for your holiday cottage, then they are absolutely worth the investment. Buy and mention their presence in your cottage’s details!
Are you on Facebook?
If you’re still new to the world of social media, Dan has created a step-by-step guide to quickly set up a Facebook page for your holiday property. With over half of the UK population using social networking sites, Facebook can be a fantastic way to gain more bookings if used correctly and consistently. Once you’ve set up your page, ‘like’ us on Facebook, and we’ll try and give you a mention now and again to prospective bookers. You can also keep up to date with what’s happening (and read the latest articles at My Favourite Holiday Cottages).
Optimising your Twitter Account:
To run alongside our popular blog post on ‘5 Ways to Master Facebook Marketing, ’ we’ve written a further article on using Twitter more effectively. You can do a whole host of things to make Twitter a more effective business tool (and it is also a perfect way to connect with your local community).
Our top tip is to use the ‘Search’ bar at the top of Twitter as much as possible. Typing any keyword into it will show you everyone who has mentioned that word. So, if someone has typed ‘holiday cottage Scotland’ in a tweet, you can reply to them and maybe get a booking. - Don’t search for the word cottage, though. You’d be amazed at the number of people mentioning cottage pie and cottage cheese!
Finally:
We’re on the lookout for blog posts - if you want us to cover a marketing story that you’d like more information about, email us, and we’ll research and write an article for you. We’re open to suggestions – not just about marketing. If Rick can get away with an article on knife sharpeners, then what can you come up with? Send us your question or views, and we’ll do the rest.
We’re hoping you’re all having productive autumn seasons, and as ever, for more details about our services to have a chat, give us a ring on 01598 7100631, email us at info@mfhc.co.uk or look at the My Favourite Holiday Cottages website.