Connect with your bookers: Using past guest information for more targeted blog topics

Your website’s blog is one of the most useful marketing channels you can invest in, especially during times where you have some extra time on your hands. The challenge many accommodation businesses face, however, is knowing what to write about, and for whom they should be writing. We’ve put together a 3-step process to help you turn your blog into a useful and interesting resource for your potential bookers.

Taking the time to get to know who your audience is and tailoring your content accordingly is key. You can do this by reviewing information about your past guests to understand who you should be writing blog articles for.

Step 1: Define your audience (determine who you should be writing for)

Taking the time to analyse past guest information; such as the average booking size/number of guests, ages of children per stay, length of stay, guest reviews and any add-on services booked can help you identify key trends about your target audience target audience which can all be used to tailor your marketing activities and online content.

The question is, where do you get this type of guest information from?

Assess the reports and information available in the platform from where you receive your bookings: OTAs and your own booking engine. A popular source of this kind of information is booking.com; you can view specific information per booking/reservation via the Pulse App additionally you can access your booking.com Analytics Dashboard for in depth insights into your business’ performance on booking.com.

Your online reviews also hold valuable demographic and behavioural information about your past bookers. Filter and study your reviews on platforms like TripAdvisor to spot trends around certain traveller types.

How do you use this information?

Once you’ve collected and reviewed information about your past guests, you can use it to define potential audiences for your blog articles by creating personas. You can have multiple personas depending on how broad your market it.

Example: Use the average booking size coupled with add-on services booked and review information to filter your target audience into categories like - couples, families or business travelers. You can get more detailed depending on the information you have available to define personas.

Step 2: Outlining broad topic

By broad, we mean, identify a relevant topic that can offer value to more than one type of reader or audience. Our article on blog ideas for Hotels, Guesthouses and B&Bs can be used to put you on the right path for a broad topic; examples of these could include recommendations in the area, ideas for activities, travel advice, or “how-to’s” like recipes.

Ideally, here you have the opportunity to think about what type of information travellers need to know, what information would elevate their stay and what questions need to be answered.

Use your expert-knowledge on your location to formulate a topic that can potentially convert a reader of a blog article into a guest.

Example: 3 Must-do activities when visiting <Your Destination> over a weekend.

Step 3: Tailor your topic to your audience using the personas you’ve created

Now that you’ve put in all the work; it’s time to merge your target audience with your broad topic. Do this by phrasing your topic in a way that it addresses your persona’s interests or concerns.

Example: 3 Fun child-friendly activities for your family to enjoy in <Your Destination> over a long weekend.

This approach might take some practice, but when done right it will turn your website’s blog into a valuable marketing and SEO tool for your business.

For additional learning and inspiration see our tips for creating effective titles for your blog articles or browse some more broad topics to start off with.