What We Know

Businesses across the country are feeling the effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Restaurants are changing their business models to curbside and carry-out, stores are changing their shopping policies to follow new guidelines, and others are closing or opening with restricted hours and access. Online ordering and shopping have seen an uptick in recent weeks as families and businesses alike try to find the "new normal."

With all of these changes, advertising agencies and platforms are seeing changes as well. As more people spend time online, we are seeing the costs of advertising online go down. The Wall Street Journal reports the cost to put an ad in front of 1,000 users on Facebook fell by 15-20% from February to March. YouTube saw a similar decline.

Now that the last guest has left and the "Closed" sign is hung until spring arrives, you may be tempted to breathe a sigh of relief and enjoy a break until the fun begins again next year. However, you may want to wait on packing for that vacation, because now is the time to get a head start by building a sound marketing strategy to ensure a successful 2020 tourism season. Read on for some pointers to build your marketing plan so that everything is planned and in order well before opening day!

With 14,000 new websites going online daily, it’s no wonder why people are becoming increasingly dependent on search engines to find them what they need. There are 3.5 billion Google searches made each day, with people seeking guidance in such everyday matters like finding the perfect spot for lunch to help in making big decisions, like where the best place is to buy a car. And with thousands, and sometimes millions, of results showing up for any given search, many don’t want to go down the rabbit hole by going past the first page of search results.

You have probably heard about how critical reviews are in growing your business, but why are they so important and how can acquiring them be easily integrated into your marketing plan? There are numerous reasons why reviews are becoming increasingly more important, as well as simple ways you can drive more of your customer base into leaving them. Let’s start with why you should care about generating reviews for your company.

From greeting each guest when they walk through the door to thanking them for their business when they leave, your hotel or restaurant sets standards so each customer has a positive experience with your brand.  But there is one crucial element of customer service you may be overlooking – your company’s website. With 88% of adults in the U.S. preferring to book their hotel stay online, and around 85% of consumers heading to the internet before they choose a place to dine, having an easy-to-navigate website that draws in your audience and allows them to see what your business is all about is critical in staying on top of the competition.

The website design team at Robert Sharp and Associates has a vast amount of experience building hotel and restaurant websites, and we’re here to share with you some of the key elements we have found that make a website successful for the hospitality industry.