It’s more important than ever for all businesses to have a strong online presence, and that definitely applies to holiday parks.
So, if you’re not already online, then you need to catch up! However, while most businesses do have at least some kind of online presence, it’s often left neglected and becomes outdated and dysfunctional.
That’s why it’s crucial that your park has a modern, but simple and functional website that’s easy for you, your guests and owners to use.
They Create an Impression
Many parks and other businesses are directing more of their marketing time and budget into social media, and while they’re right to take advantage of this, it shouldn’t come at the expense of a good website.
Firstly, a website is still probably the first thing that someone is going to see when they search for your park, and it’s what’s going to form their first impression.
No matter how good your social media is, or indeed how nice your park is, if users see an outdated website, they’re instantly going to form a negative conclusion.
It Makes Booking Easier
One of the key things for guests is how easy it is for them to book a stay at your park. A well-designed website booking system, such as that on offer from ourselves here at Elite Dynamics, makes it a doddle, not just for the guests, but for you as well.
Here are some booking integration examples from https://www.parkholidays.com/
Such booking systems allow your guests to see live availability data so they can see exactly when you’re busy at a glance and book there and then with an easy to use payment system, ensuring you get paid on time.
You can also try to upsell a few add-ons along the way, offering guests the chance to pay for cancellation insurance or a welcome hamper, for example.
Finally, it allows you to keep a record of all your guests and owners in one place, which can be searched and filtered as you please, saving the need for reams of paperwork.
It’s Always There
Guests want to be able to connect with your park at all hours of the day, every day of the week.
Your business can’t be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, but your website can.
Increasingly, people want to be able to get answers and make bookings outside of the normal 9 to 5 hours, so your website needs to allow them to do this.
If you limit yourself to taking phone bookings, the fairly obvious disadvantage is that there always has to be somebody on the other end to take the booking!
Captures Leads
Without a website, when a satisfied guest leaves your park, there’s a high chance you’ll never see them again, but your website can act as a hub and allows you to utilise a central point to target previous guests and those who may have enquired but never booked, with marketing in the future.
For example, by getting somebody to sign up to a monthly newsletter, you can keep them updated with all of the latest goings on at the park including offers, keeping it at the forefront of their minds.
Testimonials
One of the best ways to spread the word about your park doesn’t involve spending a penny and that’s word of mouth.
People place much more value in hearing a good review from a friend or family member than they do in any form of paid marketing and a website allows you to showcase any testimonials that you might have.
Whether these are ones which you have selected and put up onto the website or a widget displaying recent TripAdvisor reviews, reviews give your park a level of credibility.
As you can see, your website is a crucial part of your park, so long as it’s regularly maintained and updated.
It should be treated as just as important as your social media and offline marketing efforts and ideally, integrated with a functional and advanced software package such as Elite Parks!
Posted on 30 November 2017 at 12:00 AM