Johan Horak's Blog

Internet marketing versus traditional marketing is such a mouthful that books can be written about the topic. Today I want discuss the traditional way guest houses and game reserves market using the internet and then how they can adapt their internet marketing.

Guest houses and game reserves tend to place adverts in related glossy magazines, niche newspaper inserts, have their own dedicated websites and they use paid listing websites. These traditional marketing ideas are all great and limited if used as separate entities. The one that I would like to expose, is the use of a dedicated (static) website and then discuss the integration of all marketing.

1. Let me get this one out of the way: A guest house or game reserve cannot market effectively with out a website where all the relevant routes, rooms, things to do, rates, etc, are published.
2. A traditional website is a static document and for all purposes seen by Google as dead or dying entity. These guest house and game reserve websites tend to be created, stories published and then left for better days. It’s like a business card. If you want Google to find your website and send you traffic, then you’ll need a regularly updated website. If you don’t update your website regularly, you’ll have to pay other people to send clients to your business.
3. A traditional website is normally run for the guest house or game reserve by some-one-or-another internet guru. This means that you have to pay this expert to update your website. Many years ago this was the norm. Today’s internet marketing tools allow every Tom and his friends to publish online information. I am not suggesting that you will set it all up and integrate it in a single online marketing spoor. No, what I suggest is that you arrange the set up of the internet marketing solutions, so that you can take it over, and delegate to a passionate insider — hopefully yourself.

For an alternative approach to traditional marketing guest houses and game reserves can read more here:

1. Online Marketing Tips For Game Reserves & Game Farms

2. Guest House Internet Marketing Strategy With Twitter

3. 7 Online Guest House Marketing Strategies

4. Twitter Tweets Marketing Ideas For Guest Houses And B&Bs (what to say in your tweets)
   

Some of the issues I have with traditional marketing:

1. The Fisherman’s Secret is a short ebook trying to explain how one fisherman cultivates fish even if they are not ready to spend money. Opposite to this idea of cultivation we get traditional marketing that focus on the hungry fish…… the fish who want to spend money today, the fish how want a guest house now or want to visit a game reserve.
2. Traditional marketing does not allow people to become followers of what you do. But if you do adopt new internet marketing strategies using social media effectively not only will you find it easy, you’ll also find it cheap to free and amazingly effective.
3. Traditional marketers tries to sell every time the place an ad instead of, also, providing information. Or providing education through a free newsletter.
4. Traditional marketers have no way of spreading their (guest house) spoor, or (game reserve) spoor freely and effectively.