Welcome back to this 52 weeks to taking control of your B&B marketing series! Last week, I talked about concept of content buckets and how you can use them to categorise your marketing content. 

Today, in my 3rd tip of the series,  I'm going to cover how to use FAQs to generate even more ideas for creating content that your prospective guests actually want to read.

If you prefer to listen to the Podcast, where I go into a bit more detail with examples, you can listen here or do a search for Bed and Breakfast Academy on Apple, Google or Spotify Podcasts.

Why are FAQs Important?

So, what are B&B FAQs? You're are probably aware that FAQs are the questions that guests frequently ask about your B&B. But why is it important to know what they are for your B&B?

When I first started running my B&B, prospective guests would ask their questions over the phone. But increasingly these days this is done by email, social media, instant message or through your website.

Well, having a list of these questions and corresponding answers is invaluable not only for your marketing but also for the smooth operation of your business. Being able to answer a prospective guest’s question quickly and accurately can make a significant difference.

Everytime you get asked a question by a guest, write it down, with its corresponding answer, in a file such as a Google Doc. Tip - having a shared file is very useful if you have more than one person in the business answering guests' questions!

It's also a good idea when you're planning your own holidays to make a list of all of the questions that you want answered about your holiday accommodation and the local area. It was rare for me to come back from a holiday without ideas for changes I needed to make to my own website and a few blog post ideas!

Dealing with Difficult Questions

For instance, I had policies at my B&B that didn’t always go down well with potential guests, like no children under 18 and a minimum two-night stay policy.

If a prospective guest is challenging you, having pre-prepared responses to these queries helped maintain professionalism, and often, guests were more understanding when they knew the rationale behind the rules.

I'll admit, I'm pretty bad at thinking things up in the moment, and I had a few difficult phone calls with guests over the years that I didn't handle well.

On a telephone call, it's usually best to start with a concise answer.

"Thank you for calling, we don't host children under 18 at the B&B. But we do have lovely B&Bs in the area that are family friendly. I have their details here, would you like me to give them to you?"

If I were questioned further I'd explain.

"Many of our guests are specifically looking for a B&B with an adult only policy, which is why we've decided not to accept children."

By identifying these questions and answers upfront BEFORE your guests ask them, and in my case definitely written down, can help avoid difficult conversations that go wrong!

How to Implement FAQs in Your Marketing

If you're thinking, "How can I use FAQs in my marketing?" One effective way is to have a dedicated FAQ page on your website. This helps guests find all the answers they need in one place, enhancing the booking experience and increasing the likelihood they'll choose your B&B over another.

If you've been running your business for a while, you'll know that not everyone will read them, but it will reduce the numbers of questions you're asked before booking, and ensure guests are choosing the right B&b for them.

Expanding FAQs to Blogs and Social Media

But FAQs don't have to stop at your website. You could create blog posts or Instagram carousels such as “10 Amenities Guests Love at Our B&B”, showcasing your unique offerings.

Using FAQs to Highlight the Local Area

Remember, your FAQs don't just have to be about the B&B itself. They can also address questions about the local area. Practical information about parking, public transport, or local amenities can be particularly useful for guests and can form the basis of informative blog posts or social media updates.

I’m one of those people who likes to do a bit of planning when I’m going anywhere. We visited Oregon a few years ago and we were planning to visit Cannon Beach. It’s a very popular area and I wanted to plan our day ahead of time.

I did a Google search for “where to park at Cannon Beach?” and a blog post came up with lots of practical hints and tips about planning a visit to the area. Now there are 100’s of blog posts about the beauty of the area and things to do, but very few which told me about all of the practicalities.

If your guests typically always a visit a local town - in our case it ‘s Ludlow - you might think about writing a post to discuss the beauty of the town, the historic castles or churches, your favourite restaurants and walks.

But many people can get quite anxious when they go to a new place and it’s the practical aspects that they worry about most - where can they park? how much is the parking? are there disabled parking spots? where are the public loos? can they get food all day? where’s the nearest petrol station? what’s the best journey to take to get there? can they get public transport?

By creating blogs or social media posts covering these, you're helping out your prospective guests, establishing yourself as expert in the local area and also increasing the chances of your website been find in a Google search for the area.

The Impact of FAQs on Your Marketing Strategy

So, next time you're pondering your B&B's marketing strategy, consider your FAQs – they might just be the secret weapon you need!