How Branding Strategies Can Drive Direct Bookings and Business Success with Katie Wanzer

Summary and Highlights

In our latest podcast episode, we had an insightful conversation with Katie Wanzer about the essential strategies for enhancing direct bookings. We’ve broken down her key advice into actionable steps that can help you strengthen your brand and drive more direct bookings.

1. Define Your Brand and Guest Experience

Katie highlights the importance of establishing a clear brand identity as the foundation for increasing direct bookings. Begin by defining your brand, including your ideal brand avatar and the specific experience you want to offer guests. This clarity will guide your marketing strategies and content creation, ensuring that your efforts are cohesive and aligned with your brand’s vision.

2. Utilize Multiple Marketing Channels

To enhance your brand and attract more direct bookings, leverage a variety of marketing channels. Blog content, social media, and email marketing are effective tools for highlighting the local area and unique experiences you provide. Engaging content that showcases these elements can help you stand out from the competition and appeal to potential guests.

3. Prioritize Your Direct Booking Website

Katie stresses the need to prioritize a direct booking website before listing on OTAs. Having your own booking platform allows you to manage the booking process and build a direct relationship with guests. A well-designed website not only strengthens your brand’s credibility but also offers a smoother booking experience.

4. Embrace Challenges and Focus on Growth

Starting something new often involves facing uncertainties. Katie advises embracing these challenges and viewing them as opportunities for growth. Strive for progress rather than perfection, and use the lessons learned from overcoming obstacles to become a better entrepreneur.

5. Understand Your Target Guest

Knowing your target guest avatar is crucial for tailoring your offerings. Understanding their needs and preferences allows you to design amenities and experiences that resonate with them, ultimately driving more direct bookings.

6. Optimize Pricing and Revenue Management

Utilize tools such as PriceLabs and conduct competitor analysis to optimize your pricing strategy. Effective revenue management helps ensure that your rates are competitive while maximizing your potential for direct bookings.

7. Develop a Strategic Email Marketing Plan

Implement a robust email marketing strategy that includes segmentation, A/B testing, and automation. These tactics can help you engage with past guests and potential leads, encouraging repeat bookings and boosting your direct business.

Conclusion: Building a Strong Brand for Long-Term Success

Katie Wanzer’s insights underscore the significance of developing a strong, unique brand identity and exceptional guest experience for driving direct bookings. By focusing on these areas and strategically employing marketing tools, you can reduce reliance on OTAs and pave the way for sustained business success.

For more tips, tune into our podcast, and start applying these strategies to elevate your brand and increase direct bookings!

Transcription

Katie: We have stay fi at our properties. So anybody who stays there and logs into the internet, we capture that email right away. I think our email campaign and strategy was very low the first few years that we started this. Mostly from a standpoint of we were relying so heavily on OTAs, you know, Airbnb, VRBO, and then once we had that ability to book direct.

Katie: We really wanted to focus a lot of our time and energy to get people to book direct with us versus the OTAs. Cause I think the biggest thing is to this gas don’t realize, I think how much the service fees are on both OTAs and how it can really skyrocket a bill. But also to them as owners, as part of this brand journey is you really then get to decide the touch points that your guests have with you and what those touch points look like.

Gil: Hey folks, welcome back to Direct Booking Simplified, where we break down the strategies and tactics to win in direct bookings. On today’s show, I have Katie Wanzer. Katie, welcome to the show.

Katie: Thanks for having me again.

Gil: Yeah. How are you doing? How’s uh, how’s the heat right now?

Katie: The Midwest is getting slammed. We got slammed with rain all spring and summer and now the heat’s coming. So, you know, just the typical Midwestern summer, but you know, it’s, it’s great. It’s warm. So here in the Midwest, we love that.

Gil: That’s so foreign to me being in San Francisco. We never get any weather beyond like 50 degrees to like 60 degrees all year round. So it’s, I find, I actually find it very interesting to see like people actually having to, to change seasons. And I, I kind of, I wish I had a little bit more of that in my life, but maybe, maybe not during these.

Gil: Yeah,

Katie: No, no. I mean, it is beautiful to see the four seasons, but to think it’d be a consistent temperature, especially all the way up here in Wisconsin, it’s just, it’s a foreign concept. So I’m also envious of your, you know, your static weather all the time to say the least.

Gil: I guess that’s why, why we travel, like for us, like we travel to go get the heat or get the snow. So, yeah, that’s,

Katie: Come to the Midwest. We get both, we get ample amounts of snow and ample amounts of heat. So come visit and we have it all.

Gil: Um, before you get too deep into it, Katie, do you mind giving folks a brief introduction to who you are and kind of a glimpse into your portfolio?

Katie: Yeah. So I, I am Katie Wanzer. I am one of the co owners and co founders of Wisco Hosts. Uh, we are a co hosting, um, company that per, that, uh, focuses on premier vacation rentals. Um, in the great state of Wisconsin, I am also a co owner along with my husband and our amazing business partners, uh, shout out to Luke and Katie, um, of a boutique motel, um, in Door County, and that property also has a five bedroom, uh, four bath house on it as well.

Katie: Uh, that overlooks the water. Uh, so my, uh, my husband and I co host five other places, uh, throughout Wisconsin, and then we have one of our own. So really got a lot of irons in the fire when it comes to, you know, the short term rental and hospitality industries.

Gil: How did you get started in probably like two parts? Like, how did you get started in the STR side of things? Um, Then getting into coasting, or maybe you got coasting 1st and then transitioning to the motel side of things. Okay.

Katie: I don’t wanna say we fell into it ’cause we didn’t, we, uh, we both, you know, have, we we’re both millennials, like we have corporate jobs. Uh, my husband runs a, a tech company and I worked in corporate, in public relations, um, and branding. And, you know, it, it really kind of was, we were looking for something.

Katie: Else a way to, to invest our money besides the traditional 401k, you know, the traditional putting into a savings account and making the 3 cents a year that you made off of it. Um, and so my husband was really kind of the brainchild behind it of like, we should look at, you know, Doing a short term rental, like a house, um, in one of our favorite places in Wisconsin, which is door County.

Katie: Um, and you know, we, we thought about it. We looked into it and we were like, all right, like, we’re going to do this. Um, and so October 2021 is when we bought our place, um, Northwoods farmstead. Um, and you know, it was, we completely, um, Renovated the house and revamped it and now it sleeps 10. It’s a it’s a three bedroom three back Um, it’s it’s beautiful.

Katie: It sits right on the outside of town near water. So it’s great Um, so we got this going and my husband was like networking with some other people who were also looking at starting short term rentals And my husband had spoken with somebody and he’s like, hey, he’s like I want to buy one In the same area, I don’t live close Like, would you be open to co hosting for us?

Katie: Um, and so then that’s kind of how co hosting got started. Um, and so then from there we obviously gained more clients, um, you know, more, more homes, uh, we spread out of door County, majority of our. Our short term rentals are in Door County. We have one in way northern Wisconsin. Um, so kind of up by Upper Michigan Uh, and we just started that one, um earlier this year and so it’s kind of just evolved over time and We really love it.

Katie: Um, it’s been a good opportunity, um, especially to when you’re just starting out, you know, really kind of helping people get their feet up from underneath them. Um, you know, teach the lessons and learnings that you, you know, you learned yourself when you started. Um, so we’re, we’re loving it. And. We obviously love our houses and our clients, and it’s just, it’s kind of been an ever evolving journey, to say the least.

Gil: Yeah, so the, your first co hosting was someone that you, you already had a relationship with that someone you knew, and they wanted to get an investing and wanted to leverage your knowledge and capability. Is that right?

Katie: Yep. And yeah, and that’s like, you know, it really started with simple things of, you know, my husband and the owner kind of really having like the numbers conversations of, you know, cash flow and, you know, this is what you should be looking for when looking for a property. And then when he, you know, went under contract.

Katie: Um, then that’s kind of where I stepped in from an operations piece. Um, cause you, you don’t know what you don’t know until you do it. So, you know, for me, it was, it was more questions of I’m going to get, you know, two sets of sheets for each bed. And it’s like, You need four sets of sheets because we are a very seasonal, seasonable market.

Katie: So our high time is really from like May until like January. That’s when, um, a lot of people go to Door County. Um, it’s really like, it’s probably one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been in the fall. So when you’re doing a churn of people, um, all the time, it’s really hard to wash, you know, Eight beds of linens and in one day when you’ve got four hours to turn the place between gas.

Katie: So Um really kind of how to optimize but then also like prepare for those busy seasons that high tide as well Um, so that’s really kind of how the co hosting, you know came to be uh, and you know for us, I think the other thing too is is you learn trial by fire and so Being able to also be that person, you know, to kind of help be like, Oh, you know, we’ve had this situation before, you know, this is how we recommend handling it.

Katie: Um, you know, has, I think was also bringing a peace of mind, especially to, to new owners as well.

Gil: Yeah, and have the subsequent owners or co hosting owners been friends and families, or did you end up figuring out how to how to reach new audiences?

Katie: Yeah, we, so the first one was more of a, my husband and him met in a group and so, um, they had like slowly become, I don’t want to, they, we slowly become friends with them, but it was more acquaintances. Um, You know, other ones, like it really was, you know, business development of really searching people out.

Katie: Um, cause I think, you know, the biggest thing is, is that as co hosts, like my husband and I, we really focus on revenue versus occupancy. So a lot of property management companies, you know, really look to put your places Sometimes at lower rates and just get high occupancy numbers where for us, we’re really motivated on making sure that you are your price.

Katie: Well, um, your price at making a profit, but also to, you know, that might not mean having your house be rented, you know, 80, 90 percent of the time. So it’s really making sure that like your, your ADR is higher, um, you know, versus your occupancy. So we really sought out then some other people where we’re like, your house is beautiful and you’ve done a lot of great stuff to it, but.

Katie: You have 90 percent occupancy, but we think you could probably get more, you know, ADR, average daily rate, um, you know, for staying there if you move with us. And so for us, that was kind of like the, the biggest thing, um, was people were very motivated by that. But I think, you know, the other great thing is with our business model, because we already have connections in a team, it was really just easy for us to bring them under our umbrella.

Katie: You know, we have an amazing cleaner. We’ve got a great landscaper. We have a snowplow guy because, you know, we get tons of snow every winter. Um, so it was really like when you took us on, you already got a team of everybody that we already had pre established relationships with. And so it was really easy to kind of just like bring them are under our umbrella, um, which could also help cut down with like operating costs, um, because you kind of have already, you have everything and everybody lined up and set to go.

Gil: Yeah, yeah. On the revenue management side of side of things. Are you using any tools to help you figure out what the right ADR is? Um, are you using price labs or wheelhouse or anything like that?

Katie: Yeah, we use so we use price labs. Um, obviously Airbnb has come out with some new ones. Um, but as we kind of shift off of the OTAs and have really focused a lot more on direct. Um, price labs has been a huge one for us. Um, my husband is a number guy, God bless him. He’s very left brain. I am very right brain.

Katie: So we really equal each other. Um, very well, but price labs has been really great. And I think also to, you know, using different tools to be able to be able to see like, what are comparable places in your area charging per night? So, you know, price labs can sometimes be like, Hey, you know, you need to charge like 20 percent more or there’s more demand.

Katie: When you’re looking at other people that are booked and it’s like, okay, like maybe we’re a little bit high on this, like maybe we should come down. Um, so I think it’s also just putting in kind of the elbow grease yourselves of, you know, going and creating a list of people who are comparable to your place to also see what they’re charging per night, kind of what their occupancy is, and then using that as kind of a, a gauge if you’re, you know, kind of right in the sweet spot or if you’re a little higher, a little low.

Gil: Got it. So you use somewhat like the enemy method or like having a list of folks that you look at on a regular basis to help you align your pricing.

Katie: Yeah, definitely. And I think, you know, the biggest thing too, is because when you’re And our market specifically, Door County is a very competitive market. You know, there’s been 600 new like rentals there within the last year. And so for us, it’s getting more and more competitive. Um, so especially to a lot of the places we go host are in the biggest chunk of the amount of like three bedrooms, two bathrooms that can sleep six.

Katie: And so not only it’s like, okay, looking at what kind of amenities can we work with the owners to like, like put in or add to it to make it a more appealing place to guests. But then also too, it’s benchmarking you with other people like, man, we would, should really consider getting kayaks or bicycles because people around us who are with that same comp have those.

Katie: And so those are kind of attractions too. So it’s really kind of, you know, kind of being a little detective to see, you know, not only pricing, but also what amenities they have and what’s going to make you stand out more, um, from that perspective. So people want to stay with you versus them.

Gil: Yeah. Yeah. Um, talk to me a little bit, like how, how’d you gotten into your, your motel? Um, how did, how did you get into going from STRs to the coasting side to all the way to buying many more, more keys in that case? That’s

Katie: um, our business partners, Luke and Katie, you know, our husbands had met a few years ago. This was when Mitch was doing his research and my husband about getting into short term rentals and Luke and Katie had just bought their first one in the Smokies.

Katie: And so they lived close. Um, they met through, the boys met through a Facebook group and, you know, we became friends with them. We were at a conference a few years ago and they were talking about kind of like, what’s your next story of leveling up and like your short term rental game. Um, and I think the other big thing too, is because of the markets we’re in, they’re becoming really heavily regulated just because of short term rentals.

Katie: And so it’s like, okay, like what can we do? Like what’s the next step to be able to cashflow more, you know, to kind of look at this and be like, Hey. you know, how can, how can we continue to evolve? And so we were like, yeah, let’s start looking at, you know, motels. And so, uh, Door County has a ton of them. We went and looked at some of them and, you know, none of them were really this like super great fit.

Katie: Um, and then, My husband and Luke stock, like, stocked LukeNet, um, which is, you know, where people put businesses for sale, and this one came up. Um, Luke and Mitch went up there the next day and looked at it, looked at the rooms, like, the location is, like, right in the heart of downtown of one of the little, Like little villages.

Katie: Um, it’s right across from a state park. It’s right across from the public beach. Um, it was very outdated internally. Um, and so, you know, that was kind of our biggest thing is we really wanted to elevate that experience knowing the location was so great. So, um, My other business partner, Katie, um, went with them and they were like, this place is great.

Katie: We should put an offer in on it. Um, and I had never gone and see it. Like I never physically saw it with my own two eyes until after we were under contract. So, um, we get under contract with it. They’re like, you got to go see this place. And I’m like, yeah, we’re under contract for it. And I just remember walking into one of the rooms, like very dated from the fifties.

Katie: Um, you know, like. Lace curtains, uh, wallpaper, everything was wallpapered, um, carpeting everywhere. And I just remember looking at my husband and just be like, Oh my God, what did we just do? Um, and so we, we, you know, we spent the last eight months then renovating it head to toe. Uh, ripping everything out and, uh, redoing it, hired a professional designer to help us with the rooms.

Katie: Um, so we’re, we’re 15, 15 units. Um, seven of them have single king beds. Um, eight of them have double queens. And then there’s also, um, the old house that the old motel owners used to live in. We converted that to a short term rental. And so that’s a five. Five bedroom, four bath that sleeps 10. Um, and so, you know, the four of us like really kind of buckled down and renovated this place within the last eight months, I still don’t know how we did it, um, based on what it looked like, but it’s, uh, it’s been an amazing journey and, you know, we’ve been open since May and we’re going through our first summer and.

Katie: You know, it’s been it’s been a little wild at times because it’s been so busy But it’s been just an amazing learning curve and you know Now all of us are kind of like, all right, like let’s go get another one. That was fun. Um, So yeah, so it’s kind of been it’s been a journey to say the least so

Gil: Nice. What was your biggest learning going through that entire journey?

Katie: for me personally I think the biggest thing is is like, um The amount of like different hats that you play. Um, you know, I think when you look at entrepreneurs, it’s like you’re the accountant, you’re the project manager, you know, you’re the cleaner, you’re, you’re the guest service person that you’re the front desk.

Katie: Um, we, we have a team now in place, but I think the biggest thing is, is that. You got to learn every position to be able to teach and then be able to bring somebody on into that position Um, and you know, we’ve had enough great contacts up there just because of our businesses that you know We were able to to you know Bring on cleaners like our cleaner helped us like, you know set that all up.

Katie: And so I think it’s just you really gotta You really, you gotta learn it all, because if you don’t, you know, it’s, it’s part of the, it’s part of the business, and I think knowing the inner workings of everything just, just makes you a, a better entrepreneur, a better, you know, business woman in my case, but then also just a better owner in general.

Katie: So,

Gil: Yeah. Yeah. Was there any surprises going into that process? I’m sure there was a ton of them.

Katie: Yeah, I mean, I think the biggest thing is, is the first building was built in the 50s, back building was built in the 80s, and it was like, everything that, you know, everything that could go wrong did go wrong, I feel like, um, you know, we’re 150 yards from, you know, Lake Michigan, which is one of the biggest freshwater, it’s the biggest, one of the biggest freshwater lakes in the world.

Katie: And we, we had to drill new wells and our wells were dry. Um, so it’s like, you know, learning to kind of like, yeah, that was, that was a, that was a learning curve. Um, but you know, working with 1950s plumbing, um, you know, so there were many things that went wrong. Um, but at the end of the day, I’m a big fan of, you know, You go through, you grow through what you go through.

Katie: And I think we all really grew any time that we kind of ran over, stumbled over a hurdle, um, or fell into a pothole. Um, because there were, there were a lot of bumps along the way. So,

Gil: Yeah. Even with all those bumps, do you feel like it was a good step, at least from a, from an investment standpoint?

Katie: oh, absolutely. Yeah. Like, uh, the, yeah, we’ve had a great summer. Um, you know, it our investment has paid off. Our hard work has paid off. I always joke with my husband that the tears of frustration that I cried multiple times, um, paid off. Um, so now in hindsight, looking back, like, You know, the struggle was real, but it’s been, it’s been so worth it.

Katie: Um, so it’s, it’s the growing pains that I think, you know, when you own a business that you all go through at some point, it’s just learning to trust yourself and know that you’ll, you’re going to figure it out, even though it might not seem like in the moment, you will, you’ll figure it out. So trust yourself.

Gil: So, so now you’ve done a handful of short term rentals, you’ve done the motel, um, coming out of both experiences, where do you see yourself growing in the next? Two, three years.

Katie: Yeah, I mean definitely continue to grow the co hosting business Like I I really love the co hosting business as does my husband. Um, you know, I think it’s really For me, it’s really gratifying like helping other owners. Um and kind of being part of their journey We’ve talked about, you know, buying another short term rental.

Katie: Um, you know, kind of with interest rates right now, I think everybody is kind of like, you know, the numbers don’t really work, but, you know, we’re being, we’re being positive that they will. Um, but I think we, we would definitely do another motel again. It’s just once again, finding, you know, that one piece of property that, you know, you can, um, Really do a lot with and make it into something special.

Gil: Yeah. Yeah. On, on that one, how did you end up funding the motel?

Katie: Um, so we, we did end up going through a bank. Um, we own it. Um, so we are the investors, um, of it, the four of us. So I think that was also a really proud moment of trying to make that work. But we had an amazing local bank, um, Bank of Luxembourg really came in, um, hometown bank. And, you know, they really worked with us to, you know, make the property.

Katie: You know, what, what we want it to be and what it is and it turned out amazing.

Gil: That’s awesome. So yeah, you didn’t have to bring a new investors that could dilute your share of it, but also, um, make it a lot more challenging to, to navigate. Um, that’s awesome. Um, I’ve had a chance to go through both the website on your motel and also on your SDR side. Um, this is a good transition to the second segment is really around kind of the brand aesthetics, kind of how you present yourself.

Gil: Um, can you give our listeners a sense of how you think about direct bookings and the marketing of, of it? Like how, how do you approach it?

Katie: Yeah, so, you know, direct bookings. I think for us, you know, when we first started, we, we definitely got a lot more. Direct bookings then because we were the first people to really do it in our market and now it’s obviously becoming More competitive. Um, and so our landing pages that we had, you know It really didn’t tell the whole story of the brand we were wanting to convey Um, and you know, I would say the same thing about the motel um, my background is in public relations and branding and so You know really focusing a lot even even with our first one.

Katie: I think you know My husband got really sick of me when I was like, this is not within our brand standard. And he’s like, Katie, it’s one house. And I’m like, this is the foundation of something we’re going to build on. And so, you know, we didn’t know we were going to get into co hosting, but now we are. And we get a lot of people who, you know, stayed at Northwoods Farmstead, which is the house that my husband and I own.

Katie: And it was like, They knew the experience they were going to get. So therefore now we get a lot of repeat customers who are like, Hey, I stayed at Northwoods, but I’m coming up with like my kids and all of my grandkids. Like I want to go stay at Stark house, you know, that sleeps 12 people. And. It really helped us by focusing on kind of like what are, who, who we’re trying to target, what the, what the experience we’re trying to convey and then building our brand off of that.

Katie: We know that people want to stay with us cause they know if they stay at one, they’re going to have the same experience as if they stay at like one of our co hosting properties. And so I think really spending the time and focusing on building your brand and creating that brand. Is just going to make like your marketing Um your marketing dollars and your marketing spend go a lot farther than if you didn’t Um, and so now the biggest thing obviously that we’re focusing on is so both of these are brand new websites Um really focusing on seo, but then also when we look at Um, you know our brand in general Yes, it is the houses you’re staying at, but it’s also where the houses lie and where the houses are.

Katie: So focusing a lot of like our blog posts on our blog posts and our social media strategy on what are the experiences you could have in that market while staying with us. So we do a lot of things that are kind of around like, We play tourists ourselves, which is the best part. It is so much fun. Um, and I highly recommend owners You know go and be a tourist of where you do have your short term rentals because not only then as part of the guest experience in your guest book or You know in your conversations with guests of like I highly recommend this restaurant Um, if you like fish highly recommend this restaurant if you want, you know a little bit of everything Wisconsin’s infamous for cheese curds for some of like the best cheese curds you’ll ever have.

Katie: Um, but then also kind of like building that stratosphere around it so that people know. And begin to trust you of like, Hey, she said to go there for ice cream and the ice cream was phenomenal. Um, because it just, it, it adds to that brand of, you know, where to send people for what, based on what they’re looking for.

Katie: So it also really just like levels up your hospitality and your best experience in general. Um, So we’ve kind of done a lot around being tourists and then filming that as tourists and using that then and our blog post to help with SEO, you know, to do that on our social media, um, you know, with restaurants or things to do to kind of like add that experience.

Katie: But I think the other thing too, is that. It makes you as hosts and owners like way more personable. Um, I had a woman, a few, I had a woman a few weeks ago who messaged me on Instagram and she goes, Hey, by the way, I really love your videos because like I know when I reach out to you, like who I’m talking to.

Katie: So it also kind of just adds that human element to you as well. Um, which is great because you obviously want your guests to come to you if they need anything. Um, so it’s kind of really creating that whole sphere. Um, that can just help with your marketing spend so much easier.

Gil: Yeah. So when you say branding, you’re not necessarily just talking about the logos, the colors, the anesthetics, the positioning, but it goes beyond to really understand one, like who your guest avatar is and to kind of the, the area where you’re actually providing the service to.

Katie: Yeah, it’s kind of, you know, I think the biggest thing is like hospitality doesn’t have to stop at like event venues or motels or hotels. Like, you know, you can bring the hospitality anywhere and especially like with your short term rental. So it’s, it’s, you know, it’s really elevating that experience. Um, Of you not only building that brand, um, cause we’ve gotten a lot of, we, we’ve really built our social media brand off of doing things like going to restaurants, trying out ice cream, going and playing, you know, all the different mini golf courses and then like rating them.

Katie: Um, so it’s like, you’re building your brand just as your business, because then people are like, Oh, I want to stay with Wisco host because they did a really funny bit on like, a top mini book courses in Door County. Um, so, or we really love that they ranked all of the best old fashions, like things like that, where it can really just help get your name out there easier, but also it brings another dimension to you and your business as well.

Gil: Yeah, and it sounds like you produce content from all your visits and kind of filming on both your social media, but also sounds like you do it on your, your blog, on your website as well too. Is that right?

Katie: Yeah. Um, I have, so my background, obviously being in Public relations and communications. Um, you know, blog writing is it blog writing is not as intimidating as people will think it is. Um, it’s not, yes, it’s a really great way to help with your SEO. Um, but it’s also a really good way for you to like show, like be able to highlight and show things that are like within your markets and kind of like make it fun.

Katie: Um, so it’s even like fun things where, you know, yeah, focus on the SEO, but then also to like, It’s, it’s passion for me. It’s, it’s very easy to write a blog post and be like, Hey, I went and did, you know, all of these things. This is what I recommend that you do. Um, so it kind of just adds just like another touch point and another layer, um, to help with your, to help with marketing, but then also to help like with your SEO and just building your brand.

Gil: Yeah, talk, talk to me a little bit about kind of the, the brand aesthetics. There’s the, there’s a pretty high quality for you on, on your websites and some of the assets that you, you produce. How did you like, how did you get that? And obviously the years of experience definitely helps, but. For hosts that are probably not brand experts, like how would you guide them through figuring out what their brand looks like?

Gil: How do you present yourself, the positioning or some like resources or tips that you provide?

Katie: I mean, the internet is really a gift. Um, so I remember, um, this was my first job out of college many years ago. Um, I was working for a nonprofit and when we, when we were doing a bunch of marketing around, um, an upcoming conference and I had one of the MDs cause it was a nonprofit, it was a medical organization and he goes, we should really start to build a brand around this.

Katie: And I’m like, I don’t know what you mean by that as in he’s like we want to be known as like the best conference for this And so it’s like okay So he’s like besides the conference itself like are we gonna brand it so that when you say the conference people know what you’re talking About so it’s kind of like, you know When you, when you talk about Patagonia or like, you talk about North face, like, you know, the brand that you’re getting.

Katie: Um, and so for me, it literally was like just a deep dive into Google. There’s so many like free sheets, like free, free activities that you can do around, like, just getting the critical thinking questions of like your brand, your brand avatar, what do people, what do you want people to think, feel, and see?

Katie: Yeah. Like when they see your logo or they stay at one of your places and I think it’s like don’t like don’t overthink it like almost sometimes it’s like a gut reaction to it is kind of what Like what you can start to build off of because over time and how your business grows and what you’re looking to get out of it that’s obviously going to change but there’s so many free resources like online that really has helped um me at least like learn besides my career of how to continue to do this but I think also too it’s it’s not as daunting as it seems um There’s a, there’s, you know, there’s a ton of books on just like building your brand and like how to even start looking at your marketing spend differently.

Katie: Um, and so use the power of the internet. Um, it can really go a long way and that’s how I think, you know, I really kind of got my foot in the door, but then also it became a passion of mine because. Yes, it’s it is the colors and the logos and like what it’s conveying, but it’s also like the true meaning behind it.

Katie: And I think when you know what you want your short term rental or your co hosting company or whatever it may be to be, um, you know, it really becomes a passion at that point because you want everybody to experience And, and feel the same when they step into your home or they stay at your property.

Gil: Yeah, I would love to at one point produce a blog post together with you on our, on our channel, uh, around some of the fundamentals there. So I might reach out to you separately because I think that there’s A lot of like valuable resources, like you mentioned outside, but really trying to help distill it down for some of our listeners that may not be branding experts.

Gil: I think they will get a lot of value out of that.

Katie: Yeah. And sometimes it’s just the simple questions of if you were going to see a guest walk through your door, like what is the type of, who do you think would be the most comfortable in your home? Or when you design your short term rental, like when you lay it out, who do you think is going to. You know, benefit or enjoy it the most, you know, is it going to be families?

Katie: Is it going to be more couples? Is it going to be romantic weekends away? Um, and so I think sometimes just asking like those simple questions, um, can really go a long way. So, and I’d love to help with that. So as you can see, I’m, I’m a big, I’m a big, I love branding. Branding is amazing. So

Gil: Yeah, uh,

Katie: makes, what helps make me thrive.

Gil: yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, it looks like you also do a bit of email, um, as, as well too. Um, so I see like, there was like, you, you collect emails on your website, uh, after someone visits it. Uh, I don’t know if you’re collecting emails at the states themselves, but can you talk to, talk to us a little bit about some of your strategies there?

Gil: Yep.

Katie: um, yeah. We do so we do both so kind of like what you’re saying if you want to sign up for our newsletter on our site Um, you automatically get added but then also too we have state eye at our properties So anybody who stays there and logs into the internet, you know, we capture that email right away um, I think our email our Our email, our email campaign and strategy was very low the first few years that we started this, mostly from a standpoint of we were, we were relying so heavily on OTAs, um, you know, Airbnb, VRBO.

Katie: And then once we had that ability to book direct, We really wanted to focus a lot of our time and energy to get people to book direct with us versus the OTAs. Um, cause I think the biggest thing is too, is like, guests don’t realize, I think, how much the service fees are on those OTAs and how it can really skyrocket a bill.

Katie: Um, but also too, like, then as owners, as part of this brand journey, Is you really then get to decide the touch points that your guests have with you and what those touch points look like Um, my husband and I are really personable people. And so for us, it’s it’s easy things of like, yes Here’s a wi fi code.

Katie: Here’s all of this but like also like hey, we recommend like this is our favorite restaurant This is our favorite place to get cheese curds Like really bringing in the draws also to of what bring people to your market You So they get an, our guests get an email from us of like, here are top places to eat.

Katie: Here’s where you can get some of the best old fashions, which is obviously a Wisconsin, a beloved Wisconsin cocktail. Um, but then also here’s our favorite hiking trails. Like in the winter, we change it to like, here’s our favorite snowshoeing trails, um, or winter hikes. So it also creates that personal experience.

Katie: But I think the biggest thing is too, is with the email campaigns is not only You’re able to talk and connect with people who, who booked with you, but also it gives other people the opportunity who may have stayed there as part of a group to book with you and get to know you as well. Um, so we really leverage it as like, yeah, it may be hot and rainy here in the Midwest, but like our falls in the Midwest are like, they’re, they’re nationally known.

Katie: So like, have you thought about fall yet? If so, use this code, um, fall 2024 and book with us to receive 15 percent off. So for us, it’s also a really great way for us to. Keep our, our calendars, you know, full and busy, but then also to highlight things that people may have not known, um, we’re going on in our market during certain seasons, but then also bring things to light that we as owners like love as well.

Katie: So,

Gil: Yeah, so it sounds like you do both the broadcast emails, um, that may be more calendar specific, but you also do perhaps sequence emails that are kind of tied to when they stayed with Is that right?

Katie: yep, absolutely. Absolutely. Yes.

Gil: Do you use the state files internal system? I think it’s switched back, um, for all your email marketing. Are you channeling that somewhere else and building out your campaigns elsewhere?

Katie: So we’re building out our campaigns elsewhere. Um, so we use MailChimp. Um, MailChimp is a great tool. Um, we’re able to have our state by like click into our MailChimp so that our, our, um, our, our list is actually pulling from our state by, and especially with our co hosting properties, just cause we have so many that we don’t have to go pull lists every time.

Katie: Um, but I think the other thing too is, is, With MailChimp, what we really love is that also from a marketing perspective, um, it’s, it’s also doing the A and B testing, um, for us. So it’s like using one subject line for A, one subject line for B, and then looking at those analytics and comparing. Um, I think the biggest thing is, is that.

Katie: You know, with today’s age with technology, analytics are really a gift because you’re able to see like what intrigues people and what doesn’t intrigue people like. So if I send an email out about a concert series and hey, we still have openings on this, these weekends at these places and then there’s this big concert going on.

Katie: People one, learn about the concert. Two, they’re like, Oh, I’m going to have somewhere to stay. But then also it really kind of helps us with our content strategy of what are things that people are interested in versus what they’re not in. Because I think the biggest thing too is because we’re, we’re actively building these lists all the time.

Katie: We want to keep our subscribers versus having people on subscribe promise as well. So it’s really making sure that the content is relevant and fresh, and we’re just not spamming people with things that they really don’t want. So it really helps shape our content strategy as well.

Gil: Yeah, so you’re, are you doing a B testing on just the, uh, The title of the email, or are you also change the content within the emails when you’re doing AP testing?

Katie: So we do a little bit of both. Um, it really kind of depends. The, the subject line is always for me, the biggest one, um, are people going with the fun one or something that’s like really direct into the point. Um, but also too, it’s watching with, you know, MailChimp and all that. It’s also watching that heat mapping of do people tend to scroll more and read through the email if there’s lots of photos.

Katie: Or lots of tech. Um, so how can we also make a graphically appealing so that when people open it, they want to keep scrolling to learn more versus like just hitting that instant delete button. Um, so we’re really kind of doing it with with both. Um, because in a lot of ways to everybody’s looking at email on their phones these days.

Katie: So. You put a lot of content in there. It’s more scrolling, which means they’ll probably be less action because people are going to have to read through more. So it’s kind of also looking at what that user experience looks like. Are they opening it on desktop? Are they opening it on phone? And if so, how is phone?

Katie: How is the content different when? You open it and view it on a phone from an analytics perspective than a desktop. Um, so it’s really kind of also just really punching those numbers, um, to see what is more beneficial and where people tend this way and go.

Gil: That’s interesting. That’s interesting. Um, are there any tactics that you’re looking to over the next few years, refine or, or invest a bit more heavily into? Yep.

Katie: the experience for the seasons that are coming up. So we’ve really been working with a lot of our co hosting properties to make sure that we have photos of the exterior of the house in fall.

Katie: We have the photos of the exterior house in spring when everything’s in blue, um, in summer when, you know, it’s super hot, um, but then, you know, also in, in winter, like in winter and fall. So it’s, it’s really kind of almost having building, I want to say our content and our, our marketing. For this season, so that when I email somebody about fall, I can show them what each property looks like in fall because all of our places sit in the forest.

Katie: So in the fall, when you’ve got all of those like warm yellows and oranges and that pop of color, when you’re starting to email somebody like I just did one the other day for fall, it’s showing everybody what fall looks like in Door County. So it entices them to come. Um, and fall. So really kind of trying to bring that experience of what they’re going to have as a guest, um, through photos so that they want to come and stay with you like during that actual season.

Katie: Um, so it’s really kind of building up. I want to say like our marketing arsenal of making sure we have photos. Um, My husband got a drone. He’s learned the drone. He loves the drone. Um, drone footage is great, not only for email, but like social content. Um, but we’ve also started to build out YouTube videos of like, this is what this property looks like doing walkthroughs.

Katie: Um, having it be, you know, fall oriented, like here’s some things you can walk to in the fall. If you stay at this house, this festival on this weekend. So it’s really kind of like creating that experience for guests, um, and really kind of Marketing and selling the properties and that experience based on the season, just because so many people come here for fall and summer and whatnot.

Katie: So they kind of know what to expect. Um, but then also just really kind of bring awareness to also where they’re staying,

Gil: I know you’re still someone in the early days of launching the motel, um, and getting the seasons through, but what have you seen as being the biggest difference from a branding slash marketing perspective between Marketing your short term rentals versus marketing the hotel, the motels.

Katie: you know, the motels, I would really say, um. We do a lot with the motel around like big event, like just big events that are coming up versus like very, I’m going to say, um, very specific things. So when we do a lot of our marketing for the motel, it’s around like seasons and it’s around what are things that are happening.

Katie: Um, just in general, like in the county versus like specifically in the town that we’re sitting in. I would also say the biggest thing too is that when people come up, they come up for less. Our, our, our nightly stays are less at the motel than they are at our short term rentals. So it’s really kind of around like what are the quick things that you can do or things that you might want to check out versus Like this longer, you know, three to five day experience like we have with our short term rentals Um, so we kind of really focus on that But I think the other big thing too is is that our market specifically has a ton of events Tons of events like there’s a concert series that goes on every week right across from the motel There’s festivals every weekend that’s within walking or a 10 minute driving distance So we really kind of focus on like the big things that are happening in the county versus hotels You know being able to go and do some hiking trails and then come back and you know Enjoy a glass of wine around our fire pit.

Katie: Um, so I would say it’s a lot more macro with our marketing versus micro When it comes to our short term rentals

Gil: And do you, do you attribute that, that to being the motel versus the SDR or more so the type of avatars that are choosing to stay at each one of those? It sounds like it’s because the motel it’s. You’re having shorter stays that avatars might be a little bit different. They’re traveling for different reasons, um, versus your SDRs where the avatar may be staying longer.

Gil: They have larger families that they’re traveling with. They get, they get to have more intimate experiences with the things around it.

Katie: Yeah, that is definitely it. I mean, our avatar for the motel is definitely a lot different than the avatar for any of our short term rentals. And I think it’s also to, you know, trying to, once again, it’s, it’s kind of doing that market audience that research of, you know, What are, it’s also the guest interaction, like the questions we get at our motel around things of like what to do, where to eat is a lot different than we do at our short term rentals.

Katie: And so I think it’s understanding that as well, but also to like, when we’re up at the motel, we love to talk to people. What brought you to Door County? Where are you from? Like, what are some things that you like to enjoy? Um, you know, what is, what are some of the amenities? Our amenities at the motel are completely different than what they are at a short term rental.

Katie: So, it’s also kind of figuring out like, What do the people who stay at the motel want versus what do the people who stay at our short term rentals want? And they they really do it is incredibly different To say the least so it’s really it’s really kind of just like digging in asking those questions but then also to Um, you know, looking at it from a high level versus a low level, so kind of less touch points when you stay in a motel versus more touch points when you stay at a short term rental.

Gil: yeah, um, it sounds like, uh, the feedback loop is, is rather important to you, but probably more so it’s important to really fine tune your brand and you guess avatar, like by having those conversations, by understanding what they’re, what they’re, what they need, what Um, that’s allowing you to refine your amenities list, but also what you what you communicate in in your branding and all your content.

Gil: Silence.

Katie: Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, you, you really, you don’t know. You don’t know what you don’t know. And, you know, when we have guests like at our short term rentals. You know, people who are like, I really love the space. Like use that opportunity to be like, what do you love about the space? Do you love the furniture?

Katie: Do you love the fact that it’s got more pillows? Do you want more blankets? Like, it’s really like the simple things like that, where, you know, it’s asking, would you be willing to give more feedback and then taking that feedback and really kind of like running with it. But I think the other thing too, is, is that if you have friends or family that fit that avatar, that, you know, you’re really.

Katie: You’re really looking for so like prime example, all of our places are dog friendly My husband and I have a dog. We don’t have any kids So it’s like for us it’s like as we bring our dog with us everywhere because we really honestly do it’s things like Having a water bowl and a food bowl On a little like doggy mat at every single one of our places.

Katie: So, you know that dogs are welcome it’s like the little things that just like Really go a long distance when you know that you’re really trying to hone in on something or something that makes you different Than anybody else that you’re staying with in the market So it’s almost putting yourself in other people’s shoes or if you have kids All of our friends have kids and it’s like man Having a pack and play is huge because those things take up so much car so much room in a car And if you’re bringing three kids, like having one there is a huge help, or, you know, even things of being able to be like, yes, our Wi Fi is good enough for you to hook up your baby monitor.

Katie: Um, those baby monitor video cameras are, you know, it seems like every parent has one. Once again, I don’t have kids. But like being able to provide something in our guidebook of, Hey, did you bring a baby monitor for, you know, your kids? This is what we recommend for you to be able to be able to hook it up to the internet.

Katie: Cause sometimes, you know, our stay five, we’ll S we’ll stop people from being able to go through. Um, so it’s like little things like that, that really can just make a difference, um, with that experience and it just further helps build your brand as you kind of grow and move forward.

Gil: Yeah. Yeah. Um, maybe kind of last, like STR slash dry booking question, um, how, if you were not in like the experience of branding and PR, would you Gotten into direct bookings. Was that, was, was that always something that you wanted to do or, um, kind of like, why is that important to you in the first place?

Katie: I think, so direct bookings for us, also from an operation side, once again, left brain is my husband. Obviously you, you make more money with direct bookings. You’re not having to pay Airbnb. You’re not getting a so, uh, host service charge, like, but it’s also to, I think, you know, It’s important that people work with you directly.

Katie: Like there, there is nothing more. And this is my personal opinion. You know, there’s nothing more frustrating than building your dream home on somebody else’s land. And that’s how I think of like the OTAs. Like, yes, they’re great when you’re first starting out, but you are building a business off of somebody else’s, I want to say choice and they can take you off their platform at any second.

Katie: And then it’s like, what do you do? You, you’ve put everything on that when you don’t have anything yourself that you can fall back on. And I am a very independent person. And so for me, it was really important for my husband and I. To build this business and have our own structure and our own foundation.

Katie: So if someday if Airbnb, let’s say, you know, it gets completely banned around the United States or our market decides to ban Airbnb, we have something to fall back on and it’s, we’re not relying on somebody else to drive our business forward.

Gil: Yeah, that’s a, that’s a really good point. That’s, that’s, that’s a very common reason. I hear a lot of times the occupancy and, um, the, the higher revenues by, by going direct is, is a big driver, but I think more so I’m hearing that it’s really that you’re at the mercy of the OTAs when you’re, when you’re solely reliant on, on them.

Gil: Um, actually like I have one more additional question on that one. Do you think it’s important for folks to invest into their direct bookings? Early on, or is this something that they should really focus on after they’ve got to a certain amount of scale?

Katie: think it’s something that I think even before you put your, your place on an Airbnb or vdo or an OTA, you should have direct booking first. Um, I think that it is, it is almost more important than the other two that you have that set up and you’re comfortable with it. Because as you start to grow, and I think as things start to change with these OTAs, I think people are starting to realize.

Katie: That more people are doing direct versus going through them. Um, I always say the song and dance that’s very awkward is when people are like, Oh, like they’ll find you on Airbnb and then they’ll message you being like, Oh, do you take direct bookings? And you can’t be like, yes, here’s my website because you don’t want to get kicked off.

Katie: Um, but I think also being able to be like, yes, we at so and so would love to host you and you have that really cryptic way of doing it. It allows people then to be like, okay, I just got to look at X, Y, and Z. And then boom, it’s a direct booking, um, right there. Cause I think once again, the biggest thing is, especially when you have families and you know, with inflation, people are always looking for easier ways to save some money and direct booking is that way.

Katie: So I think having it as your core foundation. And then adding the OT is after for me, I wish we would have done it right off the gate. We did it probably, I want to say like two or three months after being, you know, underway, where we’re like, okay, we should really do the direct bookings thing. I wish it was something we would have come out with right out of the gate, you know, before we even went on Airbnb and all of that.

Katie: So I think it’s, it’s crucial to do the direct booking first.

Gil: Yeah, yeah, I, I share the same mentality, which is kind of why we ended up starting like craft to stays as a company to help. People really build really good looking sites very early on without the really high upfront investment. But also like why we started this podcast is really to help people get really comfortable with direct bookings because it could seem very, very daunting to try direct bookings where it’s much easier for you to rely on the OTAs and have them bring everybody to you.

Gil: But starting direct bookings, you’re, you’re having to think about building your website, how to drive traffic to it. And my main goal is really to help. Folks really ease into it very early on in their journey, because it does take a little while to really build that momentum there. Um, and start to get your own direct booking from that.

Katie: Yeah, absolutely. And I think, you know, and it’s, it’s, it’s also companies like you, like with craft and state of skill where when we started, there wasn’t really anybody. So we kind of had, thank God my husband works in tech because he kind of already knew what to do. I worked in marketing, so it was easy for us to kind of bring our brains together and come up with it.

Katie: But I think the biggest thing now is too, is, um, being able to take the fear out The, the fear is the biggest thing. Cause you, you don’t know what you don’t know when you start something new. So as long as, you know, you have that opportunity to learn and grow and take those baby steps, it’s, it’s so worth it.

Katie: So,

Gil: Yeah, I think you may have answered one of the two questions that I usually end with, which might be a good transition towards that. Um, I usually ask two questions. One’s a mindset question. Um, and then the other one is really the big takeaway to the tactical, uh, takeaway, but kind of the first one there is like, what advice would you give to someone that’s starting something completely new?

Katie: I mean, my advice is embrace it. Embrace, I don’t want to say embrace the fear, but embrace the unknown. And I know that’s really, um, that can be a little cliche, but it’s true. Um, you don’t know what you don’t know, and you got to make progress over perfection. You can focus on perfection later, but taking those baby steps, doing your research, like Googling, getting, getting kind of just a base knowledge of things, and then building it off of that, I think is just.

Katie: Something that will not only one help you as an entrepreneur as a host, but also it’s, it’s going to help change the whole way you look at your business and growing your business. Um, so embrace the unknown because you, you grow through what you go through. That is my mentality and you gotta be able to grow.

Katie: If you go through something, regardless how, how, how hard it is, but. Be gentle to yourself. Like you’re gonna, you’re gonna stumble. Sometimes you’re gonna fall. You just gotta pick yourself back up, but you’re going to be a better person on the other side because of it.

Gil: love the early example of like going through some of those learnings with launching your motel, um, and some of the challenges you had to go through and what you came out of it as well. You Um,

Katie: all became well asked experts. That’s all I can say. We’re all well asked experts now at this point.

Gil: yeah. Um, so the last, last real question is what’s the one tactical thing that you want folks to really take away from today’s conversation? What’s that one thing that you want them to put in practice? Silence.

Katie: when building a brand? Like, start to really determine, like, who your avatar is. And start to figure and start to determine like how you want your avatar to View you and your short term rental your company um, because when you build that brand like think of a hilton think of North face like yes, like, you know what you’re going to get or the quality of the You don’t buy the product itself.

Katie: You buy the brand So take those, um, hard steps, those unknown steps and really start to think about what you want to be and who you want to be. And who you want to be to people. Um, it’s going to help you not only make your marketing spend go so much farther, um, in the long run, but it’s also going to start be something that people are like, Oh, I’ve stayed there before.

Katie: Oh, but they have a new one. I know that it’s going to be the same quality, the same standard as this one. It just might see more people. So build your brand because your brand is going to be the foundation of how you excel and drive your business and the experience you give your guests moving forward.

Gil: I love that. I love that. Thank you, Katie, for sharing kind of your entire journey of how you got to. into STRs in the first place, your journey into getting your first, first coasting client and the transition to, to your motels, and also giving us a glimpse of how you think about branding, how you think about marketing, how you think about direct bookings in general.

Gil: It was a wealth of knowledge. I appreciate you spending the time today.

Katie: Thanks for having me. This has been a ton of fun.

Gil: Thank you. Bye.

Katie: Thanks. Bye.