Marketing your Rustenburg Guest House
Rustenburg in the North West Province of South Africa, is the perfect setting for a guest house. It’s located on the foothills of the Magaliesberg mountain range, in the heartland of some of the world’s largest Platinum Mines and only half an hour’s drive from Sun City. The Pilanesberg National Park is also a big tourist attraction where the Big Five can be viewed in a malaria-free environment.
A diversity of business people, mining contractors, local and foreign tourists visit Rustenburg on a regular basis and therefore several guest houses were established over the years. Due to the competitiveness in the accommodation industry, marketing of your guest house is essential. A marketing plan is needed to effectively market your guesthouse. Time, effort and money can be wasted when marketing randomly to the wrong people.
Any successful marketing plan has at its foundation two very important issues that need to be address i.e.:
- Who is your audience and who isn’t?
- What makes your guest house special?
Who is your audience and who isn’t
You want to identify the main audience you need to target. Your target might be completely different to the next guest house target. It all depends on the type of services you offer. For example, a guest house that offers basic accommodation will have a different target audience than a guest house offering luxury rooms and might also have a different target to a guesthouse that offers conference facilities or a wedding venue.
There are different target groups for different offerings, for example; locals from Rustenburg might be interested in your conference facilities or wedding venue, but wouldn’t necessarily book a room.
Visitors from outside Rustenburg might be more interested in booking a room. Marketing your rooms on a lamppost or in the local newspaper will for example not reach your target group. They might only see your advert once they arrive in Rustenburg and by that time had made a booking through your competition’s website, which they’ve probably found on ShowMe Rustenburg.
What makes your guest house special?
The success of any guest house depends on it being able to provide something better, cheaper or more conveniently than the competition. This is what will attract your guests in the first place, and is what will make them come back.
To determine if your guest house is better, cheaper or more conveniently located than other guest houses, you will need to study your competition for what they offer, at what price, as well as where they are located in relation to you and the main attractions in and around Rustenburg.
They might cater for contractors and you for tourists. You offer luxury units they offer basic accommodation. You are closely located to the N4 highway with easy access to Sun City, they are located closer to the Platinum Mines.
Through your marketing, you should highlight exactly what you offer and what makes your guest house great. With the correct Marketing Strategies, you will not only reach the correct target audience but can communicate your guest house’s unique value proposition through various mediums and different methods.