While we’re working hard to ensure that National B&B Week and all participants get as much local, regional and national media exposure as possible, you can play your part and ensure that your property also gets its own share of the limelight.
Click to download the National B&B Week participant pack containing banners, badges, logos, social media images, template press releases and more!
Below are our top tips to help you and your property get the most out of National B&B Week and promote your B&B like a pro.
1. Get Involved & Have Fun With It
From complimentary champagne on arrival, to serving guests breakfast in bed, or even offering free entry to local attractions, we’re asking B&B owners across the country to offer incredible experiences throughout National B&B Week. It should be something you wouldn’t usually offer to visitors – and the more unusual the better – from free beauty treatments, to workshops and classes, or even something more unusual – why not try and break a world record? The sky really is the limit!
For inspiration, check out some suggestions based on previous offers.
Ready with an offer? Submit it here!
When to do it: Straight away!
2. Keep Us In The Loop
Are you offering something special or unusual during the week? Are you hosting an event or have an interesting story to tell us about your property? As well as submitting your offer to the National B&B Week website, you might want to tell us about it! Email us with as much information as possible (the name of your accommodation, contact details and your story) at info@bandbweek.com. We’ll be in touch if we think it is something we can use in any PR activity in the hope of generating some media coverage for your accommodation.
When to do it: Whenever you have some information.
3. Shout & Share On Social Media
Twitter, Facebook & Instagram are great ways of getting the word out to a wider audience. Sharing a few posts in the lead-up to the event and then one a day during the week itself is a solid way to do it.
Consider pinning the below message to your Facebook or Twitter profile, so that any existing or prospective customers viewing your page can see that you’re participating.
Feel free to use the example post below on social media as it as it is, modify it to suit your needs or come up with your own one entirely! You’ll want to add a great image to illustrate your offer.
During the week itself, snap some pictures of your offer in action, push it out through all your social channels, and encourage guests to do the same.
4. Use #BandBWeek & Other Hashtags
Hashtags are used to categorise social media content and allow a wider audience of people to discover it. When someone interested in a topic searches for a hashtag, they’re able to see all the posts that have used that tag, even if they’re not following the users that created them.
Remember to use #BandBWeek in all social media posts to get noticed!
It’s also best practice to get into the habit of hashtagging your posts with relevant hashtags – such as #bedandbreakfast or #bandb – to get the attention of people who are searching Instagram for a place to stay.
5. Use National B&B Week Logo & Banners On Your Website & Social Media
Download the participant pack to access a range of profile pics and header images for use on social media, as well as a logo and badges for your website, to show that you’re a loud and proud participant of National B&B Week.
Like the pinned post mentioned above, this will make it easy for your customers to see that you’re participating, and we know from last year that potential guests look out for these when booking.
When to do it: As soon as you can.
6. Contact Your Local Press
Offering something interesting for National B&B Week? Well, there’s a good chance that your local paper, radio or TV station will want to hear about it.
If you are doing something fun in National B&B Week, reach out to your local paper, radio station and even TV news desk to tell them about it. They are always looking for interesting new things to cover, and this could do wonders for promoting your business.
To get the attention of the press, remember to keep your message snappy and relevant, focussing on what’s interesting about your property and offer.
When to do it: As soon as you can.
7. Put Out Your Own Press Release
When you contact the press you might want to write a press release explaining what you’re doing. We’ve put together a press release template for you to customise and send on to any press contacts you have, or add to your website. You can access the template press release in the downloadable participant pack.
When to do it: As soon as you can.
8. Write A Blog Post
Does your website have a blog? If so, write a post about your involvement in National B&B Week – don’t forget to include some nice pictures of you and your property. You can then promote this blog post on your social media channels, using #BandBWeek.
When to do it: As soon as you can.
9. Engage Your Local MP
National B&B Week is a great chance for your MP to champion local businesses taking part in this national initiative, so let them know what you’re up to. When you tweet about National B&B Week, tag your MP, or invite them along to your property for a visit, especially if you are hosting a fundraising event for the Family Holiday Association! MPs are usually in their constituencies on a Friday. We saw lots of MPs visiting properties in their constituencies last year, including the Tourism Minister.
You can easily find your local MP on Twitter with this tool. Just click “MP List” to see all the eligible MPs in alphabetic order.
When to do it: As soon as you can.
10. Get Your Guests Involved
In the downloadable participant pack you will find a printable postcard promoting National B&B Week to print out double-sided on A4 card for all of your guests. It contains a bit of info on the week to get them excited, and the information they need if they want to share their own National B&B Week experiences online.
From the 16th to 22nd March, simply print these postcards out and distribute appropriately. Last year, many B&Bs left postcards on the table for breakfast, and they went down a treat!
When to do it: From 16th to 22nd March
11. Support The Family Holiday Association
National B&B Week is proudly supporting the Family Holiday Association, who provide short breaks to struggling families facing some of the toughest challenges life can bring.
Why not organise a coffee morning, afternoon tea, or cake sale, with proceeds going to the FHA and perhaps invite your local MP, or buy the B&B cookbook with all proceeds again going to the charity.
B&B owners are invited to offer two-night stays in their accommodation to families through the charity during National B&B Week and beyond. Or for users of the eviivo booking system, there is an option to add a donation element to your booking site so that customers have the choice to donate £1 to the charity at the point of booking.
If you’re interested in supporting their incredible charitable work, helping families struck by severe or long-term illness, mental health issues, bereavement or domestic violence please let us know using this form.
When to do it: As soon as you can.
Remember, National B&B Week is all about you – the hardworking host. By getting involved and shouting about the event you can help us make #BandBWeek even more of a success!
Offers will be here soon!
Around National B&B Week