Direct Booking Audit & Strategy
how do I cut OTA fees and grow rental revenue?
The ecosystem audit and strategy built for hospitality, focused on direct bookings and OTA dependence. One property per market.
Ecosystem Audit & Strategy
Find Where YourMarketing Leaks
Most audits look at one channel at a time. Your customers don’t move one channel at a time. We map the full loop of your marketing with real data, from what brings people in to what brings them back, then build the strategy for fixing what leaks and growing what works.
from the audit files
The Damage Shows UpSomewhere Else
A B2B software company cut its search ad spend by about two-thirds in one month. The dashboard looked clean. Paid traffic fell about as much as spend, and organic search barely moved. Then we looked further downstream, in the CRM.
2/3of search ad spend cut in one month
40%fewer leads coming straight to the website
1 yearlater, those leads were still down about 40%
No report connected the two. The ad platform only counts its own clicks, and the CRM filed those leads under “direct website.” The link lived in the gap between two systems. That gap is what an ecosystem audit is built to find, and what the strategy is built to fix.
what we map
The Whole Loop, in One Picture
Our starting point for any industry. We follow your marketing from the first place someone hears about you to the reason they come back.
- feeds
What Feeds You
Content, PR, search, paid media, partners and the channels you rent, like marketplaces and OTAs.
- captures
What You Capture
Your website, forms, CRM, tracking and the systems that turn attention into revenue.
- keeps
What You Keep
The customer experience, reviews, email and loyalty that bring people back.
what you get
Everything You Need to Decide What’s Next
The audit shows you how your marketing actually works today. The strategy tells you what to change, in what order and what it should cost.
1
the audit
What the Data Shows
- Your ecosystem mapEvery channel, system and touchpoint that feeds your business, drawn as one picture your whole team can read.
- The leak reportWhere attention, leads and revenue slip out between channels and systems, and what each leak is likely costing you.
- Owned vs. rentedWhich channels you control, which you rent and how much of your business depends on each.
data fromGA4ad accountsCRMSearch Consolereviewsbooking or sales data
2
the strategy
What to Do About It
- Prioritized actionsWhat to do first, second and third, ranked by impact and effort.
- Grow, hold or cutWhich channels and systems to invest in, which to maintain and which to stop paying for.
- Budget directionWhere your money and your team’s time should go, and what to stop paying for.
- A realistic timelineThe order and pace that fits your team, your season and your tech stack.
- Measures to trackThe numbers that show whether it’s working, set up so you can check them yourself.
Ecosystem Audit & Strategy
Fixed fee for a single business or location. Multi-location organizations and portfolios are quoted.
From $5,000
for hospitality
In Hospitality, It’s the Direct Booking Audit & Strategy
The ecosystem audit and strategy built around direct bookings and OTA dependence.
Your website, OTA presence, social, reputation, brand, AI and voice visibility and revenue gaps, with a competitive analysis and a strategic plan your team can run. $5,000, delivered in four weeks.
One property per market. Some markets are already spoken for. Ask whether yours is open.
after the audit
Then Make It Real
A strategy only matters once it’s running. Run it with your own team, hand pieces to your current partners or bring us in to set up the systems, campaigns and processes it calls for.
in their words
What Clients Say
“Kelley has an incredible ability to bridge the gap between creative storytelling and data-driven strategy.”
“With Waterwheel Marketing you don’t just get technical and strategic support, you get marketing therapy as well!”
questions
Before You Request the Audit
Who is it for?
Any business whose customers don’t buy in a straight line: hospitality brands, B2B companies, nonprofits and service businesses. For hotels and resorts, it becomes the Direct Booking Audit & Strategy.
How is it different from your other audits?
The Ad Account Audit & Strategy and the Visibility and Audience Audit & Strategy each go deep on one part of the loop. This one looks at how all the parts work together, which is where most leaks hide.
Do we have to hire you to carry out the strategy?
No. The strategy is yours. Run it yourself, hand pieces to your current partners or bring us in for the parts you want help with.
We have more than one location. Does that change the price?
Yes. The fixed fee covers a single business or location. Multi-location organizations and portfolios are quoted, since the work grows with each property, brand or market.
What do you need from us?
A kickoff conversation about your goals, plus access to the tools you already use, like your analytics, ad accounts and CRM.
Confirm: Check this matches the access you ask for.start here
Let’s MapWhere You Are
Tell us what you’re trying to build. We’ll tell you what the audit would look at first, what the strategy would need to answer and what it would cost.
every account, asset and system stays yours. always.
asking a different question?
Pick a Different Roadmap
See the audit
Ad Account Audit & Strategy
where’s my ad money wasted, and where should it go?
An independent review of your Google, Meta or other ad accounts, plus a strategy for where your budget should go next.
Visibility and Audience Audit & Strategy
are we showing up where our customers look?
Where you show up today, where your audience actually looks and a strategy for closing the gap.