Online marketing consulting

If you’re “full” on Booking.com and Airbnb but the bank account still feels tight, you don’t have a marketing problem. You have a leak problem. Owners in Halkidiki and Thessaloniki come to us after a season where occupancy looked good, reviews were fine, and yet profit was weirdly low. That’s usually when the real question appears: where exactly is the money escaping?

This consulting is for small tourism businesses that want a clear, disciplined way to find leaks across website, OTAs, ads, and daily operations, then fix them in the right order. It’s not for owners who want inspiration, trends, or “ideas.” If this feels uncomfortable, we are not for you, because we’ll look at numbers, friction, and habits that cost money.

Online marketing consulting (money-leak investigation)

Who this is for, and who it is not for

This is for boutique hotels, studios, villas, and small rentals that already have demand, but don’t trust the results. You might be spending on ads, paying OTA commissions, replying to guests all day, and still feeling like you’re running hard for too little. You want someone to map the leaks and tell you what to fix first, without turning it into a six-month “project.”

This is not for you if you want broad education, a rebrand, or someone to “handle everything.” It’s also not for you if multiple people are changing your website, ads, SEO, or booking engine at the same time and nobody owns the outcome. We’ve seen this fail many times: shared access turns into shared excuses, and you end up paying to chase ghosts.

The blunt truth: being full via OTAs can still mean low profit

A full calendar can hide weak pricing, bad channel mix, and unnecessary discounting. OTAs can also create a false sense of safety: “Bookings keep coming, so things must be fine.” Then you look closer and notice that you’re paying commission on your best weeks, while your direct channel stays quiet.

Another common trap is running Google Ads or boosted posts without tracking what actually converts. Clicks feel like progress, but clicks don’t pay staff, electricity, or repairs. If you can’t connect spend to confirmed bookings, you’re not marketing, you’re gambling with nicer graphs.

If you want a reference point for why this happens, it’s not theory. It’s basic channel economics and attribution, and the platforms don’t make it easy for small properties. Even Google’s own documentation admits how measurement can be incomplete if you don’t set it up properly: https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/10089681 and the ad side is the same story: https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/6095821.

What problem this solves in real operations

This solves the “I don’t know what to trust” problem. Owners usually have ten small issues and one big leak, and they treat them all as equal. They redesign the site, change the logo, post on social, answer messages faster, add a discount, then hope. Hope is expensive.

The investigation turns your messy situation into a leak map. We look at where guests come from, where they hesitate, where they drop, and where you overpay for the same booking. Then we set a fix order that matches how your business actually runs, not how a marketing blog says it should.

It also solves a quieter operational problem: decision fatigue. When you don’t have a routine, you end up reacting to every slow week like it’s a crisis. That leads to panicky discounts, wrong spend, and staff stress. A boring weekly decision routine beats heroic effort, season after season.

The leak map we use (and where it usually breaks)

We don’t “audit everything” for the sake of it. We check the points where money typically leaks in Greek tourism businesses, especially when the owner is busy and not tech-focused. The goal is to find the few things that change outcomes, not to create a long report you won’t read.

Website clarity (not design)

Most property sites don’t fail because they look old. They fail because the guest can’t answer basic questions fast: where is it, what exactly am I booking, what’s included, what’s the real total, and what happens if plans change. If those answers aren’t obvious, the guest goes back to the OTA because it feels safer.

We also look for trust gaps. Missing policies, unclear contact details, outdated photos, and vague room descriptions create hesitation. Hesitation is where direct bookings die, even if you have traffic.

For context on why clarity matters, this is not opinion. Usability and friction have been studied for decades, and even Wikipedia’s overview on usability is enough to remind you what users do when confused: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usability.

OTA mix and dependence

We look at which OTAs bring which type of guest, and what that guest costs you after commission, discounts, and payment terms. Many owners think “more channels” means “more safety,” but it often means more complexity and more price leakage. If your best weeks are sold mostly through high-commission channels, you’re paying extra for demand you already had.

We also check whether your OTA listings are training guests to distrust your site. If the OTA content is complete and your site feels thin, you’re basically telling the guest where to book.

Pricing logic (not “raise prices”)

We’re not here to push prices up or down. We’re here to check if your pricing has logic that matches your calendar patterns. Many properties do one of these two things: they keep prices flat until panic hits, or they discount randomly when a week looks empty. Both train the market to wait.

We look at how you price by day of week, lead time, minimum stay, and event weeks. We also look at how often you override your own rules because a guest asked nicely. This is where money leaks quietly, one “small exception” at a time.

Response time and message handling

Owners often answer fast, but not effectively. A fast reply that doesn’t remove doubt still loses the booking. We check how inquiries are handled across phone, email, WhatsApp, and platform messages, and whether you’re losing people between “interested” and “confirmed.”

This is where a tiny operational change can beat any ad campaign. If your conversion from inquiry to booking is weak, buying more clicks just buys more disappointment.

Booking engine friction

If the booking engine is slow, confusing, or fails on mobile, your direct channel bleeds. Guests don’t complain. They just disappear. We check for steps that feel like work, surprise fees, unclear cancellation rules, or a payment process that triggers fear.

Owners usually notice this after the first season of “we had traffic but no direct bookings.” The traffic was real. The friction was real too.

Google Business Profile and local trust

Your Google profile is often the first thing a guest sees, even before your website. We check whether it matches reality: correct category, photos, phone, location pin, and review handling. A messy profile makes you look unstable, even if your property is great.

Google’s own guidance shows how much this profile influences presence and actions, and it’s worth treating as an operational asset, not a marketing toy: https://support.google.com/business/answer/3038177.

Ad spend without tracking (the classic leak)

If you run ads without clean conversion tracking and a clear definition of “success,” you can’t manage spend. You can only argue about it. We check whether you can connect spend to outcomes you care about: confirmed bookings, qualified calls, or at least completed inquiry forms.

If you’re curious why this is so common, it’s because ad platforms are built to keep you spending. Even reputable industry tools talk openly about attribution limitations and why “traffic” is a weak KPI. You can see the general principle explained clearly by major SEO platforms like Ahrefs: https://ahrefs.com/blog/marketing-attribution/.

What changes after it’s in place

After the investigation, you stop guessing. You’ll know which two or three leaks are costing you the most, and which fixes will actually show up in your numbers. The biggest change is not “better marketing.” It’s fewer wrong actions.

You also get a fix order that respects operations. Not everything can be changed at once, especially in season. We prioritize what reduces waste first, then what increases direct revenue, then what improves long-term stability.

Finally, you get a weekly decision routine. This is the part owners keep, because it’s simple and boring and it works. You’ll know what to check, what to adjust, and what to stop, without needing to become a marketer.

What you get (and what it looks like in practice)

You don’t get a thick report. You get a working plan you can use while you’re also running a property. It’s written so you can hand it to your receptionist, your family member who helps, or your developer, and they’ll understand what needs to change and why.

• A leak map: where money is escaping across website, OTAs, pricing, response flow, booking engine, Google profile, and ads.
• A fix order: what to change first, second, and later, based on impact and operational risk.
• A simple weekly routine: what numbers to look at, what decisions they trigger, and what actions to stop doing when they don’t work.
• Clear boundaries: what we will not touch, and what must be stable before any optimization makes sense.

We keep it practical. If something is “nice to have” but won’t move profit, it doesn’t get priority. If something is risky in high season, we mark it as “off-season work” and move on.

Four scenarios we see all the time (and what they usually mean)

1) High calls, low confirmed bookings

You’re getting calls and messages, but many end with “I’ll think about it” or “I’ll confirm later.” This is rarely a traffic problem. It’s usually a trust and clarity problem, or a process problem.

Common causes include unclear total price, weak cancellation explanation, or guests wanting proof that the property is real. Sometimes it’s simply that the person answering is tired and gives short replies that don’t remove doubt. The fix is not “more ads.” The fix is reducing the reasons people hesitate.

2) Lots of ad clicks, no sales

This one burns money fast. You see activity, maybe even good click-through rates, but bookings don’t move. Owners often assume “ads don’t work for us.” The truth is usually that the ads are sending people to a page that doesn’t convert, or tracking is missing so you can’t see what’s happening.

Sometimes the clicks are the wrong intent. You’re paying for “things to do in Thessaloniki” traffic when you need “boutique hotel Thessaloniki center” intent. Sometimes the landing page loads slow on mobile and people leave. Without measurement, you’re blind, and blind ads are a leak by definition.

3) Guests trust OTAs more than your site

You can feel it in messages: “Can I book on Booking.com instead?” or “I prefer Airbnb for safety.” This doesn’t mean guests love commissions. It means the OTA feels clearer and safer than your direct path.

Usually your site is missing strong policy clarity, consistent photos, or an easy booking flow. Sometimes your direct price is not clearly better once the guest compares. The fix is not to fight OTAs emotionally. The fix is to make your direct channel feel equally safe, with fewer steps and fewer doubts.

4) Empty weeks despite discounts

This is where owners start cutting price and still see nothing. Discounting can hide the real issue: wrong minimum stay, wrong day-of-week pricing, or a calendar pattern you’re ignoring. In Halkidiki especially, a few empty gaps can destroy the season’s profit even if July looks great.

We look at your calendar like an operations problem, not a marketing problem. If your rules create “unbookable” patterns, no discount will save you. You’ll just sell the wrong nights cheaper and keep the gaps.

What this does not solve

This is not brand strategy. It won’t turn a weak product into a strong one, and it won’t fix location disadvantages. If your rooms don’t match guest expectations, marketing only brings the wrong guests faster, and then reviews punish you.

It also won’t fix internal chaos if you refuse to change habits. If you keep overriding prices randomly, answering inquiries inconsistently, or letting three people change settings without logging it, you will recreate the leaks. The plan can be clear and you can still choose to ignore it, and that’s your call.

And it won’t work in a “shared setup” where another agency is actively touching ads or SEO while we’re asked to optimize. When two parties change inputs, nobody can own the output. That’s not partnership, that’s confusion with invoices.

When this is a bad fit

This is a bad fit if you want someone to tell you what you want to hear. Sometimes the leak is a staff routine, a pricing habit, or an owner decision, and that can feel personal. We keep it calm, but we won’t pretend.

It’s also a bad fit if you expect daily hand-holding. The goal is a stable decision system, not dependence on us. You should be able to run your property without needing a weekly pep talk.

Finally, it’s a bad fit if you want social media campaigns as the main solution. We’re not doing that here. If the fundamentals leak, social just pours more water into a cracked bucket.

How to decide in business terms

The decision is simple: are you okay with not knowing where profit is leaking? If you’re okay, do nothing and keep running on instinct. Many owners do, and some survive because the area is strong.

If you’re not okay, then you need a map and a routine. Not motivation, not trends, not another redesign because you’re bored of the old one. A map that shows where the money escapes, and a weekly habit that keeps it from reopening.

If you want to meet on-site, bring three things so we can talk like adults and not like marketers: last month’s OTA statements, a screenshot or printout of your calendar pattern, and anything you have on ad spend or boosted posts. If you don’t have the ad info, say so. That alone tells us something.

Not sure where to start? Contact our local team for friendly, personalised advice and to arrange a meeting in person.

No shortcuts. No noise. Data analysis. Use only what works.