Column: Market Vacation Rental On Social Media

[Column written by Ade Brown]

Vacation rental owners should use social media to market their properties directly to a wide variety of potential guests. Social media can be used as a free advertising tool in reaching people all around the world.

People can come across your page simply by scrolling through their feed, and every post you make is an opportunity to get more bookings.

These are a few ways that social media can help you advertise your vacation rental:

1. Interact with Prospective Guests

Social media allows you to build relationships with potential guests. It gives you a platform to interact with many different people, helping your business to get in touch with prospective guests and converting them into bookings.

Do not be afraid to get creative and ask questions. For example, you can post a picture of a sunset view from your rental and caption the photo “Do you prefer sunrises or sunsets?” This way, guests will envisage having this beautiful view if they visit your property.

You aren’t just selling a place to sleep; you’re selling an experience. When writing captions and uploading images, consider how you can encourage comments, shares and likes. When people start to comment on your posts, be sure to immediately respond to each and every one of them in a friendly manner.

By interacting with people, your following will grow.

This will give your vacation rental business more credibility and attract new guests.

2. Partner with Local Businesses

Partnering with local businesses is a great way to provide experiences for your guests. You should develop good relationships with nearby scooter rental shops, taxi drivers, restaurants, and tour guides.

For example, you might share a deal like this on social media: “Anyone who rents for more than two nights in July gets a 5% discount on Billie’s Scooter Rentals, they deliver the bikes straight to our home!”

On the scooter rental side, they may be willing to keep your business cards or flyers at the cash register in return for your promotion of their business. Find what works for both parties. Either way, you both have something to gain!

3. Increase Brand Awareness

Create a brand name for your vacation rental and this will be the basis of your marketing.

This brand name can be the name of your property or if you have multiple properties you can come up with a general name for all such as “Smiths Rentals”. Once you have created this brand name, you can use it across all social media platforms and your website. This will give you credibility and higher exposure.

Moreover, you can use this brand name to create a special hashtag for your property so that whenever someone posts a picture of their vacation at your property this hashtag can lead people to see all other posts related to your property.

You should also use this hashtag when posting on your social media accounts.

4. Encourage Guests to Share Experiences

A happy guest can be your greatest asset. Encourage guests to share their vacation photos and experiences on their social media pages, and tag you as well as use your special hashtag. Be sure to comment on the guest’s post when they tag you, thanking them for staying at your property.

Building a relationship should be your goal and it will hopefully lead to a repeat guest or a great review.

Do not forget that success doesn’t happen overnight. Social media should only be one of the ways you market your vacation rental in conjunction with other outreach efforts.

It gives you the opportunity to directly interact with guests, give discounts and work with local businesses, all of which will help you attract more booking and loyal guests! If you want more helpful tips, find us on Facebook at AirHandled or contact me at ade.brown@airhandled.bm.

- Ade Brown is a co-founder of AirHandled, a start-up company that aims to provide linen-for-hire, cleaning, supplies and management services; catering to short term rental properties that list on websites like Airbnb, TripAdvisor, and Booking.com

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