Succesful strategies on how to market a vacation rental property

As a vacation rental property owner, marketing your property is crucial to the success of your business. However, it can be challenging to find effective ways to gain the exposure needed to attract more guests. 
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Here are some Airbnb marketing tips, online and offline, to help you get the word out and attract more guests to your short-term rental.

Marketing strategies for vacation rentals

List your website on multiple short-term rental platforms

While many homeowners start their journey by putting their properties on Airbnb, it's also crucial to start listing your property on other similar websites to Airbnb. Think Vrbo, Stayz, Booking.com, Expedia, and the like — knowing where to list short-term rentals and making sure that your property is listed on all of these websites can maximise your potential visibility and income.

If you're listing your property on multiple websites, consider using short-term rental channel managers to reduce workload and pricing/booking discrepancies.

Optimise your property listing

Marketing your Airbnb listing doesn't stop at posting it — you should also curate it in a way that showcases the best of your property. Some key factors to consider include:

• Using high-quality and professional and well-lit photos,
• write accurate and descriptive descriptions with catchy titles,
• build trust with positive reviews and making a detailed profile page as a host,
• getting your short-term rental pricing strategy right, and maybe offer last-minute discounts to attract more guests.

Active social media marketing

‍Social media marketing can be a great tool to increase visibility for your short-term rental for free and reach a wider audience. After all, it allows you to get in touch directly with potential guests and get direct feedback. Include the following marketing channels:

• Social media apps: create a business page on Facebook, TikTok, or Instagram, and start sharing news and updates about your property. Make sure to share a mix of photos and videos to really make your rental shine. 
• Airbnb forums: joining community forums is a great way to both seek and offer advice and support to potential guests. It highlights your skills as a host and provides you with a (now invested) audience that could become your guests in the future.
• Podcasts: contributing to Airbnb podcasts is a great way to get free advertising while giving value to someone else. Connect with journalists or podcast hosts who are looking for industry experts to contribute to their series. Once you’ve established yourself as a thought leader in the space, you’ll attract a whole host of new guests to your short-term rental.
• Guest blogging on Airbnb blogs and other websites: Guest posting on other sites is a great way to increase your reach without added costs. Search for travel and leisure blogs online related to property and tourism, reach out and ask if they are looking for a guest post on a topic you know well, and provide them with this information, for free. Make sure to add links to the article to direct readers to your property booking page.
• Email marketing: promote your services while developing long-lasting relationships with potential guests. Start by building a list of targeted leads and design your emails to be personable and engaging. Remember to always allow people to opt-in or out to follow privacy principles for your area.

Build your own website

Direct booking websites for short-term rentals tend to have lower platform fees, since you won't be advertising or using any of the services of short-term rental platforms. Should you consider this option, ensure that you still follow short-term rental SEO strategies suuch as:

• ‍‍Have a clean and modern website,
• show clear photos and videos of your property with a brief description of its amenities,
• list your social media channels on your website so people can keep updated on any news and offers you might have.

Networking

One of the most powerful ways to promote your short-term rental property is through word-of-mouth. Start small by talking about it to people you know, such as friends, family, and acquaintances. You can also consider going to networking events to connect with other people in your industry and stay updated on the latest  trends in short-term rental management.

Another form of word-of-mouth marketing comes directly from your guests. Positive reviews from five-star experiences can encourage guests to recommend your short-term rental to their friends and family, or even talk about you online on Google Reviews. This is one of the more effective ways of Airbnb marketing, which can lead to a sustained increase in occupancy rates and exposure for your property.

Partner with Hometime for short-term rental marketing and more

The world of short-term rental and Airbnb marketing has many facets: from offline marketing to social media and email marketing, the work can add up quickly and become too much to manage by yourself, especially if you're managing multiple short term rentals.

While self-managing your rental is always an option, working with Airbnb management can more often than not improve your property's occupancy, returns, and more with the following services:

• Property onboarding: We’ll help you navigate local Airbnb rules for homeowners so you can list your home on Airbnb and alternative websites as quickly as we can so you can start getting bookings ASAP.
• Airbnb cleaning services: We’ll find the best cleaners for regular cleans and restocking between stays, paid for using the built-in cleaning fee from the booking. No need to pay out of pocket between guest stays.‍
• Guest communication and management: Guests enjoy every part of their stay, from making the booking, checking in, checking out, and everything in between. This includes taking care of maintenance issues quickly, providing alternatives for late-night arrivals, and even meeting them in person when needed!‍
• Property maintenance: Hometime’s local Airbnb experts will sort out all your maintenance needs to make both you and your guests happy. We’ll also do our best to get you the best rates for services in the area due to our close relationships with local businesses.
• Airbnb pricing optimisation by combining expert market insights with short-term rental pricing tools.

When hosts switch to Hometime, we saw an 11% rise in occupancy and a 9% revenue increase during peak season after implementing our strategies.

Know more about how we can help manage your short-term rental listing by scheduling an obligation-free chat below:‍

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