If you want to increase how many bookings your vacation rental property gets annually, it’s a no brainer that you want to be using social media to spread the word.
The large majority of Americans use social media every day, especially when it comes time to book a vacation, so it makes sense that you would want to have a good social media presence.
There’s a lot of different platforms out there, but for the purposes of your vacation rental, the ones you should focus on to market yourself are Instagram, Facebook, and Google – these three are the most widely used and best for your purposes.
The main thing for these platforms is that you should have a name and brand for your property which describes in appealing terms what it is “Skyscraper Condo with Fabulous NYC Views” or “Beachfront paradise bungalow in Miami”.
Once you’ve taken this step, it’s time to turn to 5 concrete actions you should be taking to promote your vacation rental on social media and increase bookings.
1. Encourage social media check-in for your property
When people go on vacation, they love to share with their friends and family back home what they’re up to, and there’s no better way to facilitate that then to create a location on Facebook that they can check-in to online.
This will increase your exposure on social media, and the best part of all is how easy it is to create a check-in location.
In fact, Facebook is without a doubt the best option for marketing your property. So many people of all ages have Facebook accounts, so it makes sense to create a page for your rental.
This could have photos of your property, events going on in the area, and other local information that will create a valuable resource for your guests and create a buzz around your property.
2. Run advertisements on social media
Once your social media pages are created for your home, it’s time to publish advertisements that will lead prospective clients to those pages.
Instagram, Facebook, and Google all allow you to build advertisements and target them to people that may be interested, whether it’s due to geographical factors, family size and demographics, common interests, and more.
It’s easy to learn more about social media advertising and these platforms make this possibility very accessible to those interested.
What’s very important at this stage, though, is to make sure that anything you create and post should be edited and proofread.
There’s nothing less engaging and professional than a posting full of spelling mistakes – it looks rushed and people will tend to look elsewhere.
3. Start a hashtag for your property
Hashtags are a good idea for platforms like Instagram or even Facebook. If you have a catchy, funny, or engaging hashtag, you’re bound to get free and effortless advertisement.
Your guests will use the hashtag during their vacation photo posts and everyone will see what your property can offer.
Be sure to include your hashtag in key locations like Airbnb and VRBO. This is an extra area where guests can look at additional photos of your place and how fun it is.
If you struggle with the creative side of things and have trouble thinking of catchy content, try consulting Custom Essay Writing Service for ideas.
4. Give local suggestions
Travelers like to stay at vacation rentals because it allows them to live more like a local when they’re there.
Mary Winters, a writer at College Assignments Help, says that “this is your chance to use your social media profile to give recommendations about local hotspots: things to do, events going on, where to eat, and more.
You can also tag these businesses on social media and hopefully, they’ll share your post, expanding your reach to more viewers.”
5. Get as many reviews as possible
You want your rental to get tons of good reviews so others are more likely to book it. You can create a Google My Business page which is yet another platform for guests to rate their stay. If your home is listed in a few places, this will help collect reviews in one place.
