6 Digital Marketing Tips for Vacation Rentals: Earn More Bookings
Improve your vacation rental bookings with SEO, email, social media, and content marketing. Form channel partnerships for broader reach. WebFX helps achieve your goals.
-
insights from 38,900+ hours of hospitality marketing experience
Digital marketing for vacation rentals is a crucial aspect of the travel industry. Your vacation rental must compete with the other lodging options available to travelers, and with an effective marketing strategy, you can do exactly that.
On this page, we’re diving into six digital marketing tips for vacation rentals to help you earn more bookings and revenue, so just keep reading!
For more marketing tidbits to get your revenue soaring, subscribe to our marketing newsletter, Revenue Weekly.
6 Digital marketing tips for vacation rentals
Digital marketing is a must for vacation rental owners, and you have many options! Here are six ways to get your vacation rental noticed online:
- Leveraging channel partnerships
- Keyword marketing
- Email marketing
- Social media marketing
- Content marketing
- Search engine optimization (SEO)
1. Leveraging channel partnerships
When it comes to digital marketing for vacation rentals, channel partnerships can be one of the best options to gain visibility. Channel partnerships are partnerships between two companies that offer complimentary products or services.
By teaming with a channel partner, you can increase your reach and gain access to their audience. Additionally, many of these partnerships provide other benefits, such as cross-promotion and training.
Many vacation rental owners access these partnerships through online booking sites like Airbnb, VRBO, and Booking.com.
Let’s take a look at each of them individually:
- Airbnb: Airbnb is a peer-to-peer vacation rental marketplace where people worldwide list their homes on the site. With over 6 million listings worldwide, Airbnb has an enormous audience. However, this platform still has ample competition.
- VRBO: VRBO is smaller than Airbnb but offers a large selection of properties to suit your needs. If you list a luxury property at a competitive price, using VRBO is an efficient way to get it booked quickly and easily.
- Booking.com: Booking.com is a juggernaut in the world of vacation rentals. The site has over 28 million listings on its platform and provides services to over 220 countries, making it an ideal place to advertise your private vacation rental.
As a vacation rental property owner or manager, you may want to partner with one or all of these booking sites to expand your reach and attract more clients.
2. Keyword marketing
With vacation rentals on the rise, you have new opportunities to reach your customers. Keyword marketing can help you get the most out of your vacation rental business by allowing you to target specific phrases people search for when looking for accommodation.
Research on Google, ask your clients what words they used when looking for a place to stay, or use a tool like KeywordsFX to find the best keywords.
Understanding your keywords will help you:
- Find your target audience faster.
- Draft content more relevant to what people look for and want to read.
- Increase the visibility of your brand.
- Write more compelling headlines to attract attention, get clicks, and improve your SEO.
3. Email marketing
Email marketing is another excellent way to reach customers already interested in your vacation rental. You can use email marketing software to send out emails with information about your rentals to encourage your guests to book with you. Here are four email marketing strategies you can try out:
Ensure you have an email list
To succeed with email marketing, you need to have a list of people interested in what you offer. Whether it’s an email list from a previous vacation rental business or an opt-in email list for your current one, having something to start with will increase your success.
Send relevant emails
Include content that is relevant to your audience. When creating an email marketing strategy for vacation rentals, the first thing to remember is that your audience may be looking for a getaway at any time of year. They may have specific dates in mind or know when they need some time away from work or home life. Create email content that speaks directly to those needs and desires.
For example, suppose you have a vacation rental business in Florida with summer availability. In that case, you might send an email with tips on staying cool during the hot weather with an accompanying booking offer.
Have clear goals
Make sure your emails focus on one key goal at a time, rather than trying to accomplish several things simultaneously. Honing in on a single objective helps keep your messaging clear and on target.
Inspire your guests
Use email to inspire guests regarding what they can expect from your properties—and, even more importantly, why those experiences matter. If prior guests left raving reviews, place them front and center in your emails.
4. Social media marketing
Looking for ways to expand your audience and get more people interested in booking with you? You can use social media marketing to:
- Promote your business and its offerings.
- Answer questions from potential guests.
- Build relationships and connect with people in the travel community.
- Encourage people to book with you instead of somewhere else.
Leverage the most popular social media platforms to curate a social media presence that matches your brand and goals:
If you already have a Facebook page, great! If not, get one up and running as soon as possible. You can use this page to communicate directly with potential guests, share information about upcoming events, or run targeted campaigns.
Instagram’s visual nature makes it ideal for showcasing the beauty of your vacation rental. Try posting pictures and reels of the area around your property, as well as interior shots of its rooms and common areas, so people can get a sense of the interior before they book their stay.
Pinterest is another fantastic option because it allows users to save pins for later reference. If someone finds something they like on your page, they can put your posts on the vacation planning board they’ll use when deciding where to go the next time they plan a trip.
5. Content marketing
Content marketing involves creating, publishing, and sharing information with your target audience to attract customers and increase organic sales. Content marketing often aims to turn a prospect into a customer by helping them solve a problem or answer a question. When done well, this effort leads to brand loyalty and repeat business.
Content marketing allows you to:
- Increase visibility and drive traffic to your website.
- Build relationships with potential guests before they book their trips.
- Increase the number of repeat visitors who come back year after year.
6. Search engine optimization (SEO)
Search engine optimization (SEO) is an excellent way to help your vacation rental business stand out on search engines.
SEO is the process of getting your vacation rental site listed at the top of search results when people search for your type of rental. Since almost half of all Google searches relate to local businesses, it’s safe to say SEO is here to stay.
Many factors affect how well a website ranks in search engines and what makes one site better than another—such as its content quality and design.
Our digital marketing campaigns impact the metrics that improve your bottom line.
See More Results
WebFX has driven the following results for clients:
$6 billion
In client revenue
24 million
Leads for our clients
7.14 million
Client phone calls
Increase your vacation rental bookings with WebFX
Ready to attract more guests to your vacation rental? SEO, email marketing, social media management, and other digital marketing channels can help you succeed. That’s why we made it our mission to help owners of vacation rentals reach their goals. From website design and development to search engine optimization, WebFX has over 500 experts ready to help.
We’ll work with you to create a custom plan that meets your specific needs and budget. Our team will execute that plan and ensure everything gets done right. Bring the advantages of online marketing to your vacation rental business by contacting WebFX today or calling 888-601-5359.
We Drive Results for Vacation Rental Companies
- Dedicated account manager backed by 500+ digital experts
- Renowned for our communication and transparency
Solving key challenges for vacation rentals
We’re not driving enough traffic to our website
Our SEO and web design services help increase your website’s ranking in the search results when people search for your travel services or vacation spots, so you can enjoy more web traffic and sales.
We’re expanding
Set your new hotel or location package up for future success with compelling web pages and marketing messages that get your new location in front of your audience where they spend their time.
We’re not selling enough of our packages
Not selling enough of your trip packages or missing out on hotel sales? We can help you provide a seamless user experience on your website and craft personalized marketing messages that encourage your visitors to purchase your packages.
We’re not attracting new customers
Our marketing specialists help you launch strategies that expand your reach and online visibility so more people can discover your travel services online.
