How to Promote Your Holiday Rental

You’ve put a lot of effort into creating a cosy and comfortable home away from home for travellers, but the hard part is just starting - ensuring that your holiday rental gets booked.

Here are a few useful ideas on how to promote your vacation property.

A Picture Speaks a Thousand Words

No matter how good you are with words, nothing speaks better of the quality of your property than a few well shot photos. Pictures are a huge factor in a traveller’s decision making process. Not only must they be top quality, but they must also show your prospective clients what they are most interested in.

What do travellers want to see?

First of all, the photos need to show the different rooms of the property, their size and other features. You also want to make sure that the pictures show clearly any high-end facilities the property has to offer, such as a fireplace in the living room or a TV, or the view from the rooms.

To make the room seem larger, remove any items that are not essential for the picture.

The New Trend: Shoot a Video

Though pictures are a great way to show your rental’s potential, a smart video can considerably increase your chances of getting booked. The main aspects you will want to focus on in your video are basically the same as in the case of the pictures.

However, there is an extra trick here that can truly make your property shine. Show them the good time they will have staying at your property.

Some tips to make your video special: 

• Film a cosy family party in the living room
• Talk to the camera. Walk the audience through the house, explaining the highlights
• Show them how much effort you put into preparing the house for guests
• Take them on a short visit of the surroundings

In short, make your prospective clients feel close to you through your video, and you can be sure you will have your house booked the whole season.

Build Your Own Website

Many rental owners overlook this source of advertising, thinking it’s just too complicated or too expensive. Even if you hire a professional developer, getting your own website won’t cost you that much – it’s typically around £100-£200 for the development and around $5 - $10 per month for hosting.

But, there are some excellent build your own website options available that make DIY very easy. You don’t have to be a whizz to produce something that looks professional. Make sure your site is easy to navigate and allows visitors to find out everything you want them to know about your property.

Include your photos and videos, a detailed description of the place, testimonials, a map, contact info and an “About Us” page. Pay great attention to the About Us page. 

As already mentioned, you want travellers to feel close to you, and the way you approach this section is very important in this regard. Pique people’s interest by including some of the history of your property and its time as a rental. Make it sound warm and welcoming and even funny, just like your rental property!

Get Social

Social media offers ground-breaking opportunities to promote your holiday rental and connect with prospective guests. Everybody is on Facebook, Twitter or similar platforms these days, and so should you.

·         Facebook – A professional Facebook page is the on-trend way to advertise your rental property and can generate bookings. It’s also the perfect opportunity to keep in touch with old guests and to interact with prospects. If you have any special offers and/or if you host some interesting events, don’t forget to post them and promote them on FB. Your fans will love them!

·         Twitter – It is a great way to connect with travel writers or potential guests, but make sure not to use it for blunt promotion. Twitter marketing is about conversation, connecting, and sharing thoughts and advice related to your niche.

·         Blogging – Despite all the hype around Twitter and Facebook, a well thought-out blog still remains a key ingredient for a strong social media strategy. Regularly post useful articles that would interest your guests, allow comments, and do your best to reply to all of them, so that you show you truly care about your audience.

Rental Listing Sites

Being listed on specialized directories is another great way to promote your holiday rental. They are very easy to work with and, if chosen carefully, can get you a lot of visitors. There are two main categories of rental sites: free and paid.

The free ones might not get you the same results as paid listings, but they are worth a try – they don’t cost you anything, after all. Even if you don’t get enough bookings directly through them, you can add your website URL there and thus get extra links to your site.

Some examples of good free listing sites are: 

• Adventure Pads
• Ski Lettings
• Troll Traveler
• Getawaydigs.com

Paid rental sites get the most traffic – which means a lot more potential clients for you – but they can also cost you quite a bit. Generally, the costs are around £200/year. However, getting listed on such sites can typically bring you 5-10 inquiries each month!

The most popular paid rental sites are:

• Homeaway.co.uk
• VRBO
• FLIPKEY
• Perfectplaces.com

As you can see, there’s quite some work involved to promote your holiday rental, but there’s no need to feel overwhelmed.

If you follow the tips presented above and, most importantly, deliver on the promises made, your property will be so booked up that “she” will wish she could run away on a holiday herself.