Social media is a great way to spread the word about vacation rental listings. There are millions of potential guests using social media sites daily. Facebook alone has over 1.5 billion active users. Vacation rental owners should take advantage of this audience to gain more exposure and bookings for their vacation rentals. Here are different ways owners can use social media to advertise their properties:
1. Once you decide to create a business page for your property, the best place to start is with your own friends and family. Take advantage of your Facebook friends by inviting them to like your new page. To do this, go to the new page, then select “Invite Friends to Like This Page” from the right sidebar. You can also create a post on your personal Facebook page announcing your new business page with a personalized message to encourage friends to hit the “Like” button.
2. Make sure your Facebook page is fully optimized. Include a link to your preferred booking website, and enable the “Book Now” button. Write a great description of your property and upload high-resolution photos. Categorize your rental as “Vacation Home Rental” so users can easily find your property.
3. Share interesting photos, and relevant information on your new page in order to keep followers engaged. This can include fun travel tips, things to do in the area, photos of your vacation rental, and more. Apart from this, make sure to share your vacation rental listing frequently along with any specials.
4. Use Facebook groups to bring more traffic to your vacation rental page. There are many groups where potential guests request the type of vacation rental they are looking for in order to receive offers from vacation rental owners directly.
5. Collect reviews from past guests on your Facebook page. Good ratings can have a positive impact on potential guests, allowing them to book your property with more confidence.
1. Instagram is the social network with the second largest amount of active users. Now that they have implemented a new “Story” feature to compete with Snapchat, this amount will only continue to increase.
2. Focus on the quality of your photos. Make sure to share interesting, creative photos and stray away from blatant advertisements. Share photos of your vacation home, nearby events, things to do in the area, etc.
3. While Facebook doesn’t let you engage much as a business page, Instagram is totally different. Liking posts related to the travel industry can help you gain followers quickly. Look up hashtags like #vacationrentals #travel or something related to the location of your property. Start liking posts, leaving comments, and following users that are interested in these topics.
4. Use lots of hashtags and location tags! Similarly to how you can search for potential guests in your niche using hashtags, people will be looking for you too. Take advantage of hashtags and location tags to gain more visibility for your profile and your posts.
5. Instagram recently implemented stories to their timeline, allowing users to post photos and videos in the moment similarly to Snapchat. Because this feature is still new, not many people post here. This is the perfect place and time for you to step it up and get your profile noticed.
Following these social media guidelines can help your vacation rental gain more exposure and more bookings. Read our vacation rental marketing guide for more tips. Register here to list your vacation rentals for free.
