Marketing Tips and Best Practices to Promote Your Vacation Rental

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If you own a property as a vacation rental business, your main objective undoubtedly is to book reservations and receive good reviews so that more travelers want to stay at your place.

Offering a five-star experience with excellent amenities and all the comforts a guest could need is essential, but the path to success for your vacation rental business begins even before travelers arrive at your home.

It all starts on the Internet when people search for where to stay during their trip. The demand for vacation rentals is booming, with most people nowadays looking to vacation in private houses and apartments instead of hotels.

But your property needs to be seen before it can be reserved! This is where digital marketing comes into play, and will help make your rental one of the first options any traveler will consider.

Here are the best marketing tips and practices that you should use to promote your vacation rental and get all those reservations you expect to have!

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Create an Eye-Catching Ad with Professional Photography

Phones nowadays come with great cameras, so it might seem easy to take the photos yourself. However, professional photos really add up to a lot in vacation rental listings.

An Evolve study showed that ads featuring professional property photos have more than 300% views than ads using amateur photos.

People are visual, so high-quality photographs will make your property stand out. Hire a professional photographer and –if you can– invest in drone photography to show your property from different aerial angles. Doing so will absolutely set you apart from other listers!

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Strategically Price Your Home

Chances are there are other vacation rental homes in the area that are similar to yours, whether it be size, number of bedrooms, amenities, etc.

When all the listings offer virtually the same thing, it’s the price (and the reviews) that end up being the deciding factor for travelers.

Therefore, it’s important that you choose a competitive price for your rent. Not too high, because you’re not going to find customers, and not too low, because you’d be losing the opportunity to obtain a higher income.

These tips can help you set the right price:

• Stay informed of the cost of other vacation rentals in your area, especially those similar to yours, so you can set a fair and attractive price compared to them. Do some research every 3 months or so to always have the best cost for both parties (you and the guests).
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• Remember that in the high season the prices of all accommodations tend to rise. This includes when there are local events that increase travel to your location. These cases are good opportunities to change the cost of renting your house and make a higher profit.

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List Your Ad Somewhere Renters Will See

List your vacation rental on the most popular platforms where travelers search for accommodation in houses and apartments, such as Airbnb, VRBO, HomeAway, Booking, Expedia, and Homestay.

It might be too much work to keep up with guest inquiries across multiple platforms, but you can easily hire a property management company to take care of it all. Just keep in mind that your income will be less, since these companies keep a commission on the income from your property.

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Use Social Media to Your Advantage

Social media has become one of the best showcases to sell all kinds of products and services, and also to promote vacation rentals!

With billions of users on Facebook and Instagram, there's plenty of potential for your property to grab someone's attention.

To properly use social media for advertising your property we recommend the following:

• Create company pages to give all the information about your vacation rental. Post photos, give travel recommendations, and have an active conversation with people interested in traveling to the destination where your property is located.

• Post frequently so that your followers have you on their radar. Don't forget to use relevant hashtags to make it easier for travelers to reach your content.

• Always respond to comments and private messages you receive. This builds trust and will help more travelers feel confident when booking from you.

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Receive Five-Star Reviews

Receiving positive reviews and, better yet, five stars, is undoubtedly a crucial aspect for your vacation rental business.

On major accommodation platforms, properties with five-star reviews are prioritized in search results, making them more visible to travelers. Conversely, if you have one or two-star reviews, not only will your property drop in search results, but travelers who see it will likely not click on it, seeing as previous guests didn’t enjoy their stay.

How can you get your vacation rental to receive five-star reviews? Here are some quick tips:

• Make sure that your house has high standards of cleanliness and that all the amenities that you offer are in good condition.
  
  
• Help your guests with everything they may need before, during, and after their stay.
  
  
• Whenever a problem with your accommodation is reported to you, try to solve it as soon as possible. If it can't be resolved quickly, then provide guests with alternate options that will temporarily fix the issue.
  
  
• Ask your guests to leave you a review. To make it easier for them, share the link where you want them to leave the review.

After following these recommendations, your vacation rental is sure to always have a high occupancy rate and will be a good source of additional income for you!

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Are you looking for a new property to convert into a vacation rental?

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If you’re looking for a new investment property in a destination that offers incredible returns on your rental business, you’ve come to the right place.

At Tao Mexico, we have exclusive real estate developments in the top beach destinations in Mexico: Puerto Vallarta, Los Cabos, and the Riviera Maya. We can offer you luxury apartments with premium amenities, 24/7 security, and a premier location in every destination we operate in.

Our properties are perfect for vacation rentals as they have everything luxury travelers are looking for to spend some relaxing days in paradise.

‍Get in touch with us, our agents will be happy to show you the properties we have available and help you answer any of the questions you may have!

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