Are New Marketing Applications A Liability For Short Term And Holiday Rental Businesses?
I am seriously losing track of which apps (short for applications) I've installed and what technology I am trialing from the start up sphere. Some of you will be scratching your heads wondering what the heck is this article is about. Others will sympathise and probably have a Ripl, Screencastify, IStock (essential I think - to compliment an amazing holiday rental accommodation image gallery) Shopify, SumoMe, Mail Chimp, WeVideo, Netflix, Canva (...) application running either on their desktop or mobile device.
All these new start up's promising the world. New innovations to simplify processes, trendier, hip ways of doing cool stuff for your business. Commerce is so fast paced now with digital technologies. It's really tricky to keep up - or even keep ahead to be competitive.
Remember that all the time you spend downloading and trialing new solutions are a cost to you as a business manager. Some of that investment will pay off. Other times you may find that placing too much focus on new technologies may in fact be a liability to your operation.
You might be a start up yourself. "A startup company (startup or start-up) is an entrepreneurial venture which is typically a newly emerged, fast-growing business that aims to meet a marketplace need by developing a viable business model around an innovative product, service, process or a platform." (Wikipedia - however reliable that is!).
Technically (pardon pun), I am a start up. I'm not a tech start up but a start up nonetheless. Actually Welcome In has been in start up mode for roughly seven years now. I know this because I was pregnant with my second son, Marshall, who is now six. OMG - time, flying!
So getting back on the subject I sometimes stop and realise that I am in fact getting sucked into the vortex within the start up sphere. This is when I actually lose control of exactly what I have signed up for, downloaded, subscribed (sometimes a paid subscription - can you believe how expensive Linked In Premium is these days but OMG I have to have it....).
I often download the app, which is conveniently available for mobile devices, then my space runs out (because I really need to download another app or I've taken too many photos) and so I delete it thinking I will download it again in the future. Before you know it six months have passed and then a monthly subscription fee shows up on my statement - ARGGHHHH! - the shocking part about this is that I have actually paid for a subscription but haven't used it for months and months. Hmm. Naughty! I guess I can at least claim them as businesses expenses for research!
Yes I know some are quite evidently amazing. Like Netflix - how can anyone watch free to air TV now! Yes I know this is an entertainment app. There are others like WeVideo that are fantastic too but oh dear they now charge to receive what you did for free 12 months ago. Be wary of this. The art is to test in the free trial and then be realistic and know that it is very likely that this start up will recognise their worth (because they will be using metrics like adopter growth) and switch into monetisation phase - this essentially means they will start charging you to use their application. At some time they have to make money to be viable. Just like you need to invest in marketing to grow your holiday rental business by attracting more visitors to your site who make more bookings!
I guess the point of this article is to have fun, give new technology a go. I personally really value Canva for marketing communications graphics. My advice is to give it all a go but keep a close eye on what you sign up for particularly if there is a subscription fee involved and you missed the small print that says your subscription will be auto-renewed every month until you opt out!
I feel like I'm getting to that stage in my career where I know a bit about the short term and holiday rental accommodation industry in Australia and so if you'd like to read more articles to help you grow and sustain your operation/ business you might like to subscribe (free) to receive my blog articles in your lovely inbox.
I'm also on Facebook! Instagram & Linked In!
Have a superb day!
Cheers
Natalie :)
How To Find Your Holiday Rental a Guest
It's a bit like winning friendships. you have to put yourself out there first and foremost. Is your holiday rental profiled online? If the answer is no, pause and fix that straight away, then come back and read on.Part one: how to find your holiday rental a guest.Part two: maintaining a longer term holiday rental guest relationship.This article will focus on part one and cover exposure, presentation and consistency with your holiday rental's digital profiles.There is plenty of competition out there but, if profiled well, you will find a good match for your holiday rental. Hopefully your prospective holiday rental guest will enjoy the time spent in your holiday rental and want to come back for more (that's a bit more about part two: maintenance).First up you need to focus on these areas for the best chance of standing out amongst the crowd. If you're after a quick fix then you may focus on presentation to grab their attention. If you want your guests to keep scrolling/ reading your holiday rentals need a little personality. The prospective holiday rental guest is looking for evidence of how you will focus on their best guest experience.Also, like with friendships, some tastes are different to others so be as descriptive as possible. Good quality images that tell an honest story about what they can expect when they stay in your holiday rental. Don't waste their time pretending to be something/one you're not.To break it down;Exposure: So your holiday rental can be found.AdvertiseYou must exist online to be found these days. Google, booking portals and OTA’s do generate holiday rental bookings but be mindful about your work load and capacity to maintain multiple listings.Social MediaMastering one social media channel at a time will increase your holiday rentals exposure.OptimisationWhile you make every effort to exist online there is very little point in doing so unless you are using your key words. Think about how you search for products and services online. The same applies with the search for the ideal holiday rental. Key words being "holiday rental", "accommodation", "{your region}", "{best tourism experience}", "{best property and holiday rental experience features]". Write and repeat, and repeat, and repeat...Refer paragraph three. Can you see how much I've mentioned holiday rental? Well - that's a little bit of overkill. Try and tone it down to subtle key word, and convincing, inclusions if possible.Partnerships & AffiliationsConnect with grass roots and other tourism stakeholders. Explore ways in which you can cross promote your goods and services.Presentation: To grab their attention.ImageMake sure your holiday rental looks professional. Use good quality content – images and descriptions using key words.PersonalityYou’re selling a leisure experience not a property. Highlight the best spaces in the holiday rental, the best local attractions and grass roots tourism experiences, throw in a splash of colour or human interest. Create ambience with your images.IdentityConsider a name and logo for your holiday rental.DescriptiveProvide enough information so that they don't have to feel like they're reading a novel but that highlights the main features of the property and the experience. Provide answers to your target markets questions in the first two paragraphs. Family friendly, close to beach, air conditioned, pool, ample parking etc.Remember to write this in a way that you are having a conversation. More personal in the first person. I, we...You want to make sure the prospective guest knows this is your home, that you love this place. If you really do love the place it will shine through and your description will genuinely sell the experience to your prospective holiday rental guest.Consistency: To avoid confusion and maintain credibility.Match images and descriptions across all marketing channels. Ensure content is identical in all communications.Look out for part two: maintenance.If you have enjoyed this article maybe you'd like to subscribe (free) to the Welcome In e-news. I try to publish these every few months to a community of holiday rental managers in Australia. I encourage you to make contact with me if you have any queries about any aspect of your holiday rental management journey. If I cannot assist you I can certainly point you in the right direction. I am well connected with niche industry holiday rental stakeholders in Australia.
Where Do I List My Holiday Rental?
Ask any of my clients what I think about holiday rental booking portals of the global kind and my response will be an eye roll, followed by a huff and puff and then a polite "don't get me started...maybe a discussion for another time when we have... like... ALL DAY!".I started the Welcome In journey as an owner of a portfolio of two holiday rentals. Actually I started with one in the Perth Hills of Western Australia, followed by another corporate short term rental in the Perth CBD. I felt like I took to holiday rental management and marketing like a duck to water I think because I had the commerce and grass roots tourism background but also because I just really enjoyed managing these little micro businesses. I remember the thrill of seeing my first enquiries roll in and then bookings eventuate. Turns out we tapped into a niche market in the Perth Hills and we enjoyed an average of 75% occupancy.I have to say that my holiday rental venture was kickstarted by the advent of Stayz.com.au. Back then it was a much smaller start up operation. When I signed up and listed my holiday rental it seemed to provide management infrastructure that was useful especially the online enquiries, calendar, cleaners log, reviews and a few other features that I thought were quite nifty. It was like your own cost effective website that wasn't actually your own website at all. Some holiday rental managers enjoy this for others, who are somewhat digital marketing savvy, well we went on to become a little more independent by developing our own website, Facebook pages and so on.Fast forward a decade and you can now pick from many global booking portals to list your holiday rental. Stayz has now been acquired by Expedia, which was purchased off HomeAway who bought Stayz off Fairfax and down the chain to the original founders. Many a savvy business tycoon has invested in the global proliferation of the sharing economy. You can now list your holiday rental on Stayz, HomeAway, AirBnB, Wotif, TripAdvisor, Booking.com among many other global holiday rental booking portals.You can also look on shore in Australia and consider portals such as www.australianholidayrentaldirectory.com (ha ha had to throw that one in) and our new partner www.holidaypaws.com.au. There are many more that I will allow you to research yourselves by simply typing in "list your holiday rental in Australia" or something similar.Be mindful that there are sites that will generate enquiries. These are usually the large booking portals who have the funding to invest in marketing. They have the ability to generate leads and convert bookings but it comes at a price. The price to list the property, possibly the price of a commission, the price of your time to manage the listing and if you're calendars are not synced to your own independent booking system that time equates to A LOT of time managing multiple calendars to ensure they all match so you don't end up with a double booking! ARRGGHHH! Double bookings are what nightmares are made of!I recommend that you do your research when you consider which booking portals to list with. Do they;1. Allow for direct links to your own website so the enquiry or booking can be made direct?2. Allow ICAL calendar integration or syncing if they don't allow a direct link to your own website?3. Charge a commission? Who pays it? The guest or you and if you then how simple is that process?4. Affiliate with channel managers?We've recently partnered with Holiday Paws, a pet friendly holiday rental booking portal in Australia. Although they do not allow for a direct link to your own website or property listing you can list your property free of charge and the guest is charged a commission on a reasonable sliding scale depending on the value of the booking. Holiday Paws will set up your listings for you and will allow integration with your own calendar where possible. Essentially the guest makes the booking on their site, they take a deposit to secure the booking, they direct the guest to you to complete the booking and they forward on the deposit minus the commission. It's a new way of doing business and I kind of like the idea that the holiday rental manager can still maintain control over the booking and that the site is merely a place to advertise a property and attract guests to start the booking process.I have come across many stakeholders who ask me if I have listed my properties with this or that booking portal. My answer is usually yes I have heard about them and no I don't list with all of them. Mainly because I don't just jump on the bandwagon and list with every site. My time is precious and I know that it will be eaten up if I have to learn a new booking portals own systems and duplicate the same process across each portal. Load the property description, load the images, add the fee schedule, block out the calendar of bookings made in various locations and so on. I then have to log into each all the time and keep on top of enquiries. I prefer to work with a few portals. I spend time getting to know their product and systems well, how to maximise conversion and most importantly I ensure that I work with booking portals that encourage me to develop my own independent digital marketing strategy. Those that understand that they are only one piece of the long-term sustainability puzzle.If you have enjoyed this article maybe you'd like to subscribe (free) to the Welcome In e-news. I try to publish these every few months to a community of holiday rental managers in Australia. I encourage you to make contact with me if you have any queries about any aspect of your holiday rental management journey. If I cannot assist you I can certainly point you in the right direction. I am well connected with niche industry holiday rental stakeholders in Australia.
Holiday Rental Reviews & Recommendations Are Really Rad!
Eagle bay holiday home facebook search
I just stayed in a fantastic holiday rental in Eagle Bay, Western Australia. I enjoyed the property and location so much that I did what I would hope you would educate all of your holiday rental guests to do - I told everyone about it. I'll explain this further but for now let's rewind a little.I actually located this holiday rental on Facebook. I know crazy hey. I put Holiday Rental Dunsborough (the closest town) in the search box. This is what results displayed.How nifty is that! Your guest can now find you direct by searching within Facebook. Chances are that if the page is set up well it may be optimised in Google too. I'd like to think that the prospective holiday rental guest is becoming very savvy and always discovering ways to find you direct without opting for booking portal assistance straight up. Let's face it we all know you pay for that privilege.I immediately liked the page. Why not, I wanted to keep track of it and refer back to it when I was considering it alongside my other holiday rental options. It's also a great way to show other travel buddies by sending them a link to the page so they can check it out themselves. I find Facebook pages can be mini websites for holiday rentals. They present a holiday rental property really well.Ok so fast forward to post stay because yes we did choose that holiday rental and yes it was largely because of the way it was sold to me on the Facebook page! Given my satisfaction with our choice of holiday rental accommodation I decided take some time out to help the property manager out. This is how I was able to contribute in some small way and this is what I recommend you request ever so nicely off your guests;1. Check in while you're awayWrite a post on your timeline while you're staying in the holiday rental and use the check in function. If you start typing the name, and a Facebook page exists for that holiday rental, it will auto appear.2. Post a Facebook review on the holiday rental Facebook pageI went into the holiday rental Facebook page, clicked on the review tab, described how wonderful the property was and why it was so suitable for us. Remember that those who look at reviews are still trying to determine the suitability of the holiday rental for their travel group.3. Engage with the holiday rental Facebook page contentIf you really like one of the photo's or agree with one of the posts. Show it. Throw them a like or comment or if you are really generous you'll share it on your own page.4. Share the holiday rental Facebook page with your Facebook friendsYes you can click on the URL or website address of a holiday rental Facebook page and past it into a new post on your own page OR just share the page by going to the page, clicking on "more" then "share", enter your comments and follow the prompts. You can even choose which page you want to share it to.5. Tell people about itLastly you could actually have a conversation and tell people about it. I know actual word of mouth! Still quite possibly the most powerful form of promotion in my experience! Human emotion and expression mixed with words can still do so much more to convince and convert.When I have time I'll draft a PDF for you to upload and forward to your guests. Maybe you could send it before you refund their bond (cringe). Cheeky I know! Seriously though I doubt any decent human holiday rental guest would mind giving you a helping hand to promote your holiday rental and sing your praises through their network. As my Mum always told me, if you don't ask you don't get.If you have enjoyed this article maybe you'd like to subscribe (free) to the Welcome In e-news. I try to publish these every few months to a community of holiday rental managers in Australia. I encourage you to make contact with me if you have any queries about any aspect of your holiday rental management journey. If I cannot assist you I can certainly point you in the right direction. I am well connected with niche industry holiday rental stakeholders in Australia.
The Role of Instant Book & Reputation Management In Neighbourhood Amenity Protection
Instant Book essentially means that anyone can book your holiday rental at any time of the day. That you put your trust in the holiday rental booking portal review or reputation management system to send highly reliable and respectable guests to stay in your property.Yes some very loyal members of booking portal "communities" will say that the review system takes care of this and that if you chose verified guests then you will be ok. That rogue operators and guests will be exposed through the review process. I have however heard whispers of mistaken identity.I've heard threats over bad reviews - even black mail! Could it be that a whole lot of hosts and holiday rental managers provide good reviews because they think the favor will be returned on the understanding that if a negative review eventuates that OMG stop traffic it might affect the holiday rental listing ranking algorithm.Call me old fashioned but I prefer to have an actual conversation (digital sometimes is ok) with my prospective holiday rental guest up front, present the House Rules and Terms & Conditions and request ID verification. You have to wonder where the manager is located and why they are not interested in protecting neighbourhood amenity.My guess is those who opt for Instant Book;
are managing holiday rentals remotely,
are definitely not living on the premises or next door (ie I think hosted accommodation is an exception to this argument),
have no relationship with their neighbours
have no plans to move into the community in the future.
Sure I might have a look at guest reviews. They may be an entertaining read. They sort of remind me of the old personal referees you would call when you wanted to ask about a prospective employee. I mean will you really hand out a phone number of a referee who is likely to give you a bad review?Reviews may reveal red flags but they will never replace a thorough screening process to find the perfect guest match for holiday rental accommodation.If you have enjoyed this article maybe you'd like to subscribe (free) to the Welcome In e-news. I try to publish these every few months to a community of holiday rental managers in Australia. I encourage you to make contact with me if you have any queries about any aspect of your holiday rental management journey. If I cannot assist you I can certainly point you in the right direction. I am well connected with niche industry holiday rental stakeholders in Australia.
Branding Your Holiday Rental Social Media Posts
A client asked me how to brand his social media image (content). I've decided to share this skill with all holiday rental managers who visit Welcome In.First of all let me point out that building your own original posts, profiling all that is wonderful about your holiday rental and your tourism region, ensures instant brand exposure that links to your Facebook page profile picture. Which should also be your logo. The cover image should be a carefully chosen image which tells a story about the holiday rental experience on offer or - the hero shot!Whenever you engage with another post your logo (profile picture) will appear. If you share your post on your page your logo (profile picture) will appear. If you pay to boost your post to a target audience your holiday rental logo (profile picture) will appear.My point is it's not essential to brand the actual image. I like to though because a readers eye is drawn to an interesting picture. It's another chance to subtly brand your work and remind the prospective holiday rental guest that this image belongs to this brand.The phone number belong or alongside the image becomes another subtle call-to-action.There are a few simple steps to branding your own images;
Choose a good quality image
Open it in your graphic design program. I'm no graphic designer. I use Power Point within the Microsoft Office suite.
Resize to a minimum 500 x 500 pixels (resolution).
Insert image (your logo). Reduce the size and position it on the bottom left or right hand corner. If it gets lost behind the main image then go to Format - Arrange - Bring to Front.
Insert a text box and drag and click to size the box. Start typing your text within the box. ie Riverside Romance. Adjust font type and size that is consistent with your holiday rental brand.
Save your work. Call it Holiday Rental Branded Image Template or a modification of this.
Select all and copy.
Open Paint (Microsoft Office) and paste.
Crop and save as a jpeg image.
Insert as a post and be sure to add a description using key words and a subtle call to action plus one or two consistently used hashtags.
Tips:
Try not to resize or manipulate an image. It will compromise the quality of the graphic.
Limit logo and text additions to 1/5 of the image surface area. Facebook will not allow you to take up more than 20% of the image for branding.
Be consistent with your brand.
Add a call-to-action. Phone or email is best. Either on the image or in the description.
For the text copy - be brief. Keep the theme to the properties personality or the tourism region. Choose a title that is catchy and relevant.
Choose an image that tells a story about your holiday rental or tourism region.
You can hyperlink an image also. This will allow the prospective holiday rentals guest to click on the image and be redirected to a relevant landing page. Maybe your holiday rental digital property profile where they can enquire or book.Try not to redirect your posts to a third party site. You want to keep your prospective holiday rental guests on Your Facebook page, Your website or a place where they can book online.If you have enjoyed this article maybe you'd like to subscribe (free) to the Welcome In e-news. I try to publish these every few months to a community of holiday rental managers in Australia. I encourage you to make contact with me if you have any queries about any aspect of your holiday rental management journey. If I cannot assist you I can certainly point you in the right direction. I am well connected with niche industry holiday rental stakeholders in Australia.
Introducing The Holiday Rental Guest Welcome In Packs
Pack graphic
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Free
I'm excited to announce the launch of the Welcome In packs. These packs are created with the holiday rental guest in mind. They enhance the guest experience by WELCOM[E]ing the guest and providing tourism INformation in partnership with recommended regional tourism operators/ suppliers.Pictured here is our standard pack. First batch dispatched earlier this year - hooray. Inclusions are changing as we trial and evaluate with the aim to include Australian made/ owner products where possible.I believe the holiday rental guest should still be encouraged to BYO when they stay in holiday rental accommodation. It is difficult to provide a full supply of essential items (which is expected in hotel style accommodation) when stay durations and guest numbers vary and there is no daily house keeping service. I've also heard of the occasional guest cleaning out all supplies in one stay leaving the cleaner or manager having to rush around last minute to stock up.Think of the Welcome In pack as a little extra surprise when they walk in the door, just in case they forgot to bring their supplies or to get them through the first day/night until they seek out the local store to shop local and stock up on their preferred brands.We recently introduced a cleaning pack which includes environmentally and septic friendly laundry detergent, liquid single serve sachets and dishwashing liquid. Something extra you can put out for guests if you don't wish to provide and store a bulk supply in the property.Lastly we aim to source a range of bulk hand wash, toilet paper, tissues and so forth. Those items that can add up when you're ducking off to the shop when your cleaner tells you you've run out. It can be costly to buy these items at retail prices and time is money! Ask me about Who Gives A Crap bulk toilet rolls etc. We have a code to hand out to managers who are interested in supporting a socially responsible Australian company who are doing pretty good things and who have an amazing product. I know, I've tried the loo paper. My favourite is the bamboo!If you're interested in ordering some standard Welcome In guest packs please contact me, Natalie, for further information on 0401 293 841 or natalie@welcomein.com.au. Price will be dependent on quantity and postage will be an additional cost. The first batch will be limited so don't miss out.If you have enjoyed this article maybe you'd like to subscribe (free) to the Welcome In e-news. I try to publish these every few months to a community of holiday rental managers in Australia. I encourage you to make contact with me if you have any queries about any aspect of your holiday rental management journey. If I cannot assist you I can certainly point you in the right direction. I am well connected with niche industry holiday rental stakeholders in Australia.
Paid Advertising Is Your Search Engine Optimisation Fertiliser
This is my mango tree. It was a gift from my husband five years ago. In the second year it produced two juicy and delish mangos. This was when we lived in the Perth Hills. It quite liked that environment. We later relocated south of Perth on the coast. Two years with zero yield, and possibly some neglect due to house relocation, raising children and well life in general.This is my mango trees fifth year with our family and this year we produced a bumper harvest of approximately 20 juicy mangos. Finally...success! The hard work paid off and the wait was definitely worthwhile. Without the sun, the water and our time investment the mango tree would not have survived. When we gave it some tender loving care it thrived.Now I could've thrown some fertiliser on this tree but I decided to go organic. So far the results are pleasing. The same could apply to boosting your digital profiles with paid advertising in the form of Google Adwords or Facebook advertising for example. This will naturally speed up the growth process and yield results quicker however this costs money. Consider paid advertising as your search engine optimisation fertiliser.I have a similar approach when I advise owner managers of short term holiday rentals. There is usually a very lean budget for marketing, particularly when you're starting up, so make sure you invest wisely. Start small and grow. This applies to your website and/or social media pages.Choose 20 key words that describe your holiday rental and the local tourism region experience. If your holiday rental is a beach cottage on the Sunshine Coast and is in walking distance to Noosa town and coast then maybe some key words to start with could include;1. Noosa2. Name of your holiday rental3. Holiday4. Accommodation5. Sunshine Coast6. Beach7. Cottage8. Family Friendly9. Self-contained etc...Think about the words that describe your holiday rental type, location and the tourism experience or local attractions close by. Think about what your prospective guest is typing into Google.Apply these key words and phrases to all your content marketing including social media posts, image descriptions and blog articles.The more time you put aside to produce organic content to market your holiday rental the more success you will enjoy.Make sure you have the time and some basic skills. If not, then consider educating yourself or employing someone to assist you. I can customise a remote marketing package for you.If you have enjoyed this article maybe you'd like to subscribe (free) to the Welcome In e-news. I try to publish these every few months to a community of holiday rental managers in Australia. I encourage you to make contact with me if you have any queries about any aspect of your holiday rental management journey. If I cannot assist you I can certainly point you in the right direction. I am well connected with niche industry holiday rental stakeholders in Australia.
Effective Guest Communication To Grow Your Holiday Rental Business
Your time is precious and so is your holiday rental guests. Upfront, informative, helpful and most importantly friendly and sincere guest liaison is critical. Remember that your guests are doing you a favour by booking your accommodation. You want them to know you are grateful and that you value them. Maintain a positive relationship with them from the moment they make contact to the time you promote a special offer to them 12 months later. You know you will be doing this effectively when you see your mail subscriptions grow and receive positive guest reviews.I've been on the receiving end of some less than professional and rather unfriendly holiday rental managers, when I've made an enquiry. It is unpleasant and will most likely spoil any chance of booking conversion, word of mouth or repeat business.Do you ask your holiday rental guests where they heard about your property? Your guests hold valuable information that will shape the way you manage and market your holiday rental and this can be captured by drafting clever communications.All communications need to be succinct and provide helpful information to save your guests time and to avoid them having to continually make contact to seek information that is not readily available to them - thus saving you time too.This was the seven step communication process I followed when I managed my own holiday rental properties. It is a guide and I welcome any comment from other managers on how they effectively communicate with their guests.1. Booking Enquiry/QuoteThis is your time to shine. Your first communication must provide succinct, easy to find - and digest - property and location information, answer all questions and be friendly. If you don't want smokers or pets in your property, or you have a dangerous fall zone for children, this is the time to make that known.You could subtly throw in a closing comment on how your property stands out from its competitors or mention something exciting that will add value. Eg "we are the only property with a pool bar" or "it's a great time to visit our region with the Food & Wine festival in town that week".2. Booking ConfirmationThis is the communication I forward when the deposit is paid and booking is confirmed. If your guests book last minute you would skip to communication #3.Keep this communication brief. One paragraph thanking the guest for their booking, providing a link (or attachment) to the confirmation, details about when the final payment is due and a note that additional information on the property, location and access will be provided after the final payment is made.Add a note that links to local tourism experiences so you guests can start planning their activities. Visit the guest experience page on the Welcome In website for insight on what I am trialing with Mandurah Holiday Rental managers and grass roots tourism operators in the Peel region of Western Australia.The last line in this communication is so very important. Ask your guest where they heard about you (and keep a record of it). If they don't answer the question make a note to ask again either over the phone or within another one of the emails below. The collective answers to this question from your guests will, in time, determine which marketing activity is most effective.3. Final PaymentThis communication is forwarded to confirm receipt of the guests final payment. Attach a receipt so that those who can claim the accommodation as a business expense don't have to chase you up at a later date. If you are planning to meet and greet in person now is the time to provide the details. Simply say you look forward to welcoming them and what the procedure is. Be friendly. Always be friendly.Provide a link (or attach) to detailed information (house instructions, parking details, location, house rules etc). Your guests will want to know the who, what, when, how and why but do not, under any circumstances, provide key access information until a few days before. This of course only applies when you are not welcoming your guests on site and handing over the keys. Remember to keep copies of all information in a guest file in the property because many guests will forget to bring it with them.Inform your guest that you will send access instructions the day before they are due to check in. Ask them to inform you if they prefer to receive this information by text and request the number.4. Pre- StayThis communication generally goes out day before, or of, check in. If you have a professional Property Management System (PMS) then you can set this up automatically. For others, you'll need to mark these reminders in your diary.This communication is the final welcome with access information. You could add a brief note not to forget your toiletries, consumables or linen if they chose to BYO. And if you want to be super friendly say something like "don't forget your walking shoes. We have some amazing coastal paths in this region" for example. Something fun.Most importantly provide the name and number of your caretaker, remind them to have the house instructions handy and make them aware of any rules including the process for call outs.5. DuringMy rule was, don't bother guests during their stay unless absolutely necessary. Provide all the information they need at their finger tips in the lead up to their stay, in house instructions and within the guest file. They should only need to contact you to tell you the hot water system isn't working or the house is flooding. If you have a concierge service then, of course, make that known.I like to send a text communication in the early evening of their arrival after they've had a chance to unpack, wash up and make a cuppa (see the guest experience page of the Welcome In website for information on what we're trialing with guest welcome packs). All that needs to be said is something like "we hope you're settled in and enjoying yourselves. Don't forget to refer to the house documents for information and links to amazing tourism experiences during your stay. Please send us a quick text once you have checked out so we can let our cleaners know - check out is 10am. Happy holidays, (insert name)".
Then you are going to ask them a question which could be an absolute game changer if you are clever and have your holiday rental has a Facebook business page. This is where you are going to beg them to check in on Facebook and provide the exact name of the page or refer them to your email signature where there will be a Facebook page linked icon.
6. Post - StayThis is another very important communication in terms of marketing. This is the communication that is sent a few days after the guest checks out. Thank the guest one last time for their booking and ask them if they can help you out with four things. The first, link to a short online survey asking them 3 - 5 questions, the second - invite them to subscribe (provide incentives), third - tell them that you would be so very grateful if they reviewed their stay (tell them how - provide links) and lastly invite them to follow your Facebook or other social media pages.7. Subscribe/PromosYou might want to put a reminder in your diary or set up an automatic text to send to your guests a few months down the track. This is for those guests that didn't subscribe or follow your social media pages. One paragraph inviting them to do just that, so they can keep up to date with special offers, is all that is required in this communication.After the last communication is sent I would say you have exhausted all opportunities to grab their long term attention. If you continue to communication to non subscribers past this point you could risk upsetting them and this is not good for business.My closing note refers to the email signature. I would strongly advise you to create one. It puts your brand in front of all prospective and confirmed guests, provides contact information and links to your website and social media pages. It makes sense to end all communications with a professional email signature. A holiday rental is a micro business and so a professional image should be a high priority for all holiday rental managers.If you have enjoyed this article maybe you'd like to subscribe (free) to the Welcome In e-news. I try to publish these every few months to a community of holiday rental managers in Australia. I encourage you to make contact with me if you have any queries about any aspect of your holiday rental management journey. If I cannot assist you I can certainly point you in the right direction. I am well connected with niche industry holiday rental stakeholders in Australia.
Holiday Rental Guest Experience: How Far Do You Go?
I have to confess - I am a bit of a coffee snob. As I approach my 40's I have become rather fussy. I love the sound of coffee bean grinding, the magnificent coffee aroma plunged fresh for the simply amazing brew! It is my focus from the moment I awake. Add a half teaspoon of raw honey and a splash of A2 milk - that's the business!So how do you cater to the needs and wants of your holiday rental accommodation guests? Do you spoil them with the option of freshly grinding organic coffee beans? Tea bags vs leaves? Do you provide fresh or long life milk, in the fridge or out? Raw honey, raw sugar, fake sugar, white sugar - any sugar? Hot chocolate?Your holiday rental guests will arrive from different cultural backgrounds from all corners of the globe. So how do you keep all of them happy and at what cost? Is keeping them happy your responsibility? Or do you supply the bare minimum to get them through the night and until they have the time to visit the local store and seek out their own preferences?We often stock up on Robert Timms coffee bags when we go away. The last holiday rental we stayed in provided the coffee machine but we couldn't work out how to use it and there was no coffee supplied.A viable holiday rental business will ensure all costs are factored in when deciding on rental tariffs however if you have to mark up too much you may not be competitive.I wonder how many holiday rental managers actually consider what they supply and how much importance they place on guest experience? I've recently launched an exciting guest welcome pack. Visit my Guest Experience page for more information.If you have enjoyed this article maybe you'd like to subscribe (free) to the Welcome In e-news. I try to publish these every few months to a community of holiday rental managers in Australia. I encourage you to make contact with me if you have any queries about any aspect of your holiday rental management journey. If I cannot assist you I can certainly point you in the right direction. I am well connected with niche industry holiday rental stakeholders in Australia.
Targeted Facebook Engagement for Holiday Rental Pages
Which pages are your target market visiting on Facebook? Think about how your target market is behaving at this time of year. These are the pages you should be engaging with from your holiday rental Facebook page. Like them, comment on a specific post. It might be a school holiday program or maybe you're on the local zoo page. Find the posts of interest and relevance and most importantly that have a decent volume of engagement already.For example, I am looking for a holiday rental for a short break with my family and friends over the school holidays. I am looking at holiday rental Facebook pages, professional holiday rental management Facebook pages, attractions and event pages in the same area.I am looking for places to stay and things to do and I guarantee you there are a lot of families searching for last minute places to stay and things to do this school holidays. These are the pages you need to be engaging with for brand exposure. Each time you like a post the name of your holiday rental Facebook page appears - so remember to put holiday rental and location in your title - as well as the profile picture if you comment on a post.This takes time but I guarantee you will gain some subtle cost effective brand exposure by carefully targeting your Facebook engagement.Don't forget to think about your school holiday special too. Make sure you pick a great image to promote it and boost to your Facebook page followers and consider boosting for a few extra dollars to reach those who are looking in the nearby locations. Remember that there is no point paying to boost a Facebook post or Google Adwords to reach a destination that cannot reach you in time to redeem your special offer. At this point in time you're thinking about last minute specials.If you have enjoyed this article maybe you'd like to subscribe (free) to the Welcome In e-news. I try to publish these every few months to a community of holiday rental managers in Australia. I encourage you to make contact with me if you have any queries about any aspect of your holiday rental management journey. If I cannot assist you I can certainly point you in the right direction. I am well connected with niche industry holiday rental stakeholders in Australia.
Holiday Rental Social Media: 10 Basic Steps
One of the most common questions I am asked is do I manage social media for holiday rentals? While the answer is yes, I can - I like to encourage all prospective clients to build their own skills and have the capacity to learn about social media themselves. I have built up my social media digital marketing skills through my own research and mostly by throwing myself in the deep end and giving it a go.My advice is to start with one page on one channel. Facebook is the global leader of social media channels. Currently sitting at over 1.59 billion monthly users (April 2016: Stastista). It makes sense to start here.Let's break this down into very simple terms and build step by step instructions specifically to set up a holiday rental Facebook business page in Australia;1. Create a Facebook profile page. You will not be able to create a business page until you have built your own profile. Don't spend too much time on your profile if you don't intend to use it.2. At the top right of your Facebook profile page you will see a down arrow, that sits to the right of a lock symbol. Click on that and it will release a drop down menu. Choose Create Page then Local Business or Place and complete all the details by following the prompts.IF YOU HAVE REACHED THIS STAGE YOU ARE DOING VERY WELL!3. Holiday rental logo or Profile Picture. The best fit for the profile picture is your holiday rental logo or whatever you usually use to market your property. This is the main image exposed when you start engaging with other pages. Make sure it is good quality. Blurry and poorly composed images impact negatively on a brand and your brand is your holiday rental. Make sure you use a square or round version of your logo.IF YOU ARE NOW VERY CONFUSED YOU ARE BEST TO SEEK OUT A GRAPHIC DESIGNER. ASK THEM TO SUPPLY YOU WITH AN IMAGE YOU CAN USE FOR YOUR FACEBOOK PROFILE PICTURE. IF YOU'RE STILL CONFUSED CONTACT ME.4. Cover Image. This is the main image that is displayed when a visitor opens up your page. It is like a banner advertisement and is generally landscape orientation. Choose the most powerful property image to describe your holiday rental experience with one look. What is the most dynamic image that tells a story about the experience on offer. Like I mentioned above make sure it is a high quality image. This is the shop front branding for your holiday rental micro business.5. Other Images. Pictures or imagery tells a story. While this page is about selling your holiday rental then you need to carefully choose images that tell a story about your holiday rental experience and again use high quality images. Make sure you add a description for every image and include key words consistently on each. E.g. Indoor Wood Fire: Holiday Rental Name and Location. Start with five images and build your gallery as you become more confident.6. About Tab. Make sure you provide a comprehensive description of your holiday rental especially if you have no website to link this Facebook page to. Include details of main features including property type, size (beds/baths), main features, proximity to major cities/towns or tourist attractions. Any key words you can think of that might get picked up by search engines. Think what a prospective guest might type into Google if they were searching for accommodation in your locality. Add all of your contact information in here. Do not be afraid to hand out your phone number or email. This is how guests will find you and book direct. This is also the place you can link your website if you have one.7. Category. This actually sits within the About tab of your holiday rental Facebook business page. Make sure you change this to holiday rental or vacation rental or hotel. Whatever best describes your business.8. Call To Action. Many overlook this feature but I cannot express how important it is to set up your holiday rental Facebook page Call To Action. This is what prospective guests will click on to make direct contact with you. Ask me how to set this up.9. Content Management. According to Buffer.com we should be posting to Facebook twice a day mid morning and mid to late afternoon. If any of you have time to do this then you are very lucky. For most of us who manage a holiday rental business time is scarce and so start with once or twice a week and build. You can turn to Buffer.com to schedule in advance but don't bother yourself about that now. Information overload will throw you off course. For now think about really relevant content and accompanying images or videos that can accompany your posts. Make sure you throw in essential key words subtly. For example - " Come and warm up next to the {holiday rental name} log fire. Best holiday rental in {location}". With this example you've used the name of the holiday rental, the location, the selling feature but also the words holiday rental which will all get optimised organically. Watch out for a separate blog article on holiday rental content management coming soon.10. Share your page. Well done if you've made it this far on your own without contacting me for help on the way (you can do that you know. I'm actually introducing the Welcome In Holiday Rental Marketing Forum soon where you can pay a small annual fee to access a closed Facebook forum and ask as many questions you like). Look for the three horizontal dots ... which are on the bottom left hand corner of your cover image (you know the one I refer to above which is like the banner advertisement). Click on them and the drop down menu will appear. Choose Share. Choose Share On Your Timeline, add a comment like, "Please like and share my new holiday rental Facebook page through your network. I'd really appreciate the support and who knows you may be interested in booking in in the future:)"...or something along those lines. Alternatively you can invite everyone on your Facebook profile individually. This can sometimes be a little intrusive so try not to do it too often. Only promote your page to your friends once. It can be very annoying when your friends blur the lines between a personal and business friendship. This is social media after all.This is the time when you are promoting your micro business through your network organically without having to pay for the exposure. Paid advertising on Facebook is another blog article which I'll write eventually. It's referred to as Social Media Marketing (SMM) but again don't worry yourselves about that until you have mastered the art of creating your very own holiday rental Facebook business page.I actually find the best way to learn is by identifying examples of best practice. That is my local government background shining through. Why invent the wheel? Have a look at others. Follow a few other holiday rental pages and pick up what they are doing well and trial it yourself. The best holiday rental Facebook pages I have seen have applied a logo and high-quality images. By that I mean not blurry and well composed (which anyone can take these days with a smart phone). They have also posted regularly about the features of the property or the region. Real, interesting and visually appealing content without the hard sell. Sell the experience through true story telling.If you have enjoyed this article maybe you'd like to subscribe (free) to the Welcome In e-news. I try to publish these every few months to a community of holiday rental managers in Australia. I encourage you to make contact with me if you have any queries about any aspect of your holiday rental management journey. If I cannot assist you I can certainly point you in the right direction. I am well connected with niche industry holiday rental stakeholders in Australia.