Facebook for Vacation Rentals: Tips to Get Direct Bookings

Facebook for Vacation Rentals Tips to Get Direct Bookings

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More often than not, Facebook is an untapped opportunity for vacation rental owners. Hosts can use the platform to find potential guests, engage with communities, and promote their properties directly, skipping the intermediaries.

The question is, how can you tap into this large audience and connect with people looking for short-term rentals?

It’s possible. People don't only use Facebook to socialize. It’s also a powerful discovery platform.

Here’s everything you need to know about marketing your vacation rental on Facebook to attract more direct bookings and grow your business.

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How Do I Promote My Vacation Rental on Facebook to Increase Bookings?

There’s no wrong way to go about advertising your vacation rental on Facebook, but there are some best practices that can help you start on the right foot.

Create a Facebook profile if you don't already have a Facebook account. Your friend network will play a role in helping you to promote your vacation rental or property management business. Facebook allows you to invite people from your personal profile to visit and like your page.

Create a Facebook page dedicated to your vacation rental property

Once your personal Facebook profile is all set up, the next step is to create a Facebook page for your vacation rentals.

When deciding on the name of your page, it is best to go with something that describes your vacation home well, similarly to what you would name your listing on OTAs like Airbnb.

Once you’ve hit the “Create Page” button, you’ll have a live page. It will then be time to flesh out your page a little more before you start inviting your Facebook friends to like your page.

Add essential information like the location and details of your vacation home, the amenities on offer, your contact details, and how to make a booking.

Upload stunning photos of your property

The next step is to update the profile picture and cover photo for your Facebook Page. This can be photos of your property, or yourself so that guests can put a face to a name.

Then, while you’re at it, you can also post a few high-quality photos of your vacation home (interior and exterior) so that first-time visitors to your page will have something to look at.

Post regular engaging content

Here are some ideas for what to post on a regular basis.

Highlight events and things to do in your area
Offer specials and discounts on your vacation rental
Share any exciting news or updates about your vacation rental
Post beautiful photos and interesting videos of your vacation rental
Share glowing customer reviews
Encourage your guests to tag your page in the photos they post online

When guests stay at your vacation rental, they will more than likely take photos while on their vacation and post them on their own personal profiles.

An excellent marketing hack is to encourage your guests to tag your page when they post the photos on Facebook. By doing this, your guests’ networks will be able to find your page through the tag and visit your page for themselves.

Keep top-notch communication

When you receive any activity on your page, try to interact with your guests as much as possible through reposts, replies, and reactions.

Communication should remain effective when prospective guests find your page, all the way to them making a booking and throughout their stay.

Maintaining great communication through the entire guest experience can get quite complicated if you’re doing everything manually.

Luckily, vacation rental software like iGMS offers powerful tools for hosts and property managers to automate guest communication.

Joining A Facebook Group for Vacation Rental Owners

Facebook groups are where a community of people with a shared interest can gather online. As such, there are Facebook groups available with a focus on short-term rental businesses and hosting.

By joining these groups, you’ll be able to learn more about the industry, meet more people who are involved in the business, get more tips on how to improve your business, and get support from other hosts when you’re having a hard time.

Besides groups where hosts share peer advice, there are also communities centered around specific destinations and travelers. However, many Facebook groups don’t allow direct self-promotion.

What hosts can do instead is participate in conversations, offer local tips, and build visibility as helpful locals — eventually reaching out to someone who’s looking to visit the area soon.

Don't be Spammy

Facebook groups, especially well-moderated ones, don’t allow spammy self-promotion. Simply posting your listing in every group won’t get you any results.

If a group does allow constant self-promotional posts, it’s usually a sign that it’s poorly moderated and lacks real engagement.

The Top Facebook Vacation Rentals Groups That Hosts Should Join

Here are some of the best groups for vacation rental hosts to share their experiences and insights:

Can Vacation Rental Owners Use Facebook Marketplace to Promote Their Properties?

Facebook Marketplace is a space on Facebook where users can buy and sell new or used items or market any services.

By listing your properties on Marketplace, your listing will have a chance to be seen by a wider audience. If you ensure that the pictures are high quality and the description is well written and enticing, you could boost your number of bookings through the platform.

How Does Facebook Paid Advertising Work For The Vacation Rental Industry?

Facebook Ads allow you to target specific audiences based on their interests, search behaviors, and demographics to find users who are more likely to purchase your product — or in your case, make a booking at your vacation rental.

This is a form of paid social media advertising. So, where it is free to advertise on your own Facebook page or on Facebook Marketplace, here you’d need a marketing budget to reap the benefits.

However, because you’re able to set campaign goals and target specific audiences, your chances of attracting bookings are increased.

Do I Need a Facebook Page to Run Instagram Ads?

Facebook, and also Instagram, can help you to promote your business, find more book-direct guests, and build your brand.

You need a Facebook Page to run Instagram ads because Meta’s Ad Manager controls both platforms.

Once your Facebook Page is connected to your Instagram account, you can create and manage ads for both in one place.

How Do I Set Up A Facebook Ads Campaign?

Interested in seeing if Facebook Ads will work for your business? Here’s how to set up a campaign:

Choose the objective of your ad. This could be lead generation to drive more bookings or to increase brand awareness.
Choose your target audience based on age, location, behaviors, interests, etc.
Decide where you want your ad to show up: Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, Audience Network, or across all platforms.
Decide on a daily or lifetime budget, as well as the length of time you’d like your ad to run for.
Choose one of the ad formats available. This will depend on your choice of pictures and videos.
Place your ad order and set up your payment method.
Once everything is set up, you will be able to make your ad live and track its progress.

Tips for Running Successful Facebook Ads

If you’re going to be spending your hard-earned money on your ad, it won’t hurt to take a few best practices on board. Here are a few tips for getting it right:

Use an engaging picture or video
Retarget your past website visitors and guests
Choose a specific audience group and create your ad with them in mind
Include a link to your website so that you can direct traffic from your ad
Don’t spread your budget over too many different ads. Rather invest more money into each ad to make it more effective
Include enticing specials and discounts to encourage clicks.

Facebook serves vacation rental hosts and property managers in many ways, from connecting with other hosts to promoting your listing.

If you want to combine direct bookings with platforms such as Airbnb and Vrbo, a reliable channel manager will let you run your business smoothly, even while you sleep.

That’s where iGMS comes in handy. It helps you not only to manage channels but also to build your direct booking website, assign cleaners, automate guest messaging, and stay in control of your business day and night.

October 13, 2025