13 Vacation Rental Advertising Strategies for Increased Success
Phenomenal vacation rental advertising makes sure that your future guests know how amazing your rental property is and will entice them to make a booking. Here are our best fool-proof advertising ideas to add to your vacation rental marketing strategy.
Key Takeaways
- List your property across the leading OTAs like Airbnb, Vrbo, and Booking.com to improve your occupancy and revenue.
- Use social media marketing to direct potential guests to your direct booking website.
- Email marketing turns past guests into repeat guests. You just need their email addresses and consent.
- Spread your marketing efforts across different channels instead of relying on a single source of bookings.
- Offer discounts and promotions to fill up your calendar.
Running a short-term rental business is ineffective without vacation rental advertising. Everything matters in vacation rental marketing: your listing description, the platforms where you list, and your own website, which you drive traffic to through social media and ads. The best approach to vacation rental marketing is to combine multiple advertising methods.
List on major OTAs, but also use social media marketing to drive direct bookings. Seasoned hosts and property management companies may run paid advertising campaigns. On top of that, partner with local businesses and target past guests through email (send them special offers and discounts).
We’ve put together a list of our top ideas for how to market your vacation rental property. Read on to find out what exactly these strategies can do for your business.
What Are the Benefits of Vacation Rental Marketing?
Vacation rental marketing has multiple benefits that will boost your business revenue in both the short and long term. A sound vacation rental marketing strategy can help you to:
- More bookingsThe more your property listings reach your target audience, the more bookings you will attract. When running a successful vacation rental business, your bookings should take priority. Vacation rental marketing strategies build your online presence and promote your property listings to a wider audience.
- Grow the number of guestsWith effective vacation rental marketing, you will be able to reach a variety of brand-new potential guests. Through social media campaigns and online marketing, your client base could grow exponentially.
- Scale your businessVacation rental owners can turn one vacation rental property into two. Then three. Then perhaps a whole franchise. The possibilities are endless when marketing your vacation rental business effectively.
Build relationships with other businessesOnce you’ve established yourself in the vacation rental market, other local businesses will get to know you too. They may be interested in building a partnership that could benefit both of you. Negotiate special discounts, free gifts, or special activities for your guests.
Advertising Channel | Pros | Cons |
OTAs (Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com) | Large built-in audience, immediate exposure, trust | Service fees, high competition, less control over guest relationships |
Social Media | Reaches targeted audiences, builds brand awareness, supports direct bookings | Requires consistent content creation and engagement; results can take time |
Email Marketing | Encourages repeat bookings from past guests and builds relationships | You need a system to capture guests’ emails at the property |
PPC Advertising | Targets specific travelers through Google and FB ads for quick wins | Requires budget; results depend on campaign optimization |
Direct Booking Website | No OTA commissions, full control over branding and guest relationships, supports SEO and repeat bookings | You still need to drive traffic to your website |
What Are13 Ways to Master Your Vacation Rental Advertising Strategy
Here we list 13 different ways to market your vacation rental, with a few tips on how to nail each one. However, you should not feel pressured to incorporate all 13 at once, especially if you’re just starting out.
1. Create an eye-catching listing
A property listing’s job is to represent your vacation rental as accurately and attractively as possible. It needs to communicate your vacation rental’s features and amenities, display photos of what guests can expect when they arrive, and display house rules.
Here are some expert tips for getting your listing just right:
Create a catchy title.
Create an accurate but enticing title. Avoid basic titles like “Two-bedroom house in Boston”. This gives no insight into any unique features of your property and does not highlight anything exciting.
Instead, try to use descriptive words in combination with the highlights of your property to make your title shine. For example, use catchy phrases like “dazzling views”, “beach paradise”, or “luxury escape” to tantalize site visitors.
Write an interesting and informative listing description
Your description should detail exactly what guests can expect. Make sure to include where the vacation home is located, how many bedrooms and bathrooms it has, and facilities on offer, like free Wi-Fi, or a swimming pool.
Give prospective guests an idea of what activities they can do while on holiday, like going to the beach, hiking up nearby mountains, or visiting a national park.
Although listed separately on most listing sites, your description will also display your nightly rate, the check-in and check-out times, and the house rules for your vacation rentals.
Invest in quality photos.
The quality of your photos could make or break your listing. Potential guests could even abandon your listing if they find your photos underwhelming. This makes high-quality photos arguably one of the most important things. Using at least 20 high-quality photos will improve the chance of getting booked.
Top photographers know that the easiest ways to get your photos top-notch are to:
- Make sure there’s good lighting, preferably natural light.
- Take wide shots from corner angles to accurately show off each room’s features and size.
- Make sure the area photographed is neat and clean, with some cozy touches (like a blanket draped over the sofa).
- Hire a photographer to take professional photos.
Make sure all photos and information, including pricing, is up to date. Guests who feel deceived may leave bad reviews, and you don't want that.
2. List your property on several online travel agencies (OTAs) for better exposure
Once you have created a show-stopping listing, it’s simple to just copy and paste them onto different listing sites. Having your property listing across the leading OTAs like Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com, and Tripadvisor means that you can capitalize on each website’s traffic and audience.
3. Automate tedious tasks
You don't need to manually update multiple calendar availabilities. Vacation rental software handles this and other tasks, making the job of vacation rental hosts and managers easier and faster.
Vacation rental software tools can free up your time by automating all your repetitive tasks, including assigning tasks to your cleaning team and communication with guests.
iGMS offers you all the necessary tools to scale your business, at your fingertips. This software keeps your marketing and operational tasks on track.
4. Let your glowing reviews speak for themselves
Nothing elevates a listing like glowing 5-star reviews from past guests. Make sure you give no reason for a negative review by keeping your vacation rental spotless, perfecting your guest communication, and making sure the check-in and check-out process is flawless.
Once the guest experience is perfected, it’s easy to leave your guests reviews and ask them for ones in return to make your reviews section shine.
5. Leverage social media
Social media is an excellent vacation rental marketing channel to reach a wider audience. You can use almost any social media platform: Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest and YouTube to promote your rental.
Here’s a breakdown of the best social media sites for marketing vacation rentals, with tips on how to take advantage of each site:
Facebook offers one of the largest audiences for social media marketing. One of Facebook’s most useful features is the many groups and communities, where people with common interests are able to gather online.
A vacation rental owner can find Facebook groups and communities interested in short-term travel. They can use these groups to market their vacation rental properties.
For hosts with a digital marketing budget, it may be worthwhile looking into paid Facebook ads too. Facebook or Meta ads target specific audience groups on the social media site to boost your reach even further.
Instagram is the ideal social media platform for shining a spotlight on the aesthetics of your vacation rental property. The best method for advertising on Instagram is to use the beautiful images and videos on your property page to fill up your social media pages and stories.
It's a smart idea to have happy guests post their own photos and videos at your vacation rental property and tag your account. This helps to spread the word and serves as your best testimonial.
YouTube
YouTube is the king of video content. It’s the ideal place to post video tours of your property to give guests a better idea of what to expect if they book a stay at your vacation home.
While it’s possible to create video tours yourself to market your vacation rental, hiring a videographer to shoot and edit your video may produce a more professional result, especially if you do not have much experience with video production.
Pinterest, like Instagram, is also an image-focused social media site. Although it features lots of DIY and how-to ideas, it can also be an effective social media channel for advertising your vacation home.
A smart tip to advertise your vacation rental business on Pinterest is to do some research into what Pinterest visitors are searching for that applies to the vacation rental industry and your property specifically.
For example, potential guests may be searching for “best vacation rental getaways near the beach” so it will help if you use similar titles in your posts. This will help your images appear in these search results and draw in more organic traffic to your listing site.
TikTok
TikTok is the ideal social media channel to market to a younger audience. This is especially beneficial for vacation rentals that have amenities that will appeal to a younger crowd. For example, if your property features a home theatre or game room, or is in an area with exciting nightlife.
The main difference from YouTube is a focus on short videos. This short video style suits advertising vacation rentals very well because you could create short, punchy video tours that highlight how exciting your property is.
You could also use your photos taken by a professional photographer to easily create a slideshow video in minutes with free video creation software like Lumen5.
6. Create a direct booking website
Use social media to drive traffic to your own website instead of OTAs. Why? Because the purpose is to avoid OTA fees and have an owned channel where you build a relationship with your guests.
There are many website builder options available, like Wix.com or WordPress, to help you create your professional website, even though it could require professional help.
iGMS builds a direct website in a few minutes so you can start attracting direct bookings for your vacation rental right away. This means you’ll be paying less service fees to third-party listing sites — and taking home more profit at the end of the day.
iGMS offers a website builder that lets you build a direct booking website with templates and customize it to your brand. Then you will be able to accept direct payments and even collect security deposits directly through a website you have built.
7. Take advantage of Google My Business
Google My Business is a handy feature that allows you to create a free business profile. This means you can be more easily accessible to loyal guests and curious travelers searching for your business directly.
Search engines like Google are massive, with approximately 175 new websites being created every minute! So any chance to make your business and website stand out from the crowd is one you should take.
8. Invest in paid ads
Investing your hard-earned money into advertising can seem a bit daunting at first. Especially when exact results can’t be guaranteed and when there are many free advertising options to explore.
However, paid advertising like Google ads is effective when it’s executed well. It can help advertise your vacation rental more directly to your targeted audience. Google makes this possible by analyzing the search patterns of potential guests and sending your property ads to those most likely to be interested.
9. Use search engine optimization
Search engine optimization, better known as SEO, has been proven to be effective in attracting organic traffic to your listing or website. Good search engine optimization practices can help your website rank highly on search engines like Google.
Recently, it has evolved into AEO, or answer engine optimization, which means if travelers ask AI to recommend them a place to stay, your property can show up if you have an active website.
A powerful SEO and AEO strategy means investing time and effort into the long-term success of your marketing strategy. Read this guide to master the basics of SEO and fill your website with relevant content that ranks highly in search results.
10. Set up an email marketing strategy
While SEO, paid advertising, and social media are effective ways to draw in new guests, email marketing is a fantastic way to stay in direct communication with previous guests and maintain a loyal following.
Through email marketing, you could send out monthly newsletters and promotional discounts to keep your vacation rental company at the forefront of your guest’s minds. By keeping your loyal guests engaged with email marketing, you could encourage repeat bookings.
11. Foster local partnerships
Networking and forming partnerships with local businesses will give your vacation rental business a major advantage. Through these partnerships, you’ll benefit from mutual promotion.
You can also organize special discounts to provide the ideal guest experience. This would be especially useful to do during local events and festivals when tourism is boosted in the area.
12. Offer specials and discounts
Use this to your advantage by advertising regular discounts on your website, listings, and social media. Travelers will be more inclined to book a stay at your vacation home if they are getting a good deal.
This does not mean you have to slash your prices in half. Even a 10% discount during a low season will help draw in a booking you may not have had otherwise. Dynamic pricing tools can assist with discount management, as their advanced data analysis allows for greater insight into pricing strategies.
13. Stay informed about the industry trends in vacation rentals
Changes in the industry can happen overnight. Luckily, there are tools that help hosts and property managers stay informed with the latest market insights on the short-term rental industry, like Mashvisor and AirDNA. You can also use these market insights to inform your vacation rental marketing plan.
FAQ
What are the best platforms to advertise vacation rentals on?
The best platforms for vacation rental owners are Airbnb, Vrbo, and Booking.com. They have the largest audiences, which means greater exposure for your listing.
What are strategies for writing effective vacation rental descriptions?
Start with the property's biggest selling point, then describe the guest experience rather than simply listing amenities. Use specific details, such as "five-minute walk to the beach" or "private hot tub with mountain views," and structure the description so guests can quickly find key information.
How to market a luxury short-term rental property?
To market luxury properties, target affluent travelers through Airbnb Luxe and luxury travel platforms, social media, and partnerships with influencers. Premium platforms such as Marriott International's Homes & Villas and other curated luxury rental marketplaces are a good place to go. These platforms attract high-end travelers but often require professional property management and have strict quality standards.
How to use social media advertising to boost vacation rental bookings?
The most effective social media strategies for vacation rentals include showcasing the guest experience through high-quality photos and videos, sharing local attractions and travel tips, and posting guest reviews and user-generated content. Speak to your target audience, whether they are families with kids, event travelers, couples, or pet owners.
What are software solutions for managing multiple rental property listings?
Property managers and hosts use property management software to streamline operations, guest communication, and marketing activities. iGMS features a channel manager that makes it easier to market your listing across multiple platforms and prevents double bookings.
We also automate guest messaging and review management using AI. Satisfied guests are the most effective marketing asset. We help you prevent misunderstandings and ensure timely, personalized communication, so guests feel valued throughout their stay.
About the Author
Callan Riddles is the Content and Social Media Specialist at iGMS. Callan has a passion for finding new ways to help vacation rental businesses thrive. In her free time, she loves to travel, read, and experience all the new things that life has to offer.
