A Guide to Holiday Rental Marketing

With so many avenues available when it comes to holiday rental marketing, it can be hard to know where to start. There are a broad range of areas to consider including:

• Photography
• Advertising
• Content marketing
• Search engine optimisation (SEO)
• Paid media
• Newsletters
• Public Relations (PR)

In this post, we put forward our informed recommendations and top tips for effective marketing strategies to help you boost bookings.

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• Use realistic images with good lighting that showcase the best of your property.
• Avoid unnecessary pictures, instead seek out photos that accurately demonstrate the space and layout of your property, so that guests know exactly what to expect.
• We pride ourselves on the quality and effectiveness of our professional chalet photography, which is proven to increase clicks and interest. 

• Having a Google My Business account is invaluable, with potential guests able to find your property on Google Maps and leave reviews.
• Further increase your visibility by listing on a multitude of OTA’s, such as Airbnb, Booking.com, Expedia and TripAdvisor, or avoid the commission by setting up your own dedicated website.
• OVO Network’s platform advertises on a plethora of OTA’s, as well as our own website. It synchronises calendars across these sites, avoiding the possibility of double bookings and the hassle of generating bookings solely through your own site.  

• A blog is a great way to provide added value to current guests whilst simultaneously increasing traffic to your website. Make sure to post relevant topics and stick to a regular schedule for best results.
• Social media can be another useful holiday rental marketing tool, with an array of channels now available. Focus on building success on one or two key platforms to avoid spreading yourself too thinly. Facebook is a great place to start – it can help generate reviews and encourage direct communication with followers.
• Videos are another notable option and often attract higher engagement levels. Platforms such as YouTube and TikTok are incredibly popular, with simple, raw content gaining the most traction. You can also share these videos across other platforms, such as Instagram and Facebook.

• SEO relates to the steps taken to improve your websites’ ranking on search engine results pages. The higher up the page, the more likely you are to get clicks and bookings. 
• Always post clear, concise and relevant content on a regular basis.
• Focus on keywords and phrases that apply to your target market. Looking at the “People Also Ask” section of Google can help with ideas, as well as browser extensions such as Keywords Everywhere and Google Search Console. 
• Add plenty of internal and external links to your pages and blogs.
• Ensure your information is up to date across all online directories and update Google My Business with any special offers.

• Paid media and Google Ads obtain speedy and effective results for holiday rental marketing, especially amongst strong competition.
• Make sure to control your budget by monitoring results and return on investment, making adjustments where necessary.

• Newsletters are an excellent way of maintaining an audience and interacting with your customer base. Ensure your content is attention-worthy, relevant and targeted so that it doesn’t end up in the Junk folder!
• Add a call to action and make it easy for your subscribers to share the information with friends and family.

• PR is integral to any size of business in today’s climate, with reputation being of utmost importance. Investing in good quality PR will increase visibility, build socials and therefore grow your marketing database and secure more bookings.
• Be pro-active, build relationships with relevant publications and consider hosting journalists or influencers at your property for maximum reach. 

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Finding a holiday rental marketing strategy that works and maintaining it can take a lot of time and dedication. That’s where OVO Network can help. We utilise all of these methods and more to help your rental property achieve maximum occupancy rates all year round. Get in touch with us to discuss your options.