How To Advertise Your Short-term Property Rentals: the Ultimate Cheat Sheet

Short-term property rentals are growing in popularity every day, as more and more people are turning to short stays for holidays or short outings. It can be a great way to save money and experience something new.

If you are a property owner or landlord looking to advertise your property rentals on a short-term basis, this article will make your job much easier—and help you speed up the process at the same time.

There are a lot of things to consider when starting a short-term property rental campaign. Sure, it may seem kind of risky to some. But if you do it right, advertising your short-term property rentals can be a very lucrative thing to do. Below, we give you the ultimate cheat sheet on how to advertise your short-term property rentals to help you unlock the door to success.

Know the Rules and Regulations

The rules and regulations that govern short-term property rentals are not uniform. It is important to understand how local laws apply to your situation, such as the property location, type of property and ownership, and the terms of rental. Many countries require licenses and permits to ensure that the health and safety of property owners and customers are met. You must check with your local government and learn what regulations exist. Moreover, most online listing platforms provide a summary of the local legal requirements and information on vacation rental properties. Visit https://theshorttermshop.com/beginners-guide-investing-vacation-rental to learn more about the beginners’ guide to the various components of short-term rental properties.

Creating your own house rules is also important to your property’s safety. The rules will include a comprehensive list of what the guests can or cannot do during their stay and possible penalties if the rules are violated. The list may be related to appliances and utilities, smoking, parties or events, visitors and guests, noise, laundry, eating areas, garbage disposal, pets, damages, check-in and checkout arrangements, and compliance.

Tips on Creating House Rules

• Keep the rules simple and explicit.
• Keep your house rules up to date. It’s a good idea to review them from time to time and make the necessary changes based on your previous hosting experience.
• Think about your house rules from the guest’s perspective.
• Make it easily accessible.

Having well-thought-out house rules that match your preferences will help avoid accidents and reduce guest damage to your property. When your guests understand your rules, it should give you more peace of mind and make you feel more in control.

Think About Your Marketing Strategy

There are many strategies and tactics how to advertise your short-term property rentals, but some approaches are more effective than others. You can be a successful vacation rental owner with the right rental property marketing ideas and strategies to increase occupancy and profit. Here are some of the best tips on how to market a rental property.

Stand Out With an Optimized Ad on Major Online Listing Sites

Most people looking for a vacation rental are going to start their search on Airbnb, HomeAway, FlipKey, or other major listing sites. Listing your properties on those big sites is an obvious must-do.

TripAdvisor and VRBO can be major sources of bookings for vacation rentals. However, the fastest-growing and most visited vacation rental website remains Airbnb by far. It has even shifted the hospitality industry to short-term rentals, shared spaces, reviews, and guest experiences. As the largest vacation rental platform in the world, it’s safe to say that Airbnb is a reliable choice when deciding where to advertise rental property.

Airbnb and HomeAway are two of the world’s largest short-term rental platforms. Posting your vacation rental on these listing sites increases your chances of boosting visibility and getting bookings from travelers looking for short-term accommodations.

Your Airbnb listings are your opportunity to showcase your property and make it stand out from the crowd. You can increase your chances of getting on Airbnb’s front page by optimizing your content with these strategies:

• Establish your brand and optimize your titles and descriptions using keywords that will highlight your unique selling propositions.
• Change your listing’s title frequently and include “promo,” “free,” and “special offer” to attract more inquiries.
• Add more photos and videos. Make sure your photos are high-quality and well-lit. Listings with images get more inquiries.
• Write a clear and engaging description. Your description should be clear, concise, and informative.
• Add additional amenities such as wireless internet, pool access, etc. If you have no additional amenities, add things that might be useful for a traveler, such as a toilet paper or an iron.
• Add information about local events happening near the property; this will help attract travelers looking to attend these events or stay in an area close by.
• Ensure that your rates are competitive for your type of accommodation in your area.
• Make sure your contact details are visible and up-to-date. It is important for customers to be able to reach you through the right channels so that they can communicate with you easily if they have questions.

Go Beyond the Vacation Rental Platforms

A lot of property owners think that their best bet is to spend their time and money on the top vacation rental platforms and travel sites. They have a lot of traffic, so why not focus on those?

The problem with this approach is that you are competing against all the other property owners on those sites for people’s attention, and there are a lot of them. You are going up against tens of thousands of other vacation rentals in your area. 

Here are more ways to leverage your short-term rental marketing strategy to outshine your competitors and generate even more inquiries for your property listings.

Social Media

The most common way to advertise vacation rental property on social media is by creating a Facebook and Instagram pages. Facebook is a platform that can promote your property to thousands of potential guests, who in return will leave great reviews on your page. To help you succeed on social media, here are some tips:

• Photos and videos will give you the best results from your advertising efforts. People love seeing videos because they accurately portray how the vacation rental looks in person.
• Manage your reviews tab. People tend to use reviews and social media platforms as a critical part of their decision-making process, so it’s important to make sure you have a strong and positive presence on these channels.
• Encourage your guests to post reviews on your channels and on their accounts to help spread the word about your rental business.
• Post regularly. Engage with people who follow you on social media, post regularly, and respond promptly to questions and comments. Your responsiveness can positively affect their decision about whether or not to book with you.
• You can also use Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram to market your short-term rentals.
• Use Facebook Ads. It’s a great way to tailor your ad content to specific groups of people and reach people who are in your target demographics. But be sure to calculate ROI to know if you are making results and profits.

Blogging

Another short-term rental strategy you should consider is blogging. It is a long-term investment in your online presence, but it pays off if you do it right. Building a blog with engaging content stuffed with vacation rental posts, photos, and videos will attract people and target customers to visit and spend more time on it. As a result, your frequent viewers will be converted into leads and bookings.

Do some research on what people are looking for when they read about vacation rentals and how search engines such as Google rank blogs for search engine optimization.

Community Groups

In the social media world, community groups such as Facebook groups are a perfect channel for users to connect with customers, share common interests, discuss topics, and ask for advice. Building a community may help vacation rental owners and managers promote their property listings, build a customer following, and build relationships with customers through content.

Conclusion

There are various advertising strategies and tactics how to advertise your rental property. You’re going to have to do some work and be prepared to spend some money, but you can make extra money advertising your short-term property rentals and build a network of loyal customers in the process.

You need to be prepared, be flexible, and be willing to make an extra effort for your rental business to be successful.