Instagram is a great marketing tool for short-term rental businesses and is often overlooked when it comes to STR advertising. If you’re struggling to get to grips with your vacation rental marketing strategy and feel something is missing, Instagram could be your missing puzzle piece.
As you know, the vacation rental industry is extremely competitive, so it’s important to ensure you have an effective strategy to drive traffic to your website, build your brand awareness, get in front of your target audience and ultimately, ensure you convert paying guests.
In a recent webinar, Leo Walton, our VP of Growth, is joined by Paul Anderson, The Social Media Hotelier, to discuss top Instagram hacks for short-term rental property managers and hosts.
You can watch the full episode below:
If you don’t have time to watch the full episode, don’t worry; we’ve summarised all the key takeaways and best practices below.
Let’s get started.
Firstly why promote your vacation rental on social media?
As Paul Anderson says, “Social media platforms are not just that, but are also advertising agencies…”
Instagram is a visually captivating platform that not only provides entertainment but also serves as a source of inspiration. This makes it an ideal platform for travel brands, including those in the vacation rental industry.
Currently, a staggering 200 million Instagram users visit at least one business profile each day. They actively utilise Instagram to search for products, services, and brands, relying on the recommendations and opinions of fellow Instagram users.
Social media marketing has revolutionised business growth opportunities, and it’s all at your fingertips. As a property manager, vacation rental owner, host or short-term rental hotelier, you can now elevate your brand and advertise to your audience quicker and more widely than ever before.
Below are some top tips on how you can start marketing your vacation rental on Instagram.
Targeting Instagram for vacation rental advertising
In a recent survey, Instagram had around 1.35 billion global active users, with an engagement rate higher than the plethora of various other social media platforms. Instagram is a great way to reach your target audience and build a connection with them.
The platform is a very wide, top end of the marketing funnel, making it an ideal place to showcase your property and amenities. It is a goldmine for vacation rental advertising and should definitely be one of the top networks for you to be present on.
So, how do you master your Instagram vacation rental marketing strategy?
We interviewed Paul Anderson (The Social Media Hotelier), who offered us valuable and insightful Instagram tips on how to:
- Post consistently through Instagram stories, reels and posts, as well as interact with potential guests when they comment and like.
- Optimise your Instagram bio.
- Use Instagram SEO (hashtags)
- Attract direct bookings
- Drive traffic to your website organically.
The article you may find interesting: 10 Direct Booking Secrets OTAs Don’t Want You to Know
The secret sauce to building your Instagram vacation rental marketing strategy
What is an algorithm? Understanding algorithms is a complex task. Especially when they often change and are different for each platform.
The secret to building your business on Instagram is working with the algorithm rather than against it. So, what’s the algorithm, and how do you work with it?
Paul Anderson provided us with 3 key takeaways:
- Understand your ideal client and the exact marketing content they will like
- Create only the content they will be interested in
- Teach the algorithm what you’re about through consistency
“If you consistently post about similar subjects, you’re showing the algorithm who you are and what you’re about.”
Instagram measures the success of a campaign through awareness, reach and recall.
Remember, guests can’t book a short-term rental directly on Instagram. You can’t use direct links on your posts or videos. Instead, Instagram offers the opportunity for you to build large-scale brand awareness and create a solid inbound marketing strategy.
If you want to hear more from Paul Anderson, head to The Social Media Hotelier website, where you will find more resources or book a 20 min free call with him to discuss anything related to your short-term rental Instagram.
