5 Unique Social Media Ideas For Your Vacation Rental
Use social media to your advantage
Are you a vacation rental owner on the hunt for unique ways to enhance your social media presence and better engage with your followers? In today’s digital age, it’s hard to appear legitimate and credible without a social media presence, and that’s especially true for vacation rental owners.
When you utilize social media, you have the opportunity to reach a larger audience than on distribution platforms alone, plus it can ultimately lead to more booking and higher revenue for your business. However, with so many owners using social media, it can be hard to stand out from the crowd. That’s why today, we’ve put together 5 unique social media ideas for your vacation rental–to help you make a bigger impact and gain more bookings.
Create a Virtual Tour of Your Vacation Rental
One of the best ways to engage with your followers and show off your vacation rental’s unique features and amenities is to create a virtual tour. A virtual tour allows your followers to get a glimpse of your vacation rental before they book, which will help them make a more educated decision from the comfort of their own home. Whether you decide to create shorter Facebook Reels or a longer Youtube video, feel free to play to your strengths when it comes to formatting and narration. It also doesn’t hurt to inject a bit of personality into your virtual tour, which can help keep your audience engaged and set yourself apart from the competition.
Curate and Share User-Generated Content
User-generated content, also known as UGC, is content that is created by your guests, including photos and videos from their stay at your rental, and using it is an easy way to take advantage of your social media following with very little work required. User-generated content is a great way to build trust and credibility with your audience and potential guests, as it shows off the great experiences that past guests have had while staying at your property.
To find user-generated content, encourage your guests to tag your social media profiles whenever they share photos or videos of your property. You can even create your own hashtag to organize this UGC–usually if your property has a name, like Beachside Bungalow, using a variation of that for a hashtag can help you to curate a feed of content you can then repost onto your own profile. Always be sure to get permission from the user whose content you want to share, however, as you don’t want to inadvertently share photos or videos from a private account on your public profile.
Host a Contest to Gain More Followers and Engage Your Audience
One of the most proven ways of acquiring followers on social media is to host a giveaway or contest, especially if you require that entrants into the contest follow your account in order for their entry to be counted. Get creative with your contest ideas–don’t just go with a run of the mill “enter and win”, but rather ask your followers to share their favorite vacation memory from your rental, or what they plan to do if they win a few nights for free.
You could even giveaway a gift card to a local attraction or high-end restaurant in your area to sweeten the deal.
Hosting a contest not only engages your followers, it also encourages them to share the giveaway with their friends and family, helping you to attract even more of a following than before.
Work with Influencers to Extend Your Reach
More and more these days, influencers command social power and attention when it comes to social media, and although working with them can be a bit of a gamble, your investment into them can pay off big in the end. Start out your search for influencers by looking through hashtags related to vacation rentals like yours and browse the content until you find someone that you like.
Typically, they’ll have a way to contact them in their profile, and once you do, you can see what their rates are and how they work.
One easy way to reduce your investment is to incentivize them with a free night’s stay at your vacation rental, which can be especially convincing if you have a rental that fits within their niche on social media. Once they’ve stayed at your rental and made content related to it, you can negotiate rates with them to post on their feed and advertise to their followers. Not only can this widen your reach, it can also increase your bookings, as many social media denizens want to be just like the influencers that they follow.
Contact Niche Facebook Pages to Advertise Your Rental
Facebook is a powerful tool for advertising your vacation rental, but it can be difficult to reach the right audience with just hashtags and sharing alone. One way to reach a more targeted audience is by contacting niche Facebook pages related to your rental’s niche, location, or amenities.
For instance, if your rental is located within a century-old home, you might want to contact Facebook pages that show off the features of old homes and see if they might be interested in featuring your rental on their page. There are pages with huge followings for this kind of thing, and sharing your rental with the right Facebook page can ultimately increase your own audience and help to explode your bookings if you go viral.
Don’t Sweat Social Media with LocalVR
Making use of social media is crucial for vacation rental owners looking to enhance their credibility, engage with their followers, and attract more bookings. By implementing these 5 unique social media ideas, you can better connect with your audience, stand out from the competition, and ultimately, increase your revenue.
Don’t want to have to deal with all of the marketing and advertising yourself? Think about signing on with a full-service property management company like LocalVR. At LocalVR, everything marketing and advertising is taken care of for you, with help enlisted from our team of marketing copywriting experts who craft your listing to the highest standards. To learn more about LocalVR’s program for vacation rental owners, check out our Program page.