How Knowing Your Ideal Vacation Rental Guest Can Transform Your Marketing Game
Let’s dive into understanding who you’re serving so you can make your marketing work for you.
When you grasp the ins and outs of who's walking through your door, your marketing efforts become way more focused – and way more effective.
Imagine trying to hit a bullseye blindfolded—it's not impossible, but it's definitely not easy. Marketing your vacation rental without knowing who you're trying to attract is like shooting arrows in the dark. But when you take the time to truly understand your target audience, you’re lighting the way to effective marketing, happier guests who love your brand, and more bookings.
In this post, we’ll discuss why it’s so important to know who your target audience is, what you need to know about them to market effectively, and how to go about collecting the data that will allow you to do that.
Benefits of Understanding Your Ideal Guest
I’m sure you’ve heard it before – I certainly say it all the time: If you’re marketing to everyone, you’re marketing to no one. Lots of hosts like to say they’d love for anyone to stay in their home, but if you’re not targeting anyone in particular, your content and copy are just vague. Let’s be honest – no one wants to read vague, boring copy.
The more specific and focused you are, the better your marketing. Personalized content that speaks directly to your audience’s interests and targeted ads that catch their eye make all the difference in convincing someone to book. When they read your content and feel like you’re speaking directly to them, it’s way more compelling.
When you understand your ideal guest, you can:
Tailor your marketing strategies
Enhance the guest experience
Increase your occupancy rates
Earn more positive reviews and referrals
When guests feel like a property is perfect for them – from the content and copy that convinces them to book to the actual stay – you’ll have happier guests, better reviews, and more repeat bookings.
Think about it. Families with young kids are a very different audience from a bachelorette party, a group of guys on a golf trip, or snowbirds looking for some beach time. If your property is designed for a specific kind of guest and you help them find your property (while actively showing the property is not ideal for), you’re going to end up with a much happier clientele. And that’s always good for your business.
Defining Your Ideal Vacation Rental Guest
So, who is your ideal vacation rental guest? They're more than a random name on a booking form. They're real people with preferences, habits, values, and beliefs.
Are they young professionals looking for a weekend escape? Families craving a cozy retreat? Retirees seeking a serene getaway? Understanding the details that make your guests who they are can help paint a vivid picture of your target audience, which you and your team can use for your marketing.
When you’re thinking about your ideal guest, consider their:
Age
Gender
Occupation
Values & beliefs
Interests & hobbies
Reason for traveling
Travel preferences
Budget
Their goal for visiting your destination, their lifestyle, interests, values, and beliefs, their budget and travel preferences are all important factors in whether or not they’ll want to stay with you. Once you understand who they are and what’s important to them, you can tailor your marketing – and your properties – towards them.
Methods for Gathering Guest Insights
Okay, so how do you gather these precious insights? It's easier than you might think.
First, dive into your data. Do some market research to understand your target audience and look at your own data to see who’s stayed with you in the past. What types of travelers are coming to your area? What are the demographics of your past guests? And which of those guests were the happiest and have left the best reviews?
Fire up those guest surveys and ask for feedback. Look at your reviews and see who’s loving your place and who’s not. Are families raving about your amenities? Are groups of friends bored because there’s nothing to do nearby? You can also keep an eye on social media chatter to see what guests (and potential guests) are saying.
And don't forget the wisdom of your team who are on the ground, interacting with guests every day. Their observations and feedback can be really helpful in understanding your guest avatar.
Getting Personal with a Guest Avatar
This is the fun part. Take everything you’ve learned about your ideal guest and compile it into one Ideal Guest Avatar. Give your avatar a name and have some fun with it. Talking to one particular person makes your content and copy feel much more authentic and personal. It’s easier to speak directly to your ideal guest when they have a name and you can picture who they are.
Need help creating an avatar? Check out my free Ideal Guest Avatar Guide, a workbook-style walkthrough that will help you through each step. (Scroll down for more on this!)
Using Your Guest Avatar for Marketing Your Vacation Rental
Once you've got your insights in hand, it's time to put them to work. Take the information you’ve gathered about your ideal guest and use it for:
Personalized content creation
Targeted advertising campaigns
Strategic pricing and packages
Enhancing property features and amenities
When you understand your guests, creating content and a guest experience they’ll love becomes easier than ever.
Understanding Your Ideal Guest
Ready to take your marketing to the next level with a deeper understanding of your target audience?
Download my FREE Ideal Guest Avatar Guide, a step-by-step guide to creating a specific avatar you can use to focus your messaging and speak directly to your ideal guest.
It’s workbook style, so you can complete each question as you go – with examples to inspire your creativity – then put it all together to share with your team.
You may also like…
