How to Use Your Vacation Rental Marketing to Stand Out
Imperfect action can help you build a brand that stands out from the rest.
Small adjustments to your marketing can make a big difference for your brand.
In a competitive market, it’s hard to stand out. But your biggest competition?
Yourself.
Sometimes we’re so worried about others – like the businesses next door – that we don’t take the time to reflect on what we’re doing. Are you doing everything you can when it comes to marketing your own business? Making sure you stand out in a sea of vacation rentals?
Let’s be honest – there’s always something more we can be doing. And it doesn’t all have to be super involved or expensive.
You can take little steps and make focused shifts that will make a big impact in building a memorable brand. So let’s get to it.
Strong, memorable branding
Is your brand memorable enough to leave a lasting impression? Do guests remember your name or recognize your logo?
Think about the last time a brand stuck in your mind, whether that’s another vacation rental company or something else entirely. What stood out to you? What do you picture in your mind when you think of them?
When you’re building a brand, it’s more than logos and colors. It’s the way you use your words (your tone of voice, your slogans, your messaging), the presence you have in your community (signs on your properties, laundry vans with logos, a physical office), and your unique, personality-driven copy.
Are you witty? Humorous? Are you blunt? Straightforward? Are you playful? Quirky? Edgy? Whimsical? Try injecting some of your personality (or your brand’s) into your content and copy. It’s much more likely to stand out, leave a lasting impression, and ultimately earn a loyal following.
Actionable tip: Think of one way you can strengthen your brand, whether it’s revamping your logo, looking into signage for your properties, or injecting some personality into your copy. If you’re choosing the last one (personality-packed copy), start small with one property description, blog post, or email. See how that feels, and then go from there.
Clear messaging that targets your ideal guest
Have you taken the time to really do the research and understand your ideal guest, so you can speak directly to them in your marketing? If you haven’t done this crucial step, stop everything and do it right now.
If you haven’t taken the time to understand your audience, there’s no way you can tailor your marketing effectively. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: if you’re talking to everyone, you’re talking to no one.
When you don’t pinpoint your ideal guest, you’re not able to hone your marketing and you end up producing bland, general, meaningless content. But when you do the research on your guests so you know exactly who is staying with you, who wants to stay with you, and what they’re looking for, you can produce content that’s targeted for them. Meaning when they read it, they feel like it’s speaking right to them – and they’re way more likely to book with you.
Actionable tip: So what should you do? Look back at your past guests, read your reviews, ask for feedback, anaylze the data. Then use that to create a picture of your ideal guest that you can use moving forward. For more detail, check out this blog post all about understanding your ideal guest.
Valuable content that positions you as an expert
Are you providing value or just trying to sell? Can you create regular content that’s designed to help your guests plan and enjoy their trip, all while demonstrating your local knowledge and expertise?
Value-driven content helps you:
Build trust
Engage your audience
Drive conversions
If you create optimized blog content, you’ll boost your SEO, helping new guests find you. You’ll also provide a wealth of resources for your current guests who are planning their trip. And you’ll position yourself as an expert, building trust with your audience and strengthening your brand identity.
When you provide value without being salesy, guests know they can come to you when they need information, when they have questions, and ultimately when they want to book a trip.
Actionable tip: Do you have a blog? If not, now’s the time to start. If you do have one, make sure you’re posting regularly. Start out with once a month, then move to biweekly or weekly. Check out this blog post for details on how to make blogs work for you.
Nurturing emails that show you care
Email marketing is a powerful way to connect with your audience and nurture leads. Are you regularly emailing your list to build relationships and make sure you stay top of mind?
Don’t feel like you’ll be bothering your subscribers if you email them regularly. They signed up for your list because they want to hear from you! When they don’t, they’re either wondering where the heck you are, or they’re forgetting about you completely. Don’t let that happen.
By sending regular email blasts or newsletters, you can build relationships that inspire brand loyalty, claim a spot in their inbox when they’re figuring out where to stay on their next trip, and provide even more value to your subscribers.
Keeping your loyal fans engaged is a great way to nurture relationships and show that you appreciate them. That even when they’re not staying with you, you’re thinking of them and constantly working to make their next stay even better.
Actionable tip: If you haven’t been sending regular emails out, go write one and schedule it to send. Plan to send emails once a month or biweekly. If you’re already doing that, go for the gold and email every week! Need some inspiration for newsletter topics? Check out this blog post with 20 newsletter ideas.
Progress over perfection
Listen, nobody's perfect – not even your fiercest competitors.
So instead of trying to outshine them, why not focus on outdoing yourself? Ask yourself: what can I do today to be better than I was yesterday? It's all about those little wins, those tiny tweaks that add up to something truly remarkable.
When it comes to your neighbors, learn from them, work with them to elevate your destination and community, see what’s working and what’s not.
But it’s really your own brand you need to compete with – not them. If you make small improvements, little shifts… you’ll be better than you were yesterday.
And that’s for sure a win.
What will you do to improve your marketing today?
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