How To Use Facebook to Market Your Vacation Rentals: The Ultimate Cheat Sheet

A solid strategy for marketing your vacation rental on Facebook can provide countless growth opportunities for your business. The latest marketing data shows that digital consumers spend more than 2 and a half hours on social media every day. Facebook as a social media platform is a great marketing tool for even aspiring marketers.

And with 2.85 billion monthly active users, Facebook remains a key player in the social space. Knowing how to use Facebook to market your vacation rental is critical to success in the rental hospitality industry.

Here’s all you need to know for vacation rental marketing on Facebook to draw in more direct bookings and promote your vacation rental listing.

Why Should I Use Facebook for Vacation Rental Marketing?

When looking at the vacation rental business specifically, it makes sense why Facebook is one of the preferred platforms for vacation rental owners and property managers.

It allows hosts to show off photos of their short-term rentals while also posting enticing descriptions to convince potential guests to make a booking.

There’s no denying that we are living in a digital age. And one of the most effective ways of vacation rental marketing for your vacation rental property online is to go where your audience is. With billions of users every month, Facebook provides the perfect place to advertise to a large audience — and it’s free to use too!

How Do I Promote my Vacation Rental on Facebook to Increase Bookings?

As vacation rental hosts, there’s no wrong way to go about advertising your vacation rental on Facebook, but there are some best practices that can help you start on the right foot. Read on to get a headstart on your vacation rental marketing plan.

1. Create a personal Facebook account

This step is for those who are brand new to the Facebook platform. Before you can create a page on Facebook dedicated to your vacation rental, you’ll need to create a personal account if you don’t have one already.

This process is simple to do. You’ll need to head over to www.facebook.com, click on “Create New Account” and complete your personal details to set up your new account.

From there, you’ll need to fill in some of your profile information, and start inviting people you know to be your Facebook friends. Your friend network will play a key role in helping you to promote your vacation rental or property management business.

2. Create a page on Facebook dedicated to your vacation rental property

Once your personal Facebook profile is all set up, the next step is to create a page on Facebook for your vacation rentals.

1. Click on the main menu grid icon found at the top right corner of Facebook’s fixed menu bar (at the very top of any page on Facebook).

2. Under the “Create” section, click on “Page” to create a new page for your vacation rental.

3. You will then be guided to fill in the basic details of your page, including the name of your Facebook page, the category, and a short description.

Once all details are filled out, you can then go ahead and create your own page on Facebook.

When deciding on the name of your page, it is best to go with something that describes your vacation home well, similarly to what you would name your listing on OTAs like Airbnb.

If your property has its own established name that guests will know to search for — perhaps it’s the name of your website too — then it’s best to go with that name to assist with search engine optimization (SEO).

Alternatively, you could use a name with searchable keywords that make it easy to find your listing, like “vacation home by the beach” or “stunning vacation home in California”. This will increase the chances of your listing showing up when Facebook users are searching for vacation rentals like yours.

3. Ensure all information on the page is accurate and correct

Once you’ve hit the “Create Page” button, you’ll have a live page. It will then be time to flesh out your page a little more before you start inviting your Facebook friends to like your page.

Add essential information like the location and details of your vacation home, the amenities on offer, your contact details, and how to make a booking.

4. Upload stunning photos of your property

The next step is to update the profile picture and cover photo for your page on social media. This can be photos of your property, or yourself so that guests can put a face to a name.

Then, while you’re at it, you can also post a few high-quality photos of your vacation home (interior and exterior) so that first-time visitors to your page will have something to look at.

These photos will be the first impression you make on your page, so it’s important to make sure that they stand out. Use photos that show off your property in the best light.

If you already have professional photos of your property on OTAs, there’s no harm in using the same photos on your Facebook business page. You can even schedule Facebook posts in advance to maintain consistency and quality.

5. Promote your vacation rental social media page among friends and family to start getting likes and followers

Now that your page has some meat on its bones, it’s finally time to start promoting your page! The best way to get started is to promote your page among your friends and family. Facebook allows you to invite people from your personal profile to visit and like your page.

This is the quickest way to get traffic flowing to your social media page and start getting your name out there. Once they know about your property, your friends will also be more likely to share your page with their own networks too.

6. Post regular engaging content

Now that your page is up and running, the work doesn’t stop there. To keep attracting new visitors, it is best practice to post engaging content regularly.  Here are some ideas for what to post on a regular basis:

• Highlight events and things to do in your area
• Offer specials and discounts on your vacation rental
• Share any exciting news or updates about your vacation rental
• Post beautiful photos and interesting videos of your vacation rental
• Share glowing customer reviews

7. Encourage your guests to tag your page in the photos they post online

When guests stay at your vacation rental, they will more than likely take photos while on their vacation and post them on their own personal profiles.

An excellent marketing hack is to encourage your guests to tag your page when they post the photos on Facebook. By doing this, your guest’s network will be able to find your page through the tag and visit your page for themselves.

8. Stay active in the comments section of your page

With an active social media page, past and future guests will be posting inquiries, comments, photos, and reviews about your vacation rental. When you receive any activity on your page, you should try to interact with your guests as much as possible through reposts, replies, and reactions (likes).

Not only will this build strong relationships with your guests and promote effective communication, but it will also benefit your page overall. The more activity you have on your page, the likelier it is to appear high up in search results.

9. Maintain top-notch communication when guests from Facebook make a booking

Communication should remain effective when prospective guests find your page, all the way to them making a booking and throughout their stay.

While remaining active on Facebook may be simple enough, maintaining great communication through the entire guest experience can get quite complicated if you’re doing everything manually. Luckily, vacation rental software like iGMS offers powerful tools for hosts and property managers to automate guest communication.

With iGMS you can:

• Automate guest messaging and set triggers to reply to your guest instantly
• Use email templates to streamline your guest communication
• Automate guest review send-outs
• Manage multiple accounts and listings across the top booking platforms from a single interface
• Synchronize reservations across multiple platforms to eliminate the risk of getting a double-booking
• Build a stunning professional website for direct bookings with the Website Builder
• Share daily cleaning schedules and auto-assign cleaning tasks, and so much more.

Streamline Your Communication

Should I Join A Facebook Group for Vacation Rental Owners?

There are many other opportunities and resources available for successful vacation rental business owners on Facebook. One example of this is Facebook groups.

Facebook groups are where a community of people with a shared interest can gather online. As such, there are Facebook groups available with a focus on short-term rental businesses and hosting.

By joining a few of these groups, you’ll be able to learn more about the industry, meet more people who are involved in the short-term rental industry, get more tips on how to improve your business, and get support from other hosts when you’re having a hard time.

The top Facebook vacation rentals groups that hosts should join:

• Airbnb Host Club
• Short Term Rental University
• Airbnb Profit Club
• Holiday Rental Owners Network
• Airbnb’s Finest Hosts
• Airbnb / HomeAway / Vacation Rental MasterMind Group
• Airbnb Hosts UK Chat Group (For hosts with properties in the UK)

What is Facebook Marketplace?

Accurately named, Facebook Marketplace is a space on Facebook where users can buy and sell new or used items or market any services. Sellers are able to list their items along with photos, descriptions, and prices, and buyers are able to purchase these products and services through the platform.

Therefore, Marketplace also presents a lucrative opportunity to list your vacation home where potential guests are already present.

Can Vacation Rental Owners Use Facebook Marketplace to Promote Their Properties?

By listing your properties on Marketplace, your listing will have a chance to be seen by a wider audience.

If you ensure that the pictures of your rental property are high quality and the description is well written and enticing, you could boost your number of bookings through the platform.

Facebook is one of the most popular websites in the world, so building a presence on Facebook Marketplace is definitely worth your time. It can help to promote your business, find more book-direct guests, and build your brand.

How Do I List My Short-Term Rental on Facebook Marketplace?

If you’re ready to set up your listing on Facebook Marketplace, here’s how to do so in 5 easy steps:

1. Log in to your Facebook account and find “Marketplace” in the menu on the left-hand side of your screen.

2. On Marketplace’s menu on the left, click on “Create new listing”

3. From the listing types available, you’ll select “Home for sale or rent”

4. The next page will prompt you to enter all the specific information about your listing, including pricing, location, pictures, and a description that will detail your amenities. Here is your opportunity to dazzle potential guests.

5. Once your listing is filled out, you’ll need to choose whether your listing should be placed on your newsfeed only, or on the entire Marketplace. Just be aware, that if you select your newsfeed, your listing may only be seen by certain groups, like your Facebook friend network.

Then, your listing should be all set to bring in Facebook bookings!

How Does Facebook Paid Advertising (Facebook Ads) Work For The Vacation Rental Industry?

In a nutshell, Facebook Ads allow you to target specific audiences based on their interests, search behaviors, and demographics to find users who are more likely to purchase your product — or in your case, make a booking at your vacation rental. This is a form of paid social media advertising, similar to Google Ads.

So, where it is free to advertise on your own page on Facebook or on Facebook Marketplace, here you’d need a marketing budget to reap the benefits. However, because you’re able to set campaign goals and target specific audiences, your chances of attracting bookings are increased.

How Do I Set Up A Facebook/Social Media Ads Campaign?

Interested to see if Facebook Ads will work for your business? Here’s how to set up a campaign:

1. Choose the objective of your ad. This could be lead generation to drive more bookings or to increase brand awareness.
2. Choose your target audience based on age, location, behaviors, interests, etc.
3. Decide where you want your ad to show up: Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, Audience Network, or across all platforms.
4. Decide on a daily or lifetime budget, as well as the length of time you’d like your ad to run for.
5. Choose one of the ad formats available. This will depend on your choice of pictures and videos.
6. Place your ad order and set up your payment method.
7. Once everything is set up, you will be able to make your ad live and track its progress.

Tips for running successful Facebook Ads

If you’re going to be spending your hard-earned money on your ad, it won’t hurt to take a few best practices on board. Here are a few tips for getting it right:

• Use an engaging picture or video
• Retarget your past website visitors and guests
• Choose a specific audience group and create your ad with them in mind
• Include a link to your website so that you can direct traffic from your ad
• Don’t spread your budget over too many different ads. Rather invest more money into each ad to make it more effective
• Include enticing specials and discounts to encourage clicks.

Conclusion

Vacation rental marketing is not an easy task. It involves complex knowledge of variables and can often leave vacation rental property owners scratching their heads. Firstly you’ll need a vacation rental marketing strategy. Once you’ve decided to start building a vacation rental marketing plan, you need to include core information like the goals of your vacation rental business, your target earnings, your target guest, your property location, the general vacation rental market, and other details like if you have a direct booking vacation rental website that you want to direct customers to.

As a vacation rental owner, it’s your job to market your vacation rental, whether you’re using a property management company or not. Effective vacation rental marketing stems from knowing your target audience and developing a marketing strategy around them.

The marketing efforts of your vacation rental company can be helped considerably by building your own website, collaborating with local businesses, reconnecting with past guests and email marketing.

Social media marketing is a profession in its own right, making the management of social media sites more complicated than you might think. Online travel agencies like Booking.com and Airbnb market property listings like a social media site and allow for the opening of more diverse marketing channels.

However you choose to market your rental, remember to keep your target audience in mind when you design a marketing campaign. Be sure to keep track of the tactics you’re using with advanced reporting so you know the things that resonate with your audience.

About the Author
Callan Riddles is the Content and Social Media Specialist at iGMS. Callan has a passion for finding new ways to help vacation rental businesses thrive. In her free time, she loves to travel, read, and experience all the new things that life has to offer.

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