Now that the colder nights are settling in and the leaves are starting to fall, that can only mean one thing: the holiday season is upon us.
While it may have been an incredibly strange and uncertain year to this point, one thing that hasn’t changed throughout the Coronavirus pandemic is the desire people have to get away – to escape to somewhere other than the four walls they’ve endured from one lockdown to another.
Fortunately, with the holidays just around the corner, short-term rental managers are now in a position to offer guests everything they want out of a safe getaway, effectively killing two birds with one stone; ensuring a successful Q4 period for your business while satisfying the needs of your guests. Talk about a win-win, right?
To help your property management company bring in more bookings than ever this holiday season, here are six quick and easy ways to attract more guests to your rentals both before and after the holidays.
1. Use Incentives
With so much competition in the market, it’s important to take measures that can help your rentals stand out and prevail as the best choice for travellers. Another great way to accomplish this is by offering discounts and giveaways.
Whether it be a 10% discount code, a two-night stay giveaway when booking a week or more, or discounts for referring a friend, it’s important to give people a reason to choose your rental over someone else’s.
2. Utilize Social Media Advertising
Social media has been the best friend of many businesses throughout the Coronavirus pandemic and, with the holiday season right around the corner, utilizing it in the right way now could make a big difference.
With more and more customers browsing online nowadays, make the most of this movement by trying different social media marketing strategies such as posting like-worthy photos of your properties on Instagram, using hashtags to drive viewers to your posts, or creating targeted ad campaigns to stay top of mind with your target audience.
3. Replace Your Mattresses
Mattresses can make or break a guest’s experience, so you’re going to want the ones you have in your rentals to be as comfortable as possible. Plus, after five or six years of use, they can wear down, get too soft and actually become detrimental to the health of your guests.
Mentioning that your rentals are stocked with new, high-quality mattresses will not only encourage travellers to choose your property over others, but it will also promote higher customer satisfaction (which means better reviews!).
4. Refine Your Internal Processes
It’s no secret that many short-term rental management softwares on the market are a little outdated, so why not think about an upgrade?
Thanks to the rise of technology over the years, software – like Guesty’s industry-leading property management platform – can help streamline and automate all of your most tedious daily processes, allowing you to ultimately save both time and money.
Whether it be refining payment processing, streamlining task management or automating guest communication, bringing your property management company into the 21st century will instantly pay-off and make a big difference in terms of both scalability and conversions.
5. Don’t Forget About Coronavirus
While it may sound silly to say, the Coronavirus pandemic remains a global concern which will not be going away any time soon. Therefore, you should make it your aim to put guests’ minds at ease, by making it clear how COVID-secure a stay at your property would be.
In addition to having hand sanitizer and masks readily available, it’s also important to make sure you clearly convey to guests the stringent cleaning protocols your team has been following in between (and during) bookings. In essence, the more you can put their minds at ease in advance, the more likely they’ll be to stay with you.
6. Allow Pets
A big sticking point for some people when it comes to booking is not being able to bring their furry friends along to stay with them. So, why not loosen the reins a little? (Pun intended!)
While this is obviously at your discretion, allowing guests to stay with their pets could add an extra selling factor to your properties.
Plus, if you have a property in a rural location, many people would love the prospect of going on a Christmas day walk with their four-legged friend.
It could even result in repeat business and an increase in bookings and revenues after the holiday season is over.
Finish the year strong
While 2020 may have been an incredibly difficult year for the travel industry as a whole, there seems to be some light at the end of the tunnel.
By utilizing the tips listed above, you could not only enable your business to finish the year with a bang, but you’ll also be starting the new year off on the best foot possible: attracting more guests to your short-term rentals than ever before.
Guesty’s talented marketing team is comprised of passionate professionals who share insightful industry knowledge and shape brand narratives. By bringing a diverse blend of expertise to the table, we are the visionary architects behind the Guesty brand and innovative campaigns that help people understand our product.
