ViaVacanza Announces New Brand, TravelStorm

 Destin, FL – June 2009

ViaVacanza announces the unveiling of their new brand, TravelStorm. A rebirth of vision, energy and focus – TravelStorm plans to empower the Vacation Rental Industry with Rezolution, a state of the art booking engine and content management system. Focusing on simple user-interface, Rezolution provides powerful tools that integrate with all of the Instant Software products including First Resort, Entech, Property Plus and V12 in order to make managing a website seamless. Integration is in the development plan for other leading industry software solutions.

The most recent addition to the growing Rezolution portfolio is the Orlando Vacation Rentals company, Imagine Vacation Homes. Owned and operated by Randy Thomason, Imagine Vacations continues to increase their market share and has an average occupancy rate of 75% annually. Other destinations include the Florida Gulf Coast with clients such as Pensacola Rental agency, Barrons Realty; Seagrove Beach Vacation Rentals by BeachSeekers, Destin Vacation Rentals managed by Sandcastle Escapes and the Seascape Destin Resort. Seascape Resort has experienced an increase of 65% in online bookings during 2009 and overall web traffic increase without utilizing pay per click of almost 45%. Newman-Dailey Resort Properties is the charter user of Rezolution and has a hallmark Florida Vacation Rental website with some of the most advanced functionality of any other company in the industry.

The free Vacation Rental listing site, VRDirectory.net is also owned and operated by TravelStorm as an extension of their commitment to growing the industry’s presence in travel and giving all companies regardless of size or resources a chance to experience a powerful interface. BidMyRental.com is a Vacation Rental Bidding site based on annual listing price that allows managers and consumers to interact in a bidding interface while traversing the discount boundaries experienced by professional management companies.

TravelStorm’s owners are Joe Scurto and Amber Leto, both seasoned Vacation Rental veterans with extensive portfolios of web development, innovative marketing plans, Search Engine Optimization services and Vacation Rental Consulting. Amber Leto is a popular Vacation Rental Marketing Consultant with clients in the Outer Banks, Disney, Palm Coast and Gulf Coast regions and serves on the Florida Vacation Rental Managers Board of Directors and the National VRMA Website Committee. TravelStorm will be making several appearances at the National VRMA convention in Washington, DC (October 24-28, 2009) including sessions on Google Analytics and their role in the daily decisions of Vacation Rental managers, Utilizing Online Travel Agents for increasing occupancy rates and the panel on Social Marketing.

Contact TravelStorm today for a free website and marketing evaluation. This rebranding special offer is a $3500 value. 850-499-5504 or via email at amber@extremevrmarketing.com. | Media Contact: Amber Leto 850-499-5504 | Hospitality Newsmaker Alert™ Placement Dates: 06/16/09 – 08/16/09 Press-News Index

2009
06/15
CATEGORY
Press Release
Website Development/Programmer
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Rules of Thumb for Social Media Postings

Here’s a great article on Social Media Posting “Rules of Thumb”….

http://mashable.com/2009/06/02/social-media-policy-musts/

2009
06/04
CATEGORY
New Social Marketing Tips!
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Tracking Emails – ROI

Sometimes you come across a client that is just so close to the being on the cutting edge of innovation that you wonder how they stumbled upon your services – Steve Milo with Vacation Rental Pros – introduced me to Email Pro Center and I am hooked!

Email Center Pro allows you to integrate all of your sales emails into one place that provides analytics, tracking tools and sales analysis/training opportunities with your staff.  Extremely reasonably priced, this product is worth everyone’s attention.  

Set up is simple and took less than an hour for the first client that I completed including uploading and creating unique user names and mailboxes for each employee.

This tool is a no brainer!  Check it out as soon as you can…. let me know if you need any assistance or a demo.  Way to go Steve Milo and your St. Augustine Vacation Rentals!

2009
05/20
CATEGORY
Analytics Tools
Sales Training/Metrics/Scripting
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Broadcast Last Minute Deals – Twitter for Travel

One of our current projects is to integrate the vastly growing Twitter phenomenon into our Rezolution Vacation Rental Booking Engine and CMS product so that our website development clients can broadcast their deals and specials via Twitter as well as on their website  portfolio in one integrated solution.

Add A “follow me on twitter” link right underneath where your traditional lead capture can be found – as well as a facebook link if your resort/management company currently has a regularly updated profile – both of these social avenues are addictive and growing at break-neck pace!

If your company currently cannot provide an integrated Twitter solution – create an account anyway!  Grow your audience, broadcast your deals, links to press releases or new properties on your program …. 

After making your Company Profile on Twitter – ensure that you add your business to a Twitter Business Directory like Twib.com (Just google Twitter Business Directory to find more valuable resources to make it easier for searchers to find your Twitter profile!)

2009
05/12
CATEGORY
New Social Marketing Tips!
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Conquering a Keyword – A Three Year Journey

The goal of having a successful website is to ensure that your company generates online sales.  The Vacation Rental industry has more complex goals with a website – mix individual homeowner’s and their expectations into the mix and you have two sets of objectives:  ranking on keywords that will generate bookings/revenue and ranking on keywords that your owners will think is important.  Both are vital and somewhat similar to the chicken and the egg scenario.  

There are some certainties about choosing a keyword goal and the road ahead:

  1. Choose your keyword goals wisely – based not only on potential traffic volume, but relevancy to your product
  2. Be patient – especially if the keyword set is at the top end of competition.  Google the keyword and see how many websites rank for that term set – if it is in the hundreds of thousands – be reasonable with your timeframe.
  3. Two years is not a long time to work on a keyword before you see page one or two rankings – remember, you’re not the only one concerned with that keyword phrase 
  4. Search Engine Optimization only works if your website is written with clean code/best technologies, etc – even the most aggressive SEM/Link Building campaign can only get you so far.
  5. Remember those keywords ALWAYS – when you are writing your email blasts, when you are placing ads online, when you giving someone your website URL – always.
  6. Track your progress and keep an open mind.  If your product/inventory mix changes – then you might have to change your keyword goals.

I have three keywords (phrases) that I have been aggressively seeking for Seascape Resort in Destin, Florida for two years and finally – a few weeks ago – we made it to page one!  There was NO MAGIC BULLET – it was a process that took consistency, relevancy, a premier web programmer/designer who knows how to write code without offending the search engines, a BUDGET, and a massive amount of tracking.  

KEYWORD RANKING RECIPE:     (in order of relevancy!)         Preparation Time:  Six months             Cook Time:  Up to Three Years

  1. Website design - don’t miss the small stuff (most people do!).  Pay attention to details – photography should have keyword relevant ALT tags, outbound links should have a no-follow unless you are specifically trying to pass pagerank.  Page Titles, Meta Descriptions and Meta tags should be on every single page.  The content on every page should contain a keyword rich H1 header that is relevant to the rest of the content on the page.  Ensure that your programmer is familiar with how to ensure flash is indexed in the search engines, add rich media to your site including video embedded from popular social video distribution channels, constantly add content via press releases, testimonials, deals, etc.  Make sure it is easy for users to add your site to their favorite social bookmarking site and utilize those same services within your site – Twitter is a great tool for loading dynamic deals that reach a massive audience (including consumers who have not made it to your website yet!).  Be concise – know your product and sell that – don’t go off topic.  You want web traffic that intends on booking a vacation – not golf rounds, dining reservations or groceries (those are like extra trim packages that you can buy on automobiles – but you don’t go visit your local Toyota dealer to check out the stereo in the Tundra… get my drift?)
  2. Use your Marketing dollars wisely - every time you purchase an online ad you should be thinking of it as not only a traffic source, but a part of your backlinks campaign.  What page does your ad go on – does your advertiser know have an SEO friendly site that passes page rank or do they use no-follow?  If you are paying to be there – insist that they do not no-follow your link and choose your own anchor text.  
  3. Research or hire a firm to produce a backlinks campaign for you BUT STAY VERY INVOVLED.  Subscribing to relevant directories is not in violation of Search Engine Rules – AS LONG AS THEY ARE RELEVANT.  Ask for a monthly report/weekly report of which directories have been submitted and a follow up of each URL where the submission was approved/exists.
  4. Write relevant and media rich Press Releases to build amazing backlinks – host the Press Release on your own site so that you can utilize social distribution channels and get the link credit as the source.  I highly recommend hiring a professional copywriter and not trying to do press releases in house – the technical writing skills are key qualifiers for getting some of the better placements.
  5. Keep an Eye on the whole picture - watch the traffic volume, track your keyword placements on a weekly basis and identify triggers – both positive and negative and make adjustments throughout.

When you reach your placement goal on a certain keyword keep in mind that you have more competitors than you can imagine – some of which are hundreds of times your size (Homeaway, VRBO, Directory Sites, etc… ) that also want that keyword placement.  So unfortunately, your job is never done….. 

Although once you reach a keyword goal you can pick some new words, phrases, longtails to work on – you must also ensure that you don’t lose your original rankings by being consistent.  

For your homeowners - communicate with them what keywords you currently rank on, and keep them abreast of your progress on your goal keywords.  Just because Destin Florida has a huge traffic volume – it doesn’t mean its the right keyword goal to choose – how many users type in Destin, Florida when they are ready to make a booking?  Think about how your consumers “think” – and focus your time and money on the keywords people will utilize when they are close to pulling the “rent” trigger – not researching the destination.

2009
05/10
CATEGORY
Backlink Campaigns
Marketing Plan
New Social Marketing Tips!
SEO for Travel Sites
Website Development/Programmer
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When Opportunity Expires

 

Establishing a Yield Management Program:

 

 

Know your numbers – trying yield management without an effective system is a catastrophe

 

•Know how many units you have of each rate type and size
•Know your average occupancy rates from the past and avg. ADR
•Know where your current bookings are falling and in what unit types
•Know your average lead time – it changes from season to season!
•Know the booking lead times from different marketing avenues
•Repeat guests typically book farther out than new guests
•Guests who book directly with the establishment generally have a longer lead time
•Wholesalers or External Websites provide the shortest lead time – use them for aggressive yield management
•Know what your competition is selling your units at – rate shop and know their business plan – who pays the clean?  Do they have damage waiver rolled in?  Are their rates broken out?
•Know your limits – what does your contract say?
•Know your costs of doing business – are your other departments a loss?  If so – then rework your fees before doing yield management – accepting a booking at a lower rate should never cost you money – it should either be at a slight profit or wash.
   

 

Do not believe that yield management only utilizes discounting –

 

 

•Add extra amenities for free

 

•Be creative with your offer – if they made other arrangements and would prefer to stay with you – offer to pay their cancellation fee with a limit

 

•Change your cancellation policy to make it easier to book without a deposit

 

•Open up your booking window to same day arrival with wholesalers

 

•Increase the amount of inventory you provide to wholesalers without discounting the rate if they have been booking your rooms at your normal ADR but have just run out of rooms.

 

•If they still have inventory left and you are within your normal booking window then consider dropping the rate.  Many wholesale providers can automate this process within your comfort limits (i.e.  always take 15% off within three days of arrival)

 

•If your wholesaler has inventory left and you are sold out or you’re close – then DO NOT discount with them and negotiate getting your units back to sell internally.  If you have a good relationship with the company and your program is effective – this should not be an issue.
 More notes on working with OTA’s (Online Travel Agents) ….
•Get rid of your nightly minimum requirements if possible

 

•If you see a time frame that is selling like hot cakes – use yield management to INCREASE the rates!  This goes both ways!

 

•Never guarantee a specific room for guests that book through third-party providers – only guarantee room types – use your condos and multiple similar homes to “bump and jive” like a hotel.
  

 

INTERNAL ADJUSTMENTS

MOST IMPORTANT – Do NOT be afraid of your owners

•There is no “principal” in sitting empty – literally

•Teach your entire staff about your Yield Management Plan - Owners interact with everyone and everyone should be confident in the direction your business is taking and be able to communicate the reasoning behind the yield management rates to the owners – if the owner’s sense that you are unsure of how to explain the low rate – they will lose confidence in your ability to market their unit instead of believing that what you are doing is amazingly innovative and aggressive – PLUS THIS TAKES A LOT OF WORK – tell them that!

•Make sure that ANY bookings completed with Yield Management have a unique booking type or source, for example: 

         Instead of LLINK and your source code (for regular leisurelink bookings) you should make a secondary code – YLLINK to designate it was a booking made within a few days of arrival under your yield management plan – it will help your owners differentiate and make tracking your numbers and success extremely organized.  Different wholesalers are effective at different rates – find out which ones yield the highest number of bookings and which ones maintain the highest ADR without sacrificing effectiveness.

 

Be proactive with your owners – when you are comfortable with your Yield Management Program and put it in place – send your owners a newsletters and explain to them that you are going to use this new system to maximize their rental potential and occupancy during a time where they typically sit empty.

 

 

 

NEVER – Panic and discount further out than your average lead time for a booking – timing is everything!

 

 

•Track the effectiveness of your discounts or specials – does 10% yield as many bookings as 15%?

 

•NEVER – Discount during time periods that historically sell out or already have very high occupancy – hold out on these time periods unless there are obvious external conditions that will make it difficult to book this time period.

 

•DO NOT – Advertise your yield management rate in a bold way – do whatever you can to make this rate blind (only offer it over the phone or through wholesalers or utilize bidding – uphold the ultimate rate stability on your own website)
•NEVER eat the costs of doing business – break your rates and fees apart and only utilize yield management with the rent portion of your rates
•Do not believe that a high volume of bookings is a real indication of success – if you get a ton of bookings at a discounted rate during a time that your entire region is at a high occupancy – then you probably discounted too early or too much – real success can be measured by increasing your average occupancy throughout the entire year and filling in the time periods that usually sit empty.
2009
05/10
CATEGORY
Yield Management
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Track This – Track Everything

Data is Power.  No doubt we are all extremely overwhelmed with the prospect of going out and trying to quantify our web data, even google analytics can seem mind boggling!  Well, not to add more to your plate, but check out these absolutely fabulously fun tools to help you see even MORE about the people who are visiting your website.

www.SeoMoz.org - this site is a great tool to help you track all kinds of SEO questions you might have – keyword rankings, anchor text, backlinks, web crawler errors – they even have a tool that lets you see what the search engines see when they crawl your site – plus factoids to help you fix your problems.

www.SEOKeywordRanking.com - what a time saver!  Load multiple websites with different lists of keywords that you want to track regularly.  The service is extremely inexpensive and you can set the reports to run on daily, weekly or monthly intervals so that you can track your SERP progress without manually hunting down the keywords constantly.

www.Quantcast.com - you’ll need your guru to embed a small snipet of code, but this site is  lot like getting a custom prizm study on your web traffic – ONLY IT IS FREE!  Sort of “big brotherish” – but this site knows the demographics of your organic traffic – down to their age, how much money they make, how many kids they have, where they come from – you name it!

www.Quintura.com - You’ll see this site mentioned in my blogroll as well as several sections as this site grows, but Qunitura shows you content clouds with keywords that the SEO world calls “latent symantic keywords”.  This translates to words you need to use along with your target keywords in your copy in order to give your keywords relevancy.  This is a new algorythm change implemented to stop keyword vomit in copy.  Search engines have decided that these “latent keywords” are usually found with the “target keywords” if the copy is written well and legitimate.  That’s right people – go re-write your stuff!

www.copyscape.com - Duplicate content is a killer and sometimes if you do a great job with your online content or media – your competition and the general public will swipe your stuff.  This is wrong and bad on many levels – but the first thing you need to know is that if a search engine sees “duplicate” content, whether you did it or somebody stole it – it doesn’t matter, it is BAD for your SEO.  Change your copy immediately and send the word burglars a nasty message and let them know that they took your work.

http://www.google.com/analytics/ - I assume that all of you out there are already using this so I hestitated to post it, but then I realized that most of you probably have web gurus that are using it – but you’re not.  Make sure that you have this free code snippet installed on your site somewhere so that you can follow your web traffic, measure your referrals and really see whats going on with your online presence.

www.NavisTechnologies.com - This is the only service in this list that you have to pay for, but people – there is NO ONE ELSE ON THIS EARTH that can provide you with the data about your telephone callers that Navis can.  The cost is beyond worth the investment.  Check them out.  Make it happen.  Like now.  Yesterday would not be soon enough to have access to this kind of insight, database building tools, training capabilities, efficiencies – etc.  Stop reading my blog…. call Navis.

www.FlipKey.com - You know what this tracks?  What your guests really think of you. 

www.ViaVacanza.com - You know all the great things I said about Navis?  Well this company tracks the same data, only on your web traffic – all the way to ROI (return on investment).  I wont elaborate on how much this ViaggioNet technology rocks – but I am a co-owner, co-creator and full time user … nuff said.

2009
05/10
CATEGORY
Analytics Tools
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Think Like a Search Engine – SEO

I vividly remember the moment I figured this out – I was sipping my Grande Skinny Vanilla Starbucks Latte trying to figure out how to deal with the latest search engine algorithym change when it hit me:  Google employees are not jerks sitting around thinking up ways to make our life miserable every six weeks by changing the criterea in which we must perform for keyword rankings – they are simply focusing on their business plan!

You’re probably wondering what in the world I’m talking about – but the answer is so freaking simple that it was annoying! 

  1. Search Engines all have the same business plan:  To gain/maintain/obtain market share of HUMANS who search the internet for … well, everything.
  2. How do they gain market share or maintain it?:  By producing the most relevant results, no matter what odd combination of words we type into the little box.  You know what I’m talking about!  We all have our favorite search engine because it thinks like we do and we don’t have to go through ten pages to find what we’re asking for!
  3. Still wondering where I’m going with this?  That means – THINK SMALL.  RANK BIG.  One website can not rank well for every keyword because the Search Engines refuse to allow that – obviously your one site is only going to answer a handful of questions really well – and they want to keep it that way.  One obvious example of how true this is – Quality Scoring on PPC – it doesn’t matter how much you’re willing to pay for a keyword any more – if you are not relevant, your score will be low and you will be at the bottom of the sponsored listings or not listed at all.
  4. So how do you relate this revelation to your marketing plan?  Analyze what your current site ranks on well organically and then make a list of keywords that are your goal to rank on well …
  5. Then take that list of goal keywords and build microsites that focus directly on that topic.  If you rank well on Branson Vacations, but you want to rank well on Branson Group Vacations – then build a microsite that caters to groups with specific content, photos, video and user interface that addresses that topic.  Your site will rank well quickly with a low bounce rate.
  6. This does NOT mean that you get to stop paying attention to the cyber geek blogs that let you know the algorithym changes.  This means that you can stay one step ahead, understand why they are making the changes and be aggressive with your approach to adopting their changes as they occur.

 

Now that I’ve told you one of the most valuable insights that has ever occured to me over a cup of overpriced java, here’s the rest of my ranting on SEO.

SEO = Silly Excuse to Overreact

Yes, SEO is beyond important…. but so many of you have no idea what this actually means, where to start, who to trust, etc… that you are paying selfish idiots lots of money to do absolutely nothing for you.  How many times a week do you get the email from the infomercial companies that GUARANTEE to get you top placement within six weeks on any keyword?  They lie.  Even more important – they could use “black market” tactics to improve your rankings that if you ever get caught you will be in the pits of hell with the search engines because they will place your site in a black hole that will never see the light of day.   Here’s some things to help get you started:

  • Get with your Web Guru and ask them the following questions on a regular basis:  How many pages do we have indexed in each of the search engines?  How many of our pages have duplicate page titles, meta descriptions and tags?  Are any of our pages in “frames”?

The number of pages that the search engines have indexed is very important for your rankings.  If they are missing pages or there are errors in the pages they have indexed, then get on your guru and have them update their site maps.

Page Titles – Each page on your site should have a unique page title that accurately depicts the topic of that page.

Meta Descriptions – This desciption is extremely important and every single page should have a unique description.  This information is the “advertisement” for that page and will be the short description that shows up for your organic search results on each of the different engines.

Meta Tags – Try not to have more than 6 tags per page, but this is an old school way of telling the web crawling spiders the most important topics on your page and the keywords you are trying to rank on.

  • Photos/Video – Do all of your photos have alt tags behind them?  Web crawlers are actual programs themselves – they can’t “see” anything, so if you do not have an alt tag on all of your photos then they don’t know that they are there!  Avoid putting alt tags on design elements or graphics – it is a waste of time and users don’t want descriptions popping up all over the page when they are moving their mouse around.  Video – upload your video on Google Videos or YouTube and then Embed using the code provided – this is great for your SEO and makes the process less bulky for the user, they don’t have to download any applications to watch your videos – they can just click and play without any fuss. 
  • Internal Links – inside your copy make sure that you are linking in the content to the specific internal pages that are relevant.  Don’t overlink and make your copy hard to read but if you are writing about the fact that the area beaches are fantastic with plenty of things to do then link from the word beach to the page on you site that lists all of the beaches, has photos and references for the activities – make sense?
  • External Links – Know how many sites are linking back to your site and what anchor text are they using when they link to you?  Anchor text is what the user actually clicks on in order to get to your site.  For example, if you make the word “beach” link to your website then you are giving relevancy to the word “beach” and your website and the search engines understand this.  Simply letting your advertisers link to you by anchoring with “Click HERE” is unacceptable – especially if you are paying.  Tell them to use the following code to be able to link to your site:

<a href=”http://www.yourwebsiteaddress.com”>The Relevant Keyword that you want them to use as your anchor text</a>

2009
05/10
CATEGORY
Marketing Plan
SEO for Travel Sites
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The Four Letter Word – VRBO

Upon taking my current position at Seascape Resort in Destin, Florida I was faced with the task of convincing owners who were strapped for cash to work with us as their management company instead of going the VRBO route. I did some research with local VRBO owners and management companies and came up with the following hypothesis: 

Estimated Incomes:
Management Company Alone: $26,221.50
VRBO Owner Alone: $24,867.22
Partnership: $31,680.10

Basically these numbers reflected my hypothesis that a partnership would produce a higher gross income per rental unit than either entity working alone.

The results of this study were astounding! At the end of the year I calculated that owners who were on my rental program but also actively participated in marketing of their own unit resulted in a 20% increase in their gross income over their stand alone counterparts!

Active marketing participation by owners means more than forwarding email requests and inquiries. Owners have an uncanny ability to really bring an intimate relationship to their unit in their sales pitch and it sells! Vacation rental travelers are different from hotel guests and are looking to establish a tradition, not just stay in a “unit”. Most current owners were once just guests and they fell in love with the area and experience enough to invest in a piece of it for themselves and their family.

Whereas once management companies through VRBO owners were a threat, it is now commonplace for professional firms to offer an option for owners who want more control over the marketing of their property. It is a fallacy that owners believe that they save money by managing their properties on their own – you just don’t write yourself a check; but I know that if you can afford a vacation rental, then your time is valuable!

2009
05/10
CATEGORY
Acquiring New Owners/Inventory
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Social Marketing – Speak Loudly

Be bold with your social marketing!  Many of us use the term social marketing as if we really know we that means – but in reality, it is another term for word of mouth marketing (just we added the internet to our world and now it needs a more complex, formal name). 

This means that talk to your clients, current and potential – and build them a bridge to speak to each other.  Talk to them often, speak honestly and be bold with your messages.

There are many simple solutions to begin a social marketing campaign.  The most effective is utilizing your email database that you have been collecting (and if you haven’t, then shame on you and get started RIGHT NOW!). 

1.  Subscribe to a email service such as Constant Contact so that you can protect your domain name from being blacklisted as spam.  This is very cost effective and they are diligent with maintaining high standards to protect random email lists from being uploaded.  Although this can initially make it difficult to upload your email database (they make you prove how you got the email addresses) – it will be worth it so that your emails to your clientel end up in their inbox, not their junk folders.

2.  Hire a professional graphic designer to help you build an eyecatching template.  You can use the typical templates that are provided by the email provider to get started, but I highly suggest getting a few designer templates that are going to really blow away your competition.  Here’s an example below:

PerceptionsbyMayer Social Marketing Template
PerceptionsbyMayer Social Marketing Template
This template provides a “website” user interface and links directly to the important spots on the photography website(s).  This photographer has three websites, and each of the above links utilizes the strengths of each particular site to direct people to the most effecient results.  Text can be changed easily and will be located in the empty black area.
3.  Blog – a lot.  Find someone in your office that really knows the area well and start talking about what is unique about your destination, your staff’s favorite dining spots, local watering holes, things to do, etc.  Even best directions into your location – we all know the interstates, but are there back roads that have less traffic and shorten the route?  Ask for your staff the most common questions clients ask them – and then answer all of those in detailed blog posts.  Being the most valuable resource on the area will certainly bring consumer loyalty and help brand your company as an expert on the area.
4.  Post – a lot.  Find blogs on travel (there are thousands!) and start posting your company info, great details, photos and videos.  Get your staff and homeowner’s involved – the more unique your content is, the most people will want to read your information.
5.  Reviews - FlipKey is amazing.  We have had reviews on our websites for years, but FlipKey has automated a system that emails your guests after they depart and has them provide reviews on their experience with your company and their rental accomodation.  Above all else – what your clients say about staying with you and in a particular rental – is the most powerful advertising you could never buy.  There are tools to manage the reviews, to provide rebuttle to negative comments and to thank patrons for positive responses.
6.  Referral Programs - Institute a referral program that provides incentives for loyal guests who refer friends to have an exclusive discount during your less peak seasons.  Give them a goal to earn a free weekend stay in the off season – they will often exceed your expectations!
7.  Get Personal - Have a portion of your website that portrays your entire staff with small bios and candid facts.  Vacation Rentals are different from hotels because we provide a tradition, not just a place to put your head at night in an unfamiliar town.  Let your potential clients get to know you – they are booking a vacation rental because they want to be comfortable and familiar on their vacation!
2009
05/10
CATEGORY
New Social Marketing Tips!
TAGS


3 comments