All products, services, or links mentioned on my website are for products and services that I have personally used and/or recommend. Some of the links are affiliate links. This means if you click on an affiliate link and purchase an item, I may receive an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. All opinions remain my own.
Many vacation rental owners choose to purchase paid advertising on Facebook. Unfortunately, many of those Facebook ads are not successful.
No one likes to waste money on advertising. As business owners, we are responsible for exploring our advertising options. It is our job to make sure we understand how to turn our marketing dollars into increased profits.
In this article, we take a look at the top six Facebook ad types for having successful vacation rental marketing goals.
That’s a great question! I want to be clear up-front on this topic – I rarely use paid Facebook ads in my vacation rental marketing.
Surprisingly, I have had far greater success with paid ads on Pinterest. And Pinterest advertising is MUCH cheaper than Facebook. My article, 12 Pinterest Board Ideas for Vacation Rentals, has ideas for using Pinterest in your vacation rental business.
However, Facebook ads can work well to promote seasonal specials, generate leads to your email list, and get more traffic to your website.
Many vacation rental owners have been successful in using Facebook ads to help fill their calendars.
Further in this article I discuss starting with the marketing goals you’re trying to achieve. Next, focus on those goals using specific Facebook ad types and the audience targeting tools.
In other words, don’t throw up and ad and hope that it works. Be intentional. Research what’s working in your analytics.
If you do these things, you’re more likely to see results from your ad.
The bottom line is this. I don’t recommend spending money on Facebook ads until you’re getting decent organic Facebook post engagement.
Posts or content that aren’t performing well organically probably won’t perform well in an ad either.
If your main Facebook marketing goal is only to add Facebook fans, you’re missing the entire point of social media.
A 4,000 fan Facebook page that is getting less than 5% engagement is not successfully using the platform. I would “bet the farm” that a page, with 300 Facebook fans, that is getting 20-30% engagement rates is being far more successful at converting bookings. Social media should be social, not a popularity contest.
Before embarking on an expensive Facebook ad campaign, take some time to learn more about how to increase organic interaction. Your Facebook fans will appreciate seeing more exciting and educational content in their newsfeed, and you will see a big jump in your analytics.
Well, it depends. First, you need to have a marketing goal in mind.
Those are just some of the ways Facebook ad types can be used to reach and target an audience in a way that meets your specific vacation rental marketing goals.
Determine your budget before starting to create your ad. Ad budgets are created in a dollar per day format. You set the $ per day and the number of days you want to run the ad.
Facebook ad budgets can get out of hand quickly. Be sure you understand the dollar amount and terms you’re committing to during ad creation.
It gets tricky. If an ad is performing exceptionally well, Facebook may automatically increase your ad spend. Keep watch of your ad throughout the active period.
There are several Facebook ad types available. Choose the one that best meets your marketing goal.
My recommendation is to use boosted posts sparingly. For me, the ROI of boosted posts has not been as good as creating an original new ad.
The purpose of boosted posts is to generate additional engagement (likes, comments, and shares) on previously created timeline posts.
I have found that the best way to maximize this type of paid ad is to boost a post that is already performing very well. The next best ROI is to boost a different post within a few hours or a day of an existing post getting reasonable engagement rates.
Review the Facebook page’s insights and analytics to see what types of posts and content perform the best for your audience. Boosting an organically high performing post will generally get the most bang for the buck with paid advertising.
Running a “Get More Leads” Facebook ad campaign is a successful means of adding new subscribers to your email list. This type of ad links to a fillable form or a lead generation app. The user completes the text fields (typically their name and email address) and agrees to be added to an email list.
Your email list is gold! You OWN your email list, and it is one of the most valuable assets in your vacation rental business.
You DO NOT own your Facebook fans and Instagram followers. If your Facebook or Instagram pages are hacked or shut down, how would you ever reach all of your fans? It would be nearly impossible.
There is also the risk of losing email contact information from previous guests on the OTA sites (Airbnb, Vrbo, etc.). Starting your email contact list is extremely important, and it can be a valuable tool for marketing to that audience.
Growing your email contact list should be one of the main goals for your vacation rental marketing strategy.
Read Vacation Rental Newsletter Ideas & 5 Things to Include to learn more about using your email list to generate bookings and provide valuable information to your potential guests.
The “Promote Facebook Page” ads will help to increase the number of page fans. These ads have a “like” icon on the face of the ad where Facebook users can click the thumbs up to follow your page instantly.
This type of ad can be successful for owners who have a new Facebook business page. Many Facebook features are not available until you reach at least 100 page fans.
Use a “Promote Facebook Page” ad type to increase followers to 100. After you’ve reached 100 page followers, this type of ad is typically not as successful in generating followers who will be engaging. Your goal should be to attract followers who value your posts and content.
A high number of inactive followers can be more detrimental to your analytics than a low number of active followers.
For vacation rentals located in an area where hotels are scarce, this type of Facebook ad can be advantageous. When promoting as a local business, other locals in the area will be more apt to see your ad.
You can use this type of Facebook ad to get your vacation rental name in front of local residents, area businesses, and organizations. In turn, they will be more likely to refer your vacation rental to family, friends, colleagues, and event attendees.
This type of ad should target the specific audience you want to attract.
Mention the event whose attendees you would like to rent to and ask local residents and businesses to share your post. Use messenger or email to share a link to your post, along with the rates and other relevant information.
Some of the uses for this type of ad are:
The “Call-To-Action Button” Facebook ad type includes a clickable button within the ad. When users click on the button, Facebook directs them to an actionable screen.
Some of these actions can be customized to a website link you choose. For others, Facebook determines the button action, depending on the settings and content within your Facebook business page profile.
Call-to-action buttons available on your page may include:
What unique call-to-actions could you include with the buttons listed above?
One example for using the “Download” button is to create a printable packing list (pdf) that is specific to your destination area. Or create a 3 Day Itinerary for your area. These downloads could be linked to a landing page where they can choose to be added to your email list in exchange for the printable download.
Are you looking for a cleaner or handyman? Use the “Apply Now” button for advertising the position.
The “Get More Website Traffic” ad type includes a clickable button or link to a website URL. The link in the ad can go to your main URL, any other page on your website, your OTA website, or someone else’s website.
Links such as the following would be useful in this Facebook ad type:
Below is a chart listing the creative formats that are available for each Facebook ad type. Plan your post content in a way that uses the most interesting/relevant create format available.
Facebook’s algorithm works best with certain image file types and sizes. You can find more information about those specifications in the Facebook ad guide.
If you’re looking for new ideas and best practices for having a successful social media marketing strategy, check out Social Media Marketing Bootcamp – Facebook & Instagram Course Exclusively for Vacation Rental Hosts.
You’ll learn unique marketing strategies for social media that will generate more revenue for your business.
Social Media Marketing Bootcamp is a self-paced, 5-Part course designed exclusively for vacation rental owners. The content will be specific to the vacation rental industry, and you’ll have access to exclusive content, worksheets, and questions/answers as you move through the course.
Learn more about how to effectively market your vacation rental on social media, in my Facebook & Instagram Course Exclusively for Vacation Rental Hosts.
Here are some of the topics included in the Social Media Marketing Bootcamp Course:
Take the quiz to find out how the Social Media Marketing Bootcamp course will help your vacation rental business.
After taking the quiz, you’ll see a personalized report explaining whether you’re a good candidate for the course.
You don’t want to miss any of my weekly vacation rental management and marketing tips! You’ll also get my FREE Download – 9 Steps to Preparing Your Vacation Rental Business to #BookDirect!
Would you like to take Direct Bookings for your vacation rental, but you don’t know where to start? Evaluate where you are and what steps you need to take to gain back control of your vacation rental business. It’s not as hard as you might think.
Learn what Trendy Hospitality is all about. And learn more about me and why I have such a passion for vacation rental management and marketing.
I would jump for joy if you’d share my blog posts on your favorite social media platforms, including Facebook groups ! ↓
All products, services or links mentioned on my website are for products and services that I have personally used. Some of the links are affiliate links. This means if you click on an affiliate link and purchase an item, I may receive an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. All opinions remain my own.
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