Social Media Nitty-Gritty

It is true – you can make social media a game-changer for your vacation rental business.  If you’ve been following Trendy Hospitality for five seconds, you already know that I am a huge proponent for using social media.  One of our key components is to help the hospitality industry with incorporating social media in your marketing strategy.

Over and over again, I hear vacation rental owners say they’ve tried Facebook and Instagram, but they never get any bookings from it.  They tell other owners not to waste their time. 

Here are the facts:  There are roughly 2.7 BILLION people on Facebook EVERY month!  If you can’t get some bookings from 2.7 BILLION people, you need to evaluate what you’re posting!

To begin, let’s just cut to the chase.   Who is your competition?  What are they posting on social media?

Answer 1:  Easy.  Other vacation rentals and local hotels

Answer 2:  The successful competitors are posting consistent, quality, engaging content through destination marketing, not by constantly posting self-serving commercials. 

Social Media Marketing Tough Love

Recently, I did a search on Facebook for hotels in Jackson Hole, WY, and Ocean City, MD.  My intent with the search was to choose a couple of chain hotels.  Typically you would think the marketing for the chains is staffed by someone at the corporate level who doesn’t know the destination area. 

Of course, that’s what we vacation rental owners are proud of, right? 

“We are the mom-and-pop lodging choice.  We provide excellent customer service and provide a unique guest experience.  As a mom-and-pop, we know the area well, and can be a personal concierge for our guests.” 

Isn’t that what we advertise?  

BUT, are we doing it?  Maybe.  Are we exhibiting our marketing skills and destination knowledge to our POTENTIAL guest?  You know, the potential guests who find us on Facebook – or the potential guests who doesn’t find us because we don’t even have a Facebook page.  Tough love, friend.  I’m really trying to make you think – I’m not criticizing you, life is BUSY!

Indeed, let’s be real.  We have an hour or two a week when we remember to post to our social media accounts.  What do we post?  “Book our 3 bedroom/2 bath cabin that has a hot tub and a BBQ grill.”  Okay, I’m exaggerating – slightly.

Do we take the time to do a little bit of research on what’s happening in our beautiful little town?  Then, do we take the time to write a captivating post?  Or find a photo in our camera roll showing our potential guest how exciting it can be to visit our destination?  Honestly, not often enough.

My Social Media Experiment on Facebook

Next, are two social media content examples from Facebook for hotels in those Jackson Hole and Ocean City destinations:

1. Four Seasons Resort and Residences –  Jackson Hole, WY

27,105 page fans

26,697 page check-ins

4.6 out of 5 reviews

The first three Facebook posts in their feed:

• “Put yourself on Mountain Time” with a link to their discount offers and package deals
• Destination marketing post about whitewater rafting on the Snake River
• A clever combination of hotel and destination marketing – a post about the hotel’s Westbank Grill with a photo of a restaurant salad. “Introducing the new Vibrant Greens dish at Westbank Grill. Made with locally sourced, fresh ingredients from Vertical Harvest.”
• And check out this post/hotel commercial that includes a video. “From the roaring falls at the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone to burly bison roaming their national habitat in Grand Teton National Park, a family vacation to Four Seasons Jackson Hole puts you in the center of some of the most astounding national wonders in the world.”   It’s all about destination marketing!  

First of all, I love that they have a video as their cover photo.  Very eye-catching.  Many posts in the feed relate to some activity or scenic adventure around Jackson Hole.  Four Seasons responded to some of the comments and even added additional opportunities for engagement with posting questions in the replies.  The page clearly has someone local who is generating the quality content that hones in on the destination’s amenities and not just the amenities of the hotel.

2.  Holiday Inn – Ocean City, Maryland 

11,503 page fans

32,161 page check-ins

4.4 out of 5  reviews

The first three Facebook posts in their feed:

• Sharing a local photographer’s photos of the wild horses at Assateague Island National Seashore
• A post congratulating a local restaurant winning “Best Italian Food in Ocean City” 
• Sharing Ocean City’s weekly calendar of events

Interestingly, I had to scroll several screens deep to find a post that was advertising something about the hotel.  They have tons of helpful and engaging content relating to Ocean City and several beautiful beach photos.  Many of their posts had likes, comments and shares, along with reply comments from the hotel.  Overall, it’s an awesome Facebook page, especially impressive for a chain hotel.  It is evident they have someone local (or someone who knows the area well) who is actively engaged in their social media marketing.

Study Your Competition

One of the best ways to learn to be a good marketer for your vacation rental, is to study your competition.  Just like the examples I provided in this article, do a search for your own destination’s hotels and vacation rentals. 

• Get ideas from what your competitors are posting.   
• Share posts from local businesses, restaurants, and tourism organizations.
• Pick up a local travel guide and some rack cards to keep on hand for content inspiration.
• Follow local businesses and tourism organizations on social media.  Learn how to “like” a page as your vacation rental, instead of your personal profile.

The point of destination marketing is for you to exemplify your knowledge of the area – become a destination expert for your guests.  Remember, guests are coming to your area to explore and experience something new.   Consequently, you can help them do that by providing examples of exciting opportunities.

Make Social Media a Game-Changer

You’re not going to have success with online marketing until you understand more about how to make social media a game-changer.  To be a game-changer, you have to have a social media strategy.  After you have the strategy in place, then you can consciously plan your content to ensure you are providing consistent, quality, engaging content.

When we first bought our vacation rental, I immediately set up a Facebook page.  It wasn’t until about a year ago that I got into Instagram.  Now, Instagram is one of my favorite social media platforms.  However, Instagram isn’t as favorable for MY target guests – 35+ to 70+ year-olds with families.  If I had a room-share Airbnb, it would be crazy for me to ignore Instagram.  Instagram is is the go-to platform for millennials who tend to be more of the Airbnb crowd.  Know your ideal audience and learn where you’ll find them online.

Above all, social media can be a game-changer for your vacation rental business, if you’re willing to put in some effort.  That’s one of the main reasons why I created Trendy Hospitality.  The audience is definitely there – it’s up to you to learn more about the platforms and how to use the FREE internet real estate to market your business.  

The evidence is clear that more and more guests are getting wise to the fees being charged by the OTAs.  As a result, those guests are now actively seeking vacation rentals who take direct bookings. 

In conclusion, my best advice to you as an owner is to diversify your business by promoting #BookDirect on social media. 

It is so much easier to manage your business when YOU are the one managing your business – not the OTAs.