8.2 Marketing

CHAPTER 8

8.2 Marketing

DIY marketing for your VRP business has become the process of managing the online presence provided by various vacation home online service providers. Over the last fi ve to ten years, the expectations of guests and owners have changed dramatically thanks to technology. Online booking is now the norm for travelers. Most mobile devices to book a vacation rental. Many of these DIY sites have excellent tutorials and programs that walk you step by step through the process of customer care, home presentation, and general marketing.

VRP Online Site Comparisons DIY online booking sites today are vastly diff erent from the ones we saw a couple years ago. There have been substantial changes to all of the vacation rental listing sites, from the way they charge homeowners to the amount they charge guests, to the way they rank properties in search results. All these variables are leaving VRP owners wondering which one is superior, and/or which one (or combination of several) will best fi t their needs.

I have spent the time comparing the biggest players in the DIY market to give you a starting point from which to do your own analysis and experimentation. First, let’s take a look at fee structures. In this section, you’ll fi nd a cross-platform comparison of the fees you’ll have to pay to promote your property on each major listing site, including pay-per-booking fees, subscription costs, and credit card processing fees.

Let’s use a nice round number and say $25,000 is what the average VRP owner grosses per year across all sizes and types of homes. So, for our discussion, we will use this number to compare the diff erent online listing platforms’ performance.

With the subscription plan on two of the major DIY sites, you pay $499 per year for the subscription and a 3% credit card processing fee ($750 if you make $25,000). So, $23,751 is what you’ll earn in gross annual income.

WEALTH AS A VACATION

Platforms that off er subscriptions are a great choice over the payper-booking model for VRO owners who rent out their property for over six weeks of the year. However, if your bookings fall short of this threshold, the pay-per-booking option might be a better deal for you.

With the pay-per-booking plan on some DIY sites, you pay a 5% booking fee ($1,250 if you make $25,000) and a 3% credit card processing fee ($750 if you make $25,000). So, $23,000 is what you’ll earn in gross annual income.

The pay-per-booking model leaves you with less income than the subscription model. Again, the pay-per-booking plan only works out in your favor if you’re making less than about $7,000 in rental income per year. Any more than that, and the subscription plan is the better choice.

Some DIY sites only operate on a pay-per-booking model. To list your property on the site, you pay a 3% booking fee ($750 per year if you make $25,000). $24,250 is what you’ll earn in gross annual income under this structure. With these low fees, this model is a great platform for homeowners who want to rent out anything from a private room to an entire house, and is most popular for short stays and weekend trips rather than week- or month-long reservations.

Another DIY site operates on a pay-per-booking model and charges nothing to travelers, which is great for attracting guests. To list your property on the site, you pay a 3% credit card processing fee ($750 if you make $25,000) and a 15% booking fee ($3,750 if you make $25,000). As a result, $20,500 is what you’ll earn in gross annual income.

When comparing prices on diff erent distributions sites, you can’t just look at how much you will be charged. One of the most important factors to consider is how much the guest is charged as it can greatly impact your booking performance on any site. Four of the fi ve DIY listing options include a traveler service fee, which is calculated based on the total nightly rate and fees of the property they are booking. The higher traveler fee could make your vacation rental less attractive; thus, you may receive fewer bookings. That said, travelers have

CHAPTER 8

been booking consistently on all of the major DIY sites for years, so the traveler service fee doesn’t need to be a reason to reject a listing site.53

Site Popularity Taking traffi c into consideration is also important, meaning you should be aware of how many travelers use each of these DIY sites when searching for their vacation rental property. In theory, you want to advertise your rental property on a website that receives a lot of visitors, because more visitors = more bookings.

You also need to determine which site is attracting the most visitors who will be interested in booking your property. The adage “quality over quantity” defi nitely applies. You want views from the people in your target market, whether that’s families, singles, business travelers, or large groups.

The Best Listing Site for Your Property Remember to go where your guests are searching. While I disagree that luxury homes can’t get booked on the DIY sites famous for room rentals, or that city center condos won’t perform well on a site often featuring lake cabins, it’s true that travelers looking for a particular vacation home experience tend to use specifi c websites.

Do your research to fi nd out which platforms are a good fi t for traditional resort destinations. Travelers searching for vacation rentals in a resort destination often go to sites known for having a large amount of inventory in beach, mountain, and desert locations. If you have a vacation home that primarily attracts families or groups looking for a week-long vacation, you should strongly consider listing your VRP on these websites.

A diff erent DIY site, on the other hand, is ideal for urban destinations and last-minute bookings. It is also is the go-to site for

53. https://blog.evolvevacationrental.com/homeaway-vs-vrbo-vs-airbnb-vs-fl ipkey-vstripadvisor-vs-booking/ Accessed July 8, 2019.