Barefoot Technologies Blog- Vacation Rental Industry News

Buzz is a hot word now that everyone wants, to have buzz about their homes or properties.  But how do you build buzz, as it doesn’t happen randomly or without cause.  “Buzz” can be called many things but largely, it is when people are talking about your product, so how can we help create some buzz for your vacation rental home?

1. Staycations- A staycations is a shortened vacation that because of the short timeframe, travelling is out of the question so one stays locally but gets away at the same time.  Things like a one night stay away from the family or a spa day at the local resort are ideas for staycations.  The staycation becomes powerful when in the right hands, like local reporters, bloggers, social media guru’s and more.  Give a short stay to someone local, it keeps their costs low and the return can be huge as they begin to tell your story.
2. Social Media- did you know that there is a social media for almost every form of expression?  Video, thoughts, pictures, websites and more can all be leveraged on these sites to gain some attraction for your vacation rental properties.  Share beautiful pictures, amazing videos of sunsets, and anything you can get your properties to more people.
3. Contests- Contests are a great way to build buzz and also to generate some loyalty.  Contests are not limited to any one idea but some include “tell us your best rental story” or “share your best picture” and so on.  These contests get people engaged as compared to other mediums that just get them looking. 
4. Rewards- This one is slightly different than contests but the idea is similar.  Be sure to, when people “check in” via 4Square or any other social medium, to occasionally reward people for the action.  I went out for Yofurt not long ago, took a picture of my fiancée and me enjoying our snacks and was given a $10 coupon to use the next time I came in.  Everyone in the store immediately followed my footstep in attempt to win their own coupon.
5. Be Creative- There aren’t many rules in trying to generate new ways to get people talking about your product.  You could try a tried and true method or perhaps be innovative and branch out.  As long as you are actively trying and learning from your failures and successes your company will benefit

If you set your company up to embrace the mentality to create buzz, be active, and reward those contribute you will see success. It is important to remember that if one of these methods does not work to your liking, you can rework the campaign however you desire.  “Always Be Testing” is a marketing phrase in today’s offices that pushes people to always try things, even if they fail, you will at least know what does not work!

By Claiborne Yarbrough, Business Development, BarefootTechnologies, with comments from Brent Bellm, COO of HomeAway

TripAdvisor, the world’s largest travel review website, has just made the acquisition of LaFourchette for $140 million in an all cash deal. LaFourchette is one of the leading Internet and mobile restaurant reservation systems in France and Spain with over 12,000 participating restaurants.  With this purchase, TripAdvisor is diversifying their offerings to more than just rental reviews.  This move is one that vacation rental management companies should start to follow for several reasons.  You can read the full article here.

I’ve been hearing from some vacation rental management folks in summer markets that the season is off to a slow start. The reason for the lower occupancy is probably attributed to the fact that so many school systems on the East Coast had to add days to the school year to make up for the MANY MANY MANY snow days (can you tell I am Mom of kids who were out of school 21 snow days this year?).

While at the eastern VRMA show I was fortunate enough to meet with a few clients, one of them introduced me to their HR Manager and we discussed staffing.  With the vacation rental industry being so personable, a solid staff is crucial in both keeping your business running, and in keeping your guests happy. 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                    

Congratulations, your web traffic is higher than ever, you are seeing more leads now and you are closing and bringing in more guests than years past.  I guess this means your inbound marketing program is over, right? Not quite, social referrals and social medias are worth their weight in gold and now is the time to turn your guests into advocates!

So your web traffic is increasing and you have been getting more leads than ever through your site, so what’s next?  Que the sales pitch right? Wrong.  This is arguably the most crucial part of inbound marketing, where we turn those leads you've nurtured, into renters or guests.  If we look at this from a typical sales process, these leads are fresh and you need to flood them with your sales pitch to both inform them and sell them at the same time.  However, this is not your typical sales funnel, this is your inbound funnel, and the leads that you are looking at have found you because of something you offer that interests them.

Being a marketing intern for Barefoot Technologies has been a great experience. My knowledge about Vacation rentals and the industry was very limited before I joined the Barefoot team. I knew it consisted of renting a furnished house, apartment or condo but I wasn’t sure how you went about it or made it happen. I had no idea this was a $23billion industry in the US in 2012 and that it is growing in popularity, but after all the information I have red I see the potential in investing in Vacation rentals.

Summer is right around the corner which means now is the perfect time to look into booking your next summer vacation. Consumers must remember to be vigilant when making their booking online because the potential for scam artists has never been more prevalent. We wrote a blog on February 6^th titled Avoid the Pitfalls of Vacation Rental Scams if anyone wants to refresh their memory click the title.