Barefoot Technologies Blog- Vacation Rental Industry News

I wrote a blog on April 2^nd titled “Preparing your Florida vacation rentals to be ready for changeand now change is one step closer. But the changes may not be as drastic as some local full-time residents had hoped for. The Florida Vacation Rental Bill-SB 356 just passed the Senate with compromise language. It will now go to Governor Scott. The Florida House of Representatives passed a bill Wednesday with a 90-27 vote that gives local governments’ limited control over rentals but not the regulatory power many were seeking.

The third segment will focus on how to convert your new visitors into leads.  In segment 1 we discussed the background of inbound marketing, in segment 2 we covered how to get your message through the traffic of the internet, to the right person.  Once you have increased your traffic, the next step is to begin converting that traffic to leads.  After all, what good is a more qualified lead funnel if your conversion rates stay the same?  You have gone through the work to get your message to the people who want to hear from you, now make the most of this targeting and increase your close rates.

In the constant struggle that is marketing, getting more people to your website is not always the answer, sometimes it’s getting the right people.  This week I will address the Paveya infographic’s first stage which is “attract website visitors”.  This is the starting point for all your inbound marketing tactics for your vacation rentals and can impact your business immensely.  The point of this stage is to move “strangers” to become “website visitors” and improve visibility for your website.

In years past, this one have been done with one word, “SEO” or search engine optimization.  Many people use the term SEO to this day but the old definition of SEO bears a minimalistic resemblance to the current methods of optimizing your website.  The first page on Google or other search engines has led to some interesting tactics in web design.  It also led to the creation of an entire industry that would focus on helping you beat the google algorithm.  However, Google has evolved and its latest stage of algorithm has left the SEO hotshots of old in the dust.  The new way to think about SEO should focus on content creation.

As I did my daily reading of blogs, news, and other industry topics I came across this amazing infographic designed to help you understand Inbound Marketing and how it can be applied to your vacation, I couldn’t help but feel like something was missed.  Here at Barefoot, I personally oversee our inbound marketing plan and it has garnished some great success!  We have moved to the first page of google search results, we have seen a 70% increase in contact rates and most importantly, our content has never been fresher.  All of this was thanks to an inbound marketing strategy implemented here so naturally, when I saw someone made an image to help you out there do the same, I was excited to read it. 

On March 12th we wrote a blog that described state lawmakers in Florida looking to have changes made to the rental properties industry by July 1st of this year. The bill is about the rights of the people who live near the rental properties according to those who support it.To read the full bill click here. If this bill passes, changes would need to be made to your business to abide by these new rules. The community would be able to impose rules on trash, noise, and traffic. This would mean property managers will need to be careful about who is renting the property. A group for a bachelor party would not be suitable for a quiet residential area for three nights but a young couple with small children should be fine. Here are some ways to prepare your business for the potential law changes ahead.

Guerilla marketing is a great advertising strategy where a low-cost unconventional resource is used. It could be in the form of street art, sticker bombing or as a part of a product (e.g. Colgate used the stick in an ice cream). It is used to promote a product or an idea in a competitive market. Here is 122 must see Guerilla marketing examples that are very creative and effective.

For years we have been preaching the benefits of cause marketing to our prospects but it never appears to take hold as much as we at Barefoot would like.  Today, I was reading a blog posted by Hubspot, can be found here, and thought the translation was perfect for the vacation rental market.

Over the past few months, several pieces of legislation have popped up that want to increase, or at least allow for the increase of legislative influences over vacation rentals.  We have already written about cases in Hawaii, Colorado, Las Vegas and more but the latest legislation is coming in Florida, a vacation rental hotspot.  The bill is aimed to remove a prior bill that restricts legislative measures.  We saw legislative involvement go over poorly in Hawaii and other places but what is going on in Florida?

Many times, professional property managers look to add homes to their inventory by reaching out to second homeowners and offering them the advantages of renting their home. While there are many advantages, some homeowners look at the prospect of renting their home as an overwhelming switch in lifestyle. This blog is designed to help you transition homeowners and their homes into vacation rental
properties.

It is said a picture is worth a thousand words. Most people are drawn to pictures and will judge their rental prospects predominantly on what they see as opposed to what they read. Flipkey, a vacation rental search platform purchased by TripAdvisor, completed a study revealing HD photography increased bookings by 98%.