Barefoot Technologies Blog- Vacation Rental Industry News

Ranked the #1 vacation rental app in the world, Dwellable has taken vacation rental booking to a new level. Not only does it offer users access to some of the coolest vacation rentals via its main website, it allows easy access from their mobile devices where they can look through vacation rentals and even book their trip accommodations from there. 

At the annual PhoCuswright conference last week, HomeAway’s CEO Brian Sharples made several announcements about additions to their mobile app, Glad to Have You, aimed at improving the customer experience.

In talking to many potential customers, especially people who are thinking about entering into this market, there is always the question of whether to do the website first or choose a vacation rental management system. What comes first, the chicken or the egg?

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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%.