How to Use Email Marketing to Boost Bookings for Your Vacation Rental
Email is not going away anytime soon — use it to your advantage.
One of the most effective ways to market your vacation rental properties is through email – here’s how to do it.
If you’re not establishing and nurturing an email list to market your vacation rental properties, you’re missing out on an easy, effective way to increase bookings.
When potential, current, or past guests sign up for your email list, they’re inviting you into their virtual living room. It’s an opportunity to build relationships that will ultimately lead to bookings – if you do it right.
Establish an Email List for Vacation Rentals
First things first! Before you can use email marketing to your advantage, you need to have a list to email. So how do you build an email list for your vacation rentals?
Guest Emails
When a guest books with you, you have their email address. That’s one person you might be able to add to your email list. But what about the other guests? The ones who didn’t book the property but are along for the ride?
Consider using a service that collects the email addresses of everyone using the property’s WiFi. Instead of collecting one email address per booking, you’re automatically collecting multiple email addresses to add to your list.
Services like StayFi ask guests to enter their email in order to use your properties’ WiFi. When they log in, guests are prompted to enter their email and are given the option to sign up for email marketing. This is an easy way to build your list that doesn’t require any additional work from you.
Lead Magnets
When people happen upon your website, are you taking advantage of the opportunity to add them to your list? If they’re visiting your website, they’re interested in what you have to offer, but they’re not going to just sign up for your email list without a reason.
Take the opportunity to offer a lead magnet that captures their attention. Whether it’s the ultimate guide to vacationing in your area, a list of the best beaches on your stretch of coastline, or a trail guide for the national park near your properties, if you have something they want, they’re more likely to hand over their email.
Even if you don’t have a lead magnet, make it clear what they’ll be getting if they sign up for your email list. Don’t just say, “Sign up for our mailing list!” Tell them why and convince them that they should.
What benefits will they get? Will you be sending out tips and tricks, personal recommendations, or updates on local events? Think about what would make you hand over your email address and use that to your advantage.
And maybe this goes without saying, but always make sure you have consent before emailing your contacts.
Segment Your Email List
If you have different types of people on your email list, it’s time to segment it. Segmenting your email list means you’ll put groups of people in separate buckets and adjust your marketing strategy accordingly.
For example, you may write differently to guests who have never stayed with you before and those who have already visited. In one instance, you’re convincing them to book, and in the other, you’re convincing them to book again.
If you divide your list by types of guests or interests, you’re able to send more targeted and relevant communication, making your marketing more effective.
But if this seems like too much – to have two or more different strategies – don’t worry. You can always segment your list when you’re ready.
Plan Out Your Vacation Rental Marketing Strategy
You know that email marketing is important, but let’s be honest – if you don’t have a plan in place, you’re not going to do it. Every week or every month, depending on how often you plan to send emails, you’re going to be scrambling to think of what to say.
To avoid this, planning out your vacation rental email marketing strategy is a must.
Decide how often you’re going to send the emails, choose an email marketing platform to automate the process, design a welcome sequence for each segment of your email list, and then plan out your content in advance.
How Often to Send Emails
When deciding how often to send out email marketing for vacation rentals, some people are worried that if they email too often, they will annoy their email list.
But on the other hand, if you don’t email regularly enough, you’re really not nurturing your list. So when you do email them, they’ll be surprised every time instead of welcoming. And if that email that you finally do send out is at all salesy, you can bet they won’t be receptive to it.
So what is the sweet spot? How often should you email your list? The simple answer is at least monthly. Sending a monthly newsletter that gives them all the good stuff is a good place to start.
If you’re able to manage more frequent content, weekly or biweekly emails are great. They’re frequent enough to keep you on the minds of your email list without worrying that you’re bothering them.
And think about how often you get emails from some of your favorite stores. Do you get annoyed and unsubscribe? Not if it’s something you’re interested in.
It’s the same for your list. Sure, some people may unsubscribe. But if they do, they’re not your target guest. Losing them is actually a good thing because your list becomes more targeted.
Content Ideas for Vacation Rental Email Marketing Campaigns
So what type of content should you send to your vacation rental email list? Your goal is to establish relationships with your list to build trust and authority, and ultimately convince them to book. So anything that tells your story, information about the area and your properties, or reasons why they should book with you is prime content.
Welcome Sequence
A welcome sequence is a must for establishing relationships with new subscribers. You only get one chance at a first impression.
A welcome sequence is great because it’s an automated sequence that only needs to be written once and can be set to go out whenever someone joins your list. When you use a welcome sequence, it’s basically an introduction. Thank them for subscribing, tell them about you and/or your company, and provide value right from the start.
When you use a welcome sequence, you’re starting off on the right foot and immediately building a relationship with your subscribers.
Consistent Email Content
After the initial welcome sequence, guests should receive regular weekly, biweekly, or monthly emails from you. So what do you include in those emails?
Everything you send should be something that establishes your brand, demonstrates your expertise, or provides valuable information for potential and repeat guests. Simply promoting your properties is a major turn-off and does nothing for nurturing relationships, so be sure to provide value beyond that.
Ideas for vacation rental marketing emails:
Storytelling that shows why you do what you do or what sets you apart
Packing tips, with information on what will (and won’t) be included in their rental
Area guides to help them plan amazing vacation experiences
Culinary guides to allow them to make dinner reservations in advance
“Best of” lists to give insight into what activities and attractions they might want to plan
Seasonal area info to make them want to book
Upcoming events they won’t want to miss
Property updates and new property features
Share new blog posts to drive traffic to your website
Guest stories, experiences, and testimonials to build trust
Pet-friendly or kid-friendly places to visit
Tips for Writing Effective Emails for Vacation Rental Marketing
Aside from the amazing content you’re sending out, there are a few ways to make your subscribers love receiving emails from you even more.
Personalize your emails to increase engagement. Use recipients’ names and personalize your content based on their preferences, if you can.
Use attention-grabbing subject lines to increase your opening rates and make sure your subscribers see your awesome content. Just be sure not to use anything spammy or clickbaity.
Use a mobile-friendly design to cater to smartphone users. Think more white space and less bulky blocks of text.
Include high-resolution images of your properties to showcase their best features and really inspire guests to click through and ultimately book.
End with a clear call to action (CTA) that directs readers to check out a blog post, contact you, or book now.
Boost Bookings for Your Vacation Rentals
When you’re starting an email campaign for your vacation rentals, remember that the ultimate goal is to drive bookings – but without selling in every email. When you establish your brand, nurture relationships with your subscribers, and offer value through your expertise, you build a loyal customer base that will inspire repeat business and heartfelt referrals – no selling required.
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