Keep in Touch with Your Short-Term Rental Guests – and Keep Them Coming Back

It’s More than a Rental Property – It’s a Business

In the last 5 years, the vacation rental market has become ultra-competitive. Simply listing your home on Homeaway or Airbnb, and “hoping for the best,” probably won’t garner success in the long term. The key is to think of your rental property as your business, and you are the CEO. Unless you’re fortunate enough to have assistance (or assistants!), the duties of sales and marketing also fall on you.

If your answer is “not much,” here are a few ideas for you.

Email Updates to Your Former Guests

If you collect your customer’s email address, make sure you add it to a database of customer information.

Continue to email your former rental guests on occasion – a monthly or quarterly update would be a manageable amount to ensure you and your property stay on their minds. Plenty of free or very inexpensive online tools can help you send emails to a large number of people at once, such as Constant Contact, Mail Chimp, and Email Octopus, just to name a few. These tools will also help manage un-subscribers – if a person opts out of your emails, it’s not a good idea to continue emailing them. You should remove them from your database, as well.

We recommend a focus on the holiday seasons or the times of the year when the rental market in your area heats up, such as Spring Break. Your messages don’t have to be wordy but should be memorable. Make sure you include a call to action in each message, asking for a review, a referral, or a repeat stay.

Newsletter

Using the same free online tools mentioned above, you can easily create newsletters to send out on a reoccurring basis. Frequency really is up to you – just make sure that once you decide your frequency, you stick with it.

What should your email contain?

• Photos of your property. What better way to get your guests thinking about coming back to stay at your vacation rental again than to show photos? This is especially relevant if you have made updates.
• News from your area. Talk about the average temperatures, especially if you’re near a beach. Talk about the current – or upcoming – events nearby that may be of interest. For instance, festivals, concerts, holiday celebrations, etc. Make sure the upcoming events are far enough in advance for someone to book your home if they’re interested in coming to town for the festivities.
• Recommend a place to eat or other attractions. People love to give recommendations, but they also love to receive them! Having some “inside scoop” from a local is always a plus for a tourist.
• A link to your listing. Always, ALWAYS link to your listing on Airbnb or HomeAway. Make it as easy as possible for your guests to come back!

Time is Money when it Comes to Getting Guests Back

If the above sounds time-consuming or overwhelming, start small. It may take some time to learn how to use the online email tools, but once you have your lists set up and templates created, it’s really quite easy. And a few hours of your time may result in repeat bookings or new business you may not have otherwise received. What do you have to lose?

Verify Your Short-Term Vacation Rental Insurance Today

Interested in a policy to protect you and your business from liability and damage claims? Proper Insurance leads the nation in comprehensive short-term rental insurance. Backed by Lloyd’s of London and exclusive endorsements from vacation rental leaders such as HomeAway and Vrbo, Proper Insurance is built on world-class insurance coverage.

Proper’s policy covers vacation homes, townhouses, condos, duplexes, cabins, cottages, apartments, and more. With expert vacation rental underwriters, we can tailor a policy specific to your short-term rental property.