Laser Target Your Audience with Channel Manager Software

When you think about vacation rental marketing, one of the first questions you must ask yourself is, "Who is the target audience for this property?"

Identifying your target audience is key.

Identifying the Target

"Your target audience isn't 'anyone who's interested' in your product, service or content. They are specific segments within your target market."

This quote is from Money Journal's "Zero in on Your Target Market by Hacking Audience Segments" and captures the problem with targeting a large, general market for your advertising message. The article continues:

"They aren't the same and if you're treating them synonymously, then you're playing a dangerous game. This means you need to know what your customers are looking for, where they're searching and how you can integrate yourself as a part of their buyer's journey. Your marketing strategy should communicate unique messages to specific audiences that ultimately solve the 'same' problem."

UK-based Entrepreneur Handbook's "Why Market Segmentation is Crucial for Your Business" expands that and says, "Segmenting a market, simply put, is separating a group of customers belonging to the mass market into smaller groups of customers with similar needs and behaviors. In doing so, a company establishes a target for their marketing efforts (i.e., target market) and can therefore better customize its services and products to meet the target's preferences."

How Channel Manager Software Comes into the Picture

What does all this mean for vacation rental property managers? Simply put, it means that you can use your channel management software to distribute vacation rental listings to the portals which best match your target market segment or niche.

For instance, you likely want to promote your properties on large portals to ensure a good volume of inquiries. Kigo's Channel Manager software allows you to do this easily. The Kigo article "Property Manager's Guide to Vacation Rental Listing Sites" previews some of the larger players among listing portals including Booking.com, TripAdvisor, Homeaway and Airbnb, and notes:

"It is clear that the potential for expanding the reach of your vacation rental marketing efforts is great. Working with a good combination of vacation rental property listing sites, you can boost your bookings and reap the rewards of a more global reach."

However, you might also want to consider partnering with small-medium portals when specifically targeting a niche market, such as in cases where you have a geographical specialty (e.g."Barcelona") or a reputation based on a specific type of traveler (e.g. "Business travel"). Does Kigo's Channel Manager help with this specialized kind of niche marketing? Absolutely.

As seen on the full list of Channel Manager portal partners, Kigo maintains relationships with regional and specialty sites that can increase your reach and allow you to specify your message to the audience. For example, business travelers searching MagicStay.com will have different criteria and preferences from those searching Airbnb for a vacation rental. While both will be satisfied with your property, you will want to craft your message and property description to meet their specific interests.

With more than 35 listing portals included in the Kigo channel manager software, you can target the right portal to match a niche audience easily and quickly. Kigo's "Benefits of a Vacation Rental Channel Manager" explains:

"Listing on large portal websites like Airbnb, Booking.com or Flipkey will allow a vacation rental manager to receive a chunk of their huge website traffic. However, it is also important to share the property on mid-size portals that are more specific to the rental. Say for instance you rent a short term rental in Spain, Apartment Barcelona would be great to list on for SEO reasons as they promote listings predominantly in Spain."

Manage your channel partners from one easy-to-use dashboard.

Kigo Channel Manager: Versatility and Convenience in One Package

Kigo's channel manager software enables you to market your vacation rental properties to a wide audience with large portal partners such as Airbnb, Booking.com, TripAdvisor.com, and Homeaway, and also allows you to target niche audiences with a great selection of small-medium portal partners.

With the Channel Manager, you can quickly and easily manage your listings and bookings with all channel partners you choose. To learn how you can spend less time and money marketing your vacation rental home to a niche audience, schedule a no-obligation web demo of Kigo Vacation Rental Software.