Spread the Love at Your Vacation Rental for Valentine’s Day

It's just over 3 weeks until Valentine's Day and if you're not booked up already, now is the perfect time to increase marketing efforts to fill availability calendars. The holiday of romance falls on a Friday this year which will encourage loved up couples to book a weekend getaway even more so. Now since the vacation rental industry is ever growing, it is important that property managers pull out all the stops to stand out above competition.

In light of Valentine's Day, we thought we'd get into the spirit and share with vacation rental managers some ideas on how to promote a property accordingly.

If you're looking to fill availability calendars during Valentine's weekend, here are some ideas on how to spread the love at your vacation rental and boost bookings:

Promote valentines deals in an email campaign

Email marketing is an excellent technique for engaging with customers and boosting bookings. If you have any special deals on for the Valentine's weekend, let previous or potential guests know via an email campaign. Delivering special offers directly to an inbox will not only increase website traffic, but it is the perfect opportunity for reconnecting with old guests.

Tip: Get creating your email campaign as soon as possible to allow guests time to plan in advance! Use email marketing platform Mailchimp to help you create a campaign and track the results after.

Provide additional services

Hotels often provide guests with additional services like champagne or flowers, why not do the same? By adding these additional services to your reservation system, it will give you a competitive edge whilst allowing guests to book a surprise in advance.

Tip: It is worth mentioning any additional services that you provide in the email campaign, as it could be the deciding factor for potential guests and will work in your favour.

Partner with local businesses

Cross promoting with other local businesses is a great way to increase exposure to your vacation rental business and vice versa. Guests may be looking for places to eat out on Valentine's so it would be an excellent idea to partner with a recommended restaurant.

Tip: Make a welcome hamper including any special discounts. This will not only promote the restaurant but increase chances of your property being referred to family and friends.

Use social media

Share romantic images of your property location to boost interest from your social media followers. If your vacation rental is located somewhere that is particularly romantic e.g Paris, share across your social networks places to go and things to do around Valentine's weekend linking back to your vacation rental website.

Tip: Use hash-tags and post your images via Instagram to increase exposure to your vacation rental business e.g. #valentinesgetaway.

We hope we have given some ideas on how to market your vacation rental for Valentine's Day, do share with us and vacation rental managers alike any more in the comment box below:

If you are interested in operating your own vacation rental website complete with a beautiful reservation system, we will be more than happy to help. You can request a demo from our website or call us directly: +34 512 702 104

Photo Credit: Wickerfurniture via Compfight cc