3 Great Marketing Strategies for 3 Stay Types

Author

Scott Quesnell
April 03, 2025

Marketing strategies are built using multiple channels.

Every marketing channel gets results. But, some produce more fruit than others.

Kinda like hiring a chef for an event:

  • Hire Gordon Ramsey and you'll have a great tasting night.

  • Hire me, we all eat Kraft mac n cheese with burger meat.

Two results. Vastly different.

Most of us don't have unlimited resources to find the best way to generate bookings. So the real question is:

Which channels should you focus on?

Answer: It depends on your type of stay.

Not all properties need the same strategy. Some do great with social, some do better with search.

Others need it all.

There are three main types of stays:

  1. The stay is the thing

  2. The stay near the thing

  3. The stay

Today, I'm going to show you which marketing channels to use for each. First, you must identify your stay type.

The 3 types of stays

  • The stay is the thing. People are attracted to this property because it's unique and visually appealing. These places are likely hard to find.

  • The stay near the thing: This place is near a popular attraction (the thing). Like a national park or beach. Demand is often abundant.

  • The stay: This property isn't unique or in a high demand geo area.

I'm curious. Which stay type are you? Let me know in the poll at the end.

Now, let's get into it.

#1: The stay is the thing

People don't know you exist and won't search for you. So, you have to find them.

Social media algorithms are built to feed people content based on their interests.

Logic: If people like looking at cool stays, the algorithm will feed them more videos and ads of cool stays.

Just what we need. Perfect.

The channels you will use for this strategy are:

  • Meta (ads and organic)

  • Email marketing

Getting started with Meta:

  1. Guests make decisions with their eyes. They like pretty things. Make your video pretty to look at. Use quality video.

  2. Find 3 video styles (formats) from other accounts and recreate them the best you can. Don't copy. But mimic.

  3. Create 5-6 videos per format for a grand total of 15-18 per month.

  4. Post them sporadically over 1 month.

  5. Take the 5 that got the most likes, shares or comments and use them as ads.

Getting started with Email Marketing

  1. Build your list by giving away something on your website in exchange for an email address. (discount, local guide, voucher to another business, etc...). This should be one of the first things they see after clicking from an ad.

  2. Send 2-4 emails per month that influence people to book.

#2: The stay near the thing

Finding guests isn't your issue. Standing out above everyone else is.

Here are your tactics:

  • SEO

  • Google Ads

Getting started with SEO:

  1. Find niche specific topics guests are searching. Examples: family hiking trails in {area}, dive bars in {area}, best things to do for couples in {area}.

  2. Create 5-10 blogs or pages for each niche specific topic. Then, create one page for a broader topic that links to all the niche topics. Example: hiking trails in {area}, bars and restaurants in {area}, things to do in {area}.

  3. Then, don't stop until SEO content creation becomes a habit. Search engines love new content with momentum.

Getting started with Google Ads:

  1. Find 20+ terms (keywords) people use to find stays like yours.

  2. Advertise for those terms so you pop up near the top of the page for those searches.

  3. After 30-45 days, identify the terms that get the most bookings at the lowest cost. These are your winners.

  4. Find more terms similar to your winners. (Example: cottage in northern Minnesota = cabin in northern Minnesota)

  5. Repeat.

#3: The stay

You, my friend, are a casserole hot dish.

Your recipe involves a little bit of everything.

Guests don't know anything about you or your area. So, you need to show them using Meta Ads.

First, start here:

  1. Create amazing content about your area and post it. (things to do, places to eat, etc..)

  2. Take the 5 that got the most likes, shares or comments and use them as ads.

  3. Don't advertise for bookings. Instead, pick a campaign type that will drive more traffic. This is a brand awareness game. No one is going to book if they don't know you. And they don't know you.

Next, you'll need to invest in search marketing. Once people:

  • See you exist

  • Get interested

  • And start searching for you online

You'll want to make sure you get that attention. Here's how:

  1. Make a habit out of SEO. Search engines love momentum (and good, unique content). Give the machine what it loves.

  2. Run a Google Search Ads campaign focused on your area. Try to advertise for all the terms related to stays in your area. Advertising for all these terms should be super reasonable since your area is low-key.

  3. Run a Google Search Ads campaign focused your property. Advertise for terms like "lakefront cabins near me" or "cottages near me", if relevant. This will capture the attention of stay-specific searchers. They don't care where they go. They just want to stay in a specific property.

This is a longer game. Team up with other businesses or the Chamber of Commerce to promote the area and each other. Rising tide lifts all boats.

Last Note

If you can't decide which stay type you are, I created a quiz to make it easy.

Totally free. Takes 2 minutes.

Most of us don't have unlimited resources to generate bookings.

Find your stay type and execute the associated marketing strategy.

After that, feel free to get weird and creative. Marketing should be fun.

That's all for today. I'll see you in the next article.

P.s. Writing this from Boise, ID. Here for a workshop. Learned it’s pronounced “Boy-see” not “Boy-z.”

Why stay type are you?

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Before you go

I spend about 10 hours writing this newsletter each week. The rest of my time is spent running Lodge Social.

Our marketing team will help you get more guests to like, share and book.

Work with me and my team here.

Links you might like:

  1. Reservation patterns of luxury travelers (Wander)

  2. How the Meta Algorithm ‘sees’ (LinkedIn)

  3. This tactic lowers cost per booking from ads by at least 33% (The Lodge Social)

  4. How influencer marketing will supercharge your bookings (The Glamping Insider)

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