(3 Steps) How to Create a Short Term Rental Marketing Plan

Planning is the most underrated marketing topic.

We've all heard the saying:

"Fail to plan, plan to fail."

Yeah yeah yeah, I get it.

Everyone talks about WHY to plan, but no one talks about HOW.

Which leaves rental operators spinning their wheels and worst of all…

Spending money and time on things that don't actually matter.

Today, I’m going to show you how I create a marketing plan so you:

• Stop guessing on what to do.

• Have fun doing the right thing.

• Make more money.

Let's dive in.

Step #1: Get a Baseline

A baseline is the process of finding the things that need to be improved so money is spent well.

For example, let's say you want more bookings.

Before someone books, they take certain actions like:

1. Visit your website.

2. View your property.

3. Look at the price.

These are called micro KPIs.

Find all these data points and put them in a spreadsheet for easy organization.

Pro tip for data points: Take the average number over the last 6-12 months. Our business is seasonal and things change.

Goal: Figure out how many micro KPIs equal one main KPI.

Main KPI: Bookings.

You should spot growth opportunities right away. A lot of times rental operators just need more website traffic.

P.s. If you want a step-by-step guide on how to create a baseline. Read this article.

Step #2: Create The Strategy

You’ve now found the opportunities. What’s next?

If you need more website traffic, you’ll need to invest in capturing more attention.

Here are three options to choose from:

1. If your stay is visually appealing and unique, choose Meta Ads.

2. If your stay is near a popular attraction, do SEO + Google Ads

3. If your stay isn’t really unique or near anything well known, do Meta Ads + SEO + Google Ads

If you get plenty of traffic but no one is booking, invest in sparking the desire to book from guests who are already familiar with you.

Here’s exactly how I would do it:

• Create a lead generator to build an email list.

• Build a welcome automation to keep leads excited.

• Send 2-4 emails that focus on the experience of your stay.

Do your best (and maybe a little research) to pick the tactic that fits the opportunity you found in step one.

Then focus on executing the strategy.

Keyword, focus.

Here's what my strategy looks like based on my baseline.

Step #3: Organize Your Time

Not what you were expecting?

You're still busy running a company when you begin marketing.

This newsletter gets two hours of focus every morning (8am-10am). No if's, and's or but's.

I can't whine about it.

Why?

Because, I:

• Don't want to create the perfect baseline (step#1)

• And the most beautiful strategy (step #2)

• Then fall short of my goals due to a lack of time or effort.

Marketing takes time, so plan for it.

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

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. How guests book has changed. Here’s what the future holds… (The Unique Stays Guy)

2. 80% of marketing problems are solved by doing two things (LinkedIn)

3. The best hospitality media brands you should know about (The Glamping Insider)

4. The biggest opportunity for hotels (Travis Chambers)