How to Brand Your Short Term Rental

In my belief, branding is adding a feeling to what you’re selling and associating what is known to what is not.

Short-term rental branding is an opportunity to own an idea or feeling inside of your customer.

For example, there is a campground in Hayward, Wisconsin I always used to go to that nails this concept. They’ve managed to brand themselves based on their unique competitive advantage. 

A trailside basecamp for mountain bikers.

Now every time I go there, I feel like a true outdoor athlete and associate the term “basecamp” to this campground.

That’s branding.

Unfortunately, so many short-term rental Entrepreneurs miss this opportunity and lose recurring business because they don’t deliver the feeling that a great brand does.

Branding is more than a fancy logo and name

The first step to creating a brand is figuring out what you want to be associated with. Here are some ideas:

• The place to stay near a national park.

• The basecamp for hikers.

• Bachelorette parties.

• The perfect beachside condo.

Do this first, because the rest of your marketing will work off your brand identity. 

Before we move on, make sure you’re unique in the market. Avoid competing directly with someone else when it comes to brand. It’s not impossible to win but will definitely make marketing harder.

Once you know the feeling or “vibe” you want to give, we must put together the brand aspects that highlight your idea.

Step 1: Be Crystal Clear

If you’re not crystal clear on what your brand is about, the perceived quality of your business will drop.

When it comes to picking a name and headline for your business, don't try to target everyone. If you try and attract every type of customer, you'll stick with none. Pick one niche.

Let's use this newsletter as an example.

The marketing ideas and tactics I write about in STR Lift could apply to most industries. The fundamentals of marketing don’t change that much. 

However, when it comes to applying these marketing tactics, I only want to speak to STR Entrepreneurs and their unique situation. Otherwise if I speak to a broad audience then the application will be broad and will ultimately help no one.

That’s why the name and headline of this newsletter is crystal clear.

Name: STR Lift

Headline: The Short-Term Rental Marketing Company

Now that we have the written brand aspects down, let’s move onto visuals.

Step 2: T-Shirt rule

To all the branding fanatics out there, please don’t get angry at the simplicity of my visual branding approach. 

That’s it.

1. Create a logo.

2. Pick some colors that match the style of your property (inside and out).

3. Find some images that represent your brand.

and you’re good to go.

Once all these aspects are created, put them in a fancy folder on Google Drive titled “brand kit”. You will use these designs and colors over and over in your marketing.

Creating a brand takes forever.

Branding requires constant optimization based on customer feedback. For that reason, associating yourself in every way possible to that thing takes time.

After you consistently do that, your brand will move from a business that is associated with the thing to a direct correlation of the thing.

We see branding work in our everyday lives. Try this exercise on for size:

What are the first images or words that pop in your head after seeing these brands:

1. Trek

2. Jeep

3. Nike

Were they something like:

1. Mountain biking

2. Outdoor adventure

3. An athlete

Next question, years ago, who do you think they wanted to attract?

That’s the power of branding. It all starts with an idea and desired association from day one.

If you desire a second opinion on your branding, message me on Instagram. I'd love to take a look.

That's all for today.