Make a 2026 Airbnb or Hotel Marketing Plan with ChatGPT

Playing the marketing game without a plan is like playing tag with a pink chicken in the dark:

• You’re not quite sure what you’re after

• But you want it

• And get tired quick

Marketing is full of “new” tactics and “innovative” ideas. It’s easy to get distracted by these things if you don’t have a plan to keep you inline.

Trust me, I’ve tried. Bad news. I've only ever followed a proper marketing plan the last 3 years.

In 2024, I wanted to start a short term rental marketing company. Decided to create an audience first using this newsletter and sell whatever you asked for. Lodge Social opened one month before year end.

2025 was a revenue goal. I didn’t know what to expect so I shot low. Hit it by April.

Next year, I'll expand our media and impact. Expect consistent YouTube videos and an audience double the size it is now.

Before then?

• I flew by the seat of my pants

• Got distracted

• Truthfully, made very little progress towards anything I wanted

Plans work. Especially the simple ones. Let’s go through how to create one for an airbnb or hotel.

How to make a 2026 marketing plan for your airbnb or hotel

First, focus on 1-3 channels to get guests.

Pick them now, stick with them all year.

These are your options:

• Airbnb / OTA optimization

• Google Ads

• SEO

• Instagram / Facebook

• Email marketing

• PR relationships

• Influencer marketing

I recommend one ads channel + non-ads channel + email marketing.

Don’t worry about picking wrong. They all work. Sure, some better than others. But, they’ll all 100% fail if you don’t pick or lose focus.

Pick! Right now. I’ll wait.

...

Got your picks? Reply to this email and let me know what you chose.

Okay lets move on. 

Make the path with this ChatGPT prompt

Now you need to decide:

• What tasks you’re going to do

• How often

• To what end

This is where things get a little complicated because:

• Goals

• Life situations

• Property types

Are different for everyone. 

So, I created a ChatGPT prompt to help create your unique plan and monthly action steps. Take a look.

Chat, you are a marketing strategist who specializes in Airbnbs and boutique hotels.

I want a very simple, realistic 12-month marketing plan for my [AIRBNB/HOTEL].

Property location: [TOWN],[STATE]

Property description:

[AIRBNB DESCRIPTION]

My current situation

Goal: [MORE BOOKINGS]
Current occupancy rate: [49%]
Target occupancy rate: [69%]
Time available for marketing: [10 HOURS PER MONTH]
Monthly marketing budget: [$1,000]

IMPORTANT RULES (do not break these)

Assume I am NOT good at marketing
Assume I will only do what is simple
No weekly tasks
No complicated tactics
No more than 3 marketing channels total
Tasks must be realistic for a normal operator

STEP 1 — CHANNEL SELECTION (DO THIS FIRST)

Before building the plan, present exactly 5 simple marketing channel options that would realistically work for this property.

Examples of channels may include (but are not limited to):

- Airbnb / OTA optimization
- Google Ads
- SEO
- Instagram / Facebook
- Email marketing
- PR relationships
- Influencer marketing

For each channel option, show:

What the channel does in one short sentence

Who it’s best for (beginner / busy / budget-conscious, etc.)

One clear downside or limitation

Then stop and ask me to choose:

1, 2, or 3 channels I want to use for the entire year

Do NOT build the 12-month plan until I choose the channels.

STEP 2 — BUILD THE PLAN (ONLY AFTER I CHOOSE CHANNELS)

Once I choose my channels, build a 12-month marketing plan that focuses only on the few things that actually move bookings.

The plan MUST include:

Only the channels I selected

One KPI per channel that I must check every month

A clear monthly purpose (what each month is “for”)

What I should ignore or not waste time on

The one metric that matters most above all else

VERY IMPORTANT OUTPUT FORMAT

Show the plan as a simple calendar-style table

Y-axis: Marketing channels

X-axis: Months (Jan–Dec)

Each cell must contain exactly 3 simple monthly tasks

Tasks must be written in plain English

Tasks can include analysis (example: “Review occupancy vs last month”)

Tasks should feel doable in ~3 hours per channel per month

No paragraphs inside cells

No jargon

No fluff

The goal is a plan that a non-marketer will actually follow for 12 months.

How to use it:

1. Paste the above prompt into ChatGPT

2. Enter your information in the [BRACKETS]

   1. [AIRBNB/HOTEL]

   2. [TOWN],[STATE]

   3. [AIRBNB DESCRIPTION]

   4. [MORE BOOKINGS]

   5. [49%]

   6. [69%]

   7. [10 HOURS PER MONTH]

   8. [$1,000]

3. ChatGPT will ask you which channels to use, pick 1-3.

4. Enjoy!

The output:

Your Move

Having a 2026 marketing plan will make your life easier. I promise.

Skip this and you will:

• Get distracted by new tools

• Become discouraged if Airbnb releases another scary announcement

• Chase TikTok views because the Uber driver was in disbelief you haven’t tried that yet

And that's no fun.

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

P.S. Writing this from Boston. I’ve been seeing this tower on my runs so I had to take a closer look.

Side quest: Initiated.

Found tower. Asked the nice lady at the desk if I could go up. She said yes.

Went up tower. Told the guy next to me “I can see my house from here!”

We laughed. New friend: made.

Went down tower.

Side quest: Complete.

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.

Link you might like:

1. If you want more ChatGPT prompts like this, check out (MoodBoard)

2. Create 25 Instagram content ideas with AI (The Lodge Social)

3. How to do good marketing without going bonkers (The Lodge Social)

4. If you want 2026 to be the best year of your life. Please watch this video… (Jesse Itzler)