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Advice
for Holiday Home Owners - Marketing Your Holiday Home
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holidaylets.net - The No. 1 place
to advertise your holiday property on the web |
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 There
is absolutely no doubt that the most important
question for a new owner of a holiday let, is
how to attract his or her customers. The team
here at holidaylets.net have put together some
notes with suggestions on how you should advertise
your property to ensure maximum take-up, and
what you should (or should not) have in your
advert to maximise sales.
We've included a simple guide to the taking
of photographs which we hope you will find useful.
There is a right way and a wrong way to do this
and we're sure you've seen many examples of
where people have got it wrong with a capital
W. Some of it is common sense; some of it is
professional expertise, but even if you are
handy with a camera, it's still worth casting
your eye over our guide.
Having secured a season’s worth of bookings,
the next question is how to turn as many as
possible of them into repeat bookings for the
following year. We've got some interesting ideas
for you based on our experience combined with
useful feedback that's come in via owners on
our website.
Finally, we have tackled the tricky question
of pricing. It is crucial to the running of
any successful business. Do you price high and
increase profits at the risk of fewer bookings?
Do you pitch your property below the market
and go for volume sales and smaller margins?
You’ve done the hard work in purchasing
your holiday let; now is the time to see a
return on your investment. We hope you enjoy
the guide.
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Creating a
successful listing
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 Producing
a good quality property advert is
critical to the success of any marketing,
including your listing on holidaylets.net.
It needs to be eye catching, informative
and easy to read. Ultimately, it’s
the quality of the text you write
and the photos you use that will
sell your property, with photographs
being the single most important
element. It’s an old cliché,
but in this case, a picture really
is worth a thousand words! See Good
Pictures Sell for further details.
We realise it takes time and effort
to create a good advertisement,
but we can’t overstate the
importance of doing it properly.
Look on it as an investment –
one that will hopefully repay you
handsomely with maximised rental
income over many years to come.
The holidaylets marketing team has
put together a mini guide to help
you get the most from your listing.
Getting your property in front of
as many prospective customers as
possible is your main objective,
which is in theory fairly obvious,
although how you go about doing
this, isn’t. A postcard in
the window of your corner shop is
relatively cheap but will obviously
be seen by fewer people than a multi-page
colour listing with a prominent
rental-listings site, such as holidaylets.net.
These portal sites have become increasingly
important in recent years as they
provide a professional shop window
for your property on the internet,
a medium that's being used more
and more as far as holidays bookings
are concerned. Even better that
owners don’t need to be technically-minded
to create a stunning, effective
listing. Click on How To Advertise
at the top of this page to see how
simple it is.
Obviously you know your property
better than we do; therefore you
will need to supply the details
for your listing. We suggest some
nice clear information about the
local area, what is available for
the holidaymaker to do, local events
or fiestas, facilities and their
distance from the property. Again,
putting yourself in the place of
the customer will encourage you
to ask yourself “what would
I like to know about this property?”
Try to write clearly, bearing in
mind that many of your customers
may not have English as their first
language.
Finally, in order to make your holiday
let stand out, focus on one or two
key selling points and highlight
them. If you offer complementary
membership of a nearby golf club,
feature it in the advert. If a local
restaurant offers your customers
discount, make that a key point.
If somebody famous once lived in
your home, put that down. Anything
you can think of which makes your
property stand out from the crowd
could make all the difference to
getting or missing out on a booking. |
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Good pictures
sell
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 The
Internet is a visual medium, and
when your customers trawl through
websites searching for a holiday,
many will only be looking at photos
and price. It is the single most
important part of your listing and
it is surprising how many owners
feature a poor or inadequate photo
set. The good people at holidaylets.net
have come up with their ten top
tips to take a better photo.
Sunny, sells.
It sounds obvious but you absolutely
must take your photos in sunlight.
Remember you are selling a dream
and your customers want to picture
themselves basking in warm sunshine
on their holidays.
Highlight your Key Selling Points.
You are rightly proud of your pool
and your luxury four-poster. You
have spent out on a walk-in shower
or a hot-tub. These are your key
selling points and you should make
sure you feature them in your photo.
They will make the difference between
being run-of–the-mill and
standing out from the crowd. Make
them prominent in your advert.
Tidy Up.
Keep your field of vision uncluttered.
You would be surprised how many
photos show a beautiful tidy room,
when behind the camera, out of sight,
is another story. Holidaymakers
want to feel they are escaping from
clutter and expect neatness in their
holiday home.
Set the Scene.
Go one step further – don’t
just move the clutter, stage the
shot. If you have a fireplace in
the photo, light a couple of sheets
of newspaper, for an instant focal
point. Put a couple of iced drinks
on the table on the patio, or some
crisply folded towels on the bed.
Digital Versatility.
Try to use a digital camera if possible.
This will allow you to check what
is in the frame and will give you
high quality crisp shots, from which
you can choose your final set.
 Lighting-up
Time.
Using flash can sometimes be tricky
and is best avoided unless you are
very confident. Try to use natural
light wherever possible, or if not,
put on all the room lights. If you
are feeling really brave you could
attempt an atmospheric shot of the
exterior, with all internal lights
on, snapped at that special twilight
time of day just as the natural
light fades. Not easy but a stunning
effect if you get it right.
Make Room.
Try to get the whole room in the
frame if you can. There are two
ways of doing this. Either use a
fish-eye or wide-angle lens if available,
which will widen the field of view
and allow the edges of the room
to come into the frame. Simpler
still, is to climb on a chair in
the corner and shoot down into the
room from an elevated position.
This has the effect of making the
room seem bigger and even more spacious.
Location, Location..
If your holiday let is near a decent
beach or close to a tourist attraction,
then include a photo of that in
your set. A golf course or gorge
or a family fun-park could help
to sell the idea of a holiday rather
than just holiday accommodation.
Leave It Out.
There is an unwritten rule for photos
of holiday properties, that says
there is no place for cars in them.
Similarly you want to try and avoid
having people in your interior shots.
Remember you are trying to get your
customer to picture themselves in
your room – something which
is hard to do if Grandma is sitting
there!
Go Professional.
If you don’t own or can’t
use a digital camera with sufficient
confidence why not consider hiring
the services of a professional?
Ask your agent, if you have one,
for recommendations or check in
the services section of the local
paper. As a last resort you could
go online. The expense of the photographer’s
charges will soon be returned when
your bookings start flowing in. |
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Managing your
rentals
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 You’ve
now created an effective property
listing. You've also cleaned your
holiday let from top to bottom,
added a few extra individual touches
and placed your Guests’ Information
folder on the table. What is the
next step?
We have several recommendations,
based primarily on what our holiday
homeowners tell us and we'd like
to share them with you.
Initially, the majority of enquiries
will come via your email. The
Internet is an immediate medium
and most interested parties, having
seen your listing, will contact
you while they’re online.
It's vital that you deal with
their enquiry quickly and efficiently.
You would not ignore a ringing
phone if you were expecting a
call and you should be equally
diligent with your emails, and
check them regularly and often.
If you can be the first holiday
homeowner to email back, out of
the dozen or so enquiries made
by the prospective customer, then
you stand the best chance of securing
the booking.
The next stage is to talk face-to-face.
if the holidaymaker has left a
contact number, use it to ring
them back. You are able to “sell”
yourself and your holiday let,
and easily answer any initial
questions they may have. Don’t
be afraid to find out about your
prospective customer. After all,
it is your property and you have
a right to know who will be occupying
it. If you don't want children
or single sex groups it’s
better to refuse at this stage
than to have to cancel after taking
a deposit.
Go for the sale. Don’t
be afraid to cut to the chase
and email your customer the booking
contract. The quicker you can
get their signature on the dotted
line, the better. This is also
the point where any problem with
a clash of dates might occur,
and by being on the phone directly
allows you to offer alternatives
immediately. Make sure you set
a date by which the booking deposit
must be collected, and let your
customer know that the dates are
being held for his party until
that date. If a second party wishes
to book the same week, maintain
contact with them while giving
the original party priority. Most
owners ask for about 10-15% of
the final cost as a booking deposit
and some treat this as non-refundable
in case of cancellation.
Having secured the deposit and
booking, give a date for final
settlement of the balance. This
is usually one or two months ahead
of the holiday. Owners frequently
request a security deposit to
cover the cost of any damage or
breakages incurred during the
holiday. This can be requested
at this point or when the keys
are handed over and can be in
the form of cash, a cheque held
and uncashed or a credit-card
swipe if facilities are available.
And that’s all there is
to managing your first booking.
Well, not quite all. You should
update the availability chart
on your listing– this also
serves to keep your advert prominent.
You then need to arrange for the
holiday let to be cleaned at the
end of the stay as well as getting
it checked by your agent or cleaner
for breakages or damage. Only
then should you return the security
deposit.
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Come again,
soon
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 Having
secured a booking for your holiday
let, you've already done half the
work. Once a customer has stayed
in your property for the first time
they become a future source of income.
You already have their email address
or phone number, you know their
holiday preferences and they know
your property. Our team has put
together our ten top tips for impressing
your customers so much that they
will want to come again next year.
1. Set the tone with a good first
impression. Either greet your
customer with the key and a bottle
of something nice, or leave a
welcome note and some local provisions
like milk, eggs, and cheese.
2. Make sure your property is
absolutely spotless when your
guests take in their first impressions.
Nothing will put off a new customer
faster than the previous guests’
old socks under the bed or an
unemptied dustbin.
3. Make a folder with information
for your guests, but keep it up-to-date.
Include details on how everything
works and where everything is.
Make sure you include a section
for guests’ comments and
for feedback on what improvements
you could make.
4. Guests love to be spoiled and
to feel they are special. Buy
some good quality thick towels
in pastel shades, which are more
likely to retain their looks longer
and last better than cheaper ones
creating the impression of luxury.
5. Is the kitchen supplied with
everything that should be there?
And enough of each? Your guests’
stay will be less memorable if
they don’t spend half of
it washing and rewashing the same
four plates. And they won’t
thank you if they have to make
a special trip into town to buy
a corkscrew.
6. Your customers will appreciate
your thoughtfulness if you provide
toilet paper, dishwasher detergent
and washing-up liquid. They will
like not having to spend out on
such mundane items for a single
week’s stay, and those guests
who are booked in for longer may
even replace what they have used.
7. Keep a collection of local
guidebooks, brochures and leaflets
handy in your property. Guests
will benefit from knowing something
about nearby tourist sites, features
or even good restaurants to visit.
As your guests explore the region
you will probably find they will
bring you souvenirs of their own
to add to your stock.
8. Not many holiday destinations
are immune from the occasional
bouts of bad weather, so it is
as well to plan for these times.
Leave your guests a box with a
few traditional family board games
and a couple of packs of cards.
You can pick up, quite inexpensively,
second–hand games at car
boot sales or charity shops, and
your guests (and their children)
will really thank you for this
if they are stuck indoors for
any length of time.
9. If your target market includes
families, why not go the extra mile
and really make them feel welcome.
If you can say to parents “Don’t
bother to bring a highchair or a
cot”, you are saving them
car or luggage space and it will
cost you so little. What you gain
is repeat business from a happy
customer and potential referrals
to other families with small children.
10. For a small outlay you can also
get some postcards made showing
an attractive view of your holiday
let. Leave a handful of these somewhere
prominent (perhaps in the guest
folder) and encourage your customers
to use them. The first thing they
will write is “ this is where
we’re staying…”
and there you are – instant
advertising and recommendation! |
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