Having the power to reach people all across the world, social media marketing has become a crucial component of business. This is especially true for the vacation rental industry which is increasingly visual and demanding of aesthetically pleasing designs.

Social media platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook are vacation rental goldmines. Many times, guests come across a vacation rental on social media first, before booking their stay on a rental platform such as Airbnb or Vrbo.

A clear social media strategy will help you **grow your vacation rental business** effectively and can even help you brand your space. This allows you to acquire loyal guests that frequently return and recommend your Airbnb to friends and family.

Curation

Create Posts Dedicated to Events Nearby

As a host, it’s important to stay up to date on events occurring in and around your rental’s neighborhood. Knowing when major events are taking place allows you to maximize your rental profit. Demand for rentals tends to be higher on the days major events are taking place. These events typically form part of the peak season.

Coachella is a great example of a local event that attracts a lot of tourists and drives up the prices of local airbnbs. By paying attention to when guests are more likely to visit your area, you will be able to charge a premium for your rental on those days.

Create an Instagrammable Spot in Vacation Home

Another key point of curation for vacation rental hosts is creating an “instagrammable” spot in your vacation home. Installing an artificial green wall or a colorful hammock in your rental’s living room can make a world of a difference.

Guests are constantly looking for opportunities to document their travel. Incorporating a unique instagrammable spot within your vacation home puts you at an advantage over competing airbnbs.

Create a Branded Hashtag

To enhance your rental’s visibility on social media, you may want to consider creating a branded hashtag particular to your rental. You’d be surprised at how eager guests are to form part of an online community. Create a branded hashtag that is concise, easy to remember, and specific to your rental.

Pro Tip: You’ll hear it over and over again from social media experts—consistency is key. No matter how creative you are with your posts, your social media platforms will have difficulty growing if you fail to show up online consistently. Even if all you can manage to post is one photo a week, do your best to maintain that schedule in order to build trust among your followers and gain the algorithm's favor. We suggest you use an instagram post scheduler to stay on top of your posts even on your busiest days.

Posting

Once you’ve thoughtfully curated your content in “real life” you want to translate that content into digital posts. We recommend vacation rental hosts post more than just photos and videos of their space—reviews, testimonials, and pictures of pets tend to do very well on social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok.

Post Reviews & Testimonials

Positive, heartfelt reviews from guests who genuinely felt cared for make incredibly strong posts for social media! Visual content is impactful, but so are **the words of real people who have stayed in your rental and experienced your hospitality**. Vrbo rentals are known for high-end service precisely because of their excellent testimonials. Take this same strategy and apply it to your social media, and watch your following blossom.

Post Pictures of Animals if Pet-Friendly

If your rental is animal-friendly you have a major competitive advantage over other rentals. A key concern of many pet-owners is where they are going to leave their four-legged loved ones while traveling. By posting pictures of pets in your long-term airbnb, you’re communicating to potential guests that all members of their family are welcome, including the furry ones!

Pro Tip: Maximize your visibility on social media by creating original and creative reels on Instagram and TikTok. Some ideas you can implement are: showing the behind-the-scenes aspect of your rental business, how you clean and setup, as well as any new purchases you make for your property.

Tagging

Lastly, you want to make sure you are tagging locations, attractions, and STR companies in order to maximize your reach on social media. Tagging allows you to pop-up on different timelines including the explore page on Instagram, as well as directly on user feeds on TikTok. Tagging on Facebook also puts your content in front of the eyes of a wider audience via groups and other timelines.

Tag Companies Focusing on Short-Term Rentals

Tag a mix of small and big travel accounts to maximize your reach for both. Tagging only small accounts may result in missed opportunities for exposure, while tagging only big accounts could leave your rental drowned in a sea of competing posts. Tag both to give your rental a fair mix of exposure. Some accounts to consider tagging are; CNN Travel, Airbnb, Vrbo, and any other platform you’re actively using to market your rental.

Tag Location & Attractions

Aside from tagging travel companies, you also want to tag specific attractions and the location of your rental. There may be a few location tags you can use to describe where your rental is located. Make a small list of these variations and alternate between posts. For example, you can tag Los Angeles, California in one post and Los Angeles/Hollywood California in the next if your rental is located on or around the Walk of Fame.

Pro Tip: Using Facebook Business Suite (now referred to as Meta Business Suite) is a strategic way of managing your content across multiple social media platforms. It allows you to connect your Facebook and Instagram accounts in one place, making it easier to streamline and schedule content. Best of all, Facebook Business Suite is free to use!

Looking to maximize social media marketing for your rental?

Learning how to use social media for your vacation rental business can feel like another job in and of itself. Certain social media platforms work better with different generations and offer specialized tools to help you reach your target audience.

If you’re looking to outsource your social media marketing, give us a call! We would be more than happy to provide you with a brief consultation explaining our services in further detail.

MB Experiences is a full-service vacation rental management company catering to LA-based rental properties. Handling all aspects of your vacation rental business, from social media marketing to on-site staging, we make sure you get maximum utility out of your vacation homes. Call us today to get started!

How to Leverage Social Media for Your Vacation Rental Business