Now is not the time to roll over dead.
Why would I spend a dime on marketing when people are not booking right now? Are they booking right now? No, but as we know, the vacation rental industry lead time is much longer than buying a sneaker you saw on Facebook. It takes months and hundreds of digital touchpoints. With the world on pause, now is the time to build up your audience of followers and website users. And because we are all in this boat together a unique opportunity is presenting itself.
The Opportunity
We are seeing a 30-50% increase in time spent on social networks but with huge cuts in ad spending (many cutting it to 0) thus producing drastically lower cost per impression.
The Point
Getting your content out has never been cheaper or easier. Now first, let me say, this is not an opportunity to push sales and travel for right now but instead as a reminder that we offer a unique service even when our doors are closed. People need something to look forward to (especially when quarantined). Providing your audience quality and engaging content that lets them reminisce on past good times on vacation or daydream on future plans is all in high demand.
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How to Do It
- By setting up ad campaigns that push people to your website and/or sign up to email clubs will build up your remarketing list. These people will be much easier to convert into bookings when the virus has passed.
- Additionally, campaigns targeting new likes on social media will give you a larger audience to speak to once we are back in action.
- Along the same line of thought, having an advocacy program not only creates a platform for people to enter to win their next vacation but helps them promote your brand to their friends. This has resulted in some amazing stats. As many have more free time than normal, we expect even better engagement in the next few months.
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Now that you have a larger audience, it’s time to make sure you are converting them. Take this “down” time to optimize your website to convert lookers into bookers. Here are some of our best tools that have helped our clients increase their conversion rates:
- Urgency notifications help users see the need to book instead of waiting.
- A Guest Tracking System and booking abandonment automation keeps them engaged.
- A Guest Profile System to help segment your audience and give them the tools to make a collective decision on a vacation.
- Category search pages to get people on a booking path.
- Search results enhancements to help users narrow their results.
- Or, maybe now is the time to upgrade your website altogether
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Did you know?
Isaac Newton came up the theory of gravity and early Calculus while he was quarantined in England during the Bubonic Plague.
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Takeaway
We need to adapt and monopolize on the cards that have been dealt to us. Unless you’re ready to close up shop for good. Now is a great time to further your brand to new audiences and better your website for converting, so you can hit the ground running as the current pandemic ends.