How to get more bookings for my holiday home?

Anyone who rents out, or is looking to rent out their holiday let will have the same question. "How to get more bookings for my holiday home"? In this article we'll summarise the more important things to consider, to maximise bookings and get the best profit for your holiday home.

Your holiday home is a business

Firstly it's important to say, you need to be serious about every aspect of your property. You need to think of it like a business. The approach to the customers, the effort in the listings, the sales and marketing of the property. There's a hurdle at every stage. Most people will think it's too much effort to tick all the boxes however, if you can persevere in the initial stages, it can really pay off in the long term.

Unique Selling Point

Most holiday home owners simply copy their competition. If you want to increase the value of your rent you need to stand out. In marketing terms, what's your "secret sauce". What is unique to your property which someone can't get elsewhere. Sometimes it's a feature of the property. Sometimes it's something you create. This will have a big impact on bookings and pricing. Take the time to really think what you can do as a special feature and then put a large amount of time and effort into creating it. The good news is, you will only need to do it once and then let it sell for you for years to come!

Professional Listings

You need to build trust for a potential customer when they look at your listing and are looking to make a booking. You would give £500 to a stranger, but this is exactly what you're asking of your customers. How can you give them a piece of mind. The main factor is a professional looking website. Photography is a major selling point and is proven great photography can increase bookings by 5 times! Also your descriptions should sell your property, so by the end of ready the customer has no option but to press the booking button. Don't go too light on the information either. For example some areas can be difficult to park. Something like a dedicated parking space might seem simple, however it could very easily make your property stand out amongst the rest, add value and therefore also give the option of increasing your price.

Professional photography and copy written descriptions aren't always easy. If you need help with advertising of your holiday home, then click here and Advertise My Holiday Home can help you get the full potential of your holiday let.

Multi Platform Listings

The more people see your listing, the higher the chances of receiving a booking. You should advertise in as many places as possible to do this. There are the obviously places like Airbnb and Booking.com. How about your own Facebook page or website to try and increase direct bookings and reduce fees?

Forget about the Price

When bookings are slow the first thing which usually gets looked at is the price. Our advice at Advertise Your Holiday Home is never reduce the price unless you have tried all of the options. We regularly try and increase prices wherever possible by doing what we have covered about. If you can increase your prices by 10% it will mean you could be 20% more profitable as a business with the same number of bookings. Also increase the bookings by 5% and then you have a very inviting business. Do the hard work at the start and then you will see the benefit for a long time to come. Remember your unique selling point and come up with a prospect which is hard to resist.

Struggling to imagine what you can do differently with your holiday home? Let Advertise My Holiday Home get the most out of your listings. If you need help with advertising of your holiday home, then click here and Advertise My Holiday Home can help you get the full potential of your holiday let.