As profitable and enriching as a villa can be, to get the most out of it, it must be effectively and consistently promoted. There are many avenues for getting the word out, but here are eight tips on how to market/promote your luxury villa and vacation home rental to get more bookings, using tried and true methods.

 

1. HAVE A PROFESSIONAL WEBSITE

Your website is not only a tool to advertise and get bookings, but it is also the face of your business. Often, the first interaction a potential guest will have with your villa is visiting the website. Just like meeting a new customer in person, the website must exude professionalism, quality, and show attention to detail.

Having an excellent site is equal parts aesthetics and functionality. The site must be visually appealing to attract and engage the attention, while simultaneously easy to navigate and highly functional, performing tasks such as bookings and communications.

 

2. INVEST ON PHOTOS, VIDEOS, & 360 VIRTUAL TOUR

The more of the villa which can be presented to a potential guest, the more likely they are to be enticed to inquire. Foremost among methods of showcasing the villa is photography. When it comes to photography, every possible measure should be taken to ensure the very best pictures are chosen and carefully selected for use on the website and marketing.

Features like video and virtual tours can be highly useful. A video enables you to walk through and showcase the villa in a more representative state, giving some idea of the perspective a guest might have and showcasing the villa in its full animation. Increasing the immersion even more is a 360-degree virtual tour system, popular on many websites today, which allows the guest to take an interactive virtual tour of the villa right from their web browser.

 

3. BE ACTIVE ON SOCIAL MEDIA

The world of social media is exploding more and more every day. With a popularity and cultural presence virtually unrivaled, services such as Facebook and Google+ are so ubiquitous as to be utilized by almost everyone connected to the modern world. By using these services yourself, it becomes possible to create a real internet presence which serves to keep you in the minds of your existing customers while also acting to attract newcomers to your villa.

Services such as LinkedIn are also excellent not only for promoting the villa but also putting you in contact with professionals and services that can further assist with the success of your villa. Other sites which cater to particular types of media, such as YouTube, Instagram and Twitter can also be utilized specifically to promote your villa. Sites such as Pinterest and Reddit can even be employed to put your name out there among the ceaseless armies of idle web surfers.

 

4. HAVE A MAILING LIST

Maintaining a mailing list is an excellent way to improve customer retention. Not only that, the mailing list can be highly useful for informing new customers as well. By acquiring the e-mail addresses of your clients, you are given a direct link to promoting deals, advertising openings and building a lasting relationship which helps to keep people coming back.

 

5. LIST YOUR PROPERTY ON VACATION RENTAL & TRAVEL DIRECTORIES

For any topic or subject, there is a directory available on the internet to sort through the many offerings. Villas are no different. Sites like Flip Key, Trip Advisor, Airbnb, Holidayletting and many, many more are becoming increasingly popular with villa owners and guests alike. Registering your villa on these sites can give you a serious leg-up. Travelers nowadays are becoming smarter and will consider many factors before booking a villa, especially when trying to find reviews and feedback.

 

6. BLOG ABOUT THE LOCAL AREA WHERE YOUR VILLA IS LOCATED

A blog is a great way to increase your internet presence and engage potential customers via content marketing strategies, which seek to simultaneously inform the reader of pertinent information about a topic while promoting some recognition of your brand, business or villa. By publishing a blog ripe with information about the local area around the villa, you have a great chance of increasing your search engine relevance while also informing and enticing your clientele to choose your destination. Blogging also allows you to debunk myths about villa rentals or your business, and give clarity to your target audience.

 

7. DO SOME PAID ADVERTISING

There are plentiful outlets for paid advertising. Especially on the internet, a paid advertisement can be easily and instantly broadcast to thousands or even millions of people if placed in the right channel. While it will definitely require a bit of extra change in the budget, a paid advertisement for a service such as Google AdWords can be a well-placed investment. Popular services like YouTube and LinkedIn also provide advertising services. You can even reach your way into relevant Facebook feeds via the Sponsored Posts and other Facebook advertising services.

 

8. ADVERTISE ON LUXURY MAGAZINES

To establish brand awareness, and to set yourself a cut above the rest, there are few avenues as rewarding as advertising in a luxury magazine. Emblazoned on the pages of a high-class magazine, alongside other renown villas or resorts and luxury items is a fantastic way to create the image of a truly luxurious accommodation: a villa worth visiting even for the richest and hardest to impress.