Industry
16 Powerful Tools To Support Direct Bookings For Your Short-Term Rental Business
Posted on Oct 22, 2024
Starting and growing a short-term rental (STR) business is tough. It takes a lot of resources to move in the right direction. In the past, Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) were the easiest way to get started, but were an indirect method that’s considered expensive and limits growth. Today, there are a number of tools and turnkey solutions that can help streamline the process so that STR’s can build sustainable businesses, without over-relying on OTAs.
We’ve shared the vast benefits of building a Direct Strategy– maximizing occupancy and revenue, owning the customer relationship, reducing OTA dependency, and more, discussed in detail in our article Direct Distribution: A Strategic Necessity for Short-term Rental Marketing.
If you're thinking about investing in your direct booking strategy or just curious about the tools available that can simplify operations, this article is for you. But first, it's important to understand what makes up a great Direct Strategy.
Building blocks of a Direct Acquisition Strategy
Short-term rentals that are going direct need the following components to be successful:
- A way to attract customers
- A digital presence optimized for acquisition
- Trust and security
As we’ve spoken to customers, we’ve started to piece together the best tools that help customers achieve each. We list both the do-it-yourself options as well as turnkey tools, so you can get started today.
Attracting customers
It’s important to go where your customers are. According to Skift, online search contributes to 46% of how people find travel, making Google one of the most important places to acquire traffic.
Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
Do-it-yourself
- Google ad words - Google Ads is a powerful online advertising platform that enables businesses to reach potential customers through targeted ads on Google's search results pages and partner websites.
Time to implement:- Basic campaign setup: 1-2 days
- Research and strategy development: 1-2 weeks
- Campaign optimization and refinement: Ongoing process
- Seeing significant results: 3-6 months (varies based on industry and competition)
Cost: Starts at $150 to $499 per month - Semrush is a comprehensive all-in-one digital marketing toolkit that helps identify the right keywords to target in your campaigns with the opportunity to do competitive research. Their solutions include SEO, PPC, content marketing, market research, social media, and competitive analysis.
Time to implement: Initial setup: 1-2 hours, but has a steep learning curve
Cost: Starts at $150 to $499 per month
Turn-key solutions
- HostAI - hostDistro employs advanced AI to analyze extensive data about your property portfolio, identifying common themes and unique selling points. It then automatically creates a tailored booking flow for each campaign theme and manages Google Ads campaigns to drive targeted traffic to your properties, helping you convert guests directly without the manual effort.
Time to implement: 5 days
Cost: $250-$450 per month - Marketing Agency Hiring a marketing agency can significantly boost a short-term rental property's visibility and bookings through expert management of online listings, targeted advertising, and optimized pricing strategies. Marketing agencies can also handle guest communication, reputation management, and provide valuable market insights, allowing owners to focus on property maintenance and guest experience.
Time to implement: 3-4 months from initial contact to full implementation
Cost: The average cost ranges from 15% to 25% of monthly rental revenue, or a flat fee of $500 to $2000 per month, depending on the property's location, size, and the scope of services provided.
Social Media
Social media is becoming increasingly important in travel to build a brand as it is the number one place that influences travel decisions (32%) vs Google (11%), according to Skift.
Do-it-yourself
- Meta Ads - Facebook is the most used Social Media channel (28%), followed by Youtube (25%), and Instagram (25%) for trip planning. Meta Ads is a robust social media advertising platform that allows businesses to reach a highly targeted audience across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and the Audience Network.
Time to implement:- Basic campaign setup: 1-3 hours
- Audience research and ad creative development: 2-5 days
- Campaign launch and initial optimization: 1-2 weeks
- Seeing significant results: 1-3 months (varies based on budget and campaign goals)
Cost: Varies, about $1 per click.
Email Marketing
Turn-key solutions
- StayFi - StayFi is a clever tool that helps STR brands collect email addresses from all guests so that they can be retargeted for future stays via access to guest wifi. It’s a simple way to build a contact list to build loyalty and increase direct revenue.
Time to implement: A few hours
Cost: Varies, starts at $15 per month
Metasearch
Do-it-yourself
- Google Vacation Rental - Google recently started allowing registered property management businesses with a direct booking website or businesses already listed on a booking site integrated with vacation rentals on Google can get free traffic. It’s easy to share up-to-date rates, availability, photos, descriptions, and more. Vacation rentals partners can configure information-rich listings and link to their own landing pages. At the moment, Google appears to be limiting direct integration to property managers with at least 500 listings but you can go through a connectivity partner. Most Property Management Systems offer a direct integration with Google Vacation Rental.
Time to implement: Typically takes between 8 and 12 weeks
Cost: Free
Content Marketing
Do-it-yourself
Turn-key Solutions
- hostAI - HostAI can generate targeted, SEO-optimized blog content tailored to each client's industry and target audience. By consistently producing high-quality articles rich in relevant keywords and valuable information, hostAI helps clients improve their search engine rankings and increase organic traffic to their websites.
Time to implement: Immediate
Cost: $200 per month - Marketing agencies - Agencies can provide a broad range of services such as content strategy, copywriting, SEO optimization, graphic design, and distribution.The specific pricing will depend on the depth and frequency of the content, the complexity of campaigns, and the agency’s expertise.
Time to implement: Varies
Cost: $1,500 - $15,000 per month
A digital presence optimized for acquisition
Website builders
Do-it-yourself
- Wix - User-friendly drag-and-drop website builder with pre-designed templates for vacation rentals. Offers integrated booking tools and mobile optimization. Highly customizable open-source platform. It requires some technical knowledge but offers extensive flexibility through themes and plugins.
Time to implement: 1-7 days for a basic site, 2-4 weeks for a more complex site
Cost: Business plans start at $27 per month
Turn-key Solutions
- hostAI - hostFront is an AI-powered white-label website designed specifically for short-term rental (STR) businesses. It helps vacation rental managers increase direct bookings by creating modern, highly optimized websites that automatically boost your traffic online.
Time to implement: 5 days
Cost: $250-$450 per month
Trust and security
Insurance
- InsuraGuest - InsuraGuest is a leading short-term rental insurance for your business, property, and guests.
Time to implement: Contact company for details
Cost: Contact company for details - Safely - The Safely Protection Policy through On Demand provides up to $1,000,000 in short-term rental insurance for all booking sites, including Airbnb, Vrbo, OTAs, and direct booking sites.
Time to implement: Contact company for details
Cost: Contact company for details
Security deposits
- Swikly is a third-party service that specializes in managing online security deposits for the tourism and short-term rental industry. It allows you to safeguard rental properties, like apartments, from damage without the hassle of cheques, transfers, or payment terminals.
Time to implement: Contact company for details
Cost: Contact company for details
Guest screening, insurance and security deposit management
Turn-key Solutions
- Superhog Superhog helps property managers and hosts reduce risks like problematic guests, property damage, and fraud with its vacation rental risk management software. Their Know-Your-Guest product can bolster direct strategy with security and peace of mind for hosts.
Time to implement: Contact company for details
Cost: Contact company for details
Conclusion
As we mentioned above, managing a new business can be challenging. Incorporating the right tools into your property management strategy can significantly boost direct bookings and reduce dependency on third-party platforms. From optimizing your website, attracting customers, and ensuring trust and safety for your business, these tools empower you to take control. hostAI is here to help by providing automated solutions that make your life easier while growing profitably. By leveraging our robust technology powered by AI, property managers can increase profitability and build stronger, direct relationships with their guests.