Instagram is a great social media channel when marketing a holiday rental online. It’s heavy on photos and images, which fits well with the idea of promoting the appeal of your property.
Yet just as you would choose the best photos of your holiday let to share with followers, you should also be careful in choosing the best hashtags to go with them.
Using hashtags with photos (in addition to a standard description) is beneficial because they can be a great way to find new followers, and get your photos in-front of a much wider audience.
How?
Hashtags, when used on social media channels, have become one of the main methods of search.
For highly visual channels such as Instagram, if you want to check out Andalusia in Spain, simply #andalusia for images to appear. And remember, those images are most likely hyperlinked to information contained on a website somewhere – as yours should be where possible – driving traffic to that site.
So you see – hashtags are not only a bit of fun, they inform, attract and act as a driver to more information too.
How should you use them?
Well, staying positive is the obvious piece of advice. You wouldn’t post a picture of the dustbins around the back of your property, would you! So, don’t post negative hashtags either. Consider each one carefully before adding it to a post.
Here are some suggestions for how to use hashtags, so you can start pulling in a wider audience.
Be descriptive of your property
Start of with the obvious hashtags. For example, when uploading a cosy wintry photo of the living room with roaring fire, include hashtags like #realfire #livingroom #warmth #winter #cosynightsin
But then you could also think about some fun hashtags with a bit more length. How about #escapingthecold #glassofwineinfrontofthefire #gettingawayfromitall, or #theperfectwintersnight …
Try a few and see whether they help you gain any traction from your posts.
Some of this is down to how you experiment, not to mention repeating certain hashtags throughout many of your posts.
If you repeat them and someone clicks on one, they will see all your posts with that hashtag attached. So it’s a great way for opening up the access to all your photos, not just that one.
Describe how a person could feel once they’re there
Did you know #happy has been added to well over 200 MILLION posts on Instagram?
The word is emotive and can often bring a smile to your face simply by reading it. So use it! When you’ve uploaded a photo that’s positive and well, happy, include #happy
Think of the view out across the garden, perhaps featuring a hammock and a book too. Or how about a view across the sea from the nearest beach, just a five-minute walk away, or a stunning sunset?
Share these experiences and images and add #happy to them.
You could also try other positive words about a person’s state of mind or feelings too. Then monitor which ones are getting the most clicks, and keep using them.
Use them to encourage people to follow you
It never hurts to give people a push in the right direction.
Even if someone isn’t looking to book a holiday let now, they may do in the future. Adding #followme or something similar offers gentle encouragement and may persuade someone to do just that.
Hashtags can be used in all kinds of ways. Some may work for you, some may not. But it never hurts to test them to see which hashtags help expand your follower count and the traffic to your website.
If you’re stuck for hashtags, look at the photos you post each time. Sometimes, these will inspire hashtags that could work for you. It’s also worth looking at other Instagram accounts of holiday rental businesses. What do they use that might also work for you?
Experimentation is the word here.
And one final tip, if you start coming up with a few creative hashtags each time, your profile may get the standout and attention it wants to really make this channel work well for you.
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