What do you broadcast on your social media channels to promote your holiday let?
The answer possibly depends on whether you like words or pictures more.
If there’s a writer in you, you’ll likely write lots of content, carefully editing it to ensure it brings out the best in your holiday rental property.
If you’re more into photography, chances are you’ll take lots of photos and use those with short descriptive captions.
Neither way is wrong, but it’s best to use a balance of the two if you can.
There are several reasons for this, so let’s delve into them now.
A balance of words and images will appeal to everyone
If your updates are generally wordy informative pieces, you’ll appeal more to those who enjoy the same from their social media feed – text based updates. Simply because they naturally take in words better than images.
And it stands to reason, that if you use mostly photos and images, you’ll appeal to those who respond better to that form of messaging.
Focusing on one, neglects the other. So by balancing the two, you’ll appeal to more people and spread the reach of your messaging.
A good mix provides variety in your social media accounts
Regardless of which sites you use to promote your holiday rental, using a mix of words and images will work better than favouring one or the other.
If you look at an account where the owner uses a mix of both, it provides variety and interest. Both words and pictures catch the eye in different ways, and may persuade a person to stick around longer to find out more.
In contrast, we’ve all run away from pages that have nothing but words on them. And an overload of images can lead someone to having a quick look before disappearing elsewhere. Getting the balance right has many benefits.
You can get your message across in two different ways
Your goal is to encourage people to book a stay at your holiday let.
So do this by taking photos throughout the year to reflect the different seasons, and by writing evocative words on what there is to do in the region during each season.
And remember, use every opportunity to instil some powerful messaging to really entice someone to want to find out more and enquire further.
Try adding caption overlays to images. Your website builder may allow this (if using one), or if not, simply use a photo editing program. This way, anyone viewing your photos will also read an engaging message too – just make sure it doesn’t cover too much of the photo and detract from the visual stimulus!
Now review your own broadcasts.
If you tend to steer towards one way of communicating over another, try mixing a few other elements in for greater appeal and variety. Chances are, it’ll increase engagement which should increase enquiries.
Hi,
I have just read about what you are saying and all makes sense. At present I rent out part of my property for vacations in France, the property is entirely separate from my own house. During the summer July, August September I am very busy, however, I would love to attract more traffic for the other months. I am just about to change my profile as I know I have written far too much and people are not going to take the time to read. I have a mix of photographs of the property both inside and out but know I could do better. I keep updated of what other property rentals are doing in my area and it appears that I am one of the top rentals. I seriously need a website to promote and need some all year pictures with suggestions of what’s on offer during each season.
On a different note, I am in the midst of working on a business plan for a large’Lifestyle’ shop in London initially. I have made other business plans that have been successful but on a much smaller scale. Once ready to launch the business, I will be needing to make the most of all social media opportunities including the very best of websites. This will be the first business opportunity on such a large scale and will be needing all the best advice I can possibly get.
I would really appreciate any input from yourselves in both the renting of my property and thereafter my ‘Lifestyle’ business.
I will take a look at your free website creator for my property rental.
Thanking you……………NIKTA
I’m glad you found this article useful. It sounds like you’re doing the right thing – mixing both text and images, although if you feel it’s become too text-heavy at times, then yes, it’s probably a good idea to start ensuring there is a good balance moving forward. A dedicated website to help promote your rental online is also strongly advised. There’s only so much you can do on social media, and having a website to direct traffic too, allows you to display ALL the information in one place meaning your visitors don’t have to search around multiple sites to find out if your accommodation and local area is right for them. It’s also a good portal to use to write blogs – if you find you’re writing quite text-heavy updates to your social media channels, a blog is a better outlet for that type of content that you can simply link to from your social media profiles.