Your guide to growing a successful Instagram account for your short-term rental business & building an online presence on social media for free.
A lot of short-term rental owners rely on platforms like Airbnb and Vrbo to promote their home. But these platforms take a cut of every booking, are full of competitors, and can take down your listing with no notice. Leaving you with business expenses and no bookings coming in.
Building an online presence for your STR removes the middle person and gives you control over your business. Which means you can connect directly with your ideal guests and market your rental on your own terms.
How to use Instagram to market your short-term & vacation rental
- Brand your short term rental business
A lot of short-term and vacation rentals are cookie-cutter homes with cookie-cutter listings in third-party platforms.
To stand out from them, the first thing you have to do is define your branding. Keep in mind:
- Who is your ideal guest? Based on this, you can find inspiration online for colors, moods, and even your wording (aka messaging strategy) on your marketing and listings.
- If you haven’t already, pick a name! Something clear and unique will make your place memorable and fun.
- Based on your inspiration and ideal guest, it’s time to get a logo. Your best bet is to work with a graphic designer to capture the mood of your city and your rental & attract your dream audience to book you.
While you don’t have to redo your entire vacation home if it’s already decorated, consider tweaking the style to fit your brand. Include your brand colors in the decor, add your branding to any printables or stationery you share with guests (your guest book, check-in/check-out pages, the signature of your email) and keep your messaging consistent with the overall vibe of your rental to give them a welcoming experience throughout.
- Optimize your Instagram business account
While most people have an Instagram account, business accounts work different from regular IG profiles. And as a short-term rental business, you’ll need access to the business tools in your account. Especially if you’re hoping to use ads in the future. But the business tools also include features like a clickable map and the Contact button in your bio.
To optimize your IG account:
- Go to your settings to make sure you have an Instagram Business profile.
- Add your preferred email to the Contact options and make them visible.
- Next, add your profile name. Your username can be the brand name you selected above. But make your profile name descriptive and clear so that anyone using the search function can find you. For example: Vacation home | Palm Springs, CA.
- Write a short & sweet bio to describe your rental to any profile visitors. Stick to 1-2 sentences and clearly outline who your ideal guest is and the top 2-3 things they can do while visiting.
- Add your website link to your bio to make it easy for visitors to book you. Not sure if your short-term rental needs a website? Spoiler, it does.
Check out this example bio for a stay in the heart of New Orleans:
- Post beautiful photos and video (including user-generated content & testimonials)
Your Instagram is probably the first thing future guests will see before booking with you. Your posts are the perfect way to share the atmosphere and the fun they’ll have when they stay at your rental!
The basics:
- Include photos of every room in the house: Bedroom(s), bathroom, kitchen, and living spaces. Bonus points for outdoor spaces and/or other amenities, such as a playroom for family-friendly rentals or a nearby park for pet-friendly ones.
- Use video to give potential guests a feel of the space — including a space-by-space tour or special highlights. Make it fun!
- Encourage guests to share photos of their time at your rental and (with proper permissions) reshare the content to your account. Make sure to include any positive reviews or feedback they leave in your guest book or online.
Carefully curated photos and video will give a peek into your STR and have your lurkers dreaming of more.
- Engage with other local attractions and business/tourism authorities
A lot of IG users struggle to gain traction on their profile even though they’re technically doing everything right. But many times, the missing step is engagement! Posting alone is not enough to get people to visit your profile and engage with your content.
To increase exposure and grow your profile, visit other local accounts tourists may be looking for and:
- Like or share their content: If you find something valuable your followers will appreciate, like and share it to your stories. Or make a local Guide with the new IG Guides feature. Best practices: Always give proper credit when re-sharing someone else’s content.
- Engage in conversation: Comment and share your opinions in tourism accounts, talk about your favorite spots in town, and give thoughtful insider’s tips to those looking to visit your area. You’ll establish yourself as an authority and give a positive view to your neck of the woods. Always keep a positive tone!
In general, local tourism authorities, tourist attractions (a regional museum or Hall of Fame), and Chambers of Commerce are good places to start to grow your short-term rental account. If there are any influencers in your area (there probably are), engage with them, too!
To keep in mind, engaging with others is all about sharing and being of service to them. It’s not about promoting yourself in everyone’s posts. A great rule of thumb for engagement is: Are you adding value to the post?
- Use your IG to drive users to your website
Instagram, and social media in general, is a great way to reach a broad audience. But most people can’t rely on social media to build a business. After all, Instagram is someone else’s platform and can change at a moment’s notice.
Use Instagram as a lead generator (a place for people to find you) and drive visitors to your website to create a relationship with them. You can do this by blogging about your town, sending a regular newsletter, and sharing travel tips with future visitors.
With your own newsletter subscribers and website visitors, you’re fostering a community and building a connection with them beyond the passive follow of social media. So you’re not relying on a third party to sustain your business — you’re building a strong foundation for your STR for years to come.
Instagram is the perfect platform to reach a huge audience for your short-term rental
With millions of active users, Instagram is one of the best places to market your short-term rental and reach your dream guests with a small time investment. On Instagram, you can market your short-term rental business organically (without paying for ads) and see results when you work consistently.
Foster a community on Instagram and you’ll be well on your way to a successful online short-term rental business.
