A Facebook presence for a Vacation Villa Rental or Vacation Rental Agency is a tricky task. What I’ve seen is that you really need to fall into one of a few categories:
- Create a following on your Facebook page by selling the destination NOT the properties.
This can be fun but time consuming, and it’s always a fine line when you try to push the hard sell. Your followers pick up on that hard sell pretty quickly and may start to drop off just as fast. I’ve seen extremely successful individuals and property managers with major followings, but they actually enjoy sharing the information and happenings of their area and hope visitors will too. If you can create a demand for tourism in your area, your properties will benefit when the visitors come. Try a scale of 90% fun information and 10% selling. - Get people talking!
Engage your visitors! Don’t try directly selling your property via the posts. Honestly, how many times can you put up a pretty picture and say please, please, please book now! What is special or different about your property? Let people know. Do something different. Focus on a lifestyle instead of advertising. A subtle sell can be incorporated without loosing followers. Try some top 10 lists or tips, best beaches, best hikes, or guess this location! Be a professional sunset judge, share the daily happenings of the neighbors cat, or post your own tales of the mountain. - Keep it to a minimum and post some last minute specials.
Your time is limited and social media management in general is very time consuming. If you’re going to do it – then do it right and be consistent! Generating new bookings from Facebook can require a considerable amount of time and creativity – and possibly paid exposure. I have yet to see real compelling evidence of Facebook conversions to actual booking. Individuals managing their own properties may actually have more time to put towards this than a property manager with a 10 villa inventory and a stretched thin staff. Typically the same staff person or individual is answering emails, updating the website, fielding guest emergencies and trying to track down that maintenance guy.
Overall: You really should enjoy engaging with your guests, visitors and potential guests to have a booming Facebook presence. A paid post boost is pretty cheap ($5-$10 a pop) and can get you a significant increase in visibility.
