Archive for the ‘Vacation Marketing’ Category

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Use Survey’s to help your Online Vacation Rental Presence

Monday, December 15th, 2008

Ever watch Family Feud?  Survey says, “………….”  People, in general, like to know what others are thinking, doing, or have an opinion on.  That is where collecting survey information can help you attract more travelers to your site – create some material that is interesting to them, news that they want to read……Top 10 List, Why Travelers……great hooks to get people to your site and fantastic SEO content.

That is one part of the equation.  The other part of the equation is that you can learn tremendous information by analyzing the responses you collect from guests, prospective guests, and ‘just looking’ browsers.

One part I like about surveys is that there are some great tools out there that you can use on your website and through email marketing.  I have recommended Zoomerang and Survey Monkey before.  Today I ran across a new one Surveygizmo. 

Surveygizmo allows you to engage visitors and find out how they feel about your site experience by asking them directly. SurveyGizmo does just that. You can structure your surveys in many ways, including polls, quizzes, landing pages and even mobile marketing campaigns. Extensive analytics and reporting features are included.

A basic account was available at no cost. This is an actual working account (not just a test account) that allows you to gather 250 responses per month on an ongoing basis. Pricing for larger surveys is available at the site.

Another tool and strategy to look into to enhance your vacation rental business.  It is FREE and can provide you excellent data, as well as new guests.

Ralf
LiveRez

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Social Media/Network is Popular with Online Shoppers (& Vacation Rental Bookers)

Wednesday, December 10th, 2008

I thought maybe it was just my wife and kids (I have been watching then get more active on www.Facebook.com and my wife has developed quite a following on her blog www.wenderful.com), but I have come to realize that we seem to be at an inflection point in the utilization of online social networking.  Here is the most scientific  evidence I have for this – my mother-in-law has a Facebook profile.  Now it is mainstream for sure!!

 

If that is not scientific enough for you, here is some more data from a recent study by Universal McCann International Social Media Research.  Check out this study for some amazing detail and info.

  • Watched a video  82.9%

  • Read a blog 72.8%

  • Visit a photo sharing site  63.2%

  • Manage a profile on a social network  57.3%

  • Leave a comment on a blog  54.8%

  • Leave a comment on a news site  44.8%

  • Subscribe to an RSS feed  33.7%

What this means to you?  Here is my opinion. 

  • First, you get familiar with these sites, tools, networks.  Understand them, do not rely on anyone else to define them for you.  If you do not consider yourself technical, do not let than be a roadblock, the point of these social sites and networks is that they are for humans – not techie guys. 

  • Second, match your target audience and target message to the appropriate online social channel.

Hope this helps in your vacation home rentals.

 

Ralf

www.LiveRez.com

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Your Glass Half-Full or Half-Empty? Overflowing for Vacation Rentals, I say!!!

Friday, December 5th, 2008

Latest report from PhocusWright on Leisure/Unmanaged travel shows that both overall travel (2-4% per year) and online travel (7-9% per year) will GROW in the next couple of years.  Grow!!  Have you been paying attention to what is going on in industries all around us.  Builders, Bankers, Car Makers, Manufacturers, and others are flailing to avoid bankruptcy and get gov’t bailout money.

Vacation homes should be at the forefront of this and take advantage of it.  Let’s use this time to sharpen our value proposition, our marketing, our services, and grab more market-share.  

Way I see it, 5% of 1,000 is 50.  OK,  this only grows 7% to 1,070.  Now the 5% is 54 – so that is your growth plan?  HECK NO!!!  Vacation homes have a distinct advantage for value, we have great online tools, and a killer message……………we can crank up that 5%.  That is where the growth will come from.  Get that 5% to 6% and all of a sudden you have grown to 65 in the same scenario – an over 20% growth. 

Let us not get caught in the ‘bummer the growth is so small’ talk.  Let’s be the ones that attack, that make lemonade from lemons, the fighters & survivors. 

Ralf
LiveRez.com

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Emotions – that is how you hook the travelers in a tough economy

Thursday, December 4th, 2008

The TIA (Travel Industry Association) recently shared the following news (TIA Article about Holiday Travel).  Not sure what the numbers came in at for the Thanksgiving travel, but what is clear is that there is an incredibly emotional driver to travel for the holidays.  Most of us tend to focus on our relationships during tough economic times.

 What does that mean for you:  Focus on the family tradition, the emotional bond to a vacation, during these tough economic times.  Do not pound the luxury or adventure aspects of the vacation.  Focus on the importance of family, togetherness, relationships, and friends that take on more and more meaning during tough times and will bring guests to your vacation home rental.
The survey of 2,256 adults conducted earlier this month showed that despite economic concerns some 60 percent of those visiting with out-of-town family or friends strongly feel the time and money spent is a small price to pay to be with people they love.The Harris survey revealed that among those who visit with out of town family or friends:

  • 70 percent recognize it’s a tradition to be with family or friends at Thanksgiving.
  • 68 percent strongly agree that it creates memories for them and/or their children.
  • 61 percent strongly feel being with family and friends over the holidays helps them reconnect with loved ones and build relationships.

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Some Good Travel News…Europeans Booking More Travel Online

Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008

 I scoured the internet for a graph that was going up and to the right.  Found one!  This study from PhocusWright shows that the online travel booking will continue to grow in Europe. 

Not sure that this is directly related to your business but, I made me think of two things:
1.  There is good news out there.  My advice, look for it.  Do not get bogged down on the bad sensational news.
2.  Online……Online…..Online – That is where the growth is and that is where we should be focusing much of our energy and effort.

Ralf
LiveRez.com

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Holiday Season is Here! Get your share of the frenzy……

Monday, December 1st, 2008

I am not one to sleep at the mall or in the Walmart parking lot in anticipation of the Black Friday sales.  That said, I do enjoy watching the frenzy and mayhem of this shopping extravaganza.  This year, I was in Salt Lake for Thanksgiving, and decided to take a jog early Friday morning and to run by the local Walmart. 

It was entertaining.  What I learned was that there seems to be plenty of money out there waiting to be spent.  There is definitely less money for the Tiffany’s of the world, but the Walmart’s of the world seem to be selling stuff, stuff of all kinds.  Is this because people want cheap?  I argue, no.  People want (1) Useful, and (2) Value.

So what does this mean for the vacation home rental industry?  It does not mean that we should focus on price.  Let me repeat that, it does not mean we should focus on price.  A focus on price implies that cheaper is better. 

Easier said than done you say.  OK, yes.  But think about what people want Useful, and Value.  I suggest we focus on the usefulness of a vacation home vs. a hotel.  The value for a larger group.  The value of having a kitchen and laundry.  The usefulness of having a family room, and not 3 separate hotel rooms with nowhere to hang out.

Get you message together and send those email campaigns out there.  Now is the time to fight for that very sparse disposable income.  Get them to put a great vacation under the tree.

Ralf
LiveRez

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Faith in your Website Service Provider

Monday, November 24th, 2008

I had an interesting meeting with a gentleman from Akami last week.  Akami is a web hosting company and an expert in web performance.  An interesting part of the conversation revolved around the consumer’s reactions to a website and its performance.

When you understand all that happens between your vacation rental website and your prospect guest’s computer, you realize how critical the quality of the many service provider’s between these two point is to the traveler’s perception as you as a company.  Performance issues could be caused by your web hosting provider, by another internet service provider, by the traveler’s service provider……..lots of factors that you have no control over.  But guess what?  The traveler who has web problems while going to or on your site, will not differentiate between you and the problems.

Any problems will reflect on you.  So do all you can to ensure a quality web experience, by selecting your partners carefully.  Control what you can control in this dynamic environment.

Your website can be an awesome tool to differentiate yourself.  Make it count…….make those 5-8 seconds you have to make an impression count.

Ralf
LiveRez

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Representing the Theme of PhocusWright 2008 – Search, Shop, Book

Friday, November 21st, 2008

LiveRez Vacation Rental SoftwareLiveRez Vacation Rental SoftwareThe theme for the show was ‘Search, Shop, Buy’.  We changed that around a little into ‘Search, Shop, Book’.  The key – no email or phone exchange required, the traveler can choose to book completely and seamlessly online.  Something that is critical for the mainstream adoption of vacation rentals and the aability for vacation rentals to be part of the mass OTAs (Online Travel Agencies) like Expedia, Priceline, and Travelocity.

 Ralf
LiveRez

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PhocusWright – Day 3 Report: Too much to put in one post……

Thursday, November 20th, 2008

First, I had an incredible run this morning in the LA hills.  I found a little regional park that leads up hills overlooking the LA valley.  It was an incredible morning – clear skies and 65 degrees.  The day was filled with some great meetings, as well as sitting through some facintating presentations.

I will focus on only one of the presentations for this post.  Travel Channel.  Yes, they had a bunch of cool videos.  Really cool travel videos – short, snipet videos.  What makes a great video in the eyes of Patrick Younge, their CEO?  Here are 4 items:

  • Searchability – must be able to find the video online and integrate it into the website
  • Quality – does not mean it has to be expensive; good story, narrative; 1.5 to 3min
  • Relevance – expert and trusted advisor tone, not commercial
  • Mobility – able to publish to various formats including a mobile device (I will discuss mobile in travel in a future post)

Video is worth doing.  But it is only worth doing if you do it well.

It was interesting in my conversation with Priceline, Orbitz, MSN Travel, Yahoo Travel, and others, how prevelant discussions about the future of the vacation rental market are.  Our market is definitely seen as a great oppty and a new fronteir for the mainstream online travel and booking business.

Much more to come……stay tuned……I have content for post for the next couple of weeks from this show.  Also coming soon, the picture I took with me, Darth Vader, and a Stormtrooper.

Ralf
LiveRez

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PhocusWright – Day 2 Report: Blogging & Customer Experience

Wednesday, November 19th, 2008

On day 2, after a beautiful run in 70-degree sunny weather to start the day, I had the oppty to attend a few interesting sessions as well as meet many leaders in the travel industry.  Two of the sessions I attended were about Blogging and about Customer Experience.  Way too much info to give you a detailed summary, but here are some key points I took notes on and apply to online vacation home rentals:

Blogging.  Couple of takeaways that I thought might be useful to you.

  • When creating, or starting, or continuing  a blog, these are the critical questions to ask:
         Why are you blogging?
         Who is your audience?
         What value are you delivering? (you cannot use this as a promotional tool)

New ‘online tools’ that were discussed were Facebook and Twitter.  Honestly, no one could come up with a compelling use of Twitter.  As cool and as fun as it may be.

Be significant, meaningful, less data and more structured information.

Customer Experience:  Some interesting notes.

In the past year, 9 out of 10 online customers experiences problems shopping online.
41% of those abandoned the website right away.
47% of those attempted to contact the website company for help.
       Only 50% of those 47% were able to resolve their issues.  (75% of these will never return to the site)

80% will share their negative experience.  58% sharing online and 80% sharing offline.

More to come from LA.  Stay tuned.

Ralf

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