As the 2021 holiday season takes us through to the end of another year, vacation rental management companies across the country are shaping their 2022 business strategy. LiveRez would like to provide some guidance as you sit down to plan by outlining the foundation for growth in the year to come.
5 Building Blocks for Vacation Rental Management
Property Managers have been faced with many challenges since the onset of the Pandemic. Priorities for business have shifted and considerations like cleaning have become magnified. Even so, it’s important to remember that all of it is foundational. Let’s start with the basic building blocks that will inform and support a solid plan.
1. Budget
While there is much to consider in the details, our purpose today will be to address top-level considerations that will help to keep the property rental management plan in place. Where the budget is concerned, updating, tracking, accounting, and reporting are key to a successful strategic implementation. Your budget will detail the daily income and expenses as well as project expected expenses and income.
Because your budget is reflected in everything you do, it is important to have a big-picture look at the business in that context. With LiveRez, you can combine your accounting software, booking software, CRM, and operations software into a single software that will manage it all. This approach can save time and money and ensure that budget tracking takes place in real-time and vacation rental software updates are seamless. You will also get live support to help when something is off or needs clarity.
In short, your budget should ensure that your property spends money wisely and performs to expected from year to year. LiveRez is positioned to do just that.
2. Pricing
Pricing is one of the most important aspects of a fluid and financially sound vacation rental management company, but it can be challenging. While you want to attract prospective customers with a competitive price, you also want to make sure you are covering your costs and variable expenses with some degree of profitability.
The right pricing approach can be executed on your own with proper market research and best practices or you can use software to do it for you. Either way, there are important things to consider. If you are going to do it yourself, you’ll need to know your minimum rate and your competitive local market rates during peak and slow seasons. You should do separate competitive analyses during holiday seasons, and you should always plan for vacancies.
At LiveRez, we recommend using dynamic pricing software and revenue strategies. It will do the work for you while you spend your time on business development and tangible management requirements. The best dynamic pricing software should provide data to inform your pricing decisions for the coming year as follows:
- See nightly rate averages in your local market 365 days out for rentals that are comparable to yours.
- View revenue and occupancy forecasts, as well as the number of searches by travelers who are looking for vacation rentals in your market.
- Provide pricing updates across your listing platforms.
3. Marketing, Promotions, and Outreach
If you stay consistent and true to your brand, marketing can be one of the easiest ways to maximize your vacation rental property value and revenue. That said, unless you have a plan, it can backfire and end up hurting your brand. Make sure you have a consistent voice and message and that your communication is simple without any confusion. Above all, make sure you have a proper plan.
Marketing Plan
Your marketing plan should reflect your brand as much as possible. You should use a diverse approach that will touch all potential customers so understanding where those customers live (online or otherwise) is critical for an efficient and productive strategy.
Use a consistent campaign message on all channels when you are promoting or marketing your company or property. This approach will optimize your efforts in time and money.
Editorial Calendars
Once you have a marketing plan, you need to develop a content calendar so that you can deliver and share content timely with routine. Your audiences will get used to seeing it and will anticipate the engagement. Leverage content for use on your website, all social channels, and emails so no matter where your audience is, they will see it. Post and share multiple times during a single day to capture the attention of anyone at anytime
Reach out to existing guests based on a booking window data. Leverage the opportunity for customers to book in low, off-peak times which will drive traffic to your site.
Marketing Software and Channels
The number one tool for digital marketing is your website. Making sure your website is updated and simplified for a seamless user experience is vital for your success. You should also have strong SEO (search engine optimization) in place. Without the keywords integrated into your site, your audience can’t find you.
Aligning your content strategy for SEO on your website is also important. Utilizing both onsite and off-site SEO helps to maximize outreach through your digital spaces. An effective digital marketing approach will increase your website’s visibility and attract organic visitors who you will likely convert to customers.
Conferences
Leverage conferences for both learning and marketing outreach. Send teams to 1-2 conferences yearly, careful to have operations coverage necessary with absences or plans so that conference attendance does not coincide with peak operational seasons.
Network with partners, colleagues, and leaders in the industry can be as successful as a good marketing campaign. However, understand that you are the face of the brand and make sure that any of your colleagues have clarity in the context as well. Behavior at a conference can make or break a brand.
4. Assess Your Technology
Finally, your building blocks for a robust 2022 strategy should include a thorough tech assessment. Audit your technology to evaluate what will help your property management company grow and what technology is outdated or unproductive and should go.
Smart Home Devices and Guest Tools:
There are a seemingly unlimited number of digital smart home devices and digital tools to help monitor your properties and keep them safe and functioning. These devices along with digital tools to provide a better experience for your guests are the kind of technology you need to assess yearly. The top 8 resources include:
- Keyless Entry Devices
- Cooling, Heating, and Safety monitoring
- Noise monitoring Devices
- Guest Wifi and Data Collection software
- Activities Software and Devices
- Digital Guest Book
- Traffic/parking monitoring for “party” booking markets
- Guest Welcome app
5. Integrating your Project Management Software
Finally, we would recommend a fully integrated project management software to keep track of all operations in a single digital deliverable. At LiveRez, it is our mission to make you more successful. We offer vacation rental management software that will enable you to replace your accounting, booking, CRM, and operations software. Look to LiveRez for property management software that will help shape your success by providing the building blocks for a future that fits.
For More Information on our Property Management Software, schedule a demo today.
