If your holiday home is achieving good levels of occupancy, the
returns on the holiday home will not be maximized. If you use a letting agent,
the agent will handle all marketing and PR on your behalf and you do not need
to worry about it. The better holiday home services companies will also
sometimes be able to help you with your website and online marketing. Here are
six marketing tips to help you win customers and achieve the highest possible
yield from your property investment:
TIP 1: Firstly, work out who your target audience is for the
holiday home. Taking into account the price band, location, style and layout of
the property, what kind of people are most likely to want to stay there? For
example, some holiday homes are ideal for families with young children, some
are ideal for older people who want to be close to nature, some are perfect for
young people who want to be close to nightlife and attractions. Clear
definition of your target audience is a vital first step to effective
marketing. Once you have defined your target audience, add any accessories and
extras to the holiday home that are the kind of thing your target audience will
appreciate. For example, a holiday home aimed at young families will be made
more attractive by a selection of age-appropriate DVDs, a selection of toys and
the provision of items such as cots or buggies that your customer would prefer
not to bring with them.
TIP 2: Once you have decided on the target audience for your
holiday home, think through all the ways you can attract this particular target
audience. Which are the magazines and newspapers your target audience read? If
you are not sure, ask the advertising departments at various publications to
send you information on their readership. This will help you work out where you
should be advertising or trying to get some free coverage through PR
TIP 3 Make the most of the internet. The worldwide web is used by
the majority of prospective customers as their first port of call for research
when they are planning a holiday. So it is essential that your holiday property
is presented as well as it can be on the internet. Whether you have your own
website or you advertise on a website belonging to someone else, do not be
tempted to cut corners on photography for the website. It is worth using a
professional photographer to make sure your holiday home looks its very best.
Always use online booking if possible, so that it is as easy as possible for a
customer to go ahead and book as soon as he or she has been interested by your
holiday home.
TIP 4 Don't miss out on the huge potential profitability of
attracting repeat customers. Many people like to return to the same holiday
home for many years, if they have a good experience first time round. So make
it easy for potential repeat customers to decide to come back. Set up an email
newsletter so that you can keep in touch with them and tempt them with a stream
of special offers as well as news about the local area and perhaps even a web
cam. You may also like to consider offering a reduced rate if customers book to
return next year, whilst they are still on their first stay. People are often
sad to leave so it is a good time to tempt customers with the prospect of a
return visit. Many accommodation providers in the tourism industry see up to
70% or 80% of customers returning. Making the most of the potential for winning
repeat business is an essential tool for effective marketing.
TIP 5 Try to increase your bookings by thinking laterally about
how customers could enjoy the Holiday Homes in Dubai out of the peak season.
Most holiday home property management companies say that although the peak
season achieves full occupancy without too much difficulty, the biggest
marketing challenge is achieving high occupancy early and late in the season.
This is where effective marketing can really come into its own. One tried and
tested tip is to create a theme for a break. For example, maybe your holiday
home is close to gardens that look great in the early Spring. If so, this can
be made into an effective marketing proposition, pointing out how close your
holiday home is to leading gardens and maybe even creating a partnership with
local gardens, so you offer entry tickets as part of the rental price for the
week. If you start thinking laterally about what is going on in the vicinity of
the holiday home at different times of the year, you will find it easy to come
up with effective marketing strategies for achieving more sales out of the peak
season.
TIP 6 The final tip is to pay close attention to how you can stand
out from everyone else. The Holiday Homes Dubai market is competitive and it is
vital to stay one step ahead of the rest. It goes without saying that cleaning
services and key holder services must be arranged to the highest standards and
your customer will expect these to go like clockwork. To stand out from the
competition you have to go one step further than simply providing a basic
service. Nowadays, many self catering holiday homes also offer daily cleaning
services - bringing a service normally only associated with hotels to the
holiday home market.
No comments:
Post a Comment