While many vacation rental hosts are all over Instagram these days, there’s one social media platform that’s been largely neglected: YouTube. Potential guests often turn to videos to get a feel for the places they want to travel. If you can put your rental property where said guests are likely to find it, you can increase your bookings and attract a new audience to your listings.
Why YouTube?
YouTube offers you an opportunity to showcase your rental property in a way that goes beyond photography. While good pictures certainly matter, a video can transport a potential guest to your property and give them an idea of what it would be like to visit it in person.
It also allows you to reach a new audience. For example, someone planning a trip to your area might not be ready to look on Airbnb just yet, but if your video pops up while they’re searching for information about a place, they’ll be more likely to click through and see what you have to offer.
6 Tips for Growing Your Channel
Starting a YouTube channel from scratch can be daunting, but if you play your cards right, you can quickly begin to grow a following. Here are 6 tips to help you maximize your YouTube efforts.
- Quality matters. Just like with photos, the quality of your videos is the #1 factor to pay attention to. You can use all of the search engine optimization in the world, but if your videos are of poor quality, no one is going to watch them.
- Be consistent with your branding. Use the same logos (if you have any) and tone that you showcase on your listing to build a recognizable image for your potential guests. If you haven’t already, invest in a good logo and high-quality images that you can use for your profile image and channel photo.
- Direct your existing audience to your new YouTube channel. If people already follow your rental property on Facebook, for example, there’s a good chance they’d like to keep up with your videos as well.
- Include a call-to-action in your videos and descriptions. Racking up subscribers is helpful, but if you don’t tell them what to do when they get there, you won’t see an increase in bookings. Tell them how they can book their stay with you.
- Host giveaways. Any giveaway you publish must adhere to YouTube’s rules, but you can easily attract more subscribers by offering an incentive such as a chance to win a free night’s stay at your rental property.
- Optimize. Be sure to include any and all relevant tags in your videos so they show up in searches.
If you successfully create a channel with beautiful videos of your property, your vacation rental will practically market itself. While creating a YouTube channel might not seem immediately beneficial, you’ll reap the rewards down the line by having another place for potential guests to view and find your listing.
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