Are New Marketing Applications A Liability For Short Term And Holiday Rental Businesses?

I am seriously losing track of which apps (short for applications) I've installed and what technology I am trialing from the start up sphere. Some of you will be scratching your heads wondering what the heck is this article is about. Others will sympathise and probably have a Ripl, Screencastify, IStock (essential I think - to compliment an amazing holiday rental accommodation image gallery) Shopify, SumoMe, Mail Chimp, WeVideo, Netflix, Canva (...) application running either on their desktop or mobile device.

All these new start up's promising the world. New innovations to simplify processes, trendier, hip ways of doing cool stuff for your business. Commerce is so fast paced now with digital technologies. It's really tricky to keep up - or even keep ahead to be competitive.

Remember that all the time you spend downloading and trialing new solutions are a cost to you as a business manager. Some of that investment will pay off. Other times you may find that placing too much focus on new technologies may in fact be a liability to your operation.

You might be a start up yourself. "A startup company (startup or start-up) is an entrepreneurial venture which is typically a newly emerged, fast-growing business that aims to meet a marketplace need by developing a viable business model around an innovative product, service, process or a platform." (Wikipedia - however reliable that is!).

Technically (pardon pun), I am a start up. I'm not a tech start up but a start up nonetheless. Actually Welcome In has been in start up mode for roughly seven years now. I know this because I was pregnant with my second son, Marshall, who is now six. OMG - time, flying!

So getting back on the subject I sometimes stop and realise that I am in fact getting sucked into the vortex within the start up sphere. This is when I actually lose control of exactly what I have signed up for, downloaded, subscribed (sometimes a paid subscription - can you believe how expensive Linked In Premium is these days but OMG I have to have it....).

I often download the app, which is conveniently available for mobile devices, then my space runs out (because I really need to download another app or I've taken too many photos) and so I delete it thinking I will download it again in the future. Before you know it six months have passed and then a monthly subscription fee shows up on my statement - ARGGHHHH! - the shocking part about this is that I have actually paid for a subscription but haven't used it for months and months. Hmm. Naughty! I guess I can at least claim them as businesses expenses for research!

Yes I know some are quite evidently amazing. Like Netflix - how can anyone watch free to air TV now! Yes I know this is an entertainment app. There are others like WeVideo that are fantastic too but oh dear they now charge to receive what you did for free 12 months ago. Be wary of this. The art is to test in the free trial and then be realistic and know that it is very likely that this start up will recognise their worth (because they will be using metrics like adopter growth) and switch into monetisation phase - this essentially means they will start charging you to use their application. At some time they have to make money to be viable. Just like you need to invest in marketing to grow your holiday rental business by attracting more visitors to your site who make more bookings!

I guess the point of this article is to have fun, give new technology a go. I personally really value Canva for marketing communications graphics. My advice is to give it all a go but keep a close eye on what you sign up for particularly if there is a subscription fee involved and you missed the small print that says your subscription will be auto-renewed every month until you opt out!

I feel like I'm getting to that stage in my career where I know a bit about the short term and holiday rental accommodation industry in Australia and so if you'd like to read more articles to help you grow and sustain your operation/ business you might like to subscribe (free) to receive my blog articles in your lovely inbox.

I'm also on Facebook! Instagram & Linked In!

Have a superb day!

Cheers

Natalie :)

The Perfect Post: Social Media Engagement

Quite simply I can say that building social media business pages, for your short term holiday rental accommodation, is a complete waste of time, energy and money unless you build a page worth following.Here are some tips on how to build content (posts) that your prospective holiday rental accommodation guests or audience are likely to engage with;MAKE AN EFFORTUse images or a design that presents well. No fuzzy pixelated images or film. Presentation is EVERYTHING when you are selling an experience online. In fact presentation is EVERYTHING always.ORIGINALITYSharing other pages posts is like a quick fix or a half attempt to engage. When you share someone elses post where are they going if they click on it?  - they won't be visiting your site so they really is no point. Be a little selfish and make a rule that you will only provide links, from your holiday rental social media posts, to your own website. If you must talk about some other external thing then build it into a blog article and provide contact details (not links).INTERESTING"The feeling of a person whose attention, concern or curiosity is particularly engaged by something".  (Dictionary.com) Nuff said yeah?!REAL & UNIQUETell the truth about what you're selling. Focus on the experience so the really special spaces in your holiday rental property or the really awesome tourist attractions in your Australian tourism region. Those really unique attributes are what makes you stand out from your competitors.PROMPT ACTIONMake sure you subtly prompt some action by ending your written post with your contact details or a link to your post on your website. Your level of engagement will depend on how you word the written component of your post (copy, text). For example, ask a question to prompt a reaction or engagement (like, share, comment).TIMEA well thought out post is the best post. Trying to whip something up on the run is mostly going to be ineffective. I know because I've tried this approach.ANALYSE Keep an eye on the level of engagement for each post. You want to aim for high organic (unpaid) engagement. So the reach (how many feeds it appears on) and most importantly the number of likes, shares, comments and click throughs. Over time you will realise what works, what your audience are valuing.Of course there are other ways to prompt higher engagement through paid advertising (Social Media Marketing or SMM) or you might consider running a promotion.Something for nothing is quite effective, and enjoyable for most authors. Consider a blog post with tips on the best free public places to visit in your region or where to find the best coffee or the best playground for young children. A link to your own personal blog posts is Da Business! - it doesn't get much sweeter than that.If you have enjoyed this article maybe you'd like to subscribe (free) to the Welcome In e-news. I try to publish these every few months to a community of holiday rental managers in Australia. I encourage you to make contact with me if you have any queries about any aspect of your holiday rental management journey. If I cannot assist you I can certainly point you in the right direction. I am well connected with niche industry holiday rental stakeholders in Australia.