Are you familiar with the five stages of travel? These stages represent the process your guests go through before and after deciding to use your property as a place they want to vacation at and then sharing their experiences. So how do you use these 5 stages in your vacation rental property marketing strategy? You engage your guests based on the stage they are currently in. This is very similar to engaging customers based on where they are in the buyer’s journey. This, however, extends beyond after a purchase is made.

Let’s take a look at these five stages and see how you as a vacation rental property manager can incorporate the five stages of travel in your vacation rental marketing strategy.

Dreaming:

Your future guest is dreaming of their perfect vacation. They are unsure of where they want to go, but they know that they want it to be somewhere awesome. So their searches will reflect this. You can engage with future guests with content about “The best places to travel”, educating them on different aspects they may want to include as they dream of their perfect vacation. You can create blog posts about this and even social media posts to spark engagement during the dreaming stage.

Planning:

Now your future guest has an idea of where they want to go and begin to plan their vacation. Maybe they saw something you posted in the dreaming stage and are now planning their vacation around that specific content and the location of your vacation rental property. You can now engage with them by making the planning process easy by offering them planning advice. You can post about things to do in the area, tell about the best places to eat, etc.

Booking:

Your future guest is now ready to book a room. Now is the time to set yourself apart from all the other vacation rental properties. Tell your future guest all you have to offer them at your vacation rental property. In the booking stage they make a purchase based on all the things your vacation rental property has to offer and how you are able to differentiate yourself from the other vacation rental properties.

Experiencing:

Your future guest has converted into your actual guest, as they have decided to choose your vacation rental property above all the others. Now you must deliver on all the promises you promised your guest in order to to get them to book a room with you. It’s all about the kind of experience you will provide for them. How effectively you deliver on your promises will determine the kind of experience your guest has at your vacation rental property.

Sharing:

Now your guest has stayed and experienced your vacation rental property they will more than likely share their experiences. This can be a powerful tool for you as a vacation rental property manager. Good reviews are a good way to get positive engagement with your vacation rental property. You can encourage guests to share their experiences on your social media pages to encourage more engagement of future guests and enticing guests to return for their next vacation.

Each stage provides you with a unique way to interact with and engage those who are your guests and those who have the potential of becoming your guests. Therefore, with increased engagement and interaction you can expect an increase in leads and conversions into guests as you help push your guests through the natural process of their travel decision making. This adds to your vacation rental property strategy by being aware of how the guest operates by giving them content they are interested in.

Creating content for all five stages may seem like a lot, however it is important to interact with guests at every stage of their travel decision making process, providing them with content they want to read. If you need help creating amazing content that performs, then we invite you to contact us and schedule a consultation with our marketing experts to discuss what is right for you and your business.