What is the best to promote a vacation rental? AdWords?

[mbennouf]

Hello guys,


First and foremost I love this place. Great people, congrats Steve.P for bringing such amazing people in one place.

For my first post I would like to ask you guys a very practical question. First at little background. 5 years ago money was good so my wife and i bought a lovely condo is San Jose Del Cabo Mexico. 3B/3bath ocean view. Nice. Ok, today money is not as good and rental income is minimal (maybe 3 weeks/year!) So most of the time we just donate the place to local schools. So far the only thing we did to promote the place is using VRBO site (vacation rental by owner) but obviously it is not enough to pay the place ($2300/per month)

So I am looking for better ways. My first idea is placing add using AdWords but not sure how successful it will be. I guess I could just try it and see...

What do you guys think? Is AdWords a good choice? anything else I could try? We would love to keep the place at retirement place (10-15 years from now) We got a good price for it.

In any event, I am so happy I found this site. It amazing how much ideas are floating around this place. I love it!

Thanks again.

Mo.

ps:Here my vacation rental link to give an idea what I am trying to promote with AdWords and other methods: San Jose del Cabo vacation rental by owner: 3 bedroom Condo rental that sleeps 6. Luxury Condo with an Ocean View to Die for!

[InterfaceLeader]

You could try adwords.

I often see posters for holiday rentals in shop windows/work noticeboards etc. Try flyers in your local neighbourhood...

The best thing is to just try a number of different things and see which ones result in increased rentals.

Also try talking to local people too.... my uncle rents out a holiday apartment and has had some luck renting to university students for a semester or so while they get themselves sorted out.

[mbennouf]

Hello InterfaceLeader.

Thank you so much for taking the time and suggestions. I agree, the best way is just try things and see what stick... I have been focused on other things for a long time but now that the money is tight, it is really a shame to leave that condo gathering dust and not make any money out of it. I should have done this a long time ago.

Is anybody ever used AdWords or other method to promote things?

Thanks a lot again.

Mo.

ps: Lovely apartment you have! (from your site) I really like what you said about vacation rental. It is true that they much less clutered (I see a big difference between my house and my condo!!) We are planning on using mostly vacation rentals when we retire. It seems much cheaper than owning bunch of house.

[Ryan OLoughlin]

Hey Mo.

I would also try craigslist. I have never used it to promote anything, but that might be an option. Be careful with Adwords, because if people click and aren't renting, it can add up quick. Perhaps you could start a website for your rentals and use SEO to get free traffic to your website, although this is time consuming and I do not know your computer background. Just a few suggestions. Good luck!

[Vanessa]

Hi Mo,

A few things that can help you on your way to getting it rented out:

Adwords could be a great option for you.
Things you will need to be watchful of are picking relevant keywords for people who are already interested in vacationing in the cabo area and looking for a place to stay.

You can use either the search or the content network for this. You're probably familiar with the search campaign option, where you create groups of relevant keywords to bid on. this doesn't have to be a big list of keywords, just kws that are closer to the buying state than the info gathering state.

For the content network, you're going to want to be mindful about the types of sites that you advertise on are related to renting a place in cabo, not just mexico vacations in general.

Figure out an ad budget and stick to it. regardless of how much it is stick to it for a period of time. 100 a month or 300 a month or whatever it is, think about what it would be worth to have one conversion on your condo within the timeframe for it to be worth the ad spend.

Leverage those sites that are already getting relevant traffic. Doing a search on the general cabo san jose there are several websites that offer advertising spots that already have relevant traffic for you to be a part of. Those would make good places to test out advertising.

I wouldn't suggest trying to build an authority website for the cabo rental niche only because you have a single condo, not a group or consortium of rentals to pull from for different vacation stays. Unless you are interested in learning how to do this or having someone help you out, this is an indirect method of getting your condo rented out quickly. Paid traffic is faster.

I noticed one of the big differences between your condo and others that are on other ads is that yours is a 3/3 and ideal for a vacation up to 6 people, not a bungalow 1br condo like the others. Use this as one hook in your ads in addition to the resort vacation luxury without the resort prices hook.

If you have the writing skills, a press release might be a good option too. Just make it relevant to your hook and your most likely renters. San cabo rentals are popular searches in California more than any other state says Google Insights for search. Use that as a news point for cali families looking for a dream condo stay in the cabo area in the upcoming summer months with availability now.

Should be plenty to get you going. Good luck promoting your condo!

Vanessa

[mbennouf]

Hello guys,

That's why I fell in love with this forum. THANK YOU guys for your great suggestions. Please keep them coming since i need all the help I can get!

@Ryan: Yes I tried Craiglist ONCE and I got some requests that did not went through but I should do it again. I am just affraid about all the bad stories with CL since it is hard to tell who is who in there. I am probably just paranoid I guess. Great point about watching AdWords spendings. It is true that I could get people clicking on the ad all day long and not get a single renter. I guess I can just set the max/day limit.

@Vanessa: Thank you very much for taking the time. I really like your point about focusing on the area and not just mexico in general. Also like your insight about 3BR/3baths versus 1BR hook. I can believe I did not think about that one! I will look into all the points your suggesting in term of advertising since i am really new with AdWords. So far I got a bunch of actual renters from Canada which I guess makes a lot sense! I need to look into California suggestion since i am from CA.


In any event, thank you.

Mo,


ps: Vanessa: I just watch a video on your site labeled "AdWords basic..." I will also checkout the rest of the content. Great stuff, thank you.