We have to ensure that every image we use in our advertisements is flawless since we know that every image tells a narrative and is worth more than a thousand words. However, what about videos if it is claimed that they are far more powerful than written text?
Every day, YouTube receives over one billion hours of video views, is the second-largest search engine in the world, and adds 400 hours of new content every minute. According to a Hubspot survey, an overwhelming 94% of users say they prefer to watch a video to learn more about a product or service, and 92% of mobile video viewers like to share them with their online communities.
Videos are a fantastic way to draw in new users and help your business go viral; the statistics prove it. Lights, camera, and reservations when you’re ready!
Are movies useful when renting a vacation home?
What does video have to offer your company that photos don’t? A vacation rental video requires a lot of work to put together; a photo only requires a few clicks to complete, but a video may accomplish much more than a photo could ever hope to.
It provides prospective guests with a glimpse inside your home and the kind of experience they may expect if they stay with you. Your bookings will demonstrate the advantages of a video, and you might even enjoy yourself creatively while making one.
Let the visitor picture their stay
When you have a way to show visitors what it’s like to stay in your resort, why let them imagine it? You will have the chance to convey your company’s distinct personality through a video, which is impossible to do with photos of your living quarters.
A film brings every nook, wall, every piece of furniture to life. Some visitors want to take in every detail so they can picture their vacation in its entirety. What method does the living area use to bring in the light? Is the walkway as broad as it appears in the pictures? By offering your visitors a virtual tour of your vacation rental, you may enhance and highlight it.
Adapt quickly to the competition.
It’s crucial to keep an eye on what your rivals are doing. You must outperform the competitors with a vacation rental video if you want to win over their customers. If the vacation rentals close by are publishing expert images, surpass them with a movie! Consider what could specifically outperform the nearby other short-term rentals.
Consider adding a video testimonial from visitors who have stayed at your house, for instance, if the owners next door have excellent evaluations but you have few ratings on your page. Videos are a great way to distinguish oneself from competitors.
Remove any ambiguity
Video is going to be your wonderful opportunity to convince your guests. Ask yourself what guest needs extra convincing or what are the areas of weakness for your property. Gauge the overall feel of your resort by creating a guest feedback survey. From there, you may customize your movie to showcase the best and appease any potential flaws with the home.
Let’s imagine, for example, that guests are concerned about the location. Potential guests love the home but are apprehensive of the surroundings. Ease their fears by filming an “around the neighborhood” video. By showing off the greatest spots to dine, drink, and be merry, your video viewers will be more eager to schedule a stay now that you’ve put their qualms to rest.
How to build a promotional film for holiday rentals
All those killer ads you see on tv? They weren’t made in a day. Video production can take a lot of work, so you’ll need to thoroughly research and plan out your video before you’re ready to take it to the big screen.
Planning is what is going to elevate your film production from amateur to professional. We’ve detailed the important steps to follow to market your vacation rental video properly.
Have a target audience
So you know that you want to engage with vacationers, but unfortunately, it’s far too broad of an audience to get any bookings out of. You’ll need to be a little more specific than “traveler.” Your millennial traveler isn’t going to appreciate the same kind of video as the couples looking for a romantic weekend getaway.
You’ll never be able to please everyone and you’ll certainly never be able to book every guest with one video either. By going too generic, you risk not engaging with any of your target audiences. Try to think of who would benefit the most from your videos and plan from there
Do you target more than one type of traveler? Make different videos to attract different types of guests; Families with children, couples, groups of friends, etc.
Set your goals
Once you have your audience in mind, you’ll need to set realistic goals for what you hope to get out of your vacation rental videos. Is the purpose of helping your reputation, increasing visibility, or get more bookings? Once you have a general idea of your goals, you’ll need to put some numbers behind the objectives.
Setting realistic targets for your videos will help you find success in your videos, stay within budget, and have a good idea of improving for the next one if need be. So, what markers for success should you consider for your videos? Here are some typical goals to consider:
- Number of views
- Number of impressions
- Viewer engagement
- Bookings from video
- Leads or contacts from video
- Social media sharing
If this is your first time advertising your vacation rental with a video, be realistic about the quantity of success you’ll achieve and keep on the conservative side for the number of goals you plan to track.
Decide the video type
Just like choosing the proper target audience, choosing the right video type will help to structure your success. Having different videos will bring you different results. Feel free to experiment with themes and messages to see what works best for your business. Below we’ll dive into the most common videos for vacation rentals
Tour of the home video
If your interior design is your greatest selling point, then a video is a great way to communicate your best features. At the end of the day, you’re selling an experience to guests. Visitors need to be able to see themselves staying there. Assist their imagination by creating a stellar video that animates the beauty of your home.
Around the neighborhood video
If your accommodation is a destination location, you might not need to worry about selling the area. On the other hand, if you’re in a city that’s rich with listings or a somewhat unknown area, this is the perfect opportunity to sell your space and city!
New York City is a perfect example of this. There are many neighborhoods, nooks, and corners to choose from, but for the outsider, it can be overwhelming. If you’re competing with a whole city of guests, you’ll want to convince them that your neighborhood is the neighborhood. Give a tour of the area and your favorite places to dine, explore, and relax. Keep the guest in mind and show off some attractions that they might like. You might even consider partnering with local businesses to cut down advertising costs.
Airbnb host video
For some guests, good rapport is a must to make a reservation. It can be quite difficult if you’re more of a hands-off host. There are still plenty of ways to build trust with guests when you haven’t met them yet.
By putting a face to the space, you’ll instantly make potential guests feel more comfortable booking a stay with your property. This is especially true for Airbnb guests who might be looking for something a little more personal. Having a video that introduces you, the host, to your potential guests is a great way to increase bookings and brand awareness
FAQ video
This is a perfect way to answer any questions or concerns directly your guests may have. Guests sometimes come to the property with many needs and requests, so a FAQ video allows you to answer common questions without having to respond to guests individually. Some things that guests frequently want to know:
- Is the property pet-friendly?
- Do you collect a security deposit?
- What time are check-in and check-out?
These are just a couple of examples of questions that your guests may ask. Having a FAQ video to accompany a FAQ page on your vacation rental website will not only answer your potential guests pressing questions but also field these concerns in a fun, creative way.
Write a script
Viewers can tell when you’re going off the cuff. To avoid looking unprofessional, you’re going to need a script. Scripts not only ensure that you’re communicating exactly what you want your guests to know, but it also makes you or the people in your video more confident to participate.
Having a script also cuts down the production time. You can quickly and efficiently move through production when you know exactly what you want to say.
Outsource the video project
If you’ve gotten to this point, you might feel a little intimidated by the amount of work required to produce a vacation rental video. If you feel like the project is out of your skillset, it might be advisable to hire an expert to take care of your video.
To cut down on the overall cost of production, try to manage as much of the video as you can on your own. Writing your script, preparing props, and hiring family and friends as actors help to keep the budget reasonable
If you feel confident in your filmmaking skills, consider software that will help you to execute your video professionally. Editing software, movie-making applications, and freelancers for final touch-ups are ways to help you with your video without the cost of a whole video project done externally.
Edit to perfection
Even if you have the world’s best footage, your video won’t be complete without edits. Adjusting light, colors, clarity, and noise all contribute to the overall quality of your video. A lot of software and editing systems have an “auto” feature to take the footage you have and edit where it’s lacking. It’s a good option for those who have limited editing skills, but it doesn’t normally provide the best possible result.
To get editing inspiration, consider watching similar videos and see what they do well. Are the transitions smooth? Is the lighting consistent throughout the video? Is background noise, like wind, echoes, or talking, silenced? Be consistent and thorough in the way you edit your video to keep it looking professional.
Tips for creating the perfect promotional video for your vacation rental
Don’t you worry! Videos don’t have to be “too complicated” or “too expensive” to make; a good video doesn’t have to be recorded by a video crew or done with a drone. Anyone can make a good video without it being necessarily expensive or complicated. Here are some tips to get you started.
The shorter, the better
We know how hard it is to cram everything into one simple video, but no matter how beautiful your property is, no one is going to watch a five-minute video about it. The ideal length would be a maximum of two and four minutes.
Show your rooms in the same order your guests will see them when they enter your property, but try not to spend too much time in each space. We would recommend spending a maximum of five seconds in each room.
Think of it this way: you can always give more information about your property in the Youtube, Instagram, or Facebook description.
As for the services and amenities, You may not have time to show them all, so choose the ones that add more value to your property (around four or five max) (around four or five max).
If you have more than one property, you’re welcome to show all of them in the video, but remember: to keep the video short and simple.
Tell a story
The story can start by showing some guests entering your vacation rental and spending the best vacation of their life. Sure, it may sound corny but you have to put yourself in their shoes, anticipate their needs and show them what they will experience if they decide to stay at your property.
You can also show a more personal side of your business and tell your guests the story behind it. What made you fall in love with your vacation rental? What do guests like the most about it? Think about all those things, and use them in your video.
Mix stills with films
A video with too many stills seems like a slideshow rather than a video and can bore your viewers. On the other hand, if your video only consists of films, it might be too busy or distracting for potential guests.
Striking a balance between the two is important in keeping viewers interested while focusing on the important points of the video: booking! Make sure your stills are filled with important information only. How to contact you, a call to action or your logo are great examples of stills to include in your video.
Diversify the films you include as well. Guide guests through the home or take them up in the sky with drone footage. Having different types of footage will make the video interesting and help your home look exciting.
Incorporate social proof
Videos are a great way to show off your glowing reviews. Some vacation rental owners opt for testimonials, where they interview guests to get the insider’s opinion on what it’s like to stay at your property.
You can also incorporate your website’s written reviews and star ratings into your video. Any proof that your property is exactly what it claims will help increase your bookings and affirm a good reputation.
Honesty is the best policy
Don’t forget to show what you’re not so proud of. After all, if a guest books with you, they’ll end up seeing both the good and the bad. Focus on the good, but don’t avoid showing the bad stuff if you don’t want it to affect your reviews.
On the other hand, have a look at how real estate companies or hotels do it. You may have to invest in a good camera and learn how to edit videos (a smartphone may not always be enough) (your smartphone may not always be enough).
Use royalty-free content
When looking for music for your video, make sure you watch out for copyrighted music. There are many websites with royalty-free music.
Also, don’t include logos that are not yours or talk about celebrities or companies and brands without permission. Although it may not seem like it, you’re creating a promotional video that’s used for commercial purposes, so you need to make sure you don’t use copyrighted content.
Don’t use elevator music
There’s nothing worse than elevator music, bland background music that’s usually played in elevators, supermarkets, and other public places.
Instead of using elevator music, take advantage of the sounds around your location, such as the silence, birds chirping, and people having fun in the main street, and you could even include local music, etc.
Summary
With the advancement of technology, it’s now easier than ever to make a vacation rental video, even if you choose to go it alone. The use of video footage for your vacation rental helps with brand awareness, bookings, and convincing those on-the-fence guests.
After reading all the tips we’ve included, you’re ready to make a good promotional video for your vacation rental, get down to business, record your first promotional video, and start receiving tons of bookings!
