Digital marketing for vacation rentals that beats the competition

Making sure you’re in the right places, in front of the right people, all the time—our approach to digital marketing for vacation rentals.

So your vacation home is freshly cleaned, your keepsakes are stored away, and you’re ready to welcome guests. Your next goal is to turn that wide-open reservation calendar into a full one (and keep it that way).

Digital marketing is the key to keeping your vacation rental booked year-round, and Vacasa’s digital marketing strategy is one of the industry’s most successful. How exactly do we market your vacation rental property? We use two primary methods to put your home in front of millions of potential guests, motivate them to book, and drive more revenue for you—channel partnerships and direct marketing.

Vacasa marketing equation: Channel Partners + Direct Marketing = Revenue Optimization

Read on to learn more, or walk through it in this webinar.

What is a vacation rental “channel partner”?

Channels are listing websites like Vrbo, Airbnb, and Booking.com that advertise vacation rentals from a variety of management companies and individual homeowners. Vacasa partners directly with the world’s top vacation rental booking channels. Instead of listing your home on one channel, we list it for you on dozens of them—giving your home maximum visibility across the web.

Channel partnerships allow us to cast a wide net and display your home to many different types of guests, capturing their attention wherever they prefer to search. (This is, of course, in addition to listing your home on Vacasa.com.)

Short clip of Airbnb listing photos

The benefits of partnership

For many vacation rental listing websites (including Airbnb and Vrbo), Vacasa’s close partnership grants some unique advantages for your home. For instance, Vacasa listings are the first to get access to these sites’ newest features.

Our vacation rental channel marketing capabilities put even more power behind each of your listings. Unlike many companies in the vacation rental space, Vacasa-managed homes sync directly with these major channels. Anytime we edit your listing on our end, those changes are automatically reflected everywhere your home is featured—so it’s always up to date.

Exclusive opportunities for Vacasa homes

We're always looking for strategic ways to market to more qualified travelers. For instance, Vacasa partners with Wyndham Rewards and its network of 86 million members around the globe. Wyndham Rewards members can now redeem their points for stays at our entire portfolio of properties.

Some Vacasa homes are also available on Homes & Villas by Marriott International, an expertly curated, premium and luxury vacation rental offering. Homes & Villas by Marriott International only features homes from select property management companies, like Vacasa, to ensure that every home on their site meets high standards of quality, safety, design, and service. Even better? This platform reaches more than 153 million Marriott Bonvoy™ members worldwide, who can earn and redeem points when they book.

What’s included in direct marketing for vacation rentals?

In addition to strong performance on our channel partner sites, we have a powerful e-commerce platform on Vacasa.com. (It's the source of about one-third of all Vacasa bookings—and growing.) An in-house marketing team is dedicated to enticing guests to Vacasa.com, encouraging them to book a stay at your home, and ensuring that guests come back to Vacasa when they plan their next vacation.

Local keywords and online marketing strategy for every destination

Across all our marketing, the focus is 100% local. Every location gets individualized attention, and results are measured on the state, city, destination, and even neighborhood level.

Our search engine optimization (SEO) specialists use local knowledge to help Vacasa appear prominently in Google results. For instance, we tailor different pages on Vacasa.com to over 5,000 different keywords, from “Panama City Beach condos” to “Cape Cod cottages,” so our marketing reflects the popular lingo for vacation homes in your area. Matching what guests are searching for pushes Vacasa to the top of Google results—meaning more clicks to our website, and more bookings for you.

Short clip of Panama City Beach vacation rentals Google search results

And have you noticed how some links at the very top of Google results say “Ad” next to them? We do those, too. Vacasa spends millions of dollars each year on search engine marketing (SEM) to purchase local paid search ads and draw visitors to our website.

Remarketing keeps all eyes on you

You might be wondering how your specific home is being marketed to guests. Remarketing is one of the many ways we do that—and one of the most effective.

Remarketing involves targeting a user with ads based on their browsing history. So if a guest has viewed your home on Vacasa.com, or other homes near it, we market your home back to them repeatedly across the internet and social media. Our remarketing ads get, on average, a 9 times higher rate of guest bookings compared to our other advertising efforts

Vacasa listing page, person holding a phone with Facebook on screen, listing advertisement with Google Ads

Getting personal with email marketing

The key to getting you more bookings is to put your home in front of not just the most people, but the right people. That’s why we aim to be as targeted as possible with our guest marketing and build our own marketing tools to support these efforts.

Vacation rental email marketing is one major way we do this. We send over 1 million emails each week, all of which are local and personalized (with the help of our in-house automation tools). For instance, we can show guests vacation homes within driving distance of their address, or a last-minute weekend getaway idea that’s near where they’ve stayed before. Each guest receives content that’s unique—and more importantly relevant—to them.

Short clip of an email from Vacasa

Be everywhere, all the time

It’s undeniable: Digital marketing can be complicated and overwhelming. There are endless moving parts, marketing channels, and technologies to manage. Yet, it’s crucial for attracting as many guests as possible to your vacation rental.

At Vacasa, we make it effortless for you. When you trust us with your home, we’ll make sure it’s everywhere your guests are online. The result? A steady stream of reservations year-round.

Vacation rental marketing FAQ

There are countless ways to market your vacation home and get more visibility in front of potential guests. At Vacasa, we like to think creatively, while also leveraging proven modern marketing strategies. Some tips for DIY vacation home owners:

  • List your property on several vacation rental and travel sites, instead of relying on just one platform.
  • Aim for the audience most likely to be drawn to your home.
  • Hire a professional photographer to capture eye-catching property images you can post on your website, listing profiles, social media, etc.
  • Post regularly to social media to promote your vacation home and the surrounding activities and attractions.
  • Write your listing descriptions and frequent blog posts with keywords in mind to improve rankings on Google’s search engine results page (SERP).

Read our full DIY guide >

Both sites attract a vast number of travelers looking for vacation homes just like yours. Plus, each site can boost your home’s exposure and your bookings. Needless to say, we are fans of both. The quality that sets these two booking sites apart: they tend to attract different audiences. Airbnb tends to attract millennial travelers, while Vrbo is popular with families. However, their audience sizes are both so immense. We suggest listing your vacation home on both sites to reach the most travelers possible. Read our breakdown of the largest vacation rental sites to list your home on.

Over the years, we’ve become the experts at increasing both bookings and revenue for vacation home owners. We know what attracts more guests. For instance, by installing a hot tub, it’s more likely you can command a higher rate and drive more reservations, resulting in 15–20 percent more rental income. Designating your property as pet-friendly can also garner a higher occupancy rate. And, your vacation home’s interior design can capture more interest and help your home stand out among the competition.

Learn from these 20 standout vacation rentals >

Let's get started

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You've got questions. We've got answers.

Call 844-518-0967 to speak with a Homeowner Consultant, who can answer preliminary questions and see if we’d be a good fit for you.

If you'd like to move forward, we’ll put you in touch with our market expert in your neighborhood to explore the financial potential of your home, outline our management fee, and introduce your local team.

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Vacasa offers property management and other real estate services directly through Vacasa LLC and through Vacasa LLC's licensed subsidiaries. Click here for more information about Vacasa's licensed real estate brokerage/property manager in your state. Vacasa’s licensed real estate brokerages/property managers include: Vacasa Alabama LLC; Vacasa Arizona LLC; Vacasa of Arkansas LLC; Vacasa Colorado LLC (Micah Victory); Vacasa Delaware LLC, 302-541-8999; Vacasa Florida LLC; Vacasa Illinois LLC 481.014072, Micah Victory Managing Broker Lic# 471.021837; Vacasa Louisiana LLC, Dana MacCord, Principal Broker, ph 504.252.0155 (Licensed in LA); Vacasa Michigan LLC, 602-330-9934; Vacasa Missouri LLC, Vicki Lyn Brown, Designated Broker; Vacasa Nevada LLC; Vacasa New Hampshire LLC,45 NH-25, Meredith, NH 03253, Susan Scanlon, Broker of Record; Vacasa Minnesota, Broker: Micah Victory, license #40877637; Vacasa New Mexico LLC, 503-345-9399; Vacasa New York LLC, 888-433-0068, Susan Scanlon, Real Estate Broker; Vacasa North Carolina LLC; Vacasa Oregon LLC; Vacasa Pennsylvania LLC; Vacation Palm Springs Real Estate, Inc., California DRE #01523013, Mark Graham, California DRE #00700720; Vacasa Real Estate LLC (licensed in Texas, Debra Brock, Designated Broker); Vacasa Real Estate LLC (licensed in Washington, Robert Brush, Designated Broker); Vacasa Seasonals Inc., California DRE #02160171, Lisa Renee Stevens, California DRE #01485234; Vacasa South Carolina LLC; Vacasa South Dakota LLC; Vacasa Tennessee LLC; Vacasa Vacation Rentals of Hawaii LLC, 69-201 Waikoloa Beach Dr. Ste. #2F17, Waikoloa, HI 96738; Vacasa Vacation Rentals of Montana LLC, Terah M. Young, Licensed Property Manager; Vacasa Virginia LLC; Vacasa Wisconsin LLC; Vacasa Wyoming LLC. In Canada, this advertisement is provided by Vacasa Canada ULC, CPBC lic. number 75826, 172 Asher Rd. V1X 3H6 Kelowna, BC.