Category : Vacation Rental Management
Vacation Rental Search on Google
November 25th, 2009If you haven’t seen the Beta version of Google Insights for Search, check it out HERE. You can compare search volume patterns across specific regions, categories, time frames and properties.
November 17th, 2009
If you haven’t already discovered Voice123.com and you’re looking for professional voice talent, this is the place to go. You send in any sort of script and you will receive a number of auditions – which happened very quickly for me. The voices are great, the turnaround is fast and the price is surprisingly affordable. Videos, IVR recordings, webinar voice overs – you name it. Adding a professional voice to your marketing project can mean the difference between a dud and a success.
VRMA Geo-Analytics Program
November 9th, 2009If you’re a VRMA member and you haven’t done so already, you should sign up for the VRMA Geo-Analytics Program – a FREE benefit for all VRMA members. Per our exclusive agreement with VRMA, for the next three years NAVIS will provide VRMA members with a monthly aggregate report that shows various performance trends for the U.S., your region, your state, and your local area (where possible). The analysis is comprised of data collected directly from participating VRMA members.
Click HERE for more details about the program. Sign up today!
In case you’ve been exposed to the statements from the naysayers that NAVIS can’t be trusted with your data and will try to sell it, nothing could be further from the truth. Selling your data would not only be suicide on our part and violate the trust that we have so carefully built over two decades, it is expressly stated in our agreement that NAVIS cannot sell the data. Your data remains your data and you retain all rights.
We’re in the process of uploading some great short videos on the YouTube NAVIS Channel that explain many aspects of this program.
Happy bookings!
25th VRMA Conference
September 24th, 2009The 2009 Vacation Rental Managers Association (VRMA) Annual Conference is October 24-28 at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington DC. This year is the 25th Anniversary of the VRMA Conference and it is sure to be a gala event.
During this silver anniversary event, leaders of the vacation rental industry will join together to learn about the latest challenges and opportunities impacting the industry, including the largest Showcase of products and services available to vacation rental managers.
What’s more, the VRMA will unveil the latest news for members, including new and updated initiatives that support the vacation rental industry, provide added benefits and membership values in 2010 and beyond.
Approximately 40 distinct educational seminars, Certificated Sessions and keynote presentations will feature a wide range of topics judged by vacation rental managers to be the most important issues impacting their operation and success, including marketing, accounting, housekeeping, industry trends (NAVIS will be leading a session on this topic), tourism trends, social media, sales, guest reviews, revenue management, corporate strategy, property listings, measuring success, going green and leadership.
Visit VRMA.com for the latest information.
Vacation Rental Website Keywords
August 13th, 2009Want to get some idea of what your competition is doing in the area of vacation rental internet marketing? Check out Keyword Competitor. This is a keyword research and monitoring website that will tell you what paid keywords and ads your competitors are running right now. Unlike other similar tools, Keyword Competitor collects its data using realtime searches querying engines such as Google and Yahoo to get the freshest data available.
Vacation Rentals Increasing in Popularity
July 20th, 2009A very interesting study just published by TripAdvisor shows that 43% of travelers are staying in a vacation rental in the next 12 months, with 24% saying they stayed or are staying in a vacation rental this season. The study includes additional data about why they like vacation rentals and where they are traveling. It’s definitely worth the read.
Considering that previously published research by PhoCusWright put the number of travelers who have stayed in a vacation rental at around 10%, this is a significant upward trend.
Vacation Rental Website Data
July 2nd, 2009Want to get some idea of what your competition is doing in the area of vacation rental internet marketing? Look no further than SpyFu.com. This is an information-rich site that will tell you who is spending more on internet advertising, daily ad budget, clicks per day – you name it. SpyFu, formerly GoogSpy, collects data from search engines, Alexa, Dmoz, Wikipedia, and other sources. Check it out.
Surprising Your Vacation Rental Guests Can Have Surprising Results
June 23rd, 2009I read a very interesting New York Times article about how Hyatt Hotels is implementing “random acts of generosity” with their guests. The idea is to surprise guests by picking up the tab for their bar drinks, spa or other item. The guest will then reward that act with increased loyalty and is more apt to return.
I think there’s a lesson here that can be used in the vacation rental and resort markets. Surprise your guests. Champagne and 2 glasses for the romatic couple, 2 free tickets to a water park for a family, a special food bowl for the family dog with his name on it, a delivery of gourmet popcorn for a family movie night – the possibilities are unlimited.
As the article points out, the “psychology of gratitude” has been researched extensively and proves that “we feel pleasure from reciprocating out of gratitude, and guilt when we don’t.”
Give it a try. It just might be the best marketing dollars you’ve ever spent.
New Data For After-Hours Calls to Vacation Rental Managers
June 12th, 2009It’s been nearly 3 years since NAVIS last analyzed after-hours calls, so we recently took another look. We analyzed 2.7 million inbound calls to 217 of our clients across the United States from January 2008 to June 1, 2009. The results show that, on average, 23.5% of ALL calls come in outside of the hours of 9AM to 5PM (local time at that location). This is very significant and can add up to serious lost revenue if not dealt with.
Of course, NAVIS RezForce is your best solution. But if you don’t go with us, do something to stop the bleeding from missed after-hours calls.
I’ve heard some vacation rental managers say that callers will leave a message and call back the next day. Wrong! We have data that proves that 53% of after-hours callers do not call back, and 20% will call your competitor. Ouch!
Lost calls are lost revenue.
Sync Your Vacation Rental Marketing To Peak Call Days
June 4th, 2009We’ve noticed an interesting trend regarding call volume patterns during the week that should affect how you market. Using NAVIS Narrowcast, we’ve found that during the month of April, the peak call days were Wednesday and Thursday, followed by Monday, Tuesday and Friday. Saturday and Sunday call volume are always the lowest.
But during the month of May, the peak day has shifted to Friday, followed by Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday (all tied), with Monday having the lowest weekday volume.
Just for laughs, we pulled data for last year and found a similar shift. Then, Tuesday and Wednesday were the peak days for April and Thursday and Friday were the peak days for May. This shows a definite trend of people waiting until later in the week to act.
This data is very interesting for a couple of reasons. For reservation managers, it can help you schedule your reservations staff. For marketers, it can dictate when you schedule your direct marketing. If you can syncronize your email campaigns, direct mail, and outbound calling so that you reach people mid week, it may improve your chances of catching them when they are interested in taking action.
Give it a try and let me know how it works.
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