Copywriting is simply well-written content that sells. Rather than content writing (like this article), its goal isn’t just to inform; it’s to convince the reader to take action. When used for your vacation rental property listing, copywriting can boost bookings by creating a powerful image that convinces guests to choose your property over others in the area. It might sound tricky or intimidating to craft this type of vivid description, but don’t worry! Copywriting is simple when you stick to a few key guidelines. Below, find ten tips and tricks to boost your vacation rental bookings through copywriting.
Contents
- 1. Keep your goal in mind.
- 2. Craft a clickable title
- 3. Advertise your top selling points early on
- 4. Use photo captions to illustrate additional details
- 5. Follow this simple outline
- 6. Stick to positive words
- 7. Create a cohesive brand
- 8. Find your voice
- 9. Focus on readability
- 10. Consider outsourcing the work to a professional copywriter
- Main Takeaways
1. Keep your goal in mind.
Copywriting should build trust, create interest, and provide clarity to the reader. This is what leads to the reader taking action and becoming a guest at your vacation rental. The overall goal of your vacation rental description is to convince anyone who reads it to stay at your property.
Copywriting gives you a chance to share your unique voice and establish a relationship with potential guests. It allows you to build trust by providing informative descriptions of what they can expect at your property. Copywriting also anticipates and preemptively answers the questions that guests are likely to have. Doing all of this convinces readers to take action and book their stay at your vacation rental property.
2. Craft a clickable title
When you’re crafting your headline or title, remember that its goal is to get that initial click from potential guests. The title should make anyone who comes across it want to read the first sentence, which should then make them want to read the second sentence, and so on. You can consider your headline a handshake with potential guests; it introduces them to your vacation rental property and its unique selling points. Here are a few examples of how you can structure your title.
(Property Name): A (Adjective) (House/Apartment/Retreat) for (Type of Guest)
Stonebrook Studio: A Newly Renovated Apartment Ideal for Workationers
Oceanside Lodge: A Spacious House Perfect for Families with Pets
(Top Selling Points) in (City)
Inground Pool, Sustainable Vacation Rental Two Minutes from Beach in Malibu
Seattle Home, Kid and Pet Friendly, Close to Waterfront, Dining & Shopping
3. Advertise your top selling points early on
Take some time to identify what your top three selling points are. Does your vacation rental have lots of extra places to sleep, making it perfect for large families? Does it overlook a scenic view? Are there exciting events nearby? You’ll want to mention your top selling points early on, in the first line or two of your listing.
Don’t make guests read your entire description before they figure out that you have an inground pool in the backyard! Start off strong by advertising your best selling points as early as possible. Hook the reader as soon as you can, and they’re more likely to be intrigued enough to continue reading the rest of your vacation rental description.
4. Use photo captions to illustrate additional details
Photo captions are the perfect place to provide extra details that you can’t necessarily figure out from the photo alone. For instance, a photo of your bathroom doesn’t show that you have heated floors and provide a collection of complimentary toiletries for each guest. A picture of your kitchen doesn’t display all of the cookware, utensils, and tableware you have for guests to use.
Take stunning vacation rental photos and be sure to utilize the caption as an opportunity to illustrate what that particular space can be used for. Let’s say you have a photo of your kitchen and dining area, for example. Your caption could be, “Enjoy cooking meals in our fully-stocked kitchen and gathering for dinner or playing card games in our comfortable dining area, which seats eight people.”
5. Follow this simple outline
Depending on which listing site you use, the format of your description might differ a bit. On RentalTrader, there’s space for your initial description, followed by specific sections for various policies. This is divided into Property Rules, Things to Remember, and Cancellation Policy. Below, there’s a separate section for Frequently Asked Questions.
When in doubt, here’s a tried-and-true outline that gets all of your most important information across:
Clickable Headline
- Briefly talk about three unique selling points
- Anticipate and answer guests’ FAQs
- Include information on the location
- Provide information about yourself or the property manager
6. Stick to positive words
Choose your words wisely! A positive statement like, “Look forward to a restful night of sleep in a relaxing atmosphere,” has a better impact than a statement with negative words, such as, “You won’t be tossing and turning all night at this vacation rental!”
When writing the copy for your vacation rental’s description, choose descriptive words that set the scene and create a vivid image in potential guests’ minds. Rather than saying, “This property is near the lake,” you could say, “Only a two-minute walk away is a serene lake where you can enjoy fishing in the morning, sunbathing in the afternoon, and watching the sunset in the evening.” By adding descriptive words, the reader develops a stronger image in their mind and can more easily see themselves staying at your vacation rental.
7. Create a cohesive brand
To improve your property’s SEO (Search Engine Optimization), it’s important for it to have a brand. You can do this by coming up with a unique name for your vacation rental property. Then, use that same name across all platforms, social media profiles, and your rental’s website.
It’s even better if you can create a logo to add as well. This way, when people do an internet search for your property, all the pages associated with your vacation rental will pop up, and they’ll all have that same cohesive brand to connect them. This adds legitimacy to your business and makes finding any needed information about your vacation rental property easier.
8. Find your voice
Depending on your ideal guest, you may want to slightly adjust your voice. If your rental is more of a laidback location, a casual tone is great. You’ll always want to ensure that you use proper spelling and grammar, but you can phrase your description in a more relaxed way, similar to how you’d write an email to a friend.
But if you manage high-end luxury vacation rental properties, a refined voice like you would use with highly professional clients is likely to bring you more success. You don’t need to stress over your voice too much, but simply consider your target audience and the type of tone that will resonate with them the most, and emulate that as best you can.
9. Focus on readability
Keep in mind that the majority of people access information from their smartphones nowadays. When they encounter large chunks of text that are difficult to read on their small phone screen, they’re not going to stick around and try to make their way through them. Instead, they’ll quickly move along to another option, and your vacation rental will be quickly forgotten.
Luckily, it’s easy to avoid this. Your writing should be clear, concise, and spaced out. Paragraphs don’t need to be very long at all; just two or three sentences per paragraph will make it easy for readers to quickly pick out important information. When reading through a vacation rental property description, most potential guests are just looking to find specific information that will determine whether your rental is the right choice for them. Make it as easy as possible for them to find that information!
10. Consider outsourcing the work to a professional copywriter
If doing your own copywriting seems daunting, never fear! You have plenty of other options to choose from. You can hire a freelance copywriter from websites like Upwork or Fiverr, or you could contact a copywriting agency to do the work for you. Although this will mean additional expenses, it might be worth it if you don’t have much of a way with words and believe your time is better spent on other tasks!
Main Takeaways
Want to use copywriting to boost your vacation rental bookings? These ten tips and tricks will help you do so successfully.
- Keep your goal in mind: to convince anyone who reads your description to book a stay at your vacation rental property.
- Craft a clickable title that intrigues potential guests and makes them want to continue reading your listing.
- Advertise your top selling points early on; don’t hide the most important details at the end of your property’s description.
- Use photo captions to illustrate additional details and describe the various activities guests can enjoy in each area of your vacation rental.
- Follow this simple outline: Start with your headline, followed by your three main selling points. Answer FAQs, provide location information, and finish up by offering details about yourself or the property manager.
- Stick to positive words that create a vivid description, rather than negative or bland vocabulary.
- Create a cohesive brand with a name and logo for your property to improve SEO and legitimize your business.
- Find your voice; adjust your tone to your ideal guest.
- Focus on readability by keeping your writing clear, concise, and well-spaced.
- Consider outsourcing the work to a professional copywriter if the task doesn’t match your skill set.
