As a holiday rental owner or manager, success depends on filling availability and getting as many bookings as possible. And, one effective way of doing this is by flogging your wares far and wide and listing on as many distribution channels as possible.
One thing that all accommodation providers share, however, is a horror of spending ages maintaining their property listings. Lucky for you, a good channel manager can do this for you. After all, getting a booking is meant to be good news!
Which channel is for you?
In order to figure out which websites to advertise on, it’s important to understand how your guests find your website in the first place. To do this, use a tool like Google keyword planner to find out how your guests search for you. Then, search via your keywords and see which websites are prominent in the search results.
It’s hard to say which channel is the “best”, however – or the most popular. It depends on a number of factors, which vary from business to business:
- The big hitters (that you can safely assume most holidaymakers will have heard of) include the likes of Booking.com, HomeAway and Airbnb.
- There are also a number of niche channels that might really suit you and boost your bookings, depending on your target market (eg family-friendly, luxury accommodation, glampsites etc).
- As many guests will also search by locale, it’s worth investigating and using the established regional tourism channels (Stay in Wales, ASSC, VisitScotland, NISCHA, ISCF etc).
The benefits of marketing channels
- They’ll get your property in front of a wider target audience and get you more bookings than you might otherwise get on your own.
- They’re low risk – most charge commission rather than a set listing fee.
- You can switch them on or off when you want.
In order to get the most out of these third parties, you really need to ensure your listings are up to scratch. Follow these tips and you’re sure to feature highly in the rankings.
A word of caution… 
Although channels are important, it’s advisable not to become too reliant on them. Bookings from third-party sites have an obvious cost – commission – that eats directly into your own profits. In an ideal world, the majority of your bookings will be direct and commission-free and come from other sources, including:
- Your own website.
- Repeat guests.
- Via marketing campaigns on email and social media.
And, SuperControl can help you cover all these bases:
- Our booking system will enable your guests to book online at a time that suits them, as well as ensure your website always displays up-to-date rates and availability.
- SuperControl enables you to target and email previous guests with special offers and vouchers to encourage them to book again.
- And our free verified reviews service means you’ll be able to automatically gather feedback, which will reinforce your business’s credibility and help generate more enquiries and bookings.
However, for the greatest chance of success and to spread your risk, channels are a healthy part of your marketing mix. Apart from anything else, if you can create enough demand for your properties you can charge more.
