marketing plans for vacation rental managers
TRANSCRIPT
VRMADIY MarketingBoot Camp2015 Marketing Planning Workshop
10/29/2014
Amy Hinote
VRMIntel
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WELCOME TO YOUR VACATION RENTAL MARKETING PLANNING WORKSHOPBe prepared for brainstorming and hands-on fun.
Hello, Vacation Rental Peeps!Welcome to the first VRMA Marketing Boot Camp
One of the most important steps you can take in implementing an effective and efficient marketing strategy is developing a written marketing plan.
This plan will guide your marketing decisions and assist in allocating marketing resources such as money and personnel time.
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SESSION BASICS• Your vacation rental marketing planning process:
1Where are
we now and
where do we
want to go?
2What tactics
do we use to
get there?
3How will we
monitor and
measure the
results
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TIMELINE / AGENDA• THIS IS WHAT WILL WE DO THIS AFTERNOON
Overview and IntroductionsBoot camp overview, getting to know each other
and get into groups
Marketing Objectives and Market AnalysisDefining your marketing objectives and looking at your
market dynamics
Break
01:00 – 1:30
01:30 - 02:00
02:00 - 2:10
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Competitive Analysis and SWOTSetting the foundation of your marketing plan
Determining your Marketing BudgetRange of marketing spend
Break
02:15 – 02:45
02:45 – 03:00
03:00 - 03:15
Identifying your Target DemographicFinding your customers
Marketing TacticsIdentifying and prioritizing marketing channels and
evaluation metrics
03:15 – 03:25
03:25 - 04:00
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Break
Marketing Tactics and EvaluationContinued…and evaluating resources
2015 Budget ToolkitHow to monitor your budget and ongoing reporting
04:00 - 04:15
04:15 - 04:25
04:25 - 04:45
Putting it all together04:45 – 05:00
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VACATION RENTAL MARKETING PLAN• Just like any other industry, there are basic steps to creating an intentional and
actionable marketing plan.
Objectives
What do you
want to
accomplish this
year?
Analysis
Market Analysis
Destination Analysis
Competitive Analysis
Internal Analysis
Identify Channels
Distribution
Online
Offline
Remarketing
Direct Mail
Alternative Media
Social
Partnerships
PR/Branding
Budget &
Resources
Determine Budget
Prioritize Channels
Add into budget
Create a backup plan
Systems
Reporting
But first..let’s get to know each other.
Evaluation
Identify KPI Metrics
Monitor Performance
Make Adjustments
based on data
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2015 MARKETING OBJECTIVES -EXAMPLES
• Increase overall rentals• Increase occupancy rate• Increase revenue and
profitability• Increase market share• Increase number of
rebookings from past guests• Increase number of referrals• Increase number of new
visitors
• Increase number of quality properties in rental program
• Decrease distribution costs• Decrease marketing costs• Accumulate more data on
prospects and past guests• Increase real estate sales• Increase brand awareness• Identify additional sources of
revenue and profitable expansion opportunities
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MARKET ANALYSIS
• Analysis of your area, your market’s pricing, your competition and your company’s SWOT analysis
Area
Analysis
Size of your market
Your market share
Economic
conditions
Government
regulation
Tourism behavior
Pricing
Historic changes
Your market
position
Discounting
Revenue
Management
Internal
Analysis
Strengths
Weaknesses
Opportunities
Threats
Strengths
Weaknesses
Opportunities
Competitive
Analysis
Top competitors
Your competitive
position
Competitive pricing
VRBO
Competitive
advantage
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AREA ANALYSIS
Market
SizeMarket Share
Economic
Conditions
Government
Regulation
Tourism
Behavior
1How many
vacation rentals
are in your
market?
2How many
properties do
you manage
and what is
your market
share?
3What are
the
economic
conditions in
your area?
4Are you
facing any
regulatory
issues?
5Has tourism
behavior
changed in
your area?
• An in-depth look at your area’s challenges
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COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS
Top
competitors
Competitive
position
Competitive
PricingVRBOs
Competitive
Advantage
1Who are your
top
competitors?
2What is your
competitive
position?
3How is your
pricing
different from
your
competitors?
4Are you
competing
against
VRBOs?
5What are
your
competitive
advantages?
• Let’s look at your competitors
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PRICING ANALYSIS
Historic
environment
Your market
position
Owner
contractsDiscounting
Revenue
Management
1Has the pricing
paradigm
changed in
your market?
2Where do
your prices
rank in the
marketplace?
3Do contracts
with your
owners limit
your setting
of prices?
4Do you
regularly
discount?
5Does your
company
have a
revenue
management
strategy?
• Your vacation rental company’s pricing strategy
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SWOT
Your company
STRENGTHS
For example:
Awareness
Market Share
Longevity
Technology
WEAKNESSES
OPPORTUNITIES THREATS
For example:
Remarketing
Acquisition
Distribution
For example:
Awareness
Market Share
Technology
New company
For example:
Weather
Economy
Ebola
Regulation
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DETERMINING YOUR MARKETING BUDGET
Typically vacation rental managers spend 5%-12% of rental revenue on marketing.
• If your budget includes salaries, distribution costs and marketing technology, you might be on the higher end.
• If your budget does not include salaries, distribution costs and marketing technology, you might be on the lower end.
Properties Rental Revenue Marketing Budget
Average Annual
Rental per Property
$15,000 $27,000 $35,000 $15,000 $27,000 $35,000
Low (5%) High (12%) Low (5%) High (12%) Low (5%) High (12%)
50 $750,000 $1,350,000 $1,750,000 $37,500 $90,000 $67,500 $162,000 $87,500 $210,000
100 $1,500,000 $2,700,000 $3,500,000 $75,000 $180,000 $135,000 $324,000 $175,000 $420,000
250 $3,750,000 $6,750,000 $8,750,000 $187,500 $450,000 $337,500 $810,000 $437,500 $1,050,000
500 $7,500,000 $13,500,000 $17,500,000 $375,000 $900,000 $675,000 $1,620,000 $875,000 $2,100,000
1000 $15,000,000 $27,000,000 $35,000,000 $750,000 $1,800,000 $1,350,000 $3,240,000 $1,750,000 $4,200,000
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DETERMINING YOUR TARGET DEMOGRAPHIC
HouseholdFamilies
Girl Getaways
Golfing Trips
Business Travel
IncomeHH $75k+
GeographyTop Feeder Markets
Secondary Feeder Markets
New Markets
Gender/AgePrimary market
Secondary Market
Other
BehaviorOther
Destinations
Products
Media
Your vacation rental
company
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DETERMINING YOUR TARGET GEOGRAPHIC MARKET
Outer Banks
Gulf Shores
Lake Tahoe
Mt Hood
• Are you in a drive-to market or a fly-to market?• What is your primary market area?• What is your secondary geographic target market?
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TARGET DEMOGRAPHIC
Household
Makeup
Families
Girl Trips
Golf Trips
Singles
Business Travel
Gender/
AgeBehavior
Strengths
Weaknesses
Opportunities
What media do they
see?
Activities
Where they travel
What products do
they buy
Income
Level
HH Income $100K+
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CONTENT MARKETING
Content creation: Key to all marketing channels and the most critical part of your vacation rental marketing plan.
Offline
Online
Technology
DistributionContent
Website
SEO
PPC
Social
Blog
Titles
Descriptions
Responses
Non-text content
Direct Mail
PR
Print Ads
Catalogs
Sponsorships
Area Info
Autoresponder
Communications
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MARKETING CHANNELS• How we will look at potential marketing tactics
LogicWhat is the logic behind using
the tactic?
1
ObjectivesWhich of your objectives does
this accomplish?
ElementsWhat are the elements of the
tactic?
What is newWhat are the new elements
and considerations for 2015?
What are you doing now?And what would you like to do?
CompetitionAnd what would give you a competitive
advantage in this element?
Current SpendWhat are you currently spending on this
channel?
Proposed SpendDo you want to increase or decrease
your spend on this element? How much?
ResourcesWhat resources do you have in place?
What resources do you need?
Evaluation MetricsWhat metrics can you use to evaluate
performance?
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10
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ONLINE MARKETING• Online Marketing Channels
Website PPC Blog/Area Info
SEO Social Email
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OFFLINE MARKETING
PR Catalog/
Collateral
Partnerships
Print Ads Direct Mail Sponsorships
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MARKETING -DISTRIBUTION
Payment
ThresholdIntegration Channels Response
Remarketing/
Data
1What are you
willing to pay?
2Which
channels can
you integrate
with?
3Identify 3rd
party
channels.
4What is your
process for
response to
inquiries?
5What is your
plan for
collecting
data and
saving the
customer?
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MARKETING -TECHNOLOGY
CRM -
Segmentation
Social Big Data
Lifecycle Autoresponder Mobile
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Tools
Marketing Workshop
Online Tools
MARKETING PLAN WORKBOOK
MARKETING BUDGET TOOLKIT
FILL IN THE BLANK MARKETING PLAN
MARKETING WORKSHOP PRESENTATION