What does scoring the best Black Friday deals mean for you? Do you consider it an unbeatable opportunity to hunt the best of the bargains? Are you among the eager deal-seekers or don’t believe in Black Friday deals and think sales happen year-round?
Have you ever taken advantage of Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Travel Tuesday to promote great deals to attract more direct bookings and increase your VR income? Here are some creative Black Friday promotion ideas for your Vacation Rental Business. These marketing tactics help you make the most out of the biggest shopping days of the year.
Table of Contents
1. Plan Your Cyber Weekend Comprehensively
Cyber Monday used to be a one-day online shopping spree following Thanksgiving. However, Black Friday and Cyber Monday have evolved into a combined Cyber Weekend, extending offers throughout Thanksgiving and beyond. While Black Friday was traditionally centred on in-store shopping, the trend is shifting as more people opt for online shopping. Consequently, a full weekend is now dedicated to online deals!
To fully leverage this chance, avoid concentrating only on Black Friday. Develop a marketing strategy covering the entire weekend and provide teasers in the weeks leading up to November to generate excitement. Employing a comprehensive approach will notably increase both traffic and reservations for your vacation rental.
2. Activate Instant Bookings
Implementing instant booking streamlines the reservation process for potential guests, facilitating swift and hassle-free bookings during your sale period. By enabling this feature, you eliminate unnecessary steps or delays, providing a seamless experience that encourages immediate action.
This convenient functionality not only simplifies the booking process but also aligns with the fast-paced nature of online transactions. By offering instant booking options, you enhance customer satisfaction, driving higher engagement and conversion rates.
You can secure immediate reservations and receive instant bookings through Airbnb, Booking.com, Vrbo, and Expedia.
3. Offer a Package
You do not necessarily need to lower rates to attract guests to your rental property during Black Friday. Hook your potential guests by offering them a package at a discount on the total.
Create and promote packages like accommodation plus free airport pickup, a great meal at a local restaurant, a nice boat trip, and free excursions and local activities.
Packages help you draw in new guests, as travellers like to rest assured that parts of their trip are organised for them.
4. Partner Up with Local Businesses
Create an ideal getaway for your guests by collaborating with local businesses and bundling products and services that your guests would usually buy together.
Enhance your travel offerings by collaborating with local businesses like masseuses, restaurants, and photographers. This mutually beneficial partnership not only attracts media attention from your partners but also elevates your booking prospects.
5. Provide Free Gifts
Everyone loves gifts. Think of some branded freebies you can offer to your guests as Black Friday deals. Be creative and think of a gift that matches your property’s theme and location, as well as your brand. For instance, you can offer branded towels if you have a beach house or city magnets and keychains if you have an urban apartment. A bottle of drink or a free meal can also make attractive gifts.
You can also throw a contest on social media with bigger gifts like free tickets, suitcases, or ask your followers for a repost, likes, and comments to take part in your vacation rental’s Black Friday deal.
It is also a smart idea to offer free products based on the number of nights they book your property.
6. Gamify Your Sales
Invite your subscribers to play a game. Make your Black Friday deal entertaining and fun by asking your users to spin a wheel of fortune to win a special gift or discount.
Encourage your subscribers to visit your landing page and check out a surprise gift by playing roulette. For example, you can invite them to play a game or solve a puzzle to get their discount code or a particular gift.
7. Discount Longer Stays
Use the buy more, save more strategy to incentivise longer stays. You can boost your occupancy and maximise your profits by offering greater discounts for bookings longer than a week. During the sales weekend, people are looking for juicy bargains, rather than highly on-demand products. So, it is the perfect time to get your unpopular weekdays booked.
Giving your guests a discount for the eighth day and so forth will give them a little push to book longer stays. Make sure your discount is engrossing enough to make your visitors convert into bookers
8. Promote a Value
Rather than trying to tempt your prospects with discounts, set yourself apart from the masses of discounts by creating value. Associate your unique brand values and social responsibility with the biggest sales event of the year and run sales for a cause.
Touch the personal values of your customers and make them gratified with a contribution. This can include making charity donations and supporting the local environment and children’s organisations.
This offer won’t give a boost to your income. However, it can make a huge impact on increasing your brand awareness and loyalty.
Just ensure to be very clear and notify your guests that you have donated the money and let them know who received their donations.
9. Offer a Free Night of Stay
Employ the buy one get one free tactic and offer an extra night of stay at your property for free. This is a smart way to make your guests convert.
Create a booking limit for using the free night. Limit your offer only to a certain period to add a sense of scarcity and excitement to your vacation rental’s Black Friday deal.
10. Implement a Landing Page
Having a dedicated landing page for Black Friday deals is a strategic move to captivate and engage potential customers. A well-crafted landing page tailored specifically for this occasion serves as a centralised hub, showcasing exclusive offers and enticing promotions.
Through compelling visuals, concise yet persuasive copy, and clear calls-to-action, a Black Friday landing page becomes a powerful tool for driving traffic, boosting conversions, and maximising sales during this highly anticipated shopping event.
Main Takeaways
Black Friday is a day after Thanksgiving, followed by Cyber Monday – a day dedicated to online sales. Leveraging this period to market your vacation rental presents an excellent opportunity to increase bookings while providing enticing deals for guests. Here is an outline of strategies for optimising Black Friday deals in your vacation rental marketing plan:
- Prepare for the period spanning from Friday to Tuesday rather than solely focusing on Black Friday itself.
- Implement instant booking for seamless reservations during your promotional period.
- Hook your potential guests by offering them a package at a discount on the total.
- Enhance your travel offerings by collaborating with local businesses.
- Provide gifts that match your property’s theme and location.
- Invite your subscribers to play a game and win a prize.
- Use the buy more, save more strategy to incentivise longer stays.
- Appeal to your customers’ personal values by offering specific contributions.
- Offer an extra night of stay at your property for free.
- Create a landing page or update your last year’s landing page.
Black Friday is not just a golden chance to get the best deals on items on your list, but also an unmatched opportunity for your small VR business to gain more visibility and bring in more guests.
Don’t miss Black Friday 2023 when people are ready to spend their travel budgets to compensate for a year of staying at home.
It’s time to get creative and plan great Black Friday deals for your vacation rental to draw in more visitors and market your VR business. So, roll up your sleeves and prepare a killing email marketing campaign to begin promoting your too-good-to-miss deals.
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