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252. Hosting Hotline: Marketing Your Airbnb: Instagram 101 · Thanks For Visiting

• 0:00
  Sarah: Hello, welcome back for another great episode.
• 0:02
  My name is Sarah Karakaian.
• 0:03
  Annette: I am Annette Grant, and together we are
• 0:05
  -- Both Annette & Sarah: Thanks for Visiting.
• 0:06
  Sarah: And this is the--
• 0:07
  Both Annette & Sarah: Hosting Hotline.
• 0:09
  Sarah: Hosting Hotline, what is it?
• 0:11
  You can go to thanksforvisiting.me.
• 0:13
  In the upper right-hand corner is a red button that says "Ask TFV," and
• 0:17
  you can ask any and all of your amazing short-term rental business questions,
• 0:21
  and we are happy to answer them and share them with the rest of our listeners.
• 0:26
  And today we have a wonderful question about social media content.
• 0:31
  Questions: Hi, my name is Pam, and I'm a new host and a new listener.
• 0:35
  I absolutely love your podcast, and have been binge-listening.
• 0:39
  Our property is Blue Hen Haven.
• 0:42
  We're not live yet.
• 0:43
  We're still in the final stages of remodeling some of the bedrooms.
• 0:47
  And my question is, what should some of the content be that
• 0:53
  I should post on Instagram?
• 0:55
  So I have our website, which is being built.
• 0:58
  We have our Instagram page.
• 1:00
  I don't have anything posted yet, so I don't know if I should wait until we're
• 1:04
  ready to list and start to post behind the scenes then, or should I post coming soon?
• 1:11
  I don't know if I should start building the following now with local events and
• 1:15
  local vendors, things like that, things to do, things to see in the area, and
• 1:20
  get people excited about what's to come.
• 1:22
  So just looking for some feedback on when to post on Instagram for a
• 1:27
  brand new listing and what should be some of that first content.
• 1:30
  And then the final part of my question is, how much would I put out?
• 1:34
  So should I do one post to drip the content slowly or do
• 1:39
  multiple posts to really build the feed and build the following?
• 1:43
  Thank you, again, and thanks for what the both of you do.
• 1:47
  Sarah: All right, Annette, I know you're excited for this question.
• 1:49
  Annette: I am.
• 1:50
  Sarah: You've got some great responses.
• 1:51
  Annette: Yes.
• 1:52
  Number one, let's get started ASAP.
• 1:57
  Don't delay.
• 1:58
  Do it today.
• 1:59
  That's my first thing, is get started ASAP and then remain consistent.
• 2:04
  Those are two things.
• 2:05
  But you're like, wait a second.
• 2:07
  You want me to get started today?
• 2:09
  This place is a wreck.
• 2:10
  We're still under construction.
• 2:11
  And this is for all of you hosts, document, document, document.
• 2:15
  Document your journey, the before, after, during.
• 2:18
  It doesn't all have to be out there, but start taking pictures,
• 2:21
  start posting, start doing stories.
• 2:22
  So that is what I want to offer today is to get going because obviously, with
• 2:27
  practice too, you're going to get better.
• 2:29
  Perfect is the enemy of done, so let's get it started.
• 2:32
  That's number one.
• 2:33
  Sarah: Well, and how aspirational is it to see a family buy a
• 2:36
  property, pour their heart and soul into it, and then see the after?
• 2:41
  Your potential guests, your future guests are going to feel invested in that journey
• 2:45
  and you're going to have raving fans.
• 2:47
  Annette: For example, I think the handle is @pinkdreamcottage.
• 2:53
  She is totally crushing on social media, hundreds of thousands of followers, and
• 2:58
  she hasn't even welcomed one guest yet.
• 3:01
  So just imagine the potential booking she's going to have
• 3:04
  when she does open her door.
• 3:05
  So kudos to her.
• 3:06
  Sarah: All right, Annette, what's another tip?
• 3:08
  Annette: Next, it's about.
• 3:09
  Just think about.
• 3:10
  What are all the abouts about your home?
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  Let's do about the host.
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  Introduce yourself.
• 3:17
  Storytell about you and your why.
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  About their stay.
• 3:20
  What are they going to get to enjoy?
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  About the property, inside and out.
• 3:25
  About the area.
• 3:28
  About the things to do in the area.
• 3:32
  About the special amenities in your particular home.
• 3:37
  Are you pet friendly?
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  Are you family friendly?
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  Do you have a hot tub?
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  Is there a story behind it?
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  So the umbrella at the top is about, and then all of the
• 3:45
  things that can jet off of it.
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  So think what you can tell your potential guest, all the things about.
• 3:50
  And what I love about consistency here, what I just told you, about you, about the
• 3:53
  stay, about the property, about the area.
• 3:57
  Maybe that's Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and
• 3:59
  you just cycle through and make sure you're highlighting and telling your
• 4:02
  future guest about those things.
• 4:05
  Sarah: So for example, Monday could be always about you
• 4:09
  as a family, you as a host.
• 4:11
  Maybe it's your dog that you're sharing, or your cleaning team, or your inspector.
• 4:15
  So Mondays are about people that make your short-term rental run.
• 4:19
  Tuesday is about amenities.
• 4:21
  So that's what we're saying here to help you.
• 4:23
  Because a lot of people will stop in their tracks, they feel
• 4:26
  like they don't have ideas.
• 4:27
  So having these sorts of buckets for every day of the week
• 4:30
  will help you get those ideas.
• 4:31
  Structure.
• 4:32
  Annette: And heck, you use STR Share Sunday.
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  Share other people in your community.
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  Share businesses.
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  Share your favorite coffee shop.
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  Share your favorite restaurant, your favorite brunch spot, your
• 4:47
  favorite happy hour dinner, grocery store, your favorite hike.
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  So if you can also incorporate sharing about other places, that is a huge thing.
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  And you can tag them, and then hopefully they can re-share you.
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  AD MARKER
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  Annette: So last but not least, that you sharing others, we want
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  you to ask people to share you.
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  So Sarah, let's talk about user generated content, reposting
• 5:13
  what they post and review.
• 5:15
  Sarah: So once you have guests at your property and they leave you those glowing
• 5:20
  five star reviews, screenshot them.
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  Have that be that content for the day on your feed posts.
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  You can get on your stories and share what that review said.
• 5:29
  But even more juicy is when people start leaving those reviews, the
• 5:32
  words that they use to describe their experience in your home, use those
• 5:38
  words in your listing description on your social media and your captions.
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  Those are the words that your guests are saying about your space, and that's
• 5:46
  going to attract more guests like them who are also going to love your space.
• 5:50
  Annette: Essentially, they are free freelance copywriters for you.
• 5:55
  And with that user generated content, everyone loves to
• 5:58
  be shared, so invite them.
• 6:00
  Make an invitation before, during, and after the stay for your guest to post
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  how they are enjoying your property.
• 6:09
  They will love that you shared them.
• 6:11
  You have that user generated content.
• 6:13
  Of course, get their approval, but the sky is the limit.
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  You can do as much as you want, as little as as you want, but I want
• 6:20
  to encourage you to please remain consistent, authentic, and document not
• 6:26
  only the guest stay, but your journey.
• 6:29
  Sarah: Little bonus content.
• 6:31
  Social media.
• 6:32
  Annette: Hot tip on the Hotline.
• 6:34
  Sarah: Hot tip on my social media is, obviously, great not only to hopefully
• 6:39
  get direct bookings from people who might be searching your location,
• 6:44
  whatever that driving factor is that bring people to your community or
• 6:47
  your area, but it's also street cred.
• 6:50
  We get that if you have more followers, it's proving that your vacation
• 6:54
  rental is as amazing as you say it is.
• 6:57
  But I also do-- we don't want you to forget about your digital real estate.
• 7:00
  You mentioned that you are having a website built, and we commend you for
• 7:05
  that, and so let's not forget to send the potential guest and that return
• 7:10
  guest back to our digital home, which is our online website because that's
• 7:14
  where we can capture their email, where we can email them, our newsletter, our
• 7:18
  invitations to come back and stay with us.
• 7:20
  So some tips we've had from our members inside of HBMM, Hosting
• 7:24
  Business Mastery, is a lot of them are using QR codes throughout their
• 7:28
  property to share instructions on how to operate more difficult appliances
• 7:32
  like hot tubs and fireplaces.
• 7:34
  Annette: Or if you're me, just a regular coffee pot.
• 7:36
  Sarah: Or a TV for that matter.
• 7:38
  But instead of taking them to a QR code that goes to a private YouTube channel
• 7:42
  or back to an Instagram story, I know people are doing that as well, but we
• 7:45
  encourage you to bring them to your website, embed these videos on your
• 7:49
  website, and potentially have a popup there that invites them to give you
• 7:53
  their email address so you can invite them to come back and stay with you.
• 7:57
  So there's just a little hot tip for you.
• 7:58
  Not to forget about social content on your website.
• 8:02
  Annette: Your why behind your contenting.
• 8:05
  And so we want you to really think about the why when you're creating that.
• 8:09
  We want you to know what the long game is there.
• 8:13
  Sarah: To sum it up, you should absolutely start contenting
• 8:15
  before you even buy a property.
• 8:16
  Anyone out there, haven't bought a property yet but you can envision the
• 8:20
  entire thing already done, get that Instagram handle, start contenting
• 8:25
  now, and building your audience now.
• 8:27
  Why the heck would you wait?
• 8:28
  There's no reason.
• 8:29
  People love a good story.
• 8:31
  Start yours today.
• 8:32
  With that, I am Sarah Karakaian.
• 8:34
  Annette: I am Annette Grant, and together we are--
• 8:36
  Both Annette & Sarah: Thanks for Visiting.
• 8:37
  Sarah: Talk to you next time.