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[00:00:00] Sarah: Hello, welcome back for another great episode. My name is Sarah Karakaian.

[00:00:03] Annette: I am Annette Grant, and together we are —

[00:00:05] Both Annette & Sarah: Thanks for Visiting.

[00:00:06] Sarah: And this is the–

[00:00:07] Both Annette & Sarah: Hosting Hotline.

[00:00:09] Sarah: Hosting Hotline, what is it? You can go to thanksforvisiting.me. In the upper right-hand corner is a red button that says “Ask TFV,” and you can ask any and all of your amazing short-term rental business questions, and we are happy to answer them and share them with the rest of our listeners. And today we have a wonderful question about social media content.

[00:00:30] Questions: Hi, my name is Pam, and I’m a new host and a new listener. I absolutely love your podcast, and have been binge-listening. Our property is Blue Hen Haven. We’re not live yet. We’re still in the final stages of remodeling some of the bedrooms. And my question is, what should some of the content be that I should post on Instagram?

So I have our website, which is being built. We have our Instagram page. I don’t have anything posted yet, so I don’t know if I should wait until we’re ready to list and start to post behind the scenes then, or should I post coming soon? I don’t know if I should start building the following now with local events and local vendors, things like that, things to do, things to see in the area, and get people excited about what’s to come. 

So just looking for some feedback on when to post on Instagram for a brand new listing and what should be some of that first content. And then the final part of my question is, how much would I put out? So should I do one post to drip the content slowly or do multiple posts to really build the feed and build the following? Thank you, again, and thanks for what the both of you do.

[00:01:46] Sarah: All right, Annette, I know you’re excited for this question. 

[00:01:49] Annette: I am.

[00:01:50] Sarah: You’ve got some great responses.

[00:01:51] Annette: Yes. Number one, let’s get started ASAP. Don’t delay. Do it today. That’s my first thing, is get started ASAP and then remain consistent. Those are two things. But you’re like, wait a second. You want me to get started today? This place is a wreck. We’re still under construction. And this is for all of you hosts, document, document, document. Document your journey, the before, after, during. It doesn’t all have to be out there, but start taking pictures, start posting, start doing stories. So that is what I want to offer today is to get going because obviously, with practice too, you’re going to get better. Perfect is the enemy of done, so let’s get it started. That’s number one. 

[00:02:33] Sarah: Well, and how aspirational is it to see a family buy a property, pour their heart and soul into it, and then see the after? Your potential guests, your future guests are going to feel invested in that journey and you’re going to have raving fans.

[00:02:47] Annette: For example, I think the handle is @pinkdreamcottage. She is totally crushing on social media, hundreds of thousands of followers, and she hasn’t even welcomed one guest yet. So just imagine the potential booking she’s going to have when she does open her door. So kudos to her. 

[00:03:06] Sarah: All right, Annette, what’s another tip? 

[00:03:08] Annette: Next, it’s about. Just think about. What are all the abouts about your home? Let’s do about the host. Introduce yourself. Storytell about you and your why. About their stay. What are they going to get to enjoy? About the property, inside and out. About the area. About the things to do in the area.

About the special amenities in your particular home. Are you pet friendly? Are you family friendly? Do you have a hot tub? Is there a story behind it? So the umbrella at the top is about, and then all of the things that can jet off of it. So think what you can tell your potential guest, all the things about.

And what I love about consistency here, what I just told you, about you, about the stay, about the property, about the area. Maybe that’s Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and you just cycle through and make sure you’re highlighting and telling your future guest about those things. 

[00:04:05] Sarah: So for example, Monday could be always about you as a family, you as a host. Maybe it’s your dog that you’re sharing, or your cleaning team, or your inspector. So Mondays are about people that make your short-term rental run. Tuesday is about amenities. So that’s what we’re saying here to help you. Because a lot of people will stop in their tracks, they feel like they don’t have ideas. So having these sorts of buckets for every day of the week will help you get those ideas. Structure.

[00:04:32] Annette: And heck, you use STR Share Sunday. Share other people in your community. Share businesses. Share your favorite coffee shop. Share your favorite restaurant, your favorite brunch spot, your favorite happy hour dinner, grocery store, your favorite hike. So if you can also incorporate sharing about other places, that is a huge thing. And you can tag them, and then hopefully they can re-share you. 

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[00:05:01] Annette: So last but not least, that you sharing others, we want you to ask people to share you. So Sarah, let’s talk about user generated content, reposting what they post and review.

[00:05:15] Sarah: So once you have guests at your property and they leave you those glowing five star reviews, screenshot them. Have that be that content for the day on your feed posts. You can get on your stories and share what that review said. But even more juicy is when people start leaving those reviews, the words that they use to describe their experience in your home, use those words in your listing description on your social media and your captions. Those are the words that your guests are saying about your space, and that’s going to attract more guests like them who are also going to love your space. 

[00:05:50] Annette: Essentially, they are free freelance copywriters for you. And with that user generated content, everyone loves to be shared, so invite them. Make an invitation before, during, and after the stay for your guest to post how they are enjoying your property. They will love that you shared them. You have that user generated content. Of course, get their approval, but the sky is the limit. You can do as much as you want, as little as you want, but I want to encourage you to please remain consistent, authentic, and document not only the guest stay, but your journey.

[00:06:29] Sarah: Little bonus content. Social media.

[00:06:32] Annette: Hot tip on the Hotline. 

[00:06:34] Sarah: Hot tip on my social media is, obviously, great not only to hopefully get direct bookings from people who might be searching your location, whatever that driving factor is that bring people to your community or your area, but it’s also street cred. We get that if you have more followers, it’s proving that your vacation rental is as amazing as you say it is.

But I also do– we don’t want you to forget about your digital real estate. You mentioned that you are having a website built, and we commend you for that, and so let’s not forget to send the potential guest and that return guest back to our digital home, which is our online website because that’s where we can capture their email, where we can email them, our newsletter, our invitations to come back and stay with us. So some tips we’ve had from our members inside of HBMM, Hosting Business Mastery, is a lot of them are using QR codes throughout their property to share instructions on how to operate more difficult appliances like hot tubs and fireplaces.

[00:07:34] Annette: Or if you’re me, just a regular coffee pot.

[00:07:36] Sarah: Or a TV for that matter. But instead of taking them to a QR code that goes to a private YouTube channel or back to an Instagram story, I know people are doing that as well, but we encourage you to bring them to your website, embed these videos on your website, and potentially have a popup there that invites them to give you their email address so you can invite them to come back and stay with you. So there’s just a little hot tip for you. Not to forget about social content on your website.

[00:08:02] Annette: Your why behind your contenting. And so we want you to really think about the why when you’re creating that. We want you to know what the long game is there. 

[00:08:13] Sarah: To sum it up, you should absolutely start contenting before you even buy a property. Anyone out there, haven’t bought a property yet but you can envision the entire thing already done, get that Instagram handle, start contenting now, and building your audience now. Why the heck would you wait? There’s no reason. People love a good story. Start yours today. With that, I am Sarah Karakaian.

[00:08:34] Annette: I am Annette Grant, and together we are–

[00:08:36] Both Annette & Sarah: Thanks for Visiting. 

[00:08:37] Sarah: Talk to you next time.