• A recent study shows, that people spend on average 30 % of their day on social media.
• Social media platforms allow you to talk to previous, upcoming and potential guests all at once (for free).
• Social media enables you to share your knowledge (e.g. „hidden gems“ such as secluded beaches or an excellent restaurant that locals don’t want tourists to know about because it’s so good), to promote deals (e.g. posting special offers to entice early bookings around seasonal holidays), to build relationships with local businesses (e.g. posting images of a welcome basket filled with local products) and to engage with holidaymakers (e.g. by asking them questions and giving them advice or by running a contest for the best vacation photo that showcases your place).
• Facebook is a great social network to get word-of-mouth recommendations for your vacation rental. Most users update their statuses while on holiday (e.g. photos of your vacation rental). These posts might be seen by their friends (free promotion). Upload fresh content on a regular basis. Your posts may include images of sunsets and local beaches, videos of your view, information about local attractions and events and pictures that showcase various rooms within your vacation rental (accompanied with a description of your property) etc. Consider subtly adding links to your vacation rental website without piching a sale.
• Twitter allows you to directly engage with travellers and other businesses. Use Twitter to become an authority and trusted information source by posting useful information. Focus on a couple of appropriate hashtags (e.g. #TravelTips, #HolidayCottage) to maximize content outreach. Twitter can be an interestinig tool to drive bookings, but like most social media channels, it needs to be nurtured (regular content updates – striking offers and images). Consider sharing rich content with your followers by retweeting others content.
• Instagram is a platform all vacation rental owners should be tapping into as it’s totally dedicated to imagery. People love sharing images of their vacations. Travelers also want to see your (uniquely decorated) vacation rental and its surrounding exterior before they book. It’s common practice to push Instagram posts with hashtags (up to 30 per post, preferably in the comment section).
• Not all social media posts will generate likes, comments and vacation rental bookings. But a good social media strategy will help you to get feedback from your guests (new ideas) and to establish credibility by building relationships with travelers an local businesses.

(Source: via @schofields – Get full details at https://www.schofields.ltd.uk/blog/4534/holiday-rental-social-media-marketing/ )