Optimizing STR Bookings

[Steve Keisling]

Hi, everyone! My wife and I have a STR in downtown Wilmington and we're looking to increase weekday bookings - besides just lowering prices on the weekdays. I have already done that and am curious if anyone has implemented marketing solutions to overcome this problem. The home is crushing it on the weekends (credit to my wife's Superhost management skills). I can't recall the last time we had a weekend vacancy. That said, we're definitely not optimized on the weekdays.

Link to the property is here if anyone wants context:

Fun 4-BDR downtown home close to everything - Houses for Rent in Wilmington, North Carolina, United States - Airbnb

[John Underwood]

Price is the biggest thing to get weekday bookings in the off-season.

You can surley do social media advertising to try and get weekday bookings.

You can pay for Facebook and Google ads too. 

[Luke Carl]

There’s a Facebook group to post your listing and get advice 

[Matthew Bowling]

Downtown Wilmington is such a weekend getaway place that I'm struggling to think of ways to drive traffic during the week. Have you looked into sites that market to traveling nurses and professionals? What about the school? Would they need temporary housing for visiting professionals?  

[Leslie Anne Morris]

I have success running google ads. As a result guests direct book, save the Airbnb booking fee & stay longer!

[Steve Keisling]

Quote from @John Underwood:

Price is the biggest thing to get weekday bookings in the off-season.

You can surley do social media advertising to try and get weekday bookings.

You can pay for Facebook and Google ads too. 

 Thanks, John. Ads might be a good idea. 

[Steve Keisling]

Quote from @Luke Carl:

There’s a Facebook group to post your listing and get advice 

 Thanks! I wasn't tracking this one. 

[Steve Keisling]

Quote from @Matthew Bowling:

Downtown Wilmington is such a weekend getaway place that I'm struggling to think of ways to drive traffic during the week. Have you looked into sites that market to traveling nurses and professionals? What about the school? Would they need temporary housing for visiting professionals?  

 You are correct. Wilmington being a weekend market is a reality and is the largest contributor. I have looked into travel nurses but they are usually looking for mid-term rentals. With my weekends being booked solid, I don't have what they are looking for. 

[Steve Keisling]

Quote from @Leslie Anne Morris:

I have success running google ads. As a result guests direct book, save the Airbnb booking fee & stay longer!

Thanks for this! I actually started researching direct booking this morning. A friend warned me away from it for liability purposes. Has STR insurance detracted much from your cash flow?

[Collin Chan]

I have short term rental insurance without direct bookings. I don't think it impacts the rate but it's not a significant impact to my expenses ($1200-$1500/year/SFH property in AZ).

Have you looked at Airdna or other sites to see what occupancy looks like in your market and for other STR operators? I've used Rabbu as well to see properties with higher occupancy and see what they have/offer to try and get that market share.

If all other STRs are not booking weekdays then it's going to take creativity.

[Leslie Anne Morris]

Quote from @Steve Keisling:

Quote from @Leslie Anne Morris:

I have success running google ads. As a result guests direct book, save the Airbnb booking fee & stay longer!

Thanks for this! I actually started researching direct booking this morning. A friend warned me away from it for liability purposes. Has STR insurance detracted much from your cash flow?

You should have a robust insurance policy especially if you want liability protection. I don’t rely on Airbnb. 

[Mike Shemp]

You could run Facebook ads and spend some time figuring out who your target audience might be for people visiting mid-week, and target the ad to them.

Mike

[Michael Baum]

Does your area have nothing good to do during the week? I hear that it is a popular weekend destination but does Wilmington just roll up the sidewalks come Monday morning?

What about a longer stay requirement? We have 3 day minimum stays. We are on a lake and pretty rural, the lake is always there. :)

[Bobby Souza]

Pricing strategy is a big one - dynamic pricing tools like pricelabs will help. 

As @Matthew Bowling mentioned, corporate travel is a worth exploring. 

Facebook ads and Facebook groups are a good idea as well. 

Have you heard of peerspace? It's another great way to allow people to rent out your space for a day to host events: business meetings, photoshoots, baby showers, etc.

[Matthew Bowling]

Quote from @Bobby Souza:

Pricing strategy is a big one - dynamic pricing tools like pricelabs will help. 

As @Matthew Bowling mentioned, corporate travel is a worth exploring. 

Facebook ads and Facebook groups are a good idea as well. 

Have you heard of peerspace? It's another great way to allow people to rent out your space for a day to host events: business meetings, photoshoots, baby showers, etc.

Thanks @Bobby Souza Peerspace! That's what I was racking my brain trying to remember. @Steve Keisling why not register and build an email list of potential parties and send them a simple invite once a quarter.

@Bobby Souzaundefined

[Steve Keisling]

These are all fantastic ideas! I really appreciate the help on this, everyone! 

[Grayson Spittel]

@Steve Keisling something I've done is look for those gaps and (1) extend your minimum stay during the summer, when you could stretch to have 3 day stays. I also really like the ability to (2) reach out to those people who have only booked the weekends and offer them a discounted rate for an additional night to come earlier/stay later. If it's 50% of your nightly rate, but extends their stay, it's something. That has worked well for me. 

[William Leahy]

I have seen some success with two things in the shoulder season to bump up weeknights. With further lead time, I bump min nights to 3 . I also set individual weeks for weekly discounts. I dont like setting blanket discounts but in airbnb you can set for individual weeks and months.