The Power and value of your brand is more than meets the eye.

You start a short-term rental business and almost certainly one of the first things you will consider is a trading or property name, purely because you need one to register your business. 

In many cases, this is where the focus on the business brand is dropped, and all of the focus is diverted to the property, the furnishing and the décor, getting it photographed with the priority now being about launching the property onto the rental market as quickly as possible for it to generate revenue.

But this is where I feel that many business owners have put “the cart before the horse” creating a business and a product without a brand strategy, and one which has not homed in on the value of defining their brand values or profiling their perfect customer avatar and the experience that they are looking for today. 

If I had a pound for every post that I see on short-term rental forums asking the question “I am buying a holiday let, where is the best place to advertise to get bookings,” only reinforcing that these business owners are building their business with all of their marketing eggs in one OTA basket. 

The market squeeze on the OTA business model coupled with a saturation of mid-range “same as” properties lacking a significant point of difference means that properties are lost in a huge pool of properties and competition for bookings is driving rental prices and average numbers of bookings per property down. 

So, knowing that they probably need to do something different, what is the real barrier to business owners taking that next step and moving away from their dependency on large OTA marketing agencies?

You don’t know what you don’t know.

Here’s the biggest lesson I have learned in my too many years of being in business, you don’t know what you don’t know!  

Most STR business owners at the start of their business journey had an optimistic perception that getting bookings and making good money was just a case of advertising their property on one OTA platform or with one property agency and they take care of promoting their property into the market ether and take care of everything else!

This single partner marketing strategy made market entry easy for property owners, keeping things simple, and the market reach of these large OTA’s with their eye-watering marketing budgets, and market expertise exceeds anything that most solo business owners could compete with and achieve by themselves.

Many don’t know and haven’t sufficiently drilled down on who their perfect guest is, believing that being able to accommodate every possible permutation of guest avatar maximises their opportunity for bookings.

Lacking the marketing and brand strategy skills to know what to do, to do it themselves and like many bootstrapped smaller businesses like a game of snakes and ladders they arrive back at the end of the tail resigned to continue as they are and hope for the best to survive another year.

Thanks to a growing movement of experienced industry educators, there are business owners who now recognise the need to de-risk their business by investing in a “Direct Marketing Strategy,” and having a direct booking website.  However, having invested in a great-looking website or channel management software they are now at a loss as to why it may be driving traffic but not converting new bookings. 

I see business owners implementing “scatter and pray” marketing tactics without a clear brand strategy, market positioning messaging or understanding the psychology behind how to build brand trust.  Your brand is more than what meets the eye, it’s way more than your professional photos of the inside of your property on your website, it’s more than a logo and brand colours, the name of your property or business. 

It takes time, effort and education to build a resilient brand. 

Your brand is an intangible asset that encapsulates the essence and heart of your business, its core values, personality, the unique experience that it offers a specific guest avatar and most importantly your brand is about a customer being able to book with confidence and trust. 

Knowing how to build trust in your brand, from investing in verification accreditation partnering with I-PRAC to offering guests transparent pricing and rental terms, secure payment options, and investing in your customer booking journey experience all contribute to that all-important trust factor of your brand strategy.

Building a memorable brand doesn’t happen overnight, building a trusted brand takes even longer.  Both elements require a commitment from every stakeholder in a business to deliver on your brand promise to your customers, and your shareholders.

Your brand will never be static it will evolve as a business grows, but it’s so much easier to enhance an existing brand that has a clear brand strategy and vision than to start from scratch when your business has been trading for a few years with no clear plan.

“How your customer describes your business when you are not in the room speaks volumes about the strength of your brand”.

Is it worth the effort to build your brand? 

If you don’t invest in your business brand you may as well buy shares in your competitor’s business! 

You are quite literally giving your business away!

Having total control of your business makes your business more agile and able to pivot more quickly to not just survive but thrive through the challenges of market movement.  

In a market where your guest avatar has a huge choice of suitable properties, travellers are now looking for more than just a nice place to sleep.  A uniquely curated experience for your guests, underpinned by a trusted brand reputation is what stands you apart, making it easy for customers to book directly with confidence.  

Never forget that “Uncertainty and a lack of trust stops customers from buying.”

Longevity in the value of your brand and your business is achieved by aligning your business brand vision with the current and future needs of your customers, delivering on your brand promise, and building trust and loyalty which means repeat business and a free network of brand ambassadors.

The effort and investment in establishing your brand will pay off, it’s your insurance policy against market uncertainty, even in the most competitive market.  A strong brand is a valuable business asset, and an established brand increases the asset value of your business making it a much more attractive investment or acquisition proposition.