Can You Spot Your Customers?

If you’ve ever been to the coast of Maine, you’ve probably noticed lobster buoys EVERYWHERE! The buoys have different color combinations corresponding to their owner. Each lobster fisherman has his or her own colors painted onto their buoys to make them easy to spot and identify.  I happen to think this is really interesting and fun!

Guess what?  All travelers are not the same either.  When you are trying to attract guests to your vacation rental, you need to start by knowing your audience.  A look at your rental history over the last year or two will give you a general idea of who you’ve attracted to your property in the past.  Think about those guests and figure out how you can organize those into groups.  Here are 5 questions to consider:

1. Why did they come to the area, and what activities are they enjoying?
2. How long are they staying?  A weekend?  A week?
3. Who are they?  Families?  Group of friends? Business travelers? Couples?
4. Are they repeat visitors to the area or first time visitors?
5. Are they past guests of your vacation rental?

Lobster buoys in Boothbay Harbor.

If you know who you’ve been successful at attracting in the past, you can better speak to them in your listing.  Once they’ve booked, you can better communicate with them before their stay.  If you’ve not done so already, consider crafting a different pre-stay set of communications for each group.  For families with children, you could include recommendations for kid-friendly activities while your email to couples might include ideas for romantic outings.

Finally, keep track of how many in each group rent from you.  That can become the foundation for future marketing efforts and help spot your potential customers.