4 Unexpected Benefits of Selling TripShock Tours and Activities as a Vacation Rental or Property Manager
If you’ve been considering monetizing tours, activities and excursions, why haven’t you yet? Whether you own a vacation rental or manage properties, offering experiences can be more simple than you think. If it’s time, financial commitment, scalability, or true value-add you’re concerned about, allow us to introduce you to some unexpected benefits that will change your mind about becoming a TripShock affiliate!
Table of Contents
- 1) Improved Guest Reviews
- 2) Modernized Marketing
- 3) Additional Information About Your Guests
- 4) More Money from Every Booking
1) Improved Guest Reviews
Does your typical post-stay message from guests go a little like this?
“We enjoyed our stay at MODERN BEACH HOUSE! The house was very clean and spacious, had a well-equipped kitchen for making breakfast and was beautifully decorated, and we loved the pool and easy beach access.”
Don’t get us wrong – it’s a fantastic review of your property! But what could it mean for your business if the praise you regularly receive went beyond the condition of the unit, with guests piling on the love for the overall experience you provided? Here’s an example:
“YOUR VACATION RENTAL BRAND made our entire vacation experience memorable from start to finish! MODERN BEACH HOUSE was beautiful, clean and spacious; had everything we needed for our stay; and had quick and easy beach access. Plus, they helped connect us with the best local activities that we were interested in, and had they not reminded us to book a Crab Island pontoon rental in advance, we might’ve missed out on the highlight of our trip (and wasted precious time calling around)! We felt like we got the VIP treatment overall – YOUR VACATION RENTAL BRAND really cares about their guests and knows how to make your getaway unforgettable and hassle-free!”
See the difference? While travelers will always appreciate a high thread count, a spotless kitchenette and a breathtaking view of the sunset, don’t forget that retaining and attracting new guests may start with fuzzy slippers… but it doesn’t end with it. Selling tours and activities with TripShock’s vacation rental affiliate program can help.
2) Modernized Marketing
Did you read the following sentence from the review above and think, “we don’t have time for all that”?
“they helped connect us with the best local activities that we were interested in, and had they not reminded us to book a Crab Island pontoon rental in advance, we might’ve missed out on the highlight of our trip”
The great thing about TripShock’s travel affiliate program is that connecting guests with their favorite activities doesn’t have to be a chore. Affiliate links can be cleanly integrated into your automated marketing workflows (or consider this a nudge to look into if you aren’t already!). After links are integrated, you can upsell and recommend tours and activities to your guests at multiple points in their journey with the one-time press of a button. That means from the moment a guest books their stay, you can start inspiring them with exciting excursions in your destination, and provide them with a trusted partner for reserving those experiences in a way that blends seamlessly into your brand.
Speaking of seamlessly, using automated workflows saves you time and money, and can provide an insightful snapshot of your guests’ behavior and motivations…
- Are your travelers more likely to book an activity prior to their stay or during their stay?
- Which emails or SMS texts receive the most engagement and could be improved to even better serve the guest?
- What else could your business learn and benefit from by putting modern marketing to work for you?
Check out this handy guide to incorporating affiliate links into your marketing channels as an accommodations provider. This article dives into proven automated workflows including optimized confirmation emails, SMS text reminders, in-unit or concierge rack cards with QR codes, branded WiFi login pages, digital guidebooks, YourWelcome vacation rental tablets, and more!
3) Additional Information About Your Guests
Let’s say that, through your marketing channels and business intelligence, you determine Traveler A expressed interest in fishing and recently stayed at a vacation rental unit that sleeps 6 in Destin, Florida.
Would any of that be useful to you from a marketing perspective? Hint: It should be! And here’s just an idea of what you could do with the information using email automation:
- Send an automated email to remind guests to book during a certain time of year when their interest is popular, like the annual Destin Fishing Rodeo in October.
- If you have properties in other destinations where fishing is prominent, curate an email with the top fishing spots and inspiration to book with your brand again elsewhere. As always, use the click data to see trends!
- Since the traveler booked a smaller unit, we could use this to find out what types of vacations they prefer (i.e. guys trips or family vacations, etc.) by using fishing charters as a point of interest. Craft an email featuring deep sea, inshore bay, private and kids fishing charters. Like we mentioned above, take advantage of the reporting and see if any of these received more engagement than the others!
You might know where your guests like to vacation, but it certainly helps to know what they like to do on vacation, too! Not only will your guests feel like you know them and care about their unique needs with targeted and actionable marketing via TripShock affiliate links, you’ll also gain knowledge that will improve your retention efforts in the process.
4) More Money from Every Booking
This one’s simple and we saved the best for last.
Say you were spending $1,000 a year advertising tours and activities as a vacation rental manager or property owner. That’s money in the hole, with no commissions to earn when one of your guests books an activity or excursion YOU recommended.
What if we told you that you could be a TripShock affiliate for FREE, while also potentially generating $1,000 a year or even a month? All you need is some hustle, and a TripShock affiliate specialist in your corner. With TripShock, you’ll get a great head start on some tried and true, set-it-and-forget it, automated marketing ideas!
If you’re ready to upgrade your vacation rental marketing and amenities as an accommodations provider, the TripShock affiliate program could be a game changer for you and your business. Click here to submit an inquiry or get in touch with Stephanie at [email protected] to learn more!