It happens, most of the time during there year there will be a slight drop in bookings or quiet times. Ultimately, the nature of this kind of industry is that it can be very seasonal, particularly towards the winter months. Many hosts report a pattern on booking behaviour throughout the year. Here’s AirRented’s top tips on how to get more bookings quickly on Airbnb
I’ve been quite lucky with my venture on Airbnb as my rental’s proximity to big local entertainment and short train ride into London means the summer months are always busy with tourists, couple’s looking to take a mini break or people working in the city needing cheaper accommodation.
It also happens to be on the doorstep of a popular shopping hub so my calendar books up quicky over the winter months too with guests coming down from all over the country for weekend Christmas Shopping stays.
It can be worrying when bookings start to dry up or if you’ve just started on the platform and are itching to get hosting, especially when there are bills to pay. Luckily there are a few things you can do to get the ball rolling again or get it to start rolling so you’re not twiddling your thumbs. Here’s how to get more bookings quickly:
Undercut the Competition.
If you’re new to the platform the most important thing you’ll need is good feedback. Without any previous reputation someone out there is going to have to bite the bullet and book with you which is very daunting.
Having no history of hosting means nobody has tested out your hospitality which guests can be put off by. Can you blame them? Your rental could be dirty, could look nothing like the pictures or you could even be an untrustworthy or unpleasant host.
To get those first 5 stars, In the early stages you’ll want to undercut local competition. Reducing the price below competitors will also rank you higher in the search results for prospective guests.
Be wary that some guests will often see a newbie as an opportunity to get a bargain. It’s common for people to ask new hosts for discounts and if you’re particularly desperate and have been waiting for a booking for a while you’ll be more likely to accept.
There’s also no guarantee that the first guest will leave a review for you but often in the early stages, depending on how keen you are to build your profile and reputation, you may want to just get a reservation made.
If you’re offering a spare room and will be present to greet your guest, making a smaller profit or even breaking even for the sake of that first feedback is definitely worth it in my eyes.
If you’ve been on the platform for a while or if your bookings have dried up, have a look at what other hosts are charging in your local area. Prices fluctuate constantly, including with the seasons and you may find that you’ve been gradually been out priced by the competition without realising, or that new properties have sprung up and have a cheaper offering or apparent better value for money.
It’s easy to get complacent with your listing on Airbnb when things have been plodding along and your bookings have been reasonably steady. These new properties may have better amenities available and charge the same as you so it’s always wise to compare your property with the other Airbnb’s in your vicinity.
Assess whether your pricing needs adjusting and see if you can reduce it by a percentage – temporarily – to start filling your calendar. You can bump up the price once you’re comfortable to do so.
Offer a Non-Refundable Option
One way you can set a lower price and secure income without manually lowering your nightly price is to offer a ‘non-refundable’ option. This provides guests with a nightly price 10% cheaper than your usual rate but the guest cannot get a refund, so the booking is set from the moment they pay.
The guest can still cancel if they change their mind and your calendar will be freed up again, but the guest is unable to get a refund. This is another way to offer more options for guests when they book and can make your listing more attractive to potential bookings.
Refresh your images.
Removing, changing, or adding new images freshens up your listings and can help bump it higher in the search results. Your property will likely change over time as things are replaced or updated so keeping your images up to date to reflect this will be beneficial to your listing as well as your accuracy rating.
Respond to messages promptly
I’ve noticed if I’m going through a bookings dry spell, when I do finally get a booking and accept, other bookings requests come in in the following days. It could be a coincidence but it seems the more bookings you accept and respond to, it seems to increase your visibility.
Likewise, refusing bookings is going to push you down, so keep an open mind to accepting as many bookings as you can.
There are some booking requests we’d refuse when we’re not desperate for bookings but sometimes you might have to bite the bullet and accept as long as the guest doesn’t appear to have too many red flags.
If a guest is preparing to book, a quick response can be the difference between getting the booking or another host getting the booking. It’s likely the guest contacting you has contacted other hosts so make sure you get there first.
It’s also comforting to have a host respond quickly to your messages. It shows that you’re likely to respond to any issues a guest may have should they wish to contact you during a booking.
Increase Availability.
Make sure your calendar has as many days available as possible. Also consider reducing your preparation and post-cleaning times before and after bookings and if you can, offer same day check in or the ability for guests to book last minute. This will have your property show up in more searches as it will be available for more dates that guests are searching for.
These blocked off dates before and after a guests booking are going to cut some serious blocks of dates out of your calendar.
Tweak your Title.
Stays in glamping pods, garden outbuildings or summerhouse accommodations won’t be attractive to guests in the winter months.
Adding ‘Heated’ or ‘Warm & Cosy’ to the title of your listing can reassure guests that they’ll be comfortable. Just make sure that this is true, and that appropriate heating is provided.
You can add images of the extra heater, or even a nice shot of the blankets and throws you’ve added to reiterate what you’ve taken into consideration. If your glamping pod or summerhouse has a hot tub, up sell this by showing that you provide comfy robes, extra towels or outdoor heating like a firepit.
If your property is near a local Christmas market or seasonal event for example, put this in the title and give details in the listing photos.
Turn on Instant Book
Turning on Instant Book if you haven’t already makes placing reservations so much easier for guests. You can set your parameters to only allow guests who haven’t caused any issues or have feedback already to weed out guests with poor behaviour.
You’ll find you’ll get an increase in bookings when you turn on this feature and coupled with some of the other steps here, you should notice a difference.
Lower minimum stay length & increase maximum stay length
If you’ve set a minimum stay length and your situation allows for it, remove or reduce the minim stay. This will help open you up to a wider pool of travelers and your calendar and you’ll likely get more messages or bookings. When you have enough, you can simply adjust your settings back to before.
And finally,
Give it a few days of patience and see if these changes make a difference. Once one or two bookings come in you can tweak the above things again and slowly restore your prices. Each host’s booking quotas will be different depending on your situation or circumstances.