How to Write a Good Ad to Promote Your Holiday Villa Or Apartment on the Internet

The Internet companies involved in advertising properties promote themselves and their clients ads to attract rental inquiries which are received directly by the owner or managing agent. These companies do their best to promote what they are given but the success of their endeavors has a great deal to do with what the owners provide to site users in the content of their adverts. It is a joint effort and many owners do not make the best of promoting their properties. This article attempts to give guidance to owners on how to write good Ad copy to attract more interest in your holiday homes.

The Important Things to Consider In You Ad

As an advertiser you want to present to potential clients the very best aspects of your rental proposition and its surroundings. You want to highlight the benefits to your potential renter as seen in their eyes. Your Ad proposition should at the very least address the issues listed here...

• Make an eye catching headline summarising the major benefits of the property and its location that would attract the kind of renters you seek. If ideal for a family holiday say so. Target your renters by identifying what kind of people, couples, large groups or otherwise your property would attract.


• Make a very clear and unambiguous statement about what your are renting. Describe its size and location, whether it is completely private or not and point out any shared facilities that may exist. Also point out the proximity to local resources like beaches and shops and wether a car is required for practical purposes.


• Include as many quality photos as possible of the property and its location. Show pictures of local attractions like beaches and mountain views. Just because you may have 3 bathrooms it does no mean you attract more interest in your property by including a photo of each. Try to set a balance between the main property features inside and out like pool, terrace and garden. If there are unique and interesting things to see include a photo of them to, particularly beaches and country views. Do remember to take photos in optimal lighting conditions. Use the sunlight but avoid producing deep shadows by the position you take the photos. Also with modern digital cameras you may take many shots before selecting 10 or so for inclusion in your Ad.


• Make clear the number of bedrooms, sleeping sizes and the distribution of the bedrooms in the property. If you sub-let part of the property separately point this out. Also indicate if the sub-let can be let to one individual group along with other parts of the property. People will want to know if they are sharing the property or part of it with the owners or other renters. It is better to get clients who know up-front what to expect, rather than be disappointed and never to return again. You want to pamper your clients and ensure everything is as described in your Ad. Why risk conflict and disputes! You want to foster a healthy and friendly relationship with your clients so they may return another day.


• Make use of maps, particularly, if available, interactive maps so people can see where your property is in relation to other places like towns, roads, beaches, airports, attractions etc.


• Make your rental tariff clear; distinguishing between Low, Mid an High season prices. Do not over complicate it with a different price for each week of the year. People will first scan your Ad for prominent features that attract them, mainly the photos. They will not bury themselves in unnecessary and complicated detail. Another important issue is that you do your research to set your prices by looking at similar properties in your location and making yourself competitive! You can do this by looking at other advertisers Ads.


• Make your payment terms clear including deposits and when due. Ensure that you explain the method required to transfer funds. Also spell out if a breakage deposit applies, how much and the terms of release.


• Take care to describe what arrangements are made for cleaning and who to contact in emergencies. Say you will provide a house book for important telephone numbers, doctors, police, hospitals, the pool man and how to work the washing machine etc.


• Offer advise on local amenities like supermarkets, shopping and other local facilities. Give names and directions.


• Recommend places to eat, restaurants, things to do and see. Where there are local attractions that would attract children, point them out as many families are interested in occupying their childrens time where family holidays are involved. And the children can often have a big influence on whether they may make a booking by knowing this information up-front.


• Try to target your Ad copy at the type of clients you seek. There is a big difference between couples seeking peace and quite and groups of people looking for night life. Be aware if you have neighbors that the kind of people you are trying to attract are not going to leave a legacy of bad feeling with you and your neighbors. Target your property type to the people it is best suited to.


• Describe the atmosphere of your location, the people and their customs, this adds richness to the experience they may find by renting your property. Explain when and where local fiestas and celebrations take place for example. Remember first time visitors will not know this information in advance and by providing it you pre-sell your Ad proposition because they see not just your property but what kind of holiday experience they may have by renting it. You need to placate any reservations renters may have up front by providing clear, concise and complete information that does not require them to make repeated secondary enquiries. This will increase the number of enquiries that turn into bookings!


• When you write your Ad copy ensure you break It up into byte size chunks with paragraphs breaks. Put the main benefits first, as seen through the eyes of your potential renters. If you have a managing agent or independent contact person dealing with your clients indicate how these people may be contacted should it be needed. This will help to provide a warm feeling that you care about your clients.


• Make sure you point out any safety features you have in place, particularly where children are concerned. Point out the need for supervised access to your pool where appropriate when children are involved.


• Explain what facilities are available to your clients from TV to Internet. If video recorders and music systems are on offer make sure you indicate that full instructions for their use will be provided in your house book. Where your private property is concerned explain your preferences to respect your privacy in these matters.


• Where possible provide information like distances to motorways, Major routes, airports, train and bus stations where appropriate. Give names and telephone numbers of local car hire and taxi companies you recommend. Where airlines are involved point out which companies travel to your destination and when as availability of flights might determine which days are possible to start a rental period.


• If your Ad has an availability option make sure you keep it up to date. The enquirer will not make an enquiry for dates shown as booked and this saves you unnecessary work.


• If your property has its own web site with more comprehensive details the reader can refer to, consider the option of adding a link to this site from your Ad.


• Normally your primary contact method would be via email generated by the company hosting your Ad, but these days many people use free email accounts provided by Google, Yahoo and the like. You will need to ensure your enquiries are getting to you and not stuck in some spam filter! Regularly try a test enquiry to your self to make sure it is working. When you provide telephone contacts make sure it is clear including country codes etc.


• Many companies provide SMS enquiry alerts in addition to email enquiries. If you use this feature point it out in your Ad copy so that the enquirer knows you can respond promptly in case you are not at that time able to respond to your email. This way you wont leave them hanging wondering if you got their enquiry.


• One final point is to make it very clear when your change over times are. You want time to clean the property for the next renters so you should say when clients are expected to vacate the property and new visitors should be given a time to take possession.

There are many other aspects to promoting such property Ads on the Internet, which I may go into in a future article but for now if you try to address all the points raised in this article your Ad will definitely attract more interest, raising the prospects of a better rental season.