Securing Your Cashflow: Getting More From Your Luxury Airbnb in Scottsdale
According to AirDNA Data on the Airbnb market in Scottsdale, the occupancy rate is around 57%. If you own a vacation rental business, you need to stand out from the crowd to ensure your rentals don't stay unoccupied. One way to do this is by marketing your property as a luxury option.
The luxury travel market is huge. By offering luxury Scottsdale vacation rentals, you'll make your property more appealing allowing you to charge a higher price. Are you interested in learning more about running a luxury Airbnb in Scottsdale? Read on for a comprehensive guide on getting more from your luxury Airbnb.
Outfit Your Property for Maximum Appeal
You need to make your property look as appealing as possible. People who rent a luxury Airbnb have high expectations. Everything you offer guests, from the furnishings to the linens needs to wow your guests.
Invest in recognized luxury brands. These days guests in luxury accommodations expect:
High thread count bedding
Smart home devices
Designer Furniture
Custom and modern art
High-fidelity sound systems
Cozy mood lighting
But don't fall into the trap of filling the place with as much luxury as possible. You need to decorate with a sense of purpose. The best luxury properties have a clear and coherent visual theme.
If you don't have an eye for great aesthetics, consider working with a professional designer. They'll help you source furnishings and decorations that gel with your property and resonate with guests.
Make it Instagram Worthy
According to Stay Montana, your guests want to see Instagram-worthy spaces they can share online with their followers. This is great for vacation rental owners as you're getting free, organic marketing.
Here are some ways you can encourage guests to upload photos to social networks like Instagram:
Use a consistent theme and color palette
Try to develop a unique signature style
Have unique, attention-grabbing furniture (such as swing chairs)
Have attractive neon signs with catchy or funny phrases
You could even have a dedicated "Selfie Corner"
When guests pay for luxury, they're expecting somewhere full of Instagram photo potential. By setting up unique photo opportunities, you'll encourage invaluable organic social media marketing.
If you're lucky, an influencer with a large following might engage with one of these photos. This type of engagement could seriously boost your booking rate.
Market to a Niche Audience
If you don't like the sound of appealing to Instagrammers, you could try reaching a certain niche. If you can identify a gap in the market and appeal to the needs of a neglected group, you could position yourself as one of the most popular options.
You Could Appeal to Business Travellers
Scottsdale, Arizona, is a common destination for business travelers. According to Experience Scottsdale, the city has around 21,600 licensed businesses. The city also hosts various business conferences throughout the year.
Business guests usually like luxury accommodations because they can put the expenses on the company accounts. It's not their money, so they're usually pretty easy to please.
Business travelers often revisit the same city, so guests who are happy with your property are more likely to stay there again. Because business travelers come to Scottsdale all year round, you'll be less likely to lose money during the tourist "off-season."
Here's what you need to do to cater to the needs of a business traveler:
Have well-functioning workplaces with ergonomic chairs and plenty of accessible power outlets
Have high-speed reliable Wi-Fi available and ensure it's secure to demonstrate trustworthiness
Have a room suitable for meetings with comfortable seating and lots of table space
Prioritize privacy, remember that business travelers sharing accommodations often don't know each other too well
Focus on Family Bookings
Families looking for a vacation rental space typically prioritize comfort and safety, and they're prepared to pay extra to make sure they get it. Countless families visit Scottsdale throughout the year to visit family-friendly attractions like the Desert Botanical Garden and McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park. They're also likely to book extended stays over summer break periods.
This makes them an ideal guest for your luxury rental. To encourage families to book (and to encourage repeat bookings), consider offering the following:
Safe cribs and playpens
Baby-proofing to ensure safety
Access to streaming services with kid-friendly content
Secure outdoor play areas
Plenty of engaging toys and games
Families often struggle to find accommodations that take their needs into account, so by establishing a solid reputation as a family-friendly Airbnb, you'll likely see many repeat bookings.
Attract Wellness Tourists
Another key demographic in the Scottsdale tourism industry is wellness travelers. These health enthusiasts come to Scottsdale to take a break and boost their mental and physical health. Often they'll plan to:
Walk hiking trails
Visit spa resorts
Practice Yoga or Meditation
Eat at healthy farm-to-table restaurants
These travelers want to rejuvenate themselves through a fulfilling vacation and they'll pay top dollar for a luxury space that helps them relax and unwind. Generally, wellness tourists appreciate a space with:
Outdoor spaces suitable for Yoga
Views of Scottsdale's natural beauty
A kitchen equipped for healthy living - provide things like juice blenders and healthy snacks
Filtered or bottled water
By offering a comprehensive wellness retreat you'll attract a dedicated and high-spending wellness audience.
Adopt the Right Marketing Strategy
Creating an appealing space with luxury amenities and furnishings is only half the challenge. It doesn't matter how stunning your Airbnb is if you can't draw people to your listing. To maximize cash flow, you'll need to optimize your marketing strategy.
Optimize Your Listing
While some of your bookings will be from repeat customers or through word-of-mouth recommendations, most of your guests will book through an online listing. The more visible that listing is, the more bookings you'll get.
According to Psychology Today, it only takes a few moments for someone to form a first impression. People seeing your listing will likely notice the photos first, so having great pictures of your property is crucial. The photos should be high-resolution, well-lit, and highlight your property's best features.
If you have luxury furnishings or stunning views of the natural landscape, your listing is the perfect place to show them off. Always place the most stunning and eye-catching images in the most prominent positions.
Not only will high-quality photos make your listing more appealing, but they'll also boost your search ranking. Platforms like Airbnb will prioritize your listing in the search algorithms if you have professional-quality images.
If you're not confident with a camera, it makes sense to hire a professional photographer. After all, photos could make or break your vacation rental listing.
Words are also important. You'll drive more traffic to your listing by leveraging the right keywords and phrases. Take some time to set up your listing with appropriate keywords like "luxury" and "resort-style". If you're not using the right keywords, you'll struggle to attract traffic.
Like photography, writing a captivating description (that leverages appropriate keywords) is a professional skill. To achieve optimal visibility on search engines, consider working with a professional online marketing company.
Use Social Media Marketing
People interested in luxury vacation rentals tend to be very active on social media. You'll need to skillfully leverage these planforms if you want to reach a broad audience.
Create an Instagram account to showcase your property's most attractive features. Present the photos in a way that maximizes engagement. For example, you can pose questions to your followers.
You can also engage with prominent local hashtags. Check out what's trending and look for tags like "#Scottsdale" or "#ScottsdaleLuxury". use these to tag your photos and you'll see increased traffic and engagement.
Consider Paid Ads
If you're serious about attracting guests, you need to invest in paid online advertising. If you're listing your property on Airbnb, consider using some of the platform's promotional tools. Paying for a premium listing will make your listing appear higher in search results.
Airbnb also allows you to offer special discounts for late or early bird bookings. Such tools are invaluable for keeping your occupancy rate high during the off-season.
You can also buy paid ads through Facebook or Instagram. These platforms have a huge user base and their advertising platform allows you to specifically target your key demographics. By applying custom advertising features, you can create ads for people with specific interests or travel behaviors.
Facebook and Instagram have a lot of user data, so their targeted campaign options are effective. They're also affordable, your ads can be tailored to your budget, so don't be afraid to explore Facebook advertising if funds are tight.
Another strong option is Google. Google ads are likely to bring in bookings because Google targets "high-intent" users. As the top search engine, Google knows when users are actively searching for vacation rentals.
By only showing your ads to these users, you're getting more conversions for your money. You can also view detailed performance tracking measures allowing you to tweak your advertising tactics for maximum return on investment.
Simplify the Check-in Process
People like to check in quickly and seamlessly. Guests like to drop off their luggage and settle in as soon as they arrive, so if they're stuck waiting around for the property to be ready, it creates a bad first impression.
If you're trying to appeal to certain niches like business travelers, guests might have unconventional schedules or face delayed flights. By making it easy for early or late arrivals to check in you'll boost guest satisfaction and keep your listing competitive.
Automate the Process
It's probably not realistic to have someone available to check people in 24 hours a day. Since guests don't like waiting around, it makes sense to automate the check-in process. You can use smart locks with entry codes to make check-in easy and convenient.
Provide your guests with detailed instructions on navigating the check-in process, and most of your guests will figure things out. For guests who experience problems, make sure you have an emergency contact available.
You can even automate the process of sending out instructions. Airbnb lets you set up automatic messaging that will send check-in instructions to guests at the appropriate time.
Consider attaching things like maps or photos of the entrance to minimize confusion. You can also solicit feedback from your guests to help adapt the listing to make it more informative.
Flexible and easy check-in processes cater to the needs of modern travelers. By automating the process and offering 24/7 check-in, your property appeals to a broader audience and you'll likely get more repeat bookings and positive reviews.
Encourage Repeat Guests
As a vacation rental owner, you should aim for repeat bookings over new ones. There are many reasons why this makes sense:
You'll spend less on marketing, as the guests already know about your property
You know the guests can be trusted based on their previous behavior
Loyal guests will likely recommend your rental to friends and family
Some guests will rebook at the same time every year guaranteeing a minimum cashflow
To encourage these kinds of guests, you need to provide a unique and enjoyable experience. Make sure the place is clean and respond promptly to any inquiries. If your guests experience problems, go above and beyond to make things right.
Optimize Cashflow for Your Luxury Airbnb in Scottsdale
A Luxury Airbnb in Scottsdale could be a reliable source of income, but you'll need to stand out from the crowd if you want to get consistent bookings all year round. By offering high-class amenities, catering to the right audience, and optimizing your marketing and listing strategy, you'll attract loyal guests.
Managing luxury accommodations is difficult work as your guests expect the best. Working with a property management company makes sense, but it's hard to find a partner who understands the unique challenges and requirements of the luxury market.
Here at Luxury Cashflow, we understand what it takes to succeed in this demanding niche. Our founder Ross Greenberg has extensive experience with luxury properties allowing him to spot revenue opportunities others might miss. Since our company's inception, we've helped landlords like yourself unlock up to $450,000 in top-line annual revenue.
Are you interested in learning how we can boost investment returns on your Luxury Airbnb in Scottsdale? Contact us today, and let's discuss your needs.