Earning your first bookings can be a challenge. Travelers often look for positive reviews before booking a trip — and as a new listing, you may not have many (or any). The good news? There are ways to incentivize travelers to choose your listing. Use these tips to start earning bookings right away.
Best practices to jump-start your new listing
Establishing your listing isn’t just about the property itself — it’s about bringing it to life onscreen with key elements and supporting content. Here’s how to make your listing stand out from the rest.
Great content:
- Photos should be high resolution, with as many as it takes to show off the different aspects of your listing. Avoid displaying random objects, food/drinks, people, hallways, and toilets. Lead with an exterior shot or your best photos first, and highlight important amenities.
- Make sure your property description includes details about the property that will help guests visualize staying at your vacation rental. Use our property description tips.
Instant Booking:
- Automatically accepting booking requests can help your rank in search and is also the first step toward eligibility for distribution to Expedia sites with 750 million visits per month.
- Instant Booking also helps you save time negotiating with travelers.
- With Instant Booking, you’re always in control of your settings and pricing.
Virtual tours:
- Show travelers a more comprehensive view of your listing to earn trust and set expectations.
- Choose from verified providers that make the capturing process seamless.
- Improve search rankings with a distinguished badge.
Incentivize travelers with a new listing discount
Partners can now opt in to offer a special new listing discount to their guests. Adding a new listing discount can help drive success for new properties by reducing the time it takes to get early bookings and reviews.
On average, listings that offered a new listing discount were 30% more likely to get a first booking within 30 days.* Here's how it works:
Discounting
Partners can opt in to provide a 20% discount off the list price for their first three bookings. When travelers see a listing discount on your property, they’ll know that booking their trip with you will mean getting a good deal on a high-value rental.
Boost in search
Properties that offer a discount will be eligible to be pinned prominently on the first page of search results, which means more potential guests will see your listing.
Badging
Discounted listings will get additional badging and merchandising for their property. A badge explains to travelers that your listing has limited or no reviews because it’s new on our platform (and not because there’s anything wrong) , giving them more confidence to book your property.
Program exit
Listings will exit the program after they receive three bookings or 90 days after the property goes live. You can also opt out any time during this period.
Access the new listing discount from your dashboard; it will be an option when you create your new property listing.
Do you use integrated property management software? The new listing discount integration is now available for your software provider to build for you. Talk to your software provider to learn more.
*Based on an AB test comprising thousands of listings globally between October and December 2019
Setting competitive pricing
MarketMakerTM
Setting competitive rates to keep up with an ever-changing market and variable demand is challenging, MarketMaker makes it easier. With real-time data that provides you the information you need to inform your rates and pricing opportunities that help save time and keep you aligned to your pricing strategy, competitive pricing is now within reach.
Leverage MarketMaker to set rates for long-term success or first-time rates with confidence. MarketMaker insights are available in the dashboard for listings in the US.
Do you use an integrated property management software? You can access MarketMaker insights by logging in to the dashboard. Please note that listings must be Price Consistent, must have Nightly Rates or Length of Stay enabled, and must be located in the US.
Next steps for new listings
Earn your first booking faster with these best practices:
- Add great photos, accept instant bookings, and consider uploading a virtual tour to help your new listing stand out.
- Access MarketMaker to set first-time rates with confidence.
- Use the new listing discount feature to activate additional promotions on our sites. If you use an integrated property management software, contact your software provider to learn more about new listing discount API.
