Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My! How to Compete with the Big Dogs

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My! How to Compete with the Big Dogs Susan Blizzard, CEO, Blizzard Internet Marketing 1

Learning Objectives Clarity on 2016 Monumental Industry Shifts Upshot on Where We Are Headed New Opportunities in this Environment Action Checklist to Compete Against the Big Dogs 2

3 Monumental Industry Shifts

Monumental Industry Shifts Big Changes at Best Match Search Results delighting travelers with an excellent booking experience Listings are first placed within their subscription level then sorted based on best match Conversions (Paid Reservations) (Inquiries) Measurement is easiest with Book It Now/Pay Per Booking How many of you will need to manually update VRBO for rates and availability? 5

Monumental Industry Shifts Big Changes at Service Fee While the math is pretty easy to see, we do $15 billion in bookings today, if you for simple math were at 10%, that s triple the revenue that we ve got right now.» Brian Sharples, HomeAway CEO See the Transcript of Brian Sharples plans on the Blizzard Blog Expedia has a responsibility to Wall Street to justify the $3.9 billion purchase price. 6

9 One Expedia Test

Monumental Industry Shifts Hiccups 10

Monumental Industry Shifts Hiccups 11

Monumental Industry Shifts The Rise of Airbnb 12

Upshot on Where We Are Headed Relying Heavily on Third Parties for Your Bookings Does Not Create A Sustainable Business. Fewer Bookings Fewer Owners Fewer Bookings» Fewer Owners 13

New Opportunities in this Environment 14

New Opportunities in this Environment 1. Individual Owners Are Affected Too If Fewer Leads Need Higher Quality Listings More Competition Listings are More Work Service Fee/Guest Fee May cause fewer bookings Could decrease price to cover it, but less money Owners Need to Work Harder to Get Good Reviews More Places to List 15

New Opportunities in this Environment 2. Direct Bookings with You Travelers can avoid the service fees. 16

New Opportunities in this Environment 3. You Have the Guest Relationship This is more important than ever before 17

New Opportunities in this Environment 4. Many VRMs Are NOT Working Hard to Keep Repeat Guests Be The One In Your Market Who Stands Out 18

New Opportunities in this Environment 5. Vacation Rental Market Share of U.S. Leisure Travelers 2010 2015 8% 25% Hotel/Othe r 75% Stayed In VR 25% PhocusWright 19

Action Items to Compete Against the Big Dogs 20

Action Items to Compete Against the Big Dogs 1. Market to Owners. 2. Solid Website. 3. Be Found. 4. Keep What You Got. 21

Action Items to Compete Against the Big Dogs 1. Market to Owners Why Use You? Make It Clear On Your Website Free Owner Profit Assessments Flyers Local Realtors Listings Take More Work More headaches, more work, and harder to get more bookings Describe All The Marketing That You Do Don t forget to tell your Current Owners as well! 22

Action Items to Compete Against the Big Dogs 1. Market to Owners Owners' Revenue VRBO Past Current Weekly Booking $ 1,500 $ 1,500 Listing Fee 10% 8% Weeks 30 30 Total Booking $ $ 40,500 $ 41,400 Cleaning/Booking $ 100 $ 100 Other Expenses $ 3,000 $ 3,000 Total Costs $ 6,000 $ 6,000 Profit $ 34,500 $ 35,400 More than Ever Before, Why An Owner Should Use A Property Manager If the number of bookings decreases by 10%, the owner makes less even though the fee dropped to 8% VRBO w/fewer Bookings $ 1,500 8% 25 $ 34,500 $ 100 $ 3,000 $ 5,500 $ 29,000-20% Time Spent on Rental Bookings: Calls & Emails Respond Immediately: Increased Need Reviews: Increasingly Important Pricing: Increased Need to Watch Guest Needs: Calls & Emails Laws: Difficult Legislative Environment Complaints: Neighborhood Complaints Housekeeping: Keep Cleaners Property Repairs Property Upgrades 23

Action Items to Compete Against the Big Dogs Owners' Revenue VRBO VRBO w/vrm Past Current w/fewer Bookings Potential Weekly Booking $ 1,500 $ 1,500 $ 1,500 $ 1,500 Listing Fee 10% 8% 8% 20% Weeks 30 30 25 30 Total Booking $ $ 40,500 $ 41,400 $ 34,500 $ 36,000 Cleaning/Booking $ 100 $ 100 $ 100 $ - Other Expenses $ 3,000 $ 3,000 $ 3,000 $ - Total Costs $ 6,000 $ 6,000 $ 5,500 $ - Profit $ 34,500 $ 35,400 $ 29,000 $ 36,000 % Lower Bookings -20% Additional $ Made with VRM $ 7,000 Time Spent on Rental Bookings: Calls & Emails Respond Immediately: Increased Need Reviews: Increasingly Important Pricing: Increased Need to Watch Guest Needs: Calls & Emails Laws: Difficult Legislative Environment Complaints: Neighborhood Complaints Housekeeping: Keep Cleaners Property Repairs Property Upgrades 24

Download Link www.blizzardinternet.com/checklist 25

Action Items to Compete Against the Big Dogs 2. Solid Website. Market To Owners Best Price Guarantee Avoid VRBO, Flipkey, Airbnb booking fees Mobile Friendly Many Websites are Broken. Is Yours? www.blizzardinternet.com/tools 26

Action Items to Compete Against the Big Dogs 3. Be Found. Memorable Name/Tagline Branding Your Website SEO Your Marketing Pay Per Click Ads Social Media Facebook Ads Email Marketing Today you can be more targeted than ever before! 27

Action Items to Compete Against the Big Dogs 3. Be Found. With the Purchase of VRBO by Expedia, Better Marketing to Travelers Better Marketing to Owners Has Never Been More Important. Why? Because sometime between now and tax time 2017, more owners will start shopping for Property Managers. 28

Action Items to Compete Against the Big Dogs 3. Be Found. Distribution Be found Include your Company Name on your listings HomeAway: Property listings should not direct travelers to thirdparty websites. Third-Party? Increase the number of listing sites that you are on 29

Action Items to Compete Against the Big Dogs 3. Be Found. Facebook Pictures worth a thousand words Pinterest, Instagram Google AdWords Remarketing Upload email list Email Marketing Front of Mind Valuable Info 30

Action Items to Compete Against the Big Dogs It s All Too Much! Keep What You Got. Repeat Guests = Fewer Nights to Fill Tools Facebook Email Marketing Get More Info from Guests, Including Other Adults and their Contact Info On Property 31

Action Items to Compete Against the Big Dogs Reviews. Listen to your guests advice. Take action where you can. See Blizzard Blog Post: Build a Review Generating Machine for your Properties Make sure that you share your good reviews on your website and in your other marketing 32

Summary Monumental Industry Shifts New Opportunities in this Environment Owners Affected Also Direct Bookings Can Increase You Know Your Guests Better than any Third Party 33

Summary Action Items to Compete Against the Big Dogs Marketing Market to Owners Why they should use a Property Manager Make Your Website Solid Website Should Highlight No Guest Fee or Best Price Guarantee Reviews, Reviews, Reviews Email Marketing, Targeted Ads, Friends of Friends, etc. Distribution Make it Easy to Find You on VRBO, etc. Consider Distributors Like LeisureLink, MyBookingPal.com, etc. for More Distribution Keep Repeat Guests Keep Your Guests Use all the Tools available to Stay in Touch Get Info on All People at Rentals When Possible 34

Download a copy of our Marketing Checklist: www.blizzardinternet.com/checklist Full Service Online Marketing Services Websites + Customized Booking Engines Join us at one of our Blizzard University Online Marketing Workshops! 35

Specialists in online marketing. Team of Dedicated Marketing Experts avg 8 yrs experience. Teachers at our Blizzard University Workshops several times/year. Satisfied Clients average 7 years. WordPress Websites Flexible/Customizable Booking Engine One of the 1 st on the Market. Mobile Friendly. SEO Optimized for Reservations. Highly Customizable. www.blizzardinternet.com 36