Optimizing Your Investment: How to Showcase Your STR Design
4 AIRBNB PHOTOGRAPHY TIPS TO YIELD THE HIGHEST RETURN ON YOUR INVESTMENT
Have You Wondered
“When will my STR design investment pay off?”
SO YOU’VE INVESTED THOUSANDS UPON THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS INTO A 5-STAR GETAWAY. Now, HOW DO YOU GET THE BOOKINGS TO TURN A PROFIT?
Stepping into your shoes for a minute…let’s say, property rehab work aside, your styling materials alone has landed anywhere from $10-20K per room. Your property is now fully staged, and you may be looking at your beautifully detailed space, wondering (with a healthy dose of worry)…"Will this ever pay off?"
It’s also possible you’re on a second round of styling updates. In this scenario, you’re a host who acquired an existing property or launched a new with only a basic layer of furnishings, maybe cut corners and skimped on details. We’ve met many hosts in this boat who cross their fingers for bookings, but later come back to us to elevate their property with a "styling finish.” The Olive Jar steps in to complete the picture with all the nuanced touches that transform the property into a real vibe.
AS A BUSINESS OWNER, YOU OWE IT TO YOURSELF TO MARKET YOUR PROPERTY—FOR EVERY PENNY IT’S WORTH.
You set your nightly rate based on what you need to cover your investment plus daily operational costs; but, I know you’re not in this just to break even. You’re in this business to turn a profit, and you want to get there yesterday. How do you convince those travelers your STR experience is worth your nightly rate?
SHOWCASE IT with professional PHOTOGRAPHY & VIDEOGRAPHY THAT TELLS A STORY—YOUR BRAND STORY
If you don't give travelers an experiential picture of your space, your viewers will lack the framework to imagine themselves in your space, LIVING OUT THEIR STORY.
How do you capture an experiential picture of your space? Take it from the professionals.
SHOW. DON’T TELL.
If you’ve ever heard how the best filmmakers do it, you know this pro tip: SHOW. DON’T TELL. Audiences are pulled into a hero’s journey when the characters, scenery and sound show them the story with emotion and detail, not line-for-line dialogue begging to convince. You’ve experienced the later before if you’ve rolled your eyes at heavy handed messaging, or fallen asleep within 10 minutes of the first act.
Just for today, we’ll break that rule, and TELL you how to SHOWcase your 5-star guest experience. See what I did there?
Speaking from two decades of experience in MARKETING & advertising, I CAN TELL YOU THAT conveying THE VALUE OF YOUR rental experience begins by evoking AN emotionAL CONNECTION WITH your viewer.
4 PHOTO & VIDEO ESSENTIALS
ATTRACT YOUR TARGET TRAVELER BY CAPTURING YOUR BRAND STORY WITH THESE STORYTELLING ELEMENTS
(1) MOOD
In a person, mood is their state of mind or feeling. Your rental should display a mood to match the feeling you want your guests to experience. Maybe you want them to feel soothed, or energized. Featuring your amenities in use can set the mood—whether it’s elevated amenities like your pool (above) or the imaginative play things you’ve provided for little ones. One way to express the mood anywhere is to capture the light. Work with photographers and videographers who have the skills and attention to use natural light. It’s far more compelling than artificial—and artificial light is far more costly and time consuming. Picture a single ray of light splayed across your breakfast bar, or a luscious sun flare lighting up your hammock at golden hour. What feeling comes to mind? Whatever descriptor you’ve answered with—that’s a mood.
(2) CHARACTER
"You're beautiful inside and out!" So that we don't raise little narcissists, we emphasize the "inside" part to our children. It places value on their character traits. If you've done a real styling finish on your rental, character is there too; but, you have to get up close and personal—literally—capture close ups of the details if you want your viewers to notice! Whether it's a set of prickly cacti on your top shelf for the plant lovers, or a unique collection of local treasures for the explorers. All those close up features showcase character traits that will peek curiosity about the experience you offer. These become “teasers” of what’s to come for your viewer who books.
(3) MOMENTS
So often STR listing photography looks like real estate photography, all glossy with deceiving amounts of space; OR, you see fancy drone shots that say a lot about the grandeur of your home, but those shots lack intimate connection to moments that could become memories. As hosts, remember that you aren't selling homebuyers—you're selling travelers who get away to reconnect through memorable MOMENTS. So, help them imagine those "moments" in your rental. Trust an onsite stylist with…mocking up an “undone” morning bed look; sourcing a scarf to hang on a coat hook—NOTE: a scarf that your target traveler would wear; and, you can show off your chef's kitchen by featuring those olive wood goods with a light bite snack—a little food styling goes a long way. With experience in film & commercial production design, styling for camera is my jam!
(4) MOTION
Give your viewer a glimpse of what it feels like to MOVE through your space. If you’re doing still photos, your photographer can capture body movement in your space using a slow shutter speed (sample image above). With videography, the possibilities are endless—from mood and experience, from sunset to sunrise, and moments in between…because there’s so much more a motion picture can say that a still photo cannot. Watch a little SHOW & TELL of our own.
While professional photography is a non-negotiable for your listing, we can’t stress enough the importance of building professional videography into your kit of marketing assets to complete the whole picture.
Photo credits (patio fire pit & house plant @anchor.pictures; living room figure @chandrawickephotography; flamingo floats @junechoiphoto; juicy strawberries @thirdwallphoto)
Now, where you showcase your media assets is an entirely separate conversation for another day (coming soon). So. Many. Platforms. You’ll be able to leverage every platform with the quality images those platforms require nowadays—especially if you want to stand out. In the meantime, hire a professional NOW to get your story “in the can” (another filmmaking reference, you’re welcome).
AS MUCH AS I RESPECT ONE’S IPHONE SKILLS, NOTHING BEATS AN IMAGE THAT COME WITH years of PROFESSIONAL marketing EXPERTISE, CREATIVE DIRECTION AND TRAINED EYES THAT HAVE YOUR ROI IN MIND.
Wish you had media assets like these? Scroll through our ABOUT page to explore our MEDIA services.
WHAT MAKES YOUR PROPERTY SHINE?
Tell the Olive Jar community about your short term or mid term rental. If there’s one tip you’re taking from this article, share how you want to apply it to your media assets!