Modern Marketing by Special Places

According to AirDNA there are 2579 vacation rentals properties in the regions that we serve! 

That may sound like a lot of available properties, but when you factor in the nearly 2 Million visitors to Costa Rica per year…

…you quickly realize there is a lot of competition for every night booked. 

This is why Special Places has made a commitment to providing world class marketing for the owners of the properties we manage. 

Our goal is not just to give each of our properties maximum exposure but to achieve maximum revenue through a magic combination of nights booked at optimal prices.

To accomplish this feat for our evergrowing portfolio (currently over 140 properties) we have invested in great technology and great people to give our clients an unfair advantage in a crowded marketplace. 

#1

Dynamic Pricing 

One of the most exciting new technologies available today is called Dynamic Pricing. 

This technology monitors the available supply on all listing platforms against the minute-by-minute demand. Factoring in seasonal demand, competitors’ pricing and real-time market activity, the system then adjusts the price to achieve predetermined goals.

For example, one property owner may be looking to generate the most revenue possible and wants the maximum number of nights booked at a market value. While another property owner may be looking to minimize the wear and tear on their property and wants fewer nights booked but at the highest possible prices. These goals are factored in and the prices are adjusted in real-time. 

#2

Single Point Management

You can imagine that keeping all listing platform’s prices and calendars in synch could get pretty complicated, and you’d be right! 

However, our modern systems keep all listing, including the Special Places website, in synch and updated. That includes pricing and calendars so, you’ll never have a double booking! 

In addition, if a property owner wants to change the booking rules, say to a 5-night minimum stay, we can make the changes in just a few seconds and all platforms are updated immediately.

#3 

Vacation Rental Platforms

Special Places, of course, lists our properties on all global vacation rental platforms. This gives a property maximum exposure to millions of people around the world. Unfortunately, these sites push property owners around with frequent rules changes that are difficult to keep up with and often only benefit the OTA. So…

…we go one big step further…

We have built our website (wordpress-897542-3303185.cloudwaysapps.com) around a powerful booking engine that allows savvy travelers and return visitors an opportunity to save the online travel agency (OTA’s) fees, which could easily be a 20% savings. Simple and strait forward. 

Our property owners make the same amount and our guests get a great value. Win-Win.

Here is an example:

#4

Optimized Listings 

There is an art and a science to creating a property listing for each listing platform. 

At the heart of any successful listing are jaw-dropping photographs. You would think that would be easy in a beautiful place like Costa Rica. But our professional photographers employ the latest in camera gear, including drones for stunning video and ariel shots, and spend hours shooting and editing to get just the right shots. This extra effort sets our properties apart and “WOW!” anyone browsing a travel website. 

Our copywriters then craft the story of each unique property and paint a picture that any vacationer would love to experience. Unique features, luxury amenities, and local attractions are all highlighted for maximum results. In addition, these descriptions are optimized for SEO so your property ranks higher on Google or other search engines. 

Finally, we optimize each listing for each specific platform. They are all a little different and small changes can make a big difference in nights booked.

#5  

Social Media

Special Places doesn’t stop with listings on travel websites. Nope, we use several additional forms of marketing to capture additional exposure. 

Our sophisticated social media strategy, executed by local industry experts, creates awareness for our properties and generates multiple booking leads from potential guests to our offices. 

High quality images and videos of our properties are used in posts and reels on multiple platforms to create interest and website visitors. From there, we match these people with the perfect property from within our portfolio and book them directly on our website. 

#6

Email Marketing 

Modern email marketing is an extremely powerful tool that is often overlooked by property management companies. 

Many of our guests visit regularly and we use email to communicate local events, travel updates, and featured properties. In addition, many of our website visitors subscribe to our newsletter and end up booking one of our properties based on our professional email communication.  

#7

Concierge Services

While concierge services may not technically fall in the “marketing” bucket, nothing creates good word of mouth advertising better than an amazing experience and a happy guest. 

Our in-house concierge agents do everything they can to provide the best possible experience to every one of our guests and owners. They’ll arrange anything from a private chef to an eco-adventure they’ll talk about for years to come. 

We believe that a happy guest is the best form of advertising and everyone on the Special Places team goes the extra mile to make sure every guest is a happy guest.