Instagram for any kind of business can be tricky. However, it is a great platform to grow engagement, increase awareness and drive traffic to your vacation rentals. First you need to understand Instagram’s algorithm. Yes, just like other social media platforms, Instagram has an algorithm that determines how posts rank.

The ranking of posts goes: “The order of photos and videos in your feed will be based on the likelihood that you will be interested in the content, your relationship with the person posting and the timeliness of the post. Everything will be there, just in a different order.”

Here are ways you can use Instagram for your vacation rental. 

• Enticing Photos: Instagram is all about visuals! Channel your inner Andy Warhol and start sharing your best photographs. Show your followers inside your vacation rental, outside your rental, the fans at your rental, and the surrounding area. Be real while at the same time providing your audience with quality images that they can interact and engage with.
  

• Contest: Showcase your vacation rental, attract potential guests, and grow followers all at the same time. Having a contest on Instagram will get people involved and get them to visit your website. One contest idea for a vacation rental is the best fan picture wins a free night stay. Get creative with your contest and use a #hashtag to increase brand awareness. This gives you an opportunity to find new people who are interested in your rental while keeping past guests involved as well.

• Ads: Target a custom audience, without them being your followers. You can reach more people using ads and find relevant followers that are interested in your vacation rental. This is also useful for creating awareness and driving traffic to your website.

• Use Video: You can use video in individual posts and also in your story. The use of video is highly interactive, as well as influential in telling the story of what your vacation rental is all about. You can also quickly tour one of your rentals or merely talk about the weather that day. The point is to get people to come back and keep them interested.

• Engage with Others: Engage with your followers by liking and commenting on their posts. Always make sure you respond to followers and others who comment on your posts. Don’t just post to your account and leave. You can also interact with others who share your interests, like where your rental is located. Search for relevant hashtags and comment, like, or follow those people. In return you may also get a follow or like, creating a connection and perhaps gaining a new follower.  

Instagram is a very interactive and engaging platform, so have fun with it! Get creative. The more you make it your own the more you are creating your own brand. The goal is to connect with people by giving them something worthy of their engagement. Keep in mind the algorithm as stated earlier. The more relevant your content is to your followers the better. Give them posts that they are interested in at times they will be most likely be on Instagram. This will get you started in getting the most return from your Instagram efforts.