How Social Proof can Increase your Booking Conversion

Some of the most successful rental businesses and property owners are ahead of the game because of their intelligent and creative use of ‘social proof’. If you want to optimise your rental potential, you need to build a rapport with potential guests. In a very competitive market gaining your clients trust is a key factor in securing those all-important reservations. So, how can you gain the trust of a potential renter who you have never communicated with? That’s where social proof comes in. Let’s explore.

What’s the theory?

Social proof is all about the power of influence, particularly the influence of ‘word of mouth’. Customers are looking for a reason to choose your property over another and unfortunately, they are not going to go on just your word. Your other customers views are far more persuasive than you as they hold ‘real life’ information about your property. This has more credibility than any fancy advertising you have created. The concept is simple, people look to others to know how to behave or respond to certain situations. So, if your previous guests have shared a video on your property page raving about their time there, potential guests are more likely to be convinced to follow suit and book your place.

Examples of Social Proof

Basically, anything where your business or services are being publicly endorsed are examples of social proof. These could include-

• Reviews on your website
• Reviews on trusted online sites such as TripAdvisor, Expedia, etc.
• Badges of honour/traveller awards such as Booking.com or TripAdvisor
• Testimonials from consumers shared as photos. stories and videos.
• Endorsements from famous people or influencers.
• Posts, recommendations and reviews on your social channels.

How do you optimise your property’s Social Proof?

You need to plan a social proof strategy where you gather as much positive feedback about your property and display it for prospective renters to see. There are some key points to focus on when maximising the effect of your social proof.

Seek and Manage Reviews

 

With online reviews influencing the purchase decisions for 93% of customers, you can’t afford to ignore your own online reviews. As well as requesting feedback from your guests, you need to respond to it. That way potential clients can see you are interacting with your customers and are responsive to their thoughts and needs. Even if the review is negative, this is still an opportunity to boost the strength of your social proof. Publicly offering to make adjustments or solve problems will undoubtedly gain more trust in your business and service.

How you showcase your reviews is also important. You could group them together to create a more powerful impact. If you have many reviews displayed in one place it highlights the fact that lots of travellers are choosing your property. Choose shorter reviews so you can populate more into one space as this will help to give a visual sign of your high popularity.

Include names and perhaps photos of your clients alongside their reviews. Where possible and with permission of course as this will help strengthen the credibility of their testimonial.

Encourage Interaction

Be sure to share the links to your social media platforms with your guests. Many people are prolific on social media, particularly when on holiday in a beautiful place. So, a check-in or tagged photo at your space is going to widen your audience, make your property real and relatable and furthermore, improve your validity.

Display Awards and Badges

Whether you received Airbnb superhost status, a Booking.com traveller review award or a certificate of excellence from TripAdvisor, you need to shout about it. Post it on your website, social media pages and even display it at your property if you can. When potential clients can see that you have been endorsed by globally known companies and their customers it will give an instant hike to your business’s credibility.

FOMO Advertising

This type of marketing leans on someone’s fear of missing out (FOMO). The language you use when creating, posting and advertising offers and opportunities is crucial. Showing that something is in scarcity has a big impact. It could be an example like:

• Last available dates this year
• Last minute availability
• Offer expires in 7 days

This type of messaging give customers anxious excitement and they feel a call to immediate action- otherwise they might miss out.

Kalkan Owners Direct supports your Social Proof

The concept of Kalkan Owners Direct is appealing to potential travellers. Many holidaymakers prefer to book directly with owners and cut out middle-man agents. That’s why websites such as VRB0 and Airbnb have become such huge successes. By joining the Kalkan Owners Direct family and building your dedicated property page on our platform, you are showing that you belong to the Kalkan community. Being a connected part of a community like this helps improve the appeal of your holiday let.

Our owner’s dashboard has some great features, where you can link up all your social media platforms to your property page. That way, new customers can easily access all the information you have on your property from one place. To find out more about our website contact us and we will gladly answer your queries. Alternatively, sign up now and arrange an onboarding call where we will talk you through the features of our platform.