Making Your Short-Term Rental Stand Out: 7 Scarcity Strategies to Try Now!

Competition is high and it’s going to get more challenging to get your properties seen if you don’t take proactive steps to market more widely.

It’s not enough to expect the OTAs to bring guests flocking to your doors.  Their eye is on their bottom line and not yours, so whatever you can do to push traffic to your own site for direct bookings, can only serve to boost your business.

Using scarcity strategies is a solid way of driving traffic to your short-term rental website and encouraging conversion to a vacation rental booking when they get there, and here’s how.

The Scarcity Principle and the Beer Goggle Effect

The psychological scarcity principle states that a limited supply of a product (or service) increases the attractiveness of it.

In 2010, a group of Australian researchers repeated original research that supported the theory that the perceived attractiveness of members of the opposite sex increased around closing time at the bars.  This was known as the ‘beer-goggle’ effect,

Our intrepid Aussies found the theory was supported even when participants had not been drinking, leading them to conclude the "beer goggles effect" is not actually about beer—it's about something else entirely. That something is the scarcity principle.

Shrink down the options, and what is scarce becomes very attractive.

The Scarcity Trap

Who hasn’t fallen into the trap of ordering something because the marketing strategy drives the urgency to buy?

‘Just 2 remaining’

‘Order in the next 2 hours for next day delivery’

‘5 people are looking at this property right now’

‘This deal won’t last – book now before you miss out’

The last two examples are commonly used by Booking.com so we know they work in our industry.  The task now is to find ways of applying the principle in direct booking

It’s Not all Stardust and Rainbows

While the benefits of scarcity marketing are clear -  for example, it can create more demand, which in turn can spread awareness of your brand and grow your customer base, and can motivate potential guests to buy instead of wait - there are some drawbacks you will need to consider.

Guests may feel pressure to book and if this is too great, or comes at a time when they are not ready, you may lose them altogether.  To counteract this, it may be best to target guests who already know and trust your brand, rather than adopting the tactic with new customers.

Guest's attention may be diverted from the actual property and its suitability for their use, into a feeling they have to secure something before it’s too late.  This could backfire if they haven’t chosen wisely, and you end up dealing with the fallout.  Make sure you have plenty of detail upfront so they can book from a well-informed standpoint.

It doesn’t always contribute to repeat guests if they buy once and haven’t had a chance to explore all your properties and services.  You can get around this by promoting to current guests and offering benefits to them from sharing.

7 Scarcity Tactics to Drive More Short-Term Rental Bookings

Let’s get practical now with a few specific examples of how you can use the scarcity principle in your short-term rental business.

1. Add a countdown timer

“Today’s Home for the Holidays Deal Ends in: 6 Hours: 8 Minutes: 11 Seconds”

These are often used in ecommerce stores to hold an item for a specific time, using a countdown timer, to increase the urgency to buy.  While it would be dependent on how your site or booking engine is set up for individual bookings, you could use it for identifying how long special offers will remain open.  It can be a good motivator to complete a booking.

2. Site-Exclusive Deals

“Book Direct and get a $150 Restaurant Voucher”

These are the deals your guests get by booking directly with you.  Rather than just using a book direct button, have your guests feel they are getting something they would not receive if they booked on any other platform.  It could be early check in or late checkout, a gift basket, vouchers or special discounts.

3. Seasonal Sales

“Book Your Romantic Break Today and Get an Extra Night On Us”

We are all used to Black Friday deals and there is no reason to not promote specific sales that happen around these dates.  For example, Valentines' sale offering short romantic breaks at different times of the year allows for a short-term promotion that ties into the Valentines' Day spirit but fills up dates out of the regular season.

This can be used to add on extra free days to a booking that takes place within a specified time, or the addition of an amenity, such as pool heating, or kayak rentals.

4. No Fee Day

If you charge a pet fee or a booking fee, then choose a day when you can apply a no-fee offer.  It’s another way of offering a discount or reducing a rate, but encourages booking through the urgency tactic.  You can make this property specific to sell out specific homes.

5. Jump on the Booking.com Bandwagon

‘This property has been booked 4 times in the last 5 days’

Booking.com are masters at scarcity marketing.  They use multiple forms of urgency tactics as well as other incentives to ‘lock in a price’.

6. Limited Supply - Waitlist / Cancelation List

'We are nearly fully booked. If you miss out you can join our waiting list.'

Leverage the Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO) in a big way with the limited supply. Similar to the tactic employed by Booking.com you can increase bookings with an email broadcast for properties with only a few weeks left. If they do miss out make sure there is the option of a waiting list for that property. Firstly this increases your marketing email list and secondly, this is a hot lead you can market similar properties too.

7. Early Bird Discounts

Useful if you want early bookings and to encourage repeat guests. 

‘5% Off if You Book By November 15^th’

As with any form of marketing, don’t overdo it.  Instead, do research on your target market and understand their buying habits.  If they tend to be late bookers, drive them to a countdown timer for your last-minute offers.  If they are loyal and repeat guests, make exclusive offers available in a short period of time.

Scarcity marketing can be highly effective if you can just figure out how to make those beer-goggles fit!