[Celebration] Wow Your Guests this Christmas - Write a Newsletter! ‌📰

[Bree28]

Communication is key, particularly during the festive holiday season. In addition to a welcome book, I provide my guests with a quarterly newsletter that's brimming with seasonal insights. This includes details on local events such as Christmas carols, markets, and sporting events, along with recommendations for popular restaurants and exclusive local coupons. 

To streamline the process, I crafted a template for drafting my property's quarterly newsletter. It’s a quick and easy layout inspired by a newspaper design, which guests find quirky and enjoyable to read. I simply insert my content and upload photos. Once completed, the newsletter is printed and ready to welcome our guests upon their arrival!

Before you start writing your first guest newsletter, it helps to learn as much as you can about your audience. Who is your target market? What are their interests? Why might they be staying at your Airbnb? Are they attending an event? Are they travelling for fun or work? Do they live locally or are they tourists visiting from overseas? Knowing some of the answers to these questions will help you decide on the content you include in each newsletter.

Guests will be excited to receive your newsletter if it provides useful and informative content such as:

• Seasonal info 
• Calendar of local events
• What’s new in the area
• What’s new at your Airbnb 
• Photos of the area
• Outdoor activities
• Highlight a local restaurant; or two
• Nature-related information: tide charts or wildlife facts
• Share a funny story relating to travel or your local area 
• Include your branding (property name, logo and social media)

Content Ideas for your Christmas Newsletter 

1. Use Top 10 Lists

Travellers love top 10 lists; 10 great places to eat, or 10 new things to do in your area. There’s bound to be something suited to everyone!

Tip: lists engage your guests and make it easy for them to digest the information (excellent for a newspaper column layout).

2. Local Christmas Trivia

Many Airbnb properties are on historical sites or in older houses. Your guests would undoubtedly appreciate stories from the past, particularly those related to Christmas. Uncover interesting historical facts and share these intriguing tales with your guests.

3. Share Reviews 

Be proud and show off some of your recent 5-star reviews with your guests! Who knows, it might even entice your current guests to leave a 5-star review, with the hope of featuring in your next newsletter!

4. Show Recognition

If your Airbnb was recognised in your community, you want to share the news with your guests. Like reviews, this builds brand loyalty. It also allows your guests share in your joy! They may feel a part of the good news because they stayed at your Airbnb and can identify with your success.

5. Behind the Scenes Peek

Everyone loves to see what goes on in the “secret” areas of your Airbnb. So, let your guests know what’s going on by including photos of your team members getting rooms ready, washing linen, or a group pic at your Christmas party.

6. Highlight Your Recipes

You are the host of a short-term rental and therefore officially ingrained in the hospitality industry. Food is a key element of the holiday season so why not use a Christmas recipe as content for your newsletter! Consider these ideas:

• Share your favourite recipes
• Highlight your favourite local wine
• Review local food spots 
• Interview top chefs in town
• Share why you love to cook

7. Include Inspiration

You want your guests to feel good about your Airbnb, so share some inspiring quotes. These could be travel or holiday related, humorous or family related.

8. Introduce Your Family

Let your guests get to know your family and pets. Perhaps this is you and your partner. It could be your extended family, or your best friend. I like to let my kids write a column in our newsletter. Ideas to consider:

• Jokes column
• “Meet our pets”
• Local attractions for kids
• Kid friendly restaurants

9. Share Special Events

Are you having a special event at your Airbnb? Perhaps you’re hosting a wine tasting or a Christmas party. Any time you have a special event, it’s a great idea to share it in your newsletter.

10. Create a Contest

Christmas is the perfect time of year to give something away! This might be tickets to a local event, a gift card for a dinner out or a bottle of wine. Include the details and instructions on how to enter in your newsletter. The following newsletter can feature the winner of the competition. 

11. Be Humorous

You run a short-term rental and host guests all year long, so you’re bound to have a funny story or anecdote to share. Humour draws people in and helps them engage with your business. Just be sure to get permission before you showcase a funny story about someone else.

12. Include FAQs

Do you answer the same questions day after day? If so, share some FAQs with your visitors. They’ll appreciate the kindness.

Final thought

It’s imperative to keep your guests engaged, and you do this by providing creative, interesting, and engaging content during their stay. To make life easy, try to plan ahead as much as you can. Gather ideas and stories throughout the year and save them to a file. That way, when the time comes to create your next newsletter, the task isn’t an overwhelming one.

Merry Christmas – Bree from Sunshine Coast, Australia

[Helen3]

Newsletters wouldn't work as a marketing tool for me as I don't tend to attract repeat guests but great to hear it works as a tool for you. How many repeat bookings do you get as a result of your newsletter @Bree28 

[Bree28]

In my case, it’s a hard copy newsletter, not digital. So it’s for our checked in guests to peruse. 

[Helén-Och-Morgan0]

@Bree28 Good idea.s.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Helen and Morgan 

[Bree28]

@Helén-Och-Morgan0 Merry Christmas to you too!

[Janeen22]

@Bree28 This is a great Idea. Thank you for sharing.

[Bree28]

@Janeen22 My pleasure! Merry Christmas 🙂

[Laurelle3]

@Bree28  What a great idea. It gives a different aspect of telling a story about your own Airbnb. You have put a lot of thought into it.

Yes I was thinking like @Helen3 how you used it as a marketing tool. But I like the idea that it is left in the residence for them to read. 

I am sure we all have a little history of our properties, where it is located and what to see and do in different seasons.

[Bree28]

Thank you @Laurelle3  - Merry Christmas!