Best Hashtags for Vacation Rentals: Boost Your Instagram Game

If you've been running your short-term rental Instagram for a while and haven't seen much success, it might be time to work on your hashtags for vacation rentals strategy.

With over 1.44 billion users on Instagram, there are 1.44 billion opportunities to attract more followers and guests for your properties. Hashtags are your chance to reach a wider audience organically based on relevant interests and searches.

If you're unsure of the power of hashtags and how to use them for your short-term rental business, in this guide, we'll share everything you need to know to get started.

Why Are Hashtags for Vacation Rentals Important?

Hashtags are keywords or phrases used after the symbol "#", aiming to categorize content and make it easily discoverable. So, for example, if a user is looking for #newyork, they'll see a bunch of New York-related posts generated from Instagram users.

Here are the most important benefits of using hashtags in your social media strategy:

• Visibility. Incorporating relevant hashtags into your Instagram posts helps you appear in niche categories where users are actively "subscribed." This increases your brand awareness and reaches a broader audience.
• Branding. If you specialize in a niche, for example, pet-friendly accommodation, you can use related hashtags to find your "gang" of people online. Additionally, you can create your own brand hashtags, such as your business name or slogan, and build a community around your brand.
• Engagement. People using the same hashtags as you are probably active and engaged on related topics. Engagement builds loyalty, so you want them to like, comment, and save your posts. This creates trust and warms up relationships online.
• Bookings. Your goal with hashtags for vacation rentals is to appear in front of the right people actively looking for your product. In other words, showing up at the right place at the right time. In return, you'll get more bookings, referrals, and guests you're actually happy to host.

Hashtags for resorts and vacation rentals

How to Find Related Hashtags for Vacation Rentals?

To find related hashtags for vacation rentals, you'll need to do your homework. There are many tools to help you in the process, such as Hashtagify and RiteTag. Here's a step-by-step guide:

• Explore general travel hashtags. What are your ideal guests looking for? These hashtags could be more generic, such as #traveltips or #travelphotography, or more niche-specific, such as #lgbtqtravel or #dogtravel.
• Explore short-term rental hashtags. Location-specific hashtags such as #CityNameVacationRentals and #CityNameAccommodation gather individuals seeking accommodation in your area. These are usually considered warm leads and are ready to convert.
• Explore hashtags related to booking sites. If you've listed your vacation rental properties on OTAs like Airbnb, you can use related hashtags such as #AirbnbSuperhost or #AirbnbHomes. However, these hashtags won't apply to your business if you only have a direct booking website.
• Create your own branded hashtags. That's a prime opportunity to build your own online community without "borrowing" hashtags popular on Instagram. For instance, you can create #YourBrandName and encourage guests to use it when posting your rental.

Instagram hashtags for vacation

Popular Hashtags in the Vacation Rental Industry

Here are popular hashtags within each category to use for your vacation rental business:

Travel Hashtags

• #Travel
• #Travelphotography
• #Wanderlust
• #Travelgram
• #InstaTravel

Short-term Rental Hashtags

• #Vacationrental
• #Staycation
• #Vacationrentalhome
• #Familyvacation
• #Shorttermrentals

Booking Sites' Popular Hashtags

• #Airbnbhost
• #AirbnbHomes
• #Superhost
• #Homeaway
• #VRBO

Brand Hashtags

• #YourBrandName
• #YourPropertyName (i.e., #IridaApartments)
• #PropertyAmenity (i.e., #Luxuryvilla)
• #YourLocationRental (i.e., #Mykonosrental)
• #Housetheme (i.e., #Forestcabin)

Best hashtags for Airbnb

Best Practices for Implementing Instagram Hashtags for Vacation Rentals

When writing popular hashtags in your Instagram posts, follow these tips:

• Diversify. Use a mix of niche-specific, trending, and generic hashtags popular on Instagram to diversify your content.
• Engage with niche hashtags. Like and comment on posts with your niche hashtags to grow your network of guests and hosts and gain more reach.
• Customize hashtags for each platform. There's no one-size-fits-all when it comes to related hashtags. Each social media platform has its own popular hashtags, so customize them before you publish.

Professional data for Instagram hashtags

Common Hashtag Mistakes to Avoid

While hashtags can benefit your Instagram presence, misusing them can hinder your marketing efforts. Here are some common mistakes to avoid:

• Don't use irrelevant trending hashtags. It might be tempting, but don't incorporate non-relevant hashtags into your posts just to be "cool". This might show your posts to the wrong audiences and attract guests with different expectations.
• Don't use complex hashtags. Keep related hashtags as simple as possible; otherwise, you risk confusing users. Straightforward hashtags with clear language will make your content easily discoverable.
• Don't overcrowd them. Avoid looking spammy with a bunch of hashtags in your posts. Keep them between 5-10 to maintain readability.

Pro hashtag data for Instagram

How to Measure the Impact of Hashtags on Your Vacation Rental Business?

Like with all vacation rental marketing strategies, measuring the success of your hashtags is vital for your progress. Thankfully, most social media platforms have built-in hashtag analytics to help you track results.

Here are the most important metrics to consider:

• Reach - how many users saw your posts
• Impressions - how many times did users see your posts
• Engagement - how many people liked, commented, interacted with, or saved your posts
• Follows - how many people followed you after seeing your posts
• Click-through rates - how many users clicked on your Instagram profile through your posts thanks to popular hashtags

If you want to interpret hashtag analytics further, you can use marketing tools such as Buffer and Hootsuite.

Hashtags for vacation rental

Ready to Implement Hashtags for Vacation Rentals?

When it comes to organic marketing, you should be taking advantage of all the available online tools. Hashtags for vacation rentals can help you increase visibility and attract more customers without spending a dime.

At Houfy, the best social marketplace for direct bookings, we encourage over 15,000 hosts to use related hashtags, such as #HoufyHost and #Directbooking. With over $23.7 million in bookings facilitated, we'd say we're succeeding.

If you're ready to take full control of your short-term rental business without the profit cuts, list your property today and join a supportive worldwide community.