Pinterest is one of the most underutilized but most powerful tools to promote your short term rental listing outside of Airbnb & VRBO. 

Are you feeling the slump in your Short Term Rental  traffic this summer?  You aren’t the only one.  Are you currently:

• Feeling the pain from the drop in travel;
• Looking at ways to move from depending on a single vacation rental platform.
• Wanting other ways to promote your STR listings

Luckily for all of us short term rental owners, there are many ways you can improve the promotion of your listing outside of Airbnb and VRBO. Pinterest is one of the most underutilized but most powerful tools to do so. You can check out my short term rental listing here.

Maybe you have a strong Instagram account for your Airbnb and that is very important and a great way to grow your brand.   But the strongest Airbnb marketing strategy should have several channels and ways for people to discover you. 

Today, we’re going to talk about using Pinterest to promote your Airbnb listing.

Why Pinterest can help promote your Short Term Rental listing

The most significant reason why Pinterest is better for driving traffic to your website is because it isn’t really “social” media. It’s a search engine, after all.

• Most social media platforms, particularly Facebook and Instagram, have algorithms that penalize links that take people off the platform.

That means that most people won’t see your post encouraging them to go to your website.

• When someone goes to Facebook or Instagram just to look around, they’re not really looking for anything in particular. Perhaps it will pique their interest, perhaps not.

They work great as a part of your branding, but they aren’t great for driving traffic. 

On the other hand, Pinterest is used as a search platform. People use it when they’re looking for something specific, Top Travel Locations or Top Airbnb Listings, so if they find your profile, it means they were searching for it using keywords specific to your Pin.   Don’t worry we will talk about SEO and Keywords shortly.

How Pinterest works

Like Instagram, Pinterest is an image-based platform. You post an image (a post is called a “pin”) to a board (this is like a category-based folder), and people find it via keywords. Other people can “repin” your pins, and you can do the same.  People can even share your pins with friends, which in turn gains you more views and potential leads.

Start by building a Pinterest account that is branded with your business name. Create separate boards for each location where your items are sold so that when people plan to visit, they’ll search for “Things to do” or “Where to go” on Pinterest and your pictures will come up. They’ll save your pins for later and can directly make reservations with

Each pin has a unique title and description, as well as a link. Always include a description, title, and linkback to your listing or website in each pin so that people may locate it.

What to share on Pinterest

Think about your ideal guest to better direct your content towards them.  If your ideal guest is couples looking for a romantic getaway  then you want to make sure your Pins are directed to them. 

Start by creating boards with your location first – – things to do, where to eat, what to see, and yes – where to stay. Something that’s very specific to people who are going to go where your listing is.

Pro tip: Where to stay will obviously be YOUR listing. Share pins of all the best features of your listing, and optimize each with descriptive keywords.

As you grow your Pinterest account and boards, you can start growing your brand with broader topics. If you have a beautifully decorated home, you can post about paint colors for gorgeous interior design. Or if you live by a ski resort, you can talk about what non-skiers can do nearby.  You can also include any big events happening in the area, like concerts or farmers markets. 

Be creative and think about your ideal guest.

You should also be sharing the pins of local businesses nearby. Supporting them will help build a deeper connection with you and your brand, and they will support you back. This support network will also give your Pinterest account a broader reach and a more comprehensive resource for people who find it.

How to make your Short Term Rental stand out

Pinterest is a visual platform. It’s important that your pins and pictures are of good quality and are visually appealing.

Remember to put yourself in the shoes of your ideal guest. If your listing is in the woods, pin pictures of the beautiful nature or hikes that people go there for. If you serve an amazing breakfast, pin Insta-worthy pictures of those blueberry pancakes and freshly made coffee.

Make sure all of your pins are:

1. Visually pleasing
2. Optimized with descriptive keywords
3. Linking back to your Airbnb listing or a page on your direct booking website.

How to optimize your pins for promoting your Short Term Rental listing

You shouldn’t use Pinterest just randomly and posting things hoping to gain traction. If you do it strategically, thinking about each pin, you’ll come out winning. Here are a few ways you can optimize your pins to drive the most traffic to your Airbnb listing:

Pinterest keyword research

Just like for Google, your Pinterest needs to be keyword optimized. Luckily, Pinterest’s algorithm isn’t as complicated as Google’s. You’ll need to do some keyword research to start, check out this blog post about setting up your account and keyword research.

First log into your Pinterest business account and use the search bar to type in your location.   The first 10-15 related keywords that pop up are actual keywords that people use.  You’ll use these keywords in your pin description and title.

Use these keywords to decide what pictures to pin, and then include them in your descriptions and titles.

Final tips to promote your Short Term Rental listing

Like all marketing strategies, Pinterest requires careful thought, building relationships and consistency. If done right, it can drive high-quality traffic to your STR listing.

Consider adding this to your current marketing strategy!

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