Great photography for Serviced Accommodation properties is absolutely vital. Castle Properties believe that none of our photo shoots are completed, without the need for more photos or improvements to the ones we have just taken. Let me try to explain a little bit more about our thinking on this in the paragraphs below.
This may sound like a stupid question for some, however in our business it’s not a stupid question at all and one that we are constantly asking ourselves, albeit not in the same tone that some people may think.
Have you ever heard of the old saying “A picture is worth a thousand words” the meaning behind this is that you could take one picture or write a thousand words to describe what is in the picture.
I am sure that in todays world of Social Media this is more relevant than ever before. This is certainly true in the case of taking great photography for holiday homes or serviced accommodation apartments and houses.
There are so many different guest types who are ALL looking to come to stay in the same accommodation in Windsor. The problem is that they all have completely different needs and requirements that they are trying to tick off their list before booking their Vacation/Staycation. The photography needs to show them exactly what they are looking for and in this fast paced world of social media and websites, with a huge selection of choice, guests will not read descriptions or icons and you will have a window of around 10-15 seconds before they move onto the next. Sometimes you have even less than this if you havent captured their eye on location or a cool snap.
Some of the guest types that look to stay with us in Windsor and Eton are families, business professionals, friendship groups, couples and many more different guest types. There are even varieties within the same guest types mentioned above as well, everyone is looking for something different to one another and will only book when they find it. What is important to one group of guests isnt necessarily as important to a similar group looking to stay in the same property.
Our photography needs to showcase different things, to different audiences, but we also only have one opportunity to showcase the property to all audiences. Holiday photography needs to allow guests to quickly identify from the pictures the items and which relate to them and this will then push them to book the property. Let me explain further by using different photos from the same apartment below.
Families will be looking to book properties that have things like cots, highchairs, family dining, plastic utensils, toys, space etc – We have families book to stay with us purely because they liked one particular aspect of our properties, which is showcased on the photos. It could be as little as having plastic cutlery to use so they dont have to bring their own! Thats probably less than £6 to provide to them!!
Business professionals can book the same apartment but they will be looking for different things such as a working place, coffee, relaxing sofa/lounge area, quiet spaces, parking, WiFi etc
As you can see there are always different angles, facilities and other aspects of a holiday home or serviced accommodation offering which needs better photography, in order to capture the right elements for each different guest type.
To sum up this post, we are always looking for that additional item, photo or angle which will tip the guest into being a booker instead of a looker. If we can do that with one photo and show that angle, facility, service or just look they are wanting then it will result in the booking we want.
Our business has used a very good Serviced Apartment Photographer before called Daniel Atkinson Photography and we have always been pleased with their work. You can see some of their case studies which is of our apartments on their website.
*Notes on article wording – Serviced accommodation is also commonly known as Airbnb properties, Holiday Homes, Vacation Rentals and a lot more. All of these descriptions are similar to each other but perhaps can descripe a different audience or guest type to some people looking to book, which is also very similar to this article topic of photography for different guest types, funny really.
