The Insider: StayFi’s Arthur Colker on Guest Data & Marketing [Partner Edition]
We’re excited to bring you the next Insider session: Partner Edition with Arthur Colker, Founder and CEO of StayFi.
StayFi is the leading provider of WiFi, marketing, and guest engagement tools for vacation rental operators. Used in more than 80,000 short-term rentals across 70+ countries, StayFi helps hosts increase profitability and guest loyalty by giving them access to something many OTAs keep out of reach: guest data.
Arthur founded StayFi in 2018 to solve a core challenge in the industry: the lack of direct access to guest information. The company’s first product, branded WiFi, made it easy for operators to collect data from every guest in a booking, not just the person who made the reservation. Since then, StayFi has expanded into a suite of marketing and engagement solutions that help operators grow their direct bookings and strengthen guest relationships.
Ask Arthur anything about WiFi, guest data, and the #BookDirect movement.
How?
Drop your questions in the comments anytime before the session.
Or join us live on Thursday, September 18 at 12pm ET, when Arthur will be here answering questions directly in this thread.
Whether you’re looking to capture more guest data, build loyalty, or grow your direct channel, this is your chance to learn from the founder of StayFi.
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The #1 product you need in your STR stack!
Common question I hear from Hospitable hosts @StayFi_Arthur: “I can use StayFi to send email too, not just collect emails?”
Can you give us the elevator pitch that I can keep linking to and/or copy and paste going forward? 😂
@anthonyrallo what makes it your number one choice?
@StayFi_Arthur, I’m personally curious, how did StayFi come to life? And looking at it today, is it what you originally imagined, or has it grown in a totally different direction?
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By the way, Hospitable Hosts Community — did you know:
Save on StayFi: Hospitable hosts that integrate their account with StayFi get access to StayFi’s email marketing tool free for the first 200 contacts, plus savings on higher tiers (more).
And one of the top questions in our Community every week is how to actually drive traffic and get more direct bookings. From your perspective, where should hosts start, and what’s one important step that often gets overlooked?
What kind of success has StayFi seen with the Pre-Arrival Guest Messaging. I’m new so haven’t seen a ton of success yet. But I haven’t had anyone opt in yet for the homepage link I’m sending. I send it on New reservation, 7 days prior check in, and then 2 days prior with check in instructions.
Interested to know if there are best practices to help increase opt ins!
5-Star Review Trigger & Automation
Hospitable captures when a guest leaves a 5-star review on an OTA (Airbnb, Vrbo, etc.), but this trigger doesn’t seem to transfer into StayFi. StayFi has a “rating” category, but it looks independent of Hospitable’s data. 👉 Is there a way to pass the 5-star review trigger from Hospitable into StayFi (via API or integration) so we can send an automated email? 👉 If not possible today, is there a recommended workaround to achieve this flow (e.g., Zapier, alternative tagging methods)? 👉 Ideally, we’d like this automation to:
Thank the guest for the 5-star review
Remind them to also leave a comment on our social media channels
Reservation Trigger & Welcome Automation
When a guest books, Hospitable records their email automatically for Vrbo, and for Airbnb it’s often obtained later (sometimes the next day through chat). 👉 What’s the best way to configure an automation in StayFi that:
Sends an email to new reservations
Waits until the guest’s email is actually recorded in Hospitable (especially for Airbnb)
Triggers one day after booking (so the system has time to capture the email) 👉 Do you recommend handling Airbnb differently than Vrbo, or is there a universal setup that works smoothly?
I’ve been using StayFi for a few years, but mainly just to collect contact info. I haven’t pulled the trigger on putting that data to work. What are best practices for reaching out to former guests through email or SMS to offer updates or discounts?
Is there a StayFi integration with GoHighLevel?
Re-engaging ~1,000 collected emails & using campaigns I installed StayFi hardware some time ago and now have a list of over 1,000 valid guest emails that I haven’t actively used yet. I’d like to start engaging them while also building out campaigns for future guests.
What’s the best way to reintroduce and engage this existing list? (e.g., sequence of first few emails, sample CTAs)
In terms of the campaign types StayFi offers (Newsletter, Promo, Upcoming Availability):
How often do you recommend sending each type?
Should these go to all past guests, or should I start with more targeted segments (repeat guests, OTA source, property stayed, etc.)?
Do you have a recommended calendar/cadence for balancing these campaigns without overwhelming subscribers?
For someone with multiple properties, is it best to use one combined list or break down communications into property-specific segments?
How are the top 1% of StayFi clients using the platform differently than the average? What are the top mistakes hosts make when starting with email/text marketing that we should avoid?
Welcome to today’s Insider: Partner Edition with StayFi! 💜
We’re joined by @StayFi_Arthur, CEO of StayFi, who will be here for the next hour to answer your questions on guest data, marketing, direct bookings, and everything in between. Arthur has seen firsthand how better access to guest data can reduce dependence on online travel agencies and unlock new revenue opportunities for hosts.
We already have some great questions lined up, and you’re welcome to add more as we go.
It looks like emails are being delivered and opened, but not clicked.
How should we best interpret these metrics in StayFi?
Are these open/click rates in line with what you typically see from other operators?
Do you recommend changing CTAs or email design to encourage more clicks (e.g., larger buttons, different offers, multiple links)?
Should the primary KPI be clicks, or is just getting guests to open and stay engaged valuable enough in your experience?
Welcome to today’s Insider: Partner Edition with StayFi! 💜
We’re joined by @StayFi_Arthur, CEO of StayFi, who will be here for the next hour to answer your questions on guest data, marketing, direct bookings, and everything in between. Arthur has seen firsthand how better access to guest data can reduce dependence on online travel agencies and unlock new revenue opportunities for hosts.
We already have some great questions lined up, and you’re welcome to add more as we go.
Let’s get started!
Hi Petra, Is there a live chat section? It’s my first time with such format. Or do we need to wait for our questions to be answered on this thread?
@Miles Hobson: “Common question I hear from Hospitable hosts @StayFi_Arthur: “I can use StayFi to send email too, not just collect emails?”
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Yes, you can sign up at https://stayfi.com/partners/Hospitable/, and then use our email marketing tool. It is free for up to 200 subscribers and integrates with the data you already have in Hospitable.
Hi @sukreetsingh! No worries. Arthur is online and replying in this thread, so it’s not really a live chat, more of a live Q&A session. :)
@whiskeybusinessretreat I took a look at your account, and it is great to hear you are sending the link 3 times. I can’t see the language you are using in Hospitable, but we find you will have more success if you are more specific about what items of value they can find after submitting their info on the form. For instance, you can purchase early check-in here, find the house guidebook, see our top recommendations etc… Try to find a compelling reason someone would go through the form submission process to access the HomePage that makes sense for you.
@Ty Brady I would start with these 3 automations - WiFi Welcome, Post Departure, and Stay Anniversary. Then I would recommend checking out Upcoming Availability as you can use that to market specific available dates that we find in Hospitable.
Two great uses cases from Upcoming Availability:
Last Minute Opening (better in drive-to destinations) - i.e. book a last minute weekend getaway for x% discount
Far Out High-Occupancy emails - Secure New Years, Spring Break etc. now direct for less than cost on Airbnb/Vrbo
Another great way to get engagement is to create a plain text email under Templates in our email tool. Write a message from the 1st person as if you are writing directly to them inviting them to come back, and to reach out to you directly for a better rate than they can get on Airbnb/Vrbo. Plain text emails are much more likely to go into someone’s main email inbox vs. the promotion inbox (where emails with many images tend to go.
Arthur
@Ty Brady Is there a StayFi integration with GoHighLevel?
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Yes - under integrations.
@Ty Brady
We also have a new SMS marketing feature where you can text individuals based on the property they stayed at, so you can let them know about availability or special discount to return to same property:
@sukreetsingh
I installed StayFi hardware some time ago and now have a list of over 1,000 valid guest emails that I haven’t actively used yet. I’d like to start engaging them while also building out campaigns for future guests.
What’s the best way to reintroduce and engage this existing list? (e.g., sequence of first few emails, sample CTAs)
A sequence can be a great way to reintroduce yourselves if you have not sent these individuals an email before. I would consider a plain text email first where you are writing from the 1st person perspective i.e. My name is Sukreet and I host/manage %Property% and wanted to let you know that the best way to book again is to reach out to me for xyz benefit.
In terms of the campaign types StayFi offers (Newsletter, Promo, Upcoming Availability):
How often do you recommend sending each type?
Newsletters typically 1/month; however, we see larger brands send weekly or every other week depending on seasonality. The other two types are really more because you have a business reason to send i.e. you have a cancellation or specific dates you want to fill.
Should these go to all past guests, or should I start with more targeted segments (repeat guests, OTA source, property stayed, etc.)?
With 1,000 emails the ROI for making your emails more segmented may not be worth the payoff at this point. I would lean more into dynamic fields so you can insert the Property Name they stayed in before without having to make multiple emails/segments.
Do you have a recommended calendar/cadence for balancing these campaigns without overwhelming subscribers?
Minimum 1/month to make sure they remember your brand and then I would lean into more frequency because you need bookings for a specific reason.
For someone with multiple properties, is it best to use one combined list or break down communications into property-specific segments?
I think with 1000 contacts, one list should be good for now. Only reason at this point it might make sense is if you are operating in multiple markets that are very different from each other.
@sukreetsingh:
How are the top 1% of StayFi clients using the platform differently than the average? What are the top mistakes hosts make when starting with email/text marketing that we should avoid?
Property Specific Splash Pages:
HomePages that drive revenue and promote other businesses (i.e. Real Estate):
Sends HomePage in StayFi PreArrival Messaging through Hospitable and via Text Message WiFi Welcome Message:
Leverages Promo Codes to help track repeat bookings:
Uses SMS marketing to promote last minute availability and high-value offers:
Top Mistakes:
Not marketing once you start collecting - the longer you wait, the harder it is to get people to engage and remember you
Letting perfection hold you back - if you are positioning your business as a “host” instead of a large property manager, not looking perfect may be more “on-brand” and feel “authentic.
It looks like emails are being delivered and opened, but not clicked.
How should we best interpret these metrics in StayFi?
Because of Apple Email Privacy these metrics are no longer 100% accurate - but they are directionally correct
Are these open/click rates in line with what you typically see from other operators?
40% open rate and 2%-5% CTR is typical - I agree that your CTR is lower than we normally see but it is still early on, so I would wait until you have a larger sample size.
Do you recommend changing CTAs or email design to encourage more clicks (e.g., larger buttons, different offers, multiple links)?
Experiment with a plain text email to get a higher open rate
Link your logo to your website as well
If you have a cancellation or other last minute opening, experiment sending a discount offer to see if that prompts click-through.
Should the primary KPI be clicks, or is just getting guests to open and stay engaged valuable enough in your experience?
IMO, open is most important as most of the time, people are not planning a trip. The key is you want someone to remember you and the benefits of booking direct when they are ready to plan their next trip. I would consistently emphasize in each email the main value for booking direct (typically price).
@sukreetsingh
We don't sync reviews, but they should be able to do it with Zapier. They need to email us asking for their Campaign Monitor API key.
