Build Your Brand, Grow Your Bookings: Marketing Tips for RV Rental Business Owners

In this episode of RV Rental Secrets, your co-hosts Garr and Stacy dive deep into one of their favorite topics—marketing. Broadcasting from the road (literally!), Garr shares his excitement about a lunch meeting with Jen Cavins, co-founder of Outdoorsy, and how strategic partnerships can amplify your brand’s reach.

The duo unpacks practical strategies for RV rental business owners looking to grow their visibility and bookings—whether you have one camper or fifty. They discuss the importance of building both your personal and business brand, leveraging video content for emotional connection, and using AI tools like Opus Clip and CapCut to turn everyday moments into marketing magic.

You’ll learn how to:

• Capture and repurpose video testimonials and renter experiences

• Turn simple prep routines into valuable content

• Use YouTube as a long-term marketing engine (and even monetize it!)

• Build collaborative relationships with local campgrounds, attractions—and even competitors

Plus, they share how Garr’s 10-year-old is recording his own podcast series (inspiring proof that anyone can start creating content!) and discuss why “documenting the journey” is often better than overthinking your next marketing move.

Whether you're just getting started or scaling your RV rental business, this episode is packed with actionable insights to help you build trust, attract more renters, and have fun doing it.

👉 Don’t forget to join our RV rental group join the conversation with thousands of other RV renter business owners. 

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Welcome to the RV Rental Secrets Podcast.
.999I'm your host, Stacey Maxson, and I'm thrilled to guide you through the journey of launching, growing, and managing a profitable RV rental business. 3 00:00:10,30.997732426 --> 00:00:10,900.997732426 All right everybody. 4 00:00:10,900.997732426 --> 00:00:15,100.997732426 Welcome to another episode of RV Rental Secrets podcast. 5 00:00:15,550.997732426 --> 00:00:21,340.997732426 I'm your co-host Gar here with Stacy AI Master Maxon. 6 00:00:21,910.997732426 --> 00:00:23,800.997732426 Stacy, how you doing? Happy day today. 7 00:00:24,430.997732426 --> 00:00:24,550.997732426 Good. 8 00:00:25,330.997732426 --> 00:00:27,190.997732426 I feel like our roles are reversed for once. 9 00:00:27,190.997732426 --> 00:00:29,560.997732426 You're the one in the vehicle traveling. 10 00:00:29,610.997732426 --> 00:00:31,605.997732426 And I'm actually stationary Yep. 11 00:00:31,605.997732426 --> 00:00:32,685.997732426 I'm on the road today. 12 00:00:32,685.997732426 --> 00:00:39,475.997732426 I am actually headed to have lunch with Jen Cavins, the co-founder of Outdoorsy. 13 00:00:39,955.997732426 --> 00:00:42,205.997732426 So exciting stuff. 14 00:00:42,685.997732426 --> 00:00:44,365.997732426 They're taking me to a fancy restaurant. 15 00:00:44,365.997732426 --> 00:00:45,475.997732426 We're gonna talk marketing. 16 00:00:45,805.997732426 --> 00:00:47,725.997732426 That's what we're gonna talk about on the podcast too. 17 00:00:47,725.997732426 --> 00:00:48,595.997732426 Today is marketing. 18 00:00:48,895.997732426 --> 00:00:49,975.997732426 Marketing and ai. 19 00:00:49,975.997732426 --> 00:00:52,555.997732426 This is probably my favorite subject outside of Jesus. 20 00:00:52,915.997732426 --> 00:00:54,565.997732426 I know you love talking about marketing too. 21 00:00:55,345.997732426 --> 00:00:56,335.997732426 Yeah, definitely. 22 00:00:56,665.997732426 --> 00:00:59,665.997732426 And I feel like we have some good tips to share with everyone. 23 00:00:59,915.997732426 --> 00:01:01,205.997732426 Yeah, for sure. 24 00:01:01,205.997732426 --> 00:01:13,535.997732426 And you know, we're just getting ready to prepare for the busy season and we've talked on some previous episodes about, you know, preparing your fleet and, you know, taking a look at your nightly minimum, stuff like that. 25 00:01:13,535.997732426 --> 00:01:17,975.997732426 So if you haven't listened to those episodes, go back and, and take a listen. 26 00:01:18,545.997732426 --> 00:01:24,115.997732426 But specifically today we're gonna talk about marketing and. 27 00:01:25,60.997732426 --> 00:01:26,410.997732426 There's so many facets to that. 28 00:01:26,410.997732426 --> 00:01:31,870.997732426 Really, if you think about it, you're not just marketing your campers for rent. 29 00:01:31,930.997732426 --> 00:01:41,260.99773243 I mean, you're marketing yourself, you're marketing your brand, you're marketing your add-ons, you're, there's all different facets to marketing. 30 00:01:41,830.99773243 --> 00:01:47,80.99773243 And I love this saying in marketing creating messages to move the masses. 31 00:01:47,140.99773243 --> 00:01:52,390.99773243 A mastermind group that we're part of, that's one of our sayings, and and that's so true with marketing is. 32 00:01:52,975.99773243 --> 00:02:08,370.99773243 You've gotta know how to first get in front of your audience, then how to get their attention, and then how to take that attention and create a message that causes them to, to move, that causes them to take action. 33 00:02:10,375.99773243 --> 00:02:10,555.99773243 Yeah. 34 00:02:10,555.99773243 --> 00:02:16,885.99773243 I feel like there's been a lot of talk lately about having both your business brand, but then your personal brand. 35 00:02:17,560.99773243 --> 00:02:27,930.99773243 Because you really need to build that know, like, and trust factor you know, for them to know, like, and trust you before they'll do business with you. 36 00:02:28,240.99773243 --> 00:02:41,730.99773243 And I've seen before, I think it's the, the rule of seven where they basically have to have at least seven touch points with you before they want to move forward and actually, purchase something from your business. 37 00:02:43,80.99773243 --> 00:02:43,890.99773243 Yeah, exactly. 38 00:02:43,890.99773243 --> 00:02:44,100.99773243 Yeah. 39 00:02:44,100.99773243 --> 00:02:44,640.99773243 You've got. 40 00:02:45,15.99773243 --> 00:02:46,485.99773243 They need to know, like, and trust. 41 00:02:46,755.99773243 --> 00:02:51,255.99773243 That's one thing that we've really feel like mastered with marketing. 42 00:02:51,255.99773243 --> 00:02:57,525.99773243 Our franchise opportunity is as soon as somebody opts into one of our funnels, we're getting them onto our YouTube channel. 43 00:02:57,525.99773243 --> 00:03:01,815.99773243 Which by the way, I don't know if you got this notification, Stacy, I just got notification yesterday. 44 00:03:02,355.99773243 --> 00:03:09,670.99773243 We had 95,000 hours of watched just people watching our videos. 45 00:03:09,810.99773243 --> 00:03:11,950.99773243 Did you get that notice too? Yeah, I did see that. 46 00:03:11,980.99773243 --> 00:03:13,126.99773243 That was a. 47 00:03:13,875.99773243 --> 00:03:14,145.99773243 Yeah. 48 00:03:14,145.99773243 --> 00:03:24,525.99773243 So, you know, I, I love what one of our mentors, Myron Golan says, you know, with, with YouTube specifically, is people are constantly consuming your content 24 7. 49 00:03:25,35.99773243 --> 00:03:28,395.99773243 And that's what we found is especially with YouTube. 50 00:03:29,55.99773243 --> 00:03:34,935.99773243 And the reason why I love YouTube so much is eventually is well, YouTube pays you to market. 51 00:03:35,550.99773243 --> 00:03:43,860.99773243 So, you know, once you grow your subscribers, grow your audience, grow your watch hours, then you can turn on monetization and you're literally getting paid to market on YouTube. 52 00:03:44,660.99773243 --> 00:03:45,740.99773243 And that's, yeah. 53 00:03:45,740.99773243 --> 00:03:47,660.99773243 That just shows the power of marketing. 54 00:03:48,170.99773243 --> 00:03:48,470.99773243 Yeah. 55 00:03:48,470.99773243 --> 00:03:58,170.99773243 We previously, that was quite a few months ago now, had, about the RV life and he gave us some tips about YouTube if you guys wanna go back and watch that episode. 56 00:03:58,450.99773243 --> 00:04:03,10.99773243 And that's really how he built his business, is putting videos out there on YouTube. 57 00:04:04,785.99773243 --> 00:04:05,230.99773243 Yeah, yeah. 58 00:04:05,955.99773243 --> 00:04:07,125.99773243 I, yeah, I've seen his stuff. 59 00:04:07,660.99773243 --> 00:04:12,455.99773243 And he's got a good audience and I think he's got monetization on because he is got all the metrics met. 60 00:04:13,185.99773243 --> 00:04:14,55.99773243 So let's bring this. 61 00:04:14,865.99773243 --> 00:04:27,765.99773243 Down to like, okay, how do I integrate videos with my, with my RV rental? Say you even have one unit, you know, well, you can create video testimonials from your renters. 62 00:04:28,185.99773243 --> 00:04:31,755.99773243 You can have a renter while they're out renting the rv. 63 00:04:31,965.99773243 --> 00:04:35,925.99773243 Say you just had like A-A-A-P-D-F up in the living room. 64 00:04:36,195.99773243 --> 00:04:37,755.99773243 Hey, y'all have some fun times. 65 00:04:38,5.99773243 --> 00:04:40,885.99773243 Send me a 32nd video if you wouldn't mind of, you know. 66 00:04:41,710.99773243 --> 00:04:57,940.99773243 The kids playing in the bunks or y'all sitting around a campfire, this or that, start to grab this, this raw footage, you know, that you can take and throw into Canva or what's the other software that we use? I can't think of the name off the top of my head. 67 00:04:58,355.99773243 --> 00:04:59,15.99773243 Cap cut. 68 00:04:59,495.99773243 --> 00:05:00,305.99773243 I was trying to think of that. 69 00:05:00,365.99773243 --> 00:05:01,445.99773243 Oh, opus clips. 70 00:05:01,965.99773243 --> 00:05:08,655.99773243 That you can throw this content into these systems and they can make it into a short video or a reel or something for you. 71 00:05:09,235.99773243 --> 00:05:21,205.99773243 And so when you're doing that and somebody's looking at your listing, what you're really doing, I used to have at my credit counseling company, I'd call it paint a picture with step number one in my process. 72 00:05:21,445.99773243 --> 00:05:22,825.99773243 You're painting a picture. 73 00:05:23,365.99773243 --> 00:05:32,765.99773243 For the customer where they can see their kids in the camper having fun, where they, they can see themselves sitting around the campfire creating a memory. 74 00:05:32,765.99773243 --> 00:05:40,745.99773243 And so you're painting that picture for them in their mind of what, what it'll be like for them to experience their getaway using your camper. 75 00:05:41,705.99773243 --> 00:05:50,355.99773243 Yeah, and this is such a great industry for that because there's so many things that you can show you can do content on campgrounds in your area. 76 00:05:51,75.99773243 --> 00:05:58,315.99773243 Hiking trails or different events and activities if there's any, you know, attractions or theme parks. 77 00:05:58,715.99773243 --> 00:06:08,375.99773243 And then like you said, with painting a picture, having the family around the campfire or playing a game inside of the camper there's really so many things that you can show. 78 00:06:08,735.99773243 --> 00:06:16,845.99773243 And just to go back a little bit to, you had mentioned opus clips and what that is is an AI tool that can be used. 79 00:06:17,115.99773243 --> 00:06:19,725.99773243 Explore your video content. 80 00:06:19,975.99773243 --> 00:06:24,415.99773243 What it's great for is if you do like a long form video for those that don't know. 81 00:06:24,465.99773243 --> 00:06:37,80.99773243 So if you do a five minute video, it could be maybe you're teaching on a subject or you know, talking about some event or attraction in your area that you're recommending, you can put that five minute video into Opus clip. 82 00:06:37,930.99773243 --> 00:06:40,690.99773243 Then they'll put it into several short videos. 83 00:06:40,970.99773243 --> 00:06:52,290.99773243 So those shorts you can post on YouTube, you can post on Instagram, TikTok and the shorts usually get more views versus long form because they're just like 62nd videos. 84 00:06:52,480.99773243 --> 00:06:56,770.99773243 So that can be a great way to use AI to start generating that content. 85 00:06:57,940.99773243 --> 00:06:58,720.99773243 Yeah, for sure. 86 00:06:58,930.99773243 --> 00:07:05,520.99773243 I love what you said about, creating a video to like highlight different campgrounds or attractions. 87 00:07:05,760.99773243 --> 00:07:12,690.99773243 And what you could do is is take your renter and kind of turn them into an employee. 88 00:07:12,790.99773243 --> 00:07:15,160.99773243 You could find out where they're going. 89 00:07:15,160.99773243 --> 00:07:17,110.99773243 Like, oh, we're going to a b, C state park. 90 00:07:17,410.99773243 --> 00:07:17,890.99773243 Oh my gosh. 91 00:07:17,890.99773243 --> 00:07:18,370.99773243 That's great. 92 00:07:18,370.99773243 --> 00:07:29,455.99773243 Would you mind sending me some pictures? As you guys pull in, as you guys set up, as you guys are having your, you know, creating different memories there, I was actually wanting to create a video on that, if you wouldn't mind. 93 00:07:29,755.99773243 --> 00:07:30,985.99773243 I could use those pictures. 94 00:07:31,45.99773243 --> 00:07:36,325.99773243 People love helping, so when you ask them something like that, they're gonna take ownership of it, they're gonna do it for you. 95 00:07:36,325.99773243 --> 00:07:43,25.99773243 And now you can take that, throw it into into a software to turn it into a reel and throw some music on there with some links. 96 00:07:43,25.99773243 --> 00:07:45,545.99773243 And so if you start thinking marketing. 97 00:07:46,490.99773243 --> 00:07:57,840.99773243 You're always just thinking, okay, how do I turn this into a piece of content? One thing I was telling my 10-year-old so Stacy, I gotta tell you this, Noah, my 10-year-old recorded five podcasts yesterday. 98 00:07:58,740.99773243 --> 00:08:03,660.99773243 I showed him the framework, I showed him chat, DPT, big view software, this, and he just went wild. 99 00:08:03,660.99773243 --> 00:08:05,400.99773243 He is like recording podcast. 100 00:08:05,400.99773243 --> 00:08:07,80.99773243 He's like, dad, you're on episode number five. 101 00:08:07,80.99773243 --> 00:08:07,470.99773243 Come in here. 102 00:08:07,470.99773243 --> 00:08:08,340.99773243 We need to record it. 103 00:08:08,670.99773243 --> 00:08:10,380.99773243 You know, I need to interview you. 104 00:08:10,650.99773243 --> 00:08:17,110.99773243 What was my point in saying that? My point in that was, oh, that's was my point was document the journey. 105 00:08:17,680.99773243 --> 00:08:24,780.99773243 So if you're always thinking about documenting, everything can become marketing because the reason why you say document the journey. 106 00:08:25,125.99773243 --> 00:08:28,605.99773243 Is because everything could be a marketing piece, so right. 107 00:08:29,295.99773243 --> 00:08:34,875.99773243 The camper is going out on a rental before it's even going on a rental, and you're prepping it for the rental. 108 00:08:35,145.99773243 --> 00:08:37,245.99773243 You can make that into a marketing video. 109 00:08:37,635.99773243 --> 00:08:43,995.99773243 Like, Hey, we're just going around the camper right now doing an inspection to make sure the camper is nice and safe for the renters. 110 00:08:44,385.99773243 --> 00:08:48,645.99773243 We're doing our final cleaning right now, stocking it with toilet paper, this, this, and this. 111 00:08:49,65.99773243 --> 00:08:50,685.99773243 You know, documenting that. 112 00:08:50,685.99773243 --> 00:08:53,775.99773243 Now that has just become a marketing video that you can take. 113 00:08:54,495.99773243 --> 00:08:58,735.99773243 This is the beauty of YouTube is you've made that video once. 114 00:08:58,735.99773243 --> 00:09:03,445.99773243 Now that video can be played hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of times. 115 00:09:03,445.99773243 --> 00:09:06,55.99773243 So that video is always up and working for you. 116 00:09:06,535.99773243 --> 00:09:15,115.99773243 So if you're thinking about it from a documentation standpoint, instead of like, huh, I wanna create a marketing video right now, what should I do? A lot of times your ma mind just goes blank. 117 00:09:15,685.99773243 --> 00:09:22,555.99773243 But if you think just documenting what you're already doing, then the mind goes wild and you're constantly creating content. 118 00:09:23,335.99773243 --> 00:09:23,635.99773243 Yeah. 119 00:09:23,635.99773243 --> 00:09:32,515.99773243 And another great thing with creating the content is it can expand your reach because when you're at that campground, you can tag that campground. 120 00:09:32,765.99773243 --> 00:09:38,165.99773243 So not only are your viewers seeing it, but that campground viewers are seeing it as well. 121 00:09:38,435.99773243 --> 00:09:47,505.99773243 And that can lead to, you know, collaborations, partnerships where you guys can do videos together, and it's really a good way to expand your reach. 122 00:09:49,80.99773243 --> 00:09:50,190.99773243 Yeah, there really is. 123 00:09:50,380.99773243 --> 00:09:51,795.99773243 Marketing is so much fun. 124 00:09:52,570.99773243 --> 00:09:57,190.99773243 And, and when you would start getting in that marketing mindset, it's just, there's so many things you can do. 125 00:09:57,430.99773243 --> 00:10:02,470.99773243 And then, like Stacy said, yeah, tagging a campground and then, or, or tagging people. 126 00:10:02,680.99773243 --> 00:10:05,710.99773243 Heck, you can even tag a competitor in your area. 127 00:10:05,980.99773243 --> 00:10:12,850.99773243 Say you're a the small guy in town and you got five campers and you have competitor who has 50 campers pull on their audience. 128 00:10:13,465.99773243 --> 00:10:15,745.99773243 So say, Hey, I'm, I'm just doing this, this, and this. 129 00:10:15,745.99773243 --> 00:10:17,125.99773243 Yeah, I'm just the small guy. 130 00:10:17,125.99773243 --> 00:10:22,315.99773243 Just the small family owned, right? You can actually use your competitor to promote yourself. 131 00:10:22,555.99773243 --> 00:10:24,565.99773243 We're just the small family owned company. 132 00:10:24,565.99773243 --> 00:10:26,5.99773243 We only got five campers. 133 00:10:26,35.99773243 --> 00:10:28,825.99773243 You know, we do this as a family, as a side hustle. 134 00:10:29,185.99773243 --> 00:10:32,725.99773243 You know, if you come to our website and we're already booked, you know, go check out our competitor. 135 00:10:32,725.99773243 --> 00:10:40,25.99773243 They have 50 campers, but guess what? Now you're tagging them and then eventually what are they doing? At some point, hopefully. 136 00:10:40,760.99773243 --> 00:10:50,660.99773243 They're also saying, oh yeah, check out this guy, because why? You're just, you're creating this friendly environment where if you look at like, Hey, we're not in competition. 137 00:10:50,660.99773243 --> 00:10:51,890.99773243 We're actually in collaboration. 138 00:10:51,890.99773243 --> 00:10:53,300.99773243 We're doing the same thing. 139 00:10:53,990.99773243 --> 00:11:00,230.99773243 You'll find that some of their audience would actually do business, rather do business with you and vice versa. 140 00:11:00,290.99773243 --> 00:11:07,330.99773243 And now you have this, this ebb and flow of where you're sending business back and forth, you're promoting each other, and, it's just it. 141 00:11:07,420.99773243 --> 00:11:24,70.99773243 It creates this fun environment, right? Like right now, what am I doing? I'm going to have lunch with Outdoorsy who a lot of people who come into our franchise opportunity think that we're in competition with outdoorsy or RV share when, no, our niche is, we're an RV rental management company. 142 00:11:24,550.99773243 --> 00:11:27,130.99773243 Outdoor, see is a peer-to-peer marketing platform. 143 00:11:27,250.99773243 --> 00:11:28,570.99773243 We work side by side with them. 144 00:11:28,930.99773243 --> 00:11:30,520.99773243 We send business back and forth. 145 00:11:30,520.99773243 --> 00:11:35,500.99773243 We work together and look, because of the size that we've grown to, I'm going. 146 00:11:35,890.99773243 --> 00:11:42,220.99773243 Do a one-on-one lunch with the founder of Outdoorsy who is wanting to do things to enhance our relationship. 147 00:11:42,220.99773243 --> 00:11:44,780.99773243 So think about that when that comes to marketing. 148 00:11:45,120.99773243 --> 00:11:53,520.99773243 You know, pulling on each other's audiences, also promoting other people, and it just creates this nice friendly environment where we're all trying to help each other. 149 00:11:53,850.99773243 --> 00:11:55,200.99773243 We can all be working together. 150 00:11:55,200.99773243 --> 00:11:56,910.99773243 There's plenty of business to go around. 151 00:11:57,540.99773243 --> 00:12:04,420.99773243 We can, there's gonna be times where you're gonna have a customer that I can serve and you can't because you're booked or whatever. 152 00:12:04,420.99773243 --> 00:12:05,890.99773243 Or they're looking for a different layout. 153 00:12:06,400.99773243 --> 00:12:11,210.99773243 Let's let's not create it as like this competitive where it's you against me. 154 00:12:11,210.99773243 --> 00:12:12,440.99773243 Let's all work together. 155 00:12:12,440.99773243 --> 00:12:13,370.99773243 Let's market together. 156 00:12:13,370.99773243 --> 00:12:16,850.99773243 Let's promote each other, let's do joint ventures. 157 00:12:16,900.99773243 --> 00:12:17,950.99773243 Yeah, it's definitely. 158 00:12:18,325.99773243 --> 00:12:23,965.99773243 Is for everyone to work together and just build that community and the relationships. 159 00:12:24,275.99773243 --> 00:12:33,735.99773243 And like you had mentioned, everyone kind of has their own niche and each RV rental company in one certain area can have their own niche. 160 00:12:33,765.99773243 --> 00:12:45,115.99773243 And then you cater to that one avatar and that person that you're marketing to, whether it be families you know, maybe someone's really doing like corporate retreats or events. 161 00:12:45,590.99773243 --> 00:12:59,0.99773243 And then that allows you to then work together because, you know, maybe you're not the best RV rental company for the customer that's coming to you, and that's when you can refer another company that, you know, can help 'em in a c certain situation. 162 00:13:00,650.99773243 --> 00:13:01,490.99773243 Yeah, I love that. 163 00:13:01,490.99773243 --> 00:13:08,360.99773243 That's a great example, right? Find your niche, find your avatar like we've talked about in previous episodes, who you're called to serve. 164 00:13:08,720.99773243 --> 00:13:12,950.99773243 And don't be afraid to hand, you know, if you've got a family that they just like to rent. 165 00:13:13,490.99773243 --> 00:13:19,100.99773243 You know, a weekend here and there, but you go with our recommendation and you have a higher nightly minimum. 166 00:13:19,640.99773243 --> 00:13:21,830.99773243 Don't be afraid to refer them over to a competitor. 167 00:13:22,260.99773243 --> 00:13:28,530.99773243 Man, what an olive branch To hand out to somebody like, Hey, actually I don't, I don't do weekend rentals, but here's a competitor of mine that does. 168 00:13:28,990.99773243 --> 00:13:33,900.99773243 And then guess what it's gonna reciprocate back to you eventually. 169 00:13:34,335.99773243 --> 00:13:42,255.99773243 And yeah, it's just a great way to create community, just create this environment where we're all working together and, and it's really, it's another form of marketing, so. 170 00:13:42,645.99773243 --> 00:13:43,95.99773243 Awesome. 171 00:13:43,95.99773243 --> 00:13:43,665.99773243 I love that. 172 00:13:43,995.99773243 --> 00:13:44,985.99773243 What a good episode. 173 00:13:46,5.99773243 --> 00:13:48,555.99773243 Yeah, I think that's a, a great way to end it. 174 00:13:48,555.99773243 --> 00:13:56,405.99773243 And just so everyone knows too, I'll put in the show notes, the links to our RV rental groups so you guys can come join that and. 175 00:13:56,780.99773243 --> 00:14:04,600.99773243 There's, like you said, thousands of RV rental business owners and we love to share advice and give feedback there. 176 00:14:04,820.99773243 --> 00:14:08,120.99773243 So make sure you join those groups and we can continue the conversation there. 177 00:14:09,410.99773243 --> 00:14:10,400.99773243 Yes, exactly. 178 00:14:10,580.99773243 --> 00:14:10,910.99773243 Awesome. 179 00:14:10,910.99773243 --> 00:14:11,210.99773243 Awesome. 180 00:14:11,300.99773243 --> 00:14:15,230.99773243 All right, well, thanks y'all for joining us and we will see you on the next episode.