When properties underperform, most managers drop rates. But weak pacing is usually a visibility problem, not a pricing problem. And if you drop rates to solve a visibility gap, you're leaving money on the table.
So we’re sharing a framework for fixing the problem shared by our General Manager Amber Knight presented at this year's Data and Revenue Management conference: Proactive Pacing, which covers how to activate demand before you’re forced to drop rates.
Here's what revenue managers are up against:
Meanwhile, ADR remains flat year-over-year, supply keeps outpacing demand, and cancellations are rising. The vast majority of inventory fights for scraps while a fraction captures most of the attention.
This means even when the perfect property exists, travelers can't find it in the noise. And properties that don't capture attention early don't get booked.
Most revenue managers watch pace, comp sets, and market demand, then adjust pricing. They tend to ignore marketing metrics like traffic sources, impression share, or click-through rates.
That's a problem. Because revenue management actually has three levers, not one:
When you’re only considering the price lever, every problem looks like a pricing problem. But when you understand all three, you can diagnose the real issue and apply the right fix.
Here's the framework for identifying which lever to pull:
Watch for:
Pace falls behind comps, market, or category
Detail-page views decline
Fewer revisits or quote requests
When all three align, you have a visibility problem.
Weak pacing + low views → Visibility issue (guests aren't seeing the listing)
Weak pacing + healthy views → Product issue (they see it but don't convert)
Weak pacing + soft market → Market issue (whole category is under pressure)
Visibility issue → Marketing fix
Run targeted paid social, search ads, or OTA promos. Get the property in front of ready-to-book travelers.
Product issue → Operations fix
Update photos, adjust minimum stays, loosen restrictions, improve listing copy. Make this the property guests want to book.
Price issue → Revenue management
Pull the price lever when visibility and product are healthy. Don't discount your way out of a visibility gap.
This is proactive pacing: Early action preserves average daily revenue (ADR). Visibility buys you time, and time protects your rates.
When you restore attention to an underperforming property, the booking curve changes while your rates stay intact.
For example: one southeast coastal property management company applied this framework using targeted paid social campaigns. Direct bookings shifted from 5% to 34%, net reservation revenue increased 111%, ADR lifted 30%, and they achieved 16x ROAS.
They didn't slash rates. They fixed visibility and preserved their pricing power.
Here’s how to solve for proactive pacing this quarter:
Need help getting started? Grab our vacation rental revenue diagnosis flowchart to help you decode performance issues.
Right now, the best revenue managers aren't just watching comp sets and adjusting prices. They're reading upstream demand signals, connecting marketing metrics to pacing data, and activating the right lever at the right time.
In a market where 72% of bookings go to 10% of listings, being seen isn't optional. It's the difference between pricing power and a race to the bottom.
Ready to see how property-level advertising can shift your demand curve before you have to drop rates? Schedule a demo to learn how BookingsCloud helps revenue managers activate visibility exactly when and where it's needed most.
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