Small-Scale Stories to Enterprise Automation with Grace Souter of Inhabit

In this episode of The Vacation Rental Show, host Lynell Gordon sits down with Grace Souter, Director of Digital Marketing at Inhabit, to explore the evolution of vacation rental marketing strategies from small-scale storytelling to enterprise-level automation. With over 15 years of experience including roles at BlueTent, Vacasa, and various Outer Banks property management companies, Grace reveals how marketing approaches must fundamentally shift as companies grow from under 100 units to over 1,000 properties. From handwritten welcome notes and local coffee bags to AI-powered email segmentation and automated insights, this conversation provides a roadmap for property managers navigating the transition from personalized hospitality to scalable systems while maintaining authentic guest experiences. This episode is sponsored by Bluetent.

In this episode of The Vacation Rental Show, host Lynell Gordon speaks with Grace Souter, Director of Digital Marketing at Inhabit, about the fundamental shifts in marketing strategy required as vacation rental companies evolve from boutique operations to enterprise-scale businesses.

What you'll learn:

How marketing messaging shifts from "unique and different" to "standardized and professional" during growth
Why small companies sell experiences while large companies sell trust and consistency
The transition from manual personalization (handwritten notes) to AI-powered automation
Essential digital marketing tools: SEO, PPC, email marketing, and PMS integration
How AI is revolutionizing email personalization and guest behavior analysis
Why marketing teams can no longer be treated as an afterthought during scaling
The balance between outsourcing marketing expertise and building in-house capabilities
How local business partnerships create competitive advantages for smaller companies
The challenges of maintaining company culture while implementing systematic processes
Career lessons from building companies from scratch and working with enterprise organizations

Grace Souter brings over 15 years of vacation rental industry experience, having worked across the spectrum from startup property management companies to enterprise-level organizations like Vacasa. Currently serving as Director of Digital Marketing at Inhabit, she combines hands-on operational knowledge with sophisticated marketing strategy expertise. Her unique perspective comes from living and working on Hatteras Island in the Outer Banks, one of the most competitive vacation rental markets in the United States, where she's navigated everything from hurricane evacuations to beach erosion challenges while building successful marketing campaigns.

This episode is sponsored by Bluetent.

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Previous guests include: Jim DeVos of Best Beach Getaways, Stacy Wesson of Cascara Vacation Rentals, Michael Friedman of The Simple Life Hospitality, Steve Caron of Inhabit, John An of TechTape, Jessica Gillingham of Abode Worldwide, Justin Ford of Breezeway, Mahwussh Alam of One Perfect Stay, Lisa Stinnett of Inhabit, and many more.

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