airbnb differentiation strategy

If they were a service business, they would target [city name] + [service A] and then [city name] + [service B] and so on.. All of this is inspected by a real person so youre ensured of its accuracy. As the pages are predominantly image-based, they are missing out on opportunities to rank on page #1 and drive traffic for more location-based keywords. Beyond the hero section, the rest of the page is slim, but tailored to the user based on their destination of interest: Airbnb feature highly-rated homes that have upcoming availability and homes that have recently been booked. Its an opportunity for anyone to share their hobbies, skills, or expertise without needing an extra room.. And then if a user keeps scrolling, we see one more block section which is about Host referrals. Its a win-win situation for the user and recipient. Whats effective about these sections is how they leverage social proof, both in terms of ratings (supports logical decision making) and testimonials (supports emotional decision making) to reinforce their home recommendations. The more people you can share it with and sign up, the more travel credit. Not many businesses go above and beyond in this way. What Should I Do If My Guests Arrive Late? The form is simple and captures the bare minimum the search results page later can be used to refine what youre looking for, but in the first instance lets just find out where youre going, when youre going, and who youre going with. These are strategies that ensure a business is stable. Airbnb product marketing strategy focuses on global audiences, often with localized campaigns that speak to the specific geographic segmentation. High level of technology integration into various business processes. On the flipside, I appreciate that this is sometimes to push a bigger campaign, which means theyll want to be across as many placements as possible to ensure theyre getting maximum reach for this campaign. How did I determine this? On the right, I can see the credit I currently have, and what I need to do in order to get more. This is clever by Airbnb. What is also interesting as an observation is the amount of posts that date back almost 2 years ago. And while many businesses have been created that rent out properties on Airbnb, there are still a significant number of properties where the host still lives there. airbnb iide Dont go to Paris, dont tour Paris, and dont do Paris. Unlock the next generation of Hosts. I can see its about me and what I can earn if I become a host. Community discussion forums/discussion portals, 7,502 users online (thats quite a bit! Its now that we see the other options of sharing referral via different channels such as messenger and email. As we are making predictions based on the announced strategy, the live anywhere trend could be an occasion for Airbnb to reactivate its Airbnb for Work program. It would be interesting to know if they did this intentionally in order to keep the user on Airbnbs site due to the similar experience, instead of allowing the user to go offsite to a location where they would see competitor listings. This type of strategy will always have an expiry date. They dont use as much personalisation on their. Lets list again the 4 pillars of Airbnbs 2021 strategy and share examples of what was delivered against these strategic directions: In its shareholder letter, the company has announced 3 strategic directions against which the 2022 Airbnb product roadmap and new programs should be delivering, namely: As a result of the pandemic, millions of people can now live anywhere. Always thinking ahead, Chloe is interested in transformational changes to businesses and how relevant content and targeted messaging can catalyse high-level goals. Then underneath, we dont see the email option to send a personalised invite right away. So, based on the same principles as inviting guests, what does the recipient receive this time if theyre invited to become a host? That structure covers. On average, Humans of New York are achieving an engagement rate of 3.35% and this engagement isnt only coming from Likes, its from comments too, which means theres more conversation happening. This is positive and shows that they are invested in making sure their content gets an initial boost when it goes live. In December 2017, Australia passed legislation to recognize same sex marriage, following a survey in which more than 60% of respondents voiced support for it. The ability to achieve new users through lower CPAs was a mouthwatering prospect, and could result in strong growth. This is a smart play from Airbnb their conversion-oriented messaging helps to prioritise their paid search spend towards people who are ready to book, as people looking to browse are less inclined to click on ads that target people further down the marketing funnel. The goal of this campaign was not necessarily to promote Airbnb, but to reflect the heart and soul of the destinations they serve, as well as inspire people to explore the individual cities further. Now, it makes sense why some threads seem large with the amount of comments. The layout and the functionality of the site is what makes it so easy to use. airbnb strategies At this stage, as I havent put in any dates, Airbnb only need a couple of details to make sure its available, so thats all they ask for. Referrals are more trusted than any other form of marketing. Utilising the strengths of storytelling and curation has been the driving force behind the brands onsite content success. After finding success in doing this manually, they created a script that would automatically email all new listings on Craigslist and notify them about Airbnb. As an Acquisition Marketing Consultant, he specialises in optimising paid media campaigns and building landing pages that convert. Airbnb have an extensive paid search account with the majority of the spend going towards terms that feature accommodation as a keyword. Best of all, this section of the site is linked to from the footer of the Airbnb website, from the Host section of the site, and the Things To Do areas, allowing for much easier navigation than the other onsite content areas. As you scroll down, more is revealed about the property. Airbnb does not have physical rooms; it is a platform for those looking to rent them. By creating different and distinct sections, they are able to keep the conversations relevant to the user, which should improve the experience for everyone involved. I do think that these ads are missing something here though, and its to do with the creative. It is to find large communities who could do with more money (e.g. Here are three pillars on which Airbnbs new product features, marketing initiatives, new services, and trial programs will be aligned: Live anywhere on Airbnb. So, what have Airbnb done to construct and generate one of the best communities in the world? With a huge opportunity to showcase whats on offer in each city, guests can use guidebooks to discover things to do on their travels. For Airbnb, it worked to share the actual experiences they offer. Each persona is spoken to in a way that focuses on the values & motivations for what will entice them to use the platform. We assume that Airbnb is creating content with a purpose and focus on distribution to drive that content to their audiences. Ive looked at Sydney. Booking.com offers commercial accommodation to users, such as hotels, resorts etc, which means the link opportunities are much greater. Isnt that why you travel in the first place so you have a wild tale to regale to your friends back home in our local pub, a cold lager in hand? They either rent out a spare room or their entire property when they go away. I suspect it comes down to volume. This needs to be done in the right way though, as it still needs to come across as authentic. 3 key pieces of information about hosting in other words, 3 USPs. So what do the messages look like when you share with friends? From then on, the sections appear in the same order that they did when I wasnt logged in, but the content within them changes sometimes. As with other sections, they provide guidelines for the host and let them fill in the rest. He argues that the use of a specific threshold would bias the perception of distribution as a whole and could be misleading. While Airbnb is estimated to be capturing close to 12% of their total website traffic through paid search channels, as detailed by Brendan, SEMrush estimates the total traffic they receive to be in the region of 1.5 million visits per month. Can earn up to $3,401 this month. Airbnb Model can select one or more attributes that can uniquely position it in the eyes of the customers for a specific needs. Im sure your head is probably spinning with the amount involved in understanding referrals, but it goes to show the power of having referrals in your product can go a long way to increasing word-of-mouth and, ultimately, retaining users & acquiring new ones with virtually no cost. 1. How often and quickly do they respond to messages? Airbnb was designed for when we were much smaller, Chesky said. The goal is to increase the adoption of hosting among landlords. And you know who really wins with this process? When we delve more into why Facebook is perfect for top & middle of funnel objectives, it relates to 3 things: Looking at the messaging theyre using in Host ads, I like the angles that Airbnb have chosen to run with. Ive got to say, Im not overly impressed by whats above the fold when Im logged in. Whats interesting with Airbnb is that they are able to abe to pinpoint pockets of homeowners that its wants to target. This is an example of one of Airbnbs Superhost-themed posts. He argues that the use of a specific threshold would bias the perception of distribution as a whole and could be misleading. And, get this, the recommendations come straight from Airbnbs hosts (Authentic? They utilise a product feed/product catalogue and Im confident that any new listings that get added to the Airbnb site also get added to this feed. The company ended Q4 2021 with its highest number of active listings yet. This can be invaluable content for someone who doesnt know much about their destination, especially when Airbnbs premise is that they want you to live like a local. The most frequently used headlines are below: And below is a breakdown of one of their ads which showcases how the headlines appear in the search results: Guests are definitely the key target of their paid search strategy. These work off rules which you set within the software, leaving you time to focus on the more important things. With the introduction of Stories, Neighbourhoods, and Guidebooks, we see how the brand is not only revolutionising the way travellers discover unusual rooms and memorable activities in every pocket of the world but encouraging users to stay on the platform to plan and book their trip. From this email Airbnb are trying to get me back to their website. The fact that your friend or recipient receives credit when signing up (in this case $76), it doesnt feel as if the user is taking advantage of the situation or the recipient feeling used. Q&A Threads from both Airbnb Admin team, Top Contributors, or anyone part of the platform. In its simplest form, Airbnb is an accommodation booking engine. In this section of the article Ill be dissecting pages piece by piece to see how their website helps to drive growth. In comparison to static imagery, video is often more engaging and great for storytelling, which Airbnb have used to announce theyd hit half a billion check-ins in May 2019, as they celebrated this through video, rather than imagery. To do this, Airbnb ensures there is a close alignment between their users search queries as well as their ads and landing pages. This online marketplace l ets travellers find a home-li ke place in a foreign city and lets hosts give their home in exchange of rent.. As of now, there are 2.9 million hosts on Airbnb worldwide and more than seven million listings in over 200 countries. Another benefit is that there is no perceived substitute considering that the organisation focuses on the quality and nature of the service (Arens & Hamilton, 2018). 2) Strategic resourcesTheir core competencies is providing unique travel experience, its bringing people together and providing a space for rent in an apartment rather than a simple hotel. Airbnb have kept the mechanics simple when it comes to referrals. Similarly to their video content, the posts which link back to their websites are often shared across their Global Facebook Pages, rather than being specific to that location. Because Airbnbs brand is such that competitors like Home Away are bidding on their brand name, its important Airbnb continue to protect these terms with spend. When you arrive in your new destination, Airbnb send a personalised email containing Airbnb Experiences that may be of interest, disguised as an itinerary. At first glance they look similar to the sections we saw in incognito mode, but there are subtle and important differences. This is pretty standard for most product pages, but Airbnb do it well. And theyve done it way better than they introduced Airbnb Plus. Theres still so many amazing locations to check out in [Bangkok]. We believe that living somewhere enables deeper connections to local communities and the people who live there. And how do you ensure those hosts are happy enough to keep renting out their places? They may not own any of them or have significant control over what is said on the pages, but they can choose to lay them out in a way this is most likely to lead to a booking. They can boost referral traffic. The number of views the property has had recently is a ploy at making it seem scarce, and therefore more desirable. Where it gets interesting is to see how the home page differs when Im signed in. A selection of homes verified for quality and designed might well be a good description of Airbnb Plus, but its not exactly enticing. This could be a barrier to entry for prospects wanting to sign up to the platform. With a product approach like this, its no wonder theyre such a successful business. platform While demand has boomed, Airbnbs supply has not grown as fast. It also fits well with Brendans findings on branded keyword targeting vs generic location targeting, as Airbnb is not showing higher in the organic results for generic terms and thats where theyre putting the majority of their advertising budget on Google (73%). Since the pandemic, Airbnb has been adamant that its core focus is individual hosts. I wouldnt say Airbnb have exhausted their growth when it comes to accommodation rental, but most travellers are aware of who they are and what they offer. It can assist in a multi-channel remarketing strategy, for example, you can create a Custom Audience of your AdWords visitors who didnt convert and remarket back to these users through Facebook Ads (these visitors are gold as theyve demonstrated search intent already). Personally, I dont email my friends often, especially at scale, so having these two options makes it feel easy just to share via these channels where I talk to my friends all the time. Its worth noting that trip information provided in the hero form is stored, such as travel duration or location, if the user bounces but returns to the homepage, their trip details are stored in their browser cookie: I would expect that the majority of users do not purchase in the same session, so prompting returning users to continue to browse available homes in their cities of interest is a nice touch. The homes around the world section showcases some fairly unique looking properties, perhaps to portray the variety of different homes around the world. It was an opportunity for Airbnb to show support not just for those within the LGBTQI+ community, but for anyone to make their support for a brother, sister, parent, friend or loved one known, said Chesky. Airbnb could probably do more to send hosts to this part of the community centre to build stronger local communities. The use of the word unique is what I find particularly interesting they could have gone with a number of different adjectives that could be used to describe a home. Traveling to [Location]? But the designs did more than give artists an opportunity to display their talents they brought some of the magic back to traveling, allowing users to immerse themselves in local communities. As this action could mean swiping left to the next Story, why not try and encourage a click-through to your website or app earlier, if thats one of your objectives with the Story? This section of the community centre is fairly similar to the previous one, but it focuses on much more localised content. This trust isnt so much between the user and Airbnb, its trust amongst hosts and guests. How? If its not already clear, Airbnb are using an extensive library of headlines, and this is because most of their ads are tailored specifically to travel destinations. Airbnbs tend to be cheaper than hotels, and so the cost-conscious traveller would prefer to pay less and go without some of the frills and security that you get with a hotel. WebAirbnb uses differentiation strategy by making a new business model and providing the service which differentiates them from competitors. To sign up as a host compared to being a guest, theres a lot more involved in terms of trying to convert them. Airbnb also make a point of their key USPs, which include: 24/7 customer service, global housing requirements compliance, and all star hosts. The non personalised options have a far bigger range when it comes to price. As Principal Consultant in the Search + Content Marketing team and a Growth Lead at Webprofits, theres nothing Jacqueline loves more than creating data-driven results and using investigative tools to develop a clients strategy. Sure, theyre recommended (I assume theyre the most searched for locations globally, or from my location) but theyre not personalised so why not just say Most popular? In the process, Airbnb not only helped give artists an opportunity to create beautiful works of art, but give travelers a vibrant and accurate sense of their destinations. Now that Im signed in I get some options that are well suited to me (saved, trips and messages) as well as a prompt to become a host something thats beneficial to them. As a user, its very easy to use. Offline: What activity do they do outside of digital to drive growth? Without a look at Airbnbs marketing calendar and a review into their campaigns, its hard to determine exactly what other efforts Airbnb may have actioned at the time to result in such an increase. For certain links that they share, I think this strategy works quite well. This traction is reflected in the Google Trends graph for the past 5 years for the term airbnb. For instance, if Airbnb wants to become the ultimate host, does it mean that it will be offering hosting services in the US, as it is already doing in France, Spain, Canada, and now the UK through its Lucky subsidiary? We recommend a more aggressive content marketing strategy to build this organic non-branded visibility. Brendan brings both an analytical and creative mindset to his portfolio and is always ready for a challenge. This sequence is triggered when a user logged into the website starts looking at a city they wish to visit, or particular homes in that city, but has not proceeded to check-out. Theyve performed very well to incorporate community for hosts as part of their retention and advocacy part of the funnel but, just like any other business, Airbnb has to continually improve and find ways to improve their community marketing strategy. Its quite an extensive sheet, but one of the best paid search competitor analysis tools Ive found for larger accounts, as it unpacks exactly what search terms are driving users to what landing pages. By listing the properties of ordinary people, they set themselves apart by offering a different experience to travellers. In a global Airbnb market study, Ke (2017) shows that there is no optimal threshold that enables differentiation between professional and non-professional hosts. I think they would benefit from providing that information on the home page itself. Airbnb understands that most travellers care about location. Airbnb have built a hugely successful business off the back of understanding what their customers want/need, and then providing products that match them. They also seem to have this automated, as they share many of the exact same photos and captions on Twitter posts as they do on Facebook. Check!). Experiences are still a fairly new product and so introducing it on the home page makes sense. The rest of it is then up to the host to make sure they have a profile that people feel they can connect to so that they want to stay there. One of the crucial components of Airbnbs email marketing strategy is their browser abandonment sequence. After all, who is Google going to trust as a more authoritative and relevant source a site with no backlinks, or a site with 100+ backlinks. Meanwhile, the hosts are all rated 4.8 or above. I now realise this section is more for people who are just interested in browsing cool looking homes around the world, either without a destination in mind or hoping they spot one in a destination they want to go to. Its an interesting challenge worth watching closely if youre a user of Airbnb. 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