Airbnb Marketing Strategies: An Overview

You must have often heard about lodging websites and hotel portals that help people to find good sites for staying for a vacation. While there were offline means to do the same, the increasing use of the internet has led to an upsurge in helping people connect to each other and share hotel contacts. One such online marketing place is Airbnb. 

 

An American firm that operates via an online marketplace, Airbnb was founded in August 2008 with an objective to help people connect with hotel stays and homestays through online means. 

 

As tourism grew more and more, people felt the need to search for hotels and homestays in the comfort of their living rooms. Thus, while packing for their upcoming vacation, people could know how their hotel looks or what area it is surrounded by. 

 

As Airbnb emerged as an online platform to book hotels and homestays, it also gave rise to other such platforms that had the same vision in their mind. 

 

It is inevitable to say how diverse the tourism industry has become with the coming up of platforms like Airbnb. Furthermore, the popularity of this platform has something to say about the future that the tourism industry beholds. 

 

From beach cabins to house rentals, Airbnb has an exciting range of lodgings that one can view, compare, and book for one’s utmost satisfaction. 

 

Even though you might be staying in Portugal and are wishing to look for homestays in Colombo, you can easily surf through the Airbnb website or mobile application and pick the best option in your budget. 

 

Also Read | All About AIRBNB 

 

How did Airbnb become Popular? 

 

When it comes to the undefeated popularity of the Airbnb strategy, it is important to note that this platform occurred when no other platform was intending to offer lodge bookings or home rentals via online platforms. 

 

Thus, Airbnb emerged to be the only platform at that point in time. It was only later that other hotel booking platforms emerged and were able to catch up to the popularity of this firm. 

 

A variety of factors can be looked upon when we discuss the popularity of Airbnb. Primarily, the company adopted some particularly striking marketing strategies for efficient resource management, which will be discussed in the upcoming section, and an online mode of promotion that helped it to gain momentum among the masses. 

 

Moreover, the consumer loyalty that this firm was able to retain also shows us how well it provided its services and made a mark in the consumers’ minds to be so impressionable. 

 

Another reason why Airbnb became so popular is the way it works. When we talk about the airbnb strategy analysis at a glance, Airbnb connects people looking for hotel lodgings or homestays with people wishing to lend out their spaces for vacations. 

 

This is a relatively stress-free and less chaotic way to make people connect directly and let them make the deal. What’s more, the platform gives the option of putting reviews, rating rental spaces, and adding to the description of hotels that helps other customers weigh their options on the basis of consumer feedback. 

 

As compared to other platforms, Airbnb is a more transparent, easy to operate, and hassle-free platform. However, much emphasis is being paid to its marketing strategies that are striking in nature, yet easy to achieve. 

 

Only if other such platforms would have employed such strategies, their popularity would have been equivalent to that of Airbnb, and who knows, even more!! Let us find out more about the marketing strategies of Airbnb in the upcoming segment.

 

Also Read | B2B Marketing Strategies

 

Airbnb Marketing Strategies

 

Claimed to be the world’s largest rental site, Airbnb has ignited a spark among 7 million people when it comes to planning their vacations.

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Marketing Strategies of Airbnb

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1. Brand Establishment

 

One of the biggest strategies that Airbnb employed was to establish its brand at a much earlier stage. This means that while other companies were still aiming to shoot for the stars, Airbnb had already launched its missile among its consumers. 

 

Not only did it establish a monopoly of itself in the market, but it has consistently stood true to its claims. Today, people from over 220 countries are using Airbnb to make money and rent out their unused spaces to tourists and travelers who prefer cheaper stays than hotels. 

 

One of the key features of brand establishment is the way you retain yourself in the memories of your customers. As for Airbnb, that has proved to be quite successful. 

 

Not only do people who stay with Airbnb homestays feel at home, but they also tend to refer to the same platform to their friends, family, and colleagues. This directly adds to the brand image of the company while yearning for more customers in the years ahead. 

 

With a classic logo and user-friendly interface, Airbnb has always stood apart with its marketing campaign of connecting people together. Thus, all Airbnbs can also establish themselves on the platform and connect to potential travelers who might want to stay with them.

 

 

2. Online Community of Travelers & Hosts

 

The internet is said to be a weapon of the 21st century that not everyone can correctly use. That said, Airbnb has been on the contrary. It is a testimony to the airbnb global marketing strategy and the way the firm has established an online community of travelers and hosts. 

 

This community is responsible for connecting with each other and finding potential homestays and hotels in and around a person’s vacation spot. 

 

Airbnb has undoubtedly used the internet smartly by bringing together distant people and giving the baton in their hands to run in the race. Perhaps an individual looking for a hotel in Hawaii does not have to spend hours scrolling through the internet. 

 

Instead, she can simply contact the owners of numerous Airbnbs listed on the website and get in touch with them about her requirements personally. This clearly shows the power of the internet that can boost a business and the sales of a project manifold. 

 

A more noteworthy concept in an online community is that the profit is shared between those who pay and those who earn. 

 

This means that the travelers can pay much less than any other hotel and still be able to find all the amenities at an Airbnb, while those who host can earn by renting out their home spaces for shorter periods of time.

 

 

3. Digital Marketing Stints

 

Even though the firm has done fairly well at the forefront of many marketing strategies, it is to this day that its digital marketing stints are discussed with much astonishment. 

 

The use of the internet, social media, and other forms of digital marketing have not only helped Airbnb digital marketing campaign boost its reachability and profitability worldwide, but it has also become a pioneer in the realm of digital marketing. 

 

The use of Facebook and Instagram has proved to be very helpful for the company and the hotels or rentals associated with Airbnb. Airbnbs can post IG reels, and Facebook stories, and post pictures of their homestays on social media just to attract more netizens and create curiosity about their hotel. 

 

This alone has brought so many customers to Airbnbs that the Airbnb marketing strategies have a lot to teach other hotel booking portals and websites. In addition, the use of Facebook ads and sponsored posts have also organically increased the following of Airbnb home rentals. 

 

 

4. Audio-Visual Aid

 

Another striking strategy that the platform has employed to create a market base for itself worldwide is the use of audio-visual means. 

 

The moment an individual looks for a hotel or homestay on the Airbnb website or the application, it is flooded with results that not only carry primary contact details of the host but also include visual images and videos to assess the environment. 

 

This has proved to be very helpful for those who have never visited a country but are planning to spend some quality time there. The use of images and videos is an amazing way to show what an individual’s stay will look like and what they can expect from their hotel. 

 

Also, customers who have stayed at a particular Airbnb can also post pictures and videos on the portal to help other customers interpret the overall quality and surroundings of the place as a part of Airbnb reviews. This is a very effective way to market your Airbnb and hold on to your loyal customers who might want to come again and again. 

 

 

5. Affordable Pricing

 

The last of all strategies that we will be discussing is the way the Airbnbs keep affordable pricing for their hotels and rentals. The basis of the firm’s nascent stage was to charge less from the customers as compared to the hotels so that they are attracted and somehow convinced to take services from Airbnb hotels and homestays. 

 

Years later, the company holds on to its vision where Airbnbs stick to affordable prices with all amenities provided. This has helped people from all across the world to stay at Airbnbs and help spread its popularity. 

 

Likewise, Airbnb hotels and homestays have made the tourism industry more inclusive for middle-income households and even those who thought that traveling is a luxury. 

 

Now, anyone can look for pocket-friendly homestays throughout the world and plan their trip accordingly without having to worry about their expenses. 

 

Also Read | What is a Vertical Marketing System?

 

 

Airbnb Marketing Mix

 

Most of the company’s marketing mix constitutes digital marketing. Yes, you read it right. Airbnb heavily invests in digital marketing which has alone played a huge role in increasing its sales. 

 

Yet, the company also releases offline advertisements with popular celebrities who endorse the product. This also adds to the marketing mix of the firm. Apart from these airbnb marketing channels, the firm employs content marketing, influencer marketing, online experiences from customers, and guerilla marketing tactics. 

 

Despite keeping a diverse marketing mix, the company majorly benefits from digital marketing owing to the massive reliability of the internet among the masses today. All in all, the marketing strategies of Airbnb are immensely helpful in developing the brand image of the company and taking it forward in the years to come. 

 

Since the use of the internet has begun, more and more companies like Airbnb have benefitted from it and heavily relied on its framework to reach out to people overseas and create an online platform or community of members associated with them. 

 

This has contributed to the interconnectedness worldwide that is clearly visible in the case of Airbnb.