airbnb differentiation strategy

Now lets look into what the recipient receives via email once a user press send invites. An idea for generating this type of content could be an Instagram UGC competition where hosts share videos of WHY they host; the entries would be collected using a campaign hashtag, and hosts would be incentivised to do this with the opportunity to win an awesome prize. Yes, there are some great little touches as we can see in the last section, but on the whole personalisation isnt that widespread on their site yet. Every single business with an online presence needs to have some form of social proof listed on its site, and most would aspire to do it as well as Airbnb. 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. This content truly differentiates Airbnb from the big hotel booking sites, highlighting interesting places in different cities. Airbnb started out in 2008 when founders Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia realised they could make a quick buck by renting out an air mattress in their living room to people visiting San Francisco for a big conference. For small and large, for packed and sparse, for quiet and loud, cultured and corporate. We helped one company grow from $25M to $190M revenue in 4 years, and we work with challenger brands that want to make a serious impact in their industry and have the resources (and the will) to make it happen. And most of all, they provide a large amount of content for relevant destinations on their side, giving them a huge organic backlink strategy. The information that Airbnb highlights here is interesting (as most of it is, again, written by the host). Keep reading for more detail about each of these along with business-level strategies examples for each! If you are familiar with the search engine optimisation space, its likely youve run into the term backlinks before. Their ad copy speaks to their unique points of difference and so stands out from their competitors, which one would assume would lead to significantly better performance. However, the event was something of a dud participants mostly stayed away from the stations, preferring not to engage. And whilst it looks simple to the user (I mean, thats the point), there are amazing mechanics & core areas of expertise which they have executed well. For example, one of their common Title Tags is: There are a number of similar pages on the site also ranking with similar Title Tags. One of the ways to achieve that is to strive for getting maximum value from each customer(higher Customer Lifetime Value(CLTV)) It means the brand should look for developing loyal customers. A selection of homes verified for quality and designed might well be a good description of Airbnb Plus, but its not exactly enticing. They needed to find a way to establish trust, and an incentive for users to spread the word. As an experienced marketing consultant, Dan continually strives to perfect his craft in producing high-performing, data-driven and results-focused campaigns for his clients. Many of the ads they use feature video, which is positive, but they dont feature real Australians talking about their experiences with being an Airbnb host. "Designing for reintermediation . Airbnb also make a point of their key USPs, which include: 24/7 customer service, global housing requirements compliance, and all star hosts. Based on 3 different assumptions, the potential impact of referrals could have a dramatic compound effect on the bottom line in a very good way indeed. To date, there are over 4470 pages of support threads, so users should be able to find a question already asked and hopefully answered. Moreover, the report contains analyses of Airbnb leadership, organizational structure and organizational culture. You can try this out for yourself by visiting the Ads Library tool. As much as reviews are helpful in the booking process, once we hit book on the platform, were then putting our trust in a complete stranger being a good host and the host is putting their trust in us being an equally good guest. Don't use plagiarised sources.Get your . Businesses under Airbnb follow different types of pricing strategies to attract their consumers. In the coming months, Airbnb is expected to become a listed company, with an initial public offering netting enormous wealth . All seven property types will launch this summer. 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. Content Marketing: We look at how Airbnb use articles and videos to keep their guests and hosts engaged with the platform, Social Media: We breakdown how Airbnb use Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to build and convert an audience of guests and hosts. 51% of the hosts practice multichannel distribution. Developing content that will receive backlinks without your internal marketing team having to do any work should be the goal of every website but organic presence and your brand can have a huge impact on this, as people will not find your amazing content unless you are either performing well for relevant search terms organically, or someone is already on your website due to your brand presence and finds the content because you promote it on relevant, high traffic service pages. By positioning themselves as a way to experience travel, rather than as an accommodation booking engine, they were able to connect with a segment of the travel market who felt their options were fairly limited. Airbnb have been running Dynamic Ads for reservations for a number of years now, with them even being featured in a Facebook case study on this back in 2017 where they reported a 3X increase in return on ad spend and 47% lower CPAs using the Dynamic Ads objective. I see social media advertising, particularly Facebook Ads, playing a major role in this strategy and being one of the best channels for Airbnb to: These two stages of the Host journey feature in what Airbnb refers to as the List Your Space (LYS) flow: Airbnbs concept of multi-touch attribution for a hypothetical user journey. The summary section is helpful, though it surprises me that it cant be used as an option when filtering search results. Looks pretty unique, wouldnt you say? Following a platform business model. The critical experience Airbnb offers for a traveler is to experience new places as the locals do. In this section Ill be looking at how they use Facebook (both paid and non paid), Instagram, and Twitter to promote themselves, attract new guests and hosts, and keep existing users engaged. We did note from our research that the keywords the Neighbourhoods section are appearing in top positions for are all relatively low volume searches, and not high volume opportunities that would assist Airbnb with greater growth. While reducing factors like prices & safety, Airbnb created a ubiquitous availability of home-like experiences. Hotels respond to this trend by sharpening their strategy and their differentiation compared to the new competition. It doesnt tell me anything about me or why Id enjoy it, its just a factual statement. We think that online travel booking major Expedia's stock (NASDAQ: EXPE) is a better pick compared to vacation rental platform Airbnb (NASDAQ: ABNB) at the present time. Ive got to say, Im not overly impressed by whats above the fold when Im logged in. SERPSTAT recommends the following amount of anchor text percentages not be exceeded for best link results without incurring a Google penalty for spammy link tactics. Outside of image & video-based content, Airbnb often share posts that link back to their website, blog or press room these are on 3 separate domains & subdomains. This trust isnt so much between the user and Airbnb, its trust amongst hosts and guests. To sign up as a host compared to being a guest, theres a lot more involved in terms of trying to convert them. However, I think it addresses & resonates with what other hosts may or potentially do experience in their respective locations which gives value to the reader. Each time a listing was made in their area on Craigslist, they would email the home owner and ask if they would like to list on Airbnb. The architecture of the building is unusual, the glimpse of the cozy/warm inside is very inviting and, to top it off, you can be at one with nature at this retreat. Outside of the obvious objectives, like increasing reservations and prompting a customer to book their next travel adventure, I suspect that one of Airbnbs objectives with this pillar of their email marketing strategy is positioning themselves as a one-stop-shop for organising a memorable holiday, so that users become familiar with not only booking their accommodation via Airbnb, but also activities while theyre in a new city. Even when they dont go exactly as planned. Once you press the link, you get to this screen. Thank you~. Airbnb created a whole new kind of vacation just by providing spaces other than hotels to stay. Focusing on their Australian site, Airbnb primarily ranks for the following two types of keywords: According to SEMrush, Airbnb is currently ranking for 316,900 keywords relating to travel, accommodation, and brand-based search terms. Having this content ensures retention by keeping hosts engaged with other users of the platform. How do you convince people to open up their home and allow guests to stay? Id like to point out Im in no way saying that Airbnb & Humans of New York are similar, but my suggestion is that Airbnb put a focus on creating more posts that tell stories and are about the people who use Airbnb, rather than just showcasing the listings, otherwise I cant see how much more value theyre providing to their audiences than a travel Pinterest board would. The location is pretty interesting too; it evokes a feeling of adventure, of doing something different. Then theres a summary about the property, written by the host themselves. Thats way more than a roof, 4 walls, and a bed. , Interesting read! To counter this, they created a premium product called Airbnb Plus. Airbnb offers private accommodation to users, which means that the listings they feature are generally investment properties owned by an individual who would not be able to link to their listing or the Airbnb website outside of social media. The pending view is definitely a smart feature to include. In closing the only thing I would add that I think they should be doing more of on Stories is including a swipe up CTA earlier in their stories if theyre going to include one, perhaps even from the 2nd or 3rd tile depending on how long the full Story is. But theres a great selection here in terms of price range. And some other locations theyve showcased as well include: Similarly, they also send these destination emails based on types of destinations, instead of the location-specific examples above. The idea then evolved into a website where others could do the same, and travellers could get a cheaper option than a hotel. Explore Tips & Tricks All about new ways hosts can take their game to the next level. For some locations, such as Phi Phi Islands, Airbnb are directing people to minimal navigation, shorter-form landing pages: From the landing page URL report, any URLs that contain /a/ are indicative of their shorter-form location landing pages, while /s/ is indicative of location website pages and Airbnb are actively using a combination of both for high-interest locations. On the left, its clear what I need to action if I want to share with my friends. I think this is a clear missed opportunity for them to better engage with their audiences in a more personalised way. So theres no way for people to find it from the website. Its unlikely there is sufficient volume from closely related search terms in isolation, and as a result, Airbnb likely need to leverage auxiliary keywords to reach lofty growth targets. Outside of their sponsored Page posts and Dynamic Ads, the rest of Airbnbs ads strategy currently focuses on one thing signing up hosts. I noticed they use three main hooks in their Dynamic Ads copy: Find an Airbnb in [Location] with free cancellation. Theyve done this so well that theyve become synonymous with non-hotel accommodation booking, and created a new way to travel. It ensures prospects know that Airbnb have got them covered (in their words!). Its now that we see the other options of sharing referral via different channels such as messenger and email. Instagrams organic reach & algorithm works slightly differently, but well get to that later. So how does the email import functionality work? In particular, note the header and sub header. Although I think these are good, short messages that speak to the pain points that come with booking/saving for a vacation, I think theyre missing out on an opportunity to call out different users in a more fun and creative way, for example: With this in mind, its always important to stay true to your brands tone of voice, but the more that you can make a connection with your audiences in an authentic, human way on social, the more likely they will be to proactively seek out your business for their needs. From a practicality point of view, I also like that it allows the navigation bar at the top to be read very clearly. Business Model Innovation for Airbnb Fania Rahmanawati Karimah (S1870939) Abstract Airbnb, an online marketplace where the user can rent out their properties in short-term, join tours, and book restaurants, has become the global phenomenon since it has grown dramatically in short amount of time. The organic visibility of the Airbnb website can be attributed to both the growth in the number of keywords ranking to positions on page 1 of Google and the increased backlink profile of the site which assists with driving third party referral traffic to the website. It is clear that Airbnb is becoming one of the most popular online-booking.. They all look pretty cool in their own way, but I havent really got any context as to why these are here. To break down the visibility differences between Booking.com, Wotif.com and Airbnb, we ran a keyword gap analysis through SEMrush. Now, it makes sense why some threads seem large with the amount of comments. Incentive I instantly see the value that I will receive if I take an action by accepting the invitation. I mean, an extra $3,772 AUD per month is not bad at all (wouldnt mind the extra money now that I think about it). The Airbnb homepage is currently receiving 57.82% of all traffic to the website, with it ranking for 3,929 keywords. User experience, word of mouth and self-regulation are at the center of its strategy. Community discussion forums/discussion portals, Tips can be shared easily from host to host, Featured posts which read like blog posts with relevant hosting content, Gamification of system top contributors get points for every comment they give + like they get small leaderboard of contributors, The Airbnb admins dont post often nor reply to other peoples posts regularly an opportunity to get more discussions trending. To save on time, there are other elements of this page which certainly helps with the decision-making process to take the next step. Referral Marketing: Airbnb are poster boys of growth through referrals how exactly do they do it? An accommodation platform would never offer experiences as a product, and nor should they. However, this is not to say that their email strategy is leveraging all the data they have available, as its important they dont overshare: We make use of data in every email that we send. Highlights their hosts as a key part of the Airbnb experience. 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). Dont go to Paris, dont tour Paris, and dont do Paris. There are several more sections on the home page that could be considered interesting: theres a banner to entice new hosts to sign up (which is way too low down the page in opinion), and the categorisation of experiences and homes which I could review. Ideally, wed look at this in terms of a breakdown of spend, but unfortunately there is no way to accurately gauge Airbnbs spend, so were best using frequency as an indicator of spend. In order to normalize the behavior of staying strangers's homes and to host unknowned people, Airbnb put efforts in conveying the content of truthful experience to the public through their storytelling platforms (Midenhall, 2015). Some people appreciate the luxury of staying in a hotel, knowing youll receive a professional service, including a properly maintained room. On April 14, Airbnb announced that it had secured a $1 billion loan that Brian Chesky, Airbnb co-founder, CEO, and head of community, said would help "assure that Airbnb will emerge from the storm of the pandemic even stronger, regardless of how long the storm lasts.". And you know who really wins with this process? 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. It means I dont have to copy & paste emails (although you have that option) and the bulk of the work is done. A breadcrumb structure comes from the childrens story of Hansel and Gretel, where they leave breadcrumbs as a trail to find their way home. When asked for his thoughts about Airbnb actively trying to get more hotels to advertise their rooms on its platform, Best Western CEO David Kong said, "I think that if I were them that's what . I visited Japan last year, a place where Airbnbs are quite hard to come by. Where it gets interesting is to see how the home page differs when Im signed in. Clear & succinct messaging focused on value certainly helps those wanting to share. A new onsite optimisation strategy Ill go into this in more detail in the next section, but currently the onsite optimisation for Title Tags and Meta Descriptions on the website follows a fairly standard template that could be improved upon by testing new and engaging meta data across key pages. This option currently isnt available on mobile. These posts mostly feature UGC, which gives them a really authentic feel and allows them to easily blend into a users Instagram feed, which I feel is something key for brands to master on this channel. Differentiation Strategy Unique features that increase value of goods and services Consumers are willing to pay a higher price. This poster promoting a classic image of Miami was created by graphic designer Alex Asfour, as part of Airbnbs travel poster campaign. [1] Gmelich, K. (2019) Airbnb Says It Made a Profit Again in 2018 Bloomberg, Available at: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-01-15/airbnb-says-it-made-a-profit-again-in-2018-as-ipo-looms-large, [2] Platform Business Model explainedin under 100 words (2019) Deloitte, Available at: https://www2.deloitte.com/ch/en/pages/innovation/articles/platform-business-model-explained.html, [3] About US (2019) Airbnb, Available at: https://press.airbnb.com/about-us/, Interpretivism (interpretivist) Research Philosophy, Segmentation, Targeting & Positioning (STP), https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-01-15/airbnb-says-it-made-a-profit-again-in-2018-as-ipo-looms-large, https://www2.deloitte.com/ch/en/pages/innovation/articles/platform-business-model-explained.html. These experiences are presumably curated based on their recommendation engine, and this email can be dispatched to all users for which there are adequate Airbnb Experiences in their destination to populate the email. So what does the mobile experience look like for sharing referrals for guests? Beyond that, I would go as far to say that Airbnb want to enable their customer base to more easily be able to live it, as opposed to just seeing it, reinforcing one of their key brand messages. browse homes. Recommendations could also be based on the style of home, studio apartment versus family friendly options, or what amenities are associated with my previous bookings, for example, am I always booking places that have wifi or a pool. Since then, theyve evolved multiple times; continuously improving their website and user interface, adding new features, creating new products, expanding to new markets, and trying a range of different tactics to drive the growth of their business. If they were, its probably not the best look for Airbnb. Its basic copywriting psychology you need to instantly show value right up front, which Airbnb have done here. An important UX feature that is part of these pages is that anyone can Start a Conversation. But as a marketer, you never want to discount the impact of SEO and keywords. Traveling to [Location]? To add to this, they can also follow the user around on a range of different placements News Feed on mobile & desktop, Instagram, Audience Network so Id say having Automatic Placements set for this campaign would be a must to ensure they are everywhere that their audiences are. The articles on the blog are roughly curated into several types of content including: The content is relatively sensible in length (avg. If you are familiar with the search engine optimisation space, its likely youve run into the term backlinks before. How do you ensure that people who have stayed with you before do it again? Now, this is an ok result, but thats less than 1% of their overall Followers engaging here, and I think that alone could definitely be improved upon. At the top of the page, theres a button in Airbnbs signature colour (which, internally, they apparently call Rausch) directing you to places to stay in that neighbourhood. This ramble has probably given away the fact that Im a huge fan of Airbnb and have used it frequently, but this just goes to show the power of differentiation. Lennie is the founder of a start-up business that allows homeowners to rent out their properties like hotels. I believe their inclusion of the Superhost is to give the post added credibility, as Superhosts have an average user rating of 4.8 or more out of 5. Read on to discover the essential elements of an Airbnb . This is an example of how AirBnB's Insights team uses data to address current user experience challenges on the platform. In the case of Airbnb, the host side is receiving a subsidy. We are committed to helping people belong no matter where they are in the world and strongly believe that everyone should have the right to marry the person they love. The majority of keywords ranking on page 1 for the Airbnb website are branded, with smaller volume locations ranking for generic [location] accommodation terms. Due to the sheer number of landing pages at play, its clear that Airbnb are either directing people to their expansive website or dynamically-generated landing pages.
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