But their strategies dont just relate to customer acquisition. Airbnb has turned me into a huge advocate by just connecting with my preferred way to travel. To break down the visibility differences between Booking.com, Wotif.com and Airbnb, we ran a keyword gap analysis through SEMrush. https://www.facebook.com/AirbnbAustralia/. Many disgruntled customers use the comments section as a way to complain; this is seen across numerous industries, but Airbnb is clearly trying to show that they are a brand focused on customer service and experience, as they try and reply to most of these types of comments. directed towards developing technology or strategies to differentiate Airbnb from its competitors. Airbnbs answer to this dilemma is Neighbourhoods which launched seven years ago with 300 neighbourhoods in 7 cities, it now features 23 major cities around the world. Theres definitely a lot here we can learn from Airbnb. 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. Any ideas, any theories? Lacking a strong organic search strategy and missing fundamental CRO elements: Airbnb is not activity driving organic traffic to the stories nor converting any readers which may land here. Some people appreciate the luxury of staying in a hotel, knowing youll receive a professional service, including a properly maintained room. For example, the search term canberra accommodation has an average 40,500 searches per month, with the rankings as: Airbnb seems to be cognisant of their low organic positioning for generic [location] accommodation terms, and so acts to ensure they are in position 1 of ad placements for high volume targets. This case study aims to answer all of the questions above by taking a deep dive into the specifics of each of their digital marketing channels and tactics. Their methods are not unique to them, and with a bit of strategy you too can reap the benefits of their successes. This does mean they cant share too much content which is specific to one location, and it also means they have to work a little harder at sharing content which is universally appealing. This is a cool tracking feature included by Airbnb to let users know who has received invites & who hasnt. This marketing case study on Airbnb focuses on explaining the 4Ps of the marketing mix, the marketing strategy it undertakes to market itself and its digital presence. Some browser abandonment emails feature specific homes you looked at in the hero section and insert the home name into the email subject line, while other emails focus more on the destination and instead showcase a grid of different available homes: In terms of their host acquisition strategy, they use email automation to communicate potential earnings to previous guests: This is particularly resourceful as past guests are already familiar with the Airbnb brand, their processes and the benefits. 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. Given the saturation of online paid media & costs to acquire new customers, Airbnb identified that building an engine to create more word-of-mouth from those who had experienced Airbnb was crucial to finding a solution. Integrated low-cost differentiation - competing by using both low cost and differentiation. Methods of analysis include Strategic Position & Action Evaluation (SPACE) Matrix, and Grand Strategy Selection Matrix as well as . 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. This is pretty standard for most product pages, but Airbnb do it well. Airbnb showcase four 4.5 star homes in Santa Monica that have availability for the dates I selected. Following a platform business model. Ive done a fair bit of travelling in my time and I absolutely HATE it when people say theyve done a certain location. It seems as though that previous history doesnt seem to influence the options Im presented with. Guidelines and tips. Airbnb, the lodging colossus, has been prudent from the financial point of view. We instantly see the value of sharing and when a host successfully joins, Earn $22 for every new host you refer. The company produced an event in Seoul, Korea, that celebrated beautifying Airbnb spaces with terrariums. Brand strategy examples. Again, as a normal user it really is, but as marketers or anyone working in technology, we can appreciate there is a lot more work that goes behind the scenes. A breadcrumb structure comes from the childrens story of Hansel and Gretel, where they leave breadcrumbs as a trail to find their way home. The booking form stands out the most, and with good reason its the quickest way for them to get information about what the user is looking for, in order to personalise their experience. The next section makes a lot of sense jump into the upsell. 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. the hotel industry is under going another disruption: the "collaboration economy" and its poster child Airbnb give rise to a variety of apartment rentals, offered to consumers for more affordable prices. document.write(new Date().getFullYear()) To this day, Airbnb continues to use the model above as a baseline to predict, determine, and prioritise features to keep improving conversion rates across the products they roll out. That's what Airbnb has bet on since 2008, when a three-member team of designers and an engineer set out to solve the essential problem of where to stay. Ive chosen to analyse Airbnb property pages as I feel these are the closest thing they have to products. 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.". Retarget products to people who have visited your website or app. With the data they have collected over the years, I would assume that many people in my location (or maybe just globally) start looking at beach destinations around this time of year. This sounds like a lot of very complicated technical work, but the key is that they proved success by doing it manually and then did whatever they could to make it scale. Not all businesses are lucky enough to have a recognisable logo that they can use as their Page profile picture but, as a globally-renowned brand, Airbnb have that privilege. Its effortless. Its not as easy as you think. It should serve to educate, entertain and add value to users at the top (awareness) and bottom (loyalty) of funnel. When looking at the types of posts they share to the Page, this is a mixture of imagery & video. Although the last few years have ushered in shifts at the product and organizational levels, design principles still guide us everyday. Instead, they provide the mobile-friendly option of SMS (and, of course, Facebook and Whatsapp) to make it a seamless experience. Tam Al-Saad - Get more articles like this sent to your email, Principal Consultant, Search + Content Marketing. If youre a business/brand, your ads strategy is now in full view for all to see, particularly your competitors; but if youre an everyday Facebook user you now have more visibility as to what ads a political party, brand, or whoever else you wish to check is currently running. This makes sense when you refer to data that was shared by the company towards the end of 2018, where they predicted which Australian locations would be the top 10 trending destinations for 2019 (based on internal data for bookings made in 2017 vs. 2018). In fact, Im even more motivated even when I send the email it makes me want to go out of my way to actually make sure my friend/recipient accepts the invitation and signs up. For such a competitive space, Airbnb is considered one of the more competitive players. Under its model, it is the homeowners renting out their houses to the tourists. By creating a hyper-local section of the community pages, Airbnb have reduced the clutter on the main section, while also building a community within the community. Consistency is key here as if it is not consistent, its harder for Googles spider bots to crawl the website, leading to longer indexation times and reduced impact when changes are made on the site. In a differentiation strategy Airbnb Model can seek to be unique in its industry by providing a value proposition that is cherished by buyers. Airbnb could improve their organic search traffic by optimising these pages with more copy. As a user on the site, I instantly see what the top articles and discussions are for the month and which the community cares about. 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. I believe that one of the reasons theyve been able to do this all so successfully is their commitment to understanding their customers both the host, and the traveller. B/c it has to be sooo much harder to track users potentially on many different domain names. 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. 29,000 backlinks from VisitNsw, which are primarily content or image-related links. Tools such as Buffer and Hootsuite make this very easy for businesses to do. *Numbers are accurate at the time of writing. The post copy that accompanies the image often introduces the host/s on a personal level Make yourself at home at Patrick and Elizabeths historic homestead. The campaign perfectly aligned with Airbnbs values, and helped highlight a struggle for acceptance in a country where the debate on same-sex marriage had fallen off the political radar. Its all about empowering existing customers, networks and advocates by connecting, engaging and establishing discussion through a particular medium anything from meetup groups, subreddits, Facebook Groups, events, blogs you name it. It is clear that Airbnb is becoming one of the most popular online-booking.. As the saying goes, "content is king" and content marketing is key to receiving consistent bookings. Ultimately, over time this has helped Airbnb. Having all of the negative posts in their own section keeps them out of the minds of users who have been having a good experience. This is an excellent strategy as it essentially allows them to give their audiences a little extra nudge down the sales funnel. Airbnb. The image is great, it looks like a well designed, high quality home, but the header and description leaves a lot to be desired. While competitors may have a similar product, Airbnb's . Thank you for amazing post, Your email address will not be published. Now lets look into what the recipient receives via email once a user press send invites. 2.1B CULTURAL EXPERIENCE. The history of the $60 billion company Airbnb began when two roommates decided to rent air mattresses in their apartment. As someone who has admired Airbnb for many years, its been interesting to take an in-depth look into what theyre doing and evaluate it. If I did want to book a trip (like they assume when Im not signed in) then starting my search process isnt that easy. Book a real home in [Location] for less than a hotel room . Our reproducible method is a valuable tool to monitor the market supply-side. 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. 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. So, what can we learn from how the Airbnbs referral system mechanics and design work for them right now? Theyve used a custom link shortener for a number of years now (http://abnb.co) which usually provides you with the option to track who is clicking on the link, but thats it. Airbnb fees and room pricing. 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. Do Airbnb get heavily involved in the discussion? Our Airbnb 2022 predictions: The "Live Anywhere" theme has crept up into Airbnb's announcements since 2020. Though in my experience, nobody has picked a location based solely on the accommodation. Hey what happened to your [Thailand] plans?! After I decide to learn more, I come to this landing page specifically personalised to me and, more impressively, my location. 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. One of the ways smart organisations like Airbnb work around this is by aggregating user data and relaying this back to users. And most of all, they provide a large amount of content for relevant destinations on their side, giving them a huge organic backlink strategy. As a result the event was a little more subdued than Airbnbs expectations, but not from lack of enthusiasm. Referrals are more trusted than any other form of marketing. Brendan brings both an analytical and creative mindset to his portfolio and is always ready for a challenge. Download Slides - Strategy Analysis on Airbnb | Curtin University (CU) | Based on the analysis of external, internal environment and SWOT of Airbnb. The last bits of information that are unique to this page are the policies, and the Ts and Cs. If they were to use polished/professional imagery, I dont think it would have the same natural feel, so Im confident this strategy works well for them on both Facebook & Instagram. I love free money! 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. 6,430 Referring Domains of note, while more links are likely to have been built to the site since its inception, there will always be lost links as time passes due to pages being removed from this party websites, listings being removed the Airbnb site and no redirect being put in place, and whole websites being shut down. Airbnb are running a big operation on paid search. In crafting his company strategy, Lennie is particularly focused on how to distinguish his start-up from similar companies such as AirBnB. Then underneath, we dont see the email option to send a personalised invite right away. To sign up as a host compared to being a guest, theres a lot more involved in terms of trying to convert them. Do you remember these designs? Well come back to this shortly, but this is a great example of message-matching at scale. In website talk, the breadcrumb structure of a website does the same thing it allows Googles spiders to find their way back to the most important page, whether that be the homepage, the category page of the product being viewed (eCommerce), or another primary page. Lets firstly take a look at the layout of the Refer Hosts Page. Global presence makes it an easy choice. Incentive I instantly see the value that I will receive if I take an action by accepting the invitation. In the time that Ive been analysing Airbnbs Facebook Page for this case study, through checking the Ads Library tool Ive been able to see that theyve advertised all of their most recent Page posts. 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. So let's start by understanding more about Airbnb in the coming sections. a common problem or situation about hosting). The above is what Airbnbs prior Head of Email Marketing had to say about the art of personalisation while ensuring that they dont end up intimidating the recipient. This shows that in terms of success, branded keywords currently play a huge role in their organic success, and should continue to be a primary driver of organic traffic in the future. They could trial using a number of different Meta Descriptions as opposed to a single template to see if this has a positive impact. As we know, the concept of Airbnb was completely new for audiences who had never used them before, and common questions around about safety & trust were prevalent from audiences considering using the platform. However there is still less linking to booking sites than you might expect, as the commercial properties themselves generally prefer bookings be made direct, which saves them the commission required when a third-party site takes the booking. In 2011 Airbnb had to come up with an urgent answer to this very important question when a host in San Francisco reported that their house was trashed after renting it out for a week. Sell Documents . When it comes to advertising for guests, it seems that a lot of what they do is based on dynamic remarketing, which is a great idea. A firm needs to invest in market research, research and development or product development, and manufacturing or production processes to create highly differentiated products. A more aggressive content marketing strategy by creating more onsite content and updating existing content to target specific locations and relevant high traffic volume keywords, Airbnb are likely to continue increasing in position across Google and thus increase their organic market share. If you select Melbourne, for example, there are 19 neighbourhoods to select from, with filters like Greens Spaces and By the Beach. The focus is on the outstanding property and the equally beautiful backdrop. For instance, meet Clarence a design student whose life changed forever when his experience in Airbnb caused him to break out of his shell. However, with challenges of design & desired user actions, having too many options could possibly prevent any action being taken. The best way for Airbnb to improve their backlink profile ties into the recommendation given for keyword ranking improvements: develop a more aggressive content marketing strategy. Airbnb is far more than a platform to find inexpensive hotel accommodations. And then if a user keeps scrolling, we see one more block section which is about Host referrals. Using video over image posts does have one major advantage for Ads strategy though, and that comes in the form of Engagement Custom Audiences from video views. When going through the site now, there are 3 key characteristics that stand out to me. However, theres not much to be gleaned from it for most businesses to be able to action, so well leave the home page review there for now. Their cover image appears to be the interior of an Airbnb property and promotes their overall. More social proof again (impressive numbers, right?). By doing this, Airbnb have ensured that important information is visible, just in case the host leaves it out. They could also promote this competition for free to all of their hosts via email. Its their hosts which are their key customers; if their hosts succeed then they succeed. Based on Airbnbs amount of branded anchor text, they are in the safe zone, but should be conscious of the percentage skew when progressing with their backlick strategy in the future. Where it gets interesting is to see how the home page differs when Im signed in. In case youre unsure of your dates and are in love with the space, the availability section of the site helps you to see when you can book the property so you can plan your trip around it. 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. 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. See if this has a positive impact articles like this sent to your email address will not be published their. 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