5 Airbnb Marketing Strategies that actually work!
You’ve put the finishing touches on the decor, the paint is drying, and you’re ready to start accepting bookings on Airbnb.
But now that you’re ready for guests have you started to think about marketing strategies to get your Airbnb property noticed? There’s more that goes into marketing your Airbnb property than just placing it on their website.
And if you get it wrong, you may lose out on bookings even if you have the perfect Airbnb property.
Without a solid plan to reach your target audience, it can be difficult to be profitable in the short-term rental market. So before spending money on ads or promotional materials, make sure you know what works best
Here are 5 Airbnb marketing strategies that will help you increase bookings and make your Airbnb property profitable:
Use video and virtual tours.
Use multiple marketing channels.
Embrace local partnerships.
Collaborate with influencers.
Price your listing strategically.
Now, let’s dive into the specifics of each point above and learn the top five Airbnb Marketing Strategies that actually work!
Remind Your Guests Why You Provide A 5-Star Experience
What Is An Airbnb Branding Strategy?
An Airbnb branding strategy is a subset of marketing that focuses on how you want your property to be perceived by travelers.
If you run a successful Airbnb property, your branding strategies should aim to make your home stand out from other properties in your area and show why guests should choose yours over others.
The more people feel compelled to choose your Airbnb, the more bookings you’ll see at higher prices. These tips can help you create a successful Airbnb marketing strategy for your home:
Use high-quality, professional photographs of the exterior and interior of your property. Make sure they are all taken from eye level and tell a visual story.
Include keywords in your Airbnb property titles and descriptions that will help people searching the website find you.
Give your property a unique name or title that is easy to remember.
Create a bio for your host that showcases why they are great but don’t be too promotional.
Include information about yourself and what you do outside of the home — this will help potential guests learn more about you and feel connected with you before arriving.
Airbnb Marketing Strategies
Now that you have an idea of how to set up your Airbnb branding strategy, let’s dive into the top five Airbnb marketing strategies that will help you increase booking and make your Airbnb property profitable:
Use Video and Virtual Tours
Videos and virtual tours are phenomenal ways to promote your Airbnb, apart from using professional photography for your Airbnb property.
Whatever industry you’re in, it is generally a good practice to use videos in marketing to draw your audience’s attention. A video on your Airbnb listing might be more appealing to the person who might ultimately book with you.
Unlike other listings that rely only on photographs, a video listing is an even more enticing one.
Using videos in your social media marketing efforts for your Airbnb property is also a great idea. Adobe Spark reported back in 2019 that videos can have up to 48% more views than posts without video content.
Those numbers are impressive if you think about how many new customers that statistic could bring in!
Virtual tours are also a great tool to use in your Airbnb marketing, as they allow your visitors to walk through the Airbnb listing as if they were there! Virtual tours are more commonly being used in the vacation rental industry.
They provide an element of transparency for the true size and condition of the property and the ability to access the tour 24/7.
When you’re creating a virtual tour, it’s a good idea to keep yourself and your camera out of any mirror shots. Take them at a 45-degree angle, so the viewer can the room as it is without a reflection.
Use Multiple Marketing Channels
In order to market your listing successfully, you’ll need to use as many different marketing channels as possible. It is possible to increase your audience by doing this, which is ultimately desirable for you in that it helps bring in more customers.
Adding a property to Airbnb and then simply sitting back and watching your revenue soar is a unique way to succeed.
What are the most effective platforms when it comes to Airbnb marketing? Instagram and Facebook are the most popular social networks, followed closely by YouTube and Pinterest.
To make sure your social media campaigns are successful, it is important to choose channels that you are familiar with or how-to courses that can help you navigate the social media platforms you prefer.
You should maintain your Airbnb property’s social media profile and maintain a consistent posting schedule for your profiles. The key to ensuring that your audience “net” is as wide as you can cast is to post relevant photos, videos, engaging text, and relevant hashtags.
If you have difficulty maintaining a posting schedule or aren’t sure what kind of content to create, you can always have a professional do it for you!
Many freelancers online would be happy to create content in bulk for you and even post it on your behalf if you’d like.
Another way to improve and expand your marketing reach on social media is to have your visitors post about your content. Ask them to tag your Airbnb location in any photos they post, providing free outreach!
Embrace Local Partnerships
A host who is just starting on Airbnb will greatly benefit from embracing partnerships with local businesses. Making friends with the locals and sharing the news about your Airbnb property is one of the best ways to market your property — “word of mouth.”
As for other ways you can take advantage of local partnerships to market your Airbnb property, what are some of the possibilities?
If you wish, you can create local partnerships to help your guests discover the charm of your locality, for example, by offering local wines, produce, and baked goods.
Having snacks ready to give to your guests is a welcome treat, as we explained in our last article.
Therefore, if you are consistently ordering products from a certain company in your community, someone might ask them for an Airbnb recommendation. Yours would be the first one they recommended!
As part of your marketing strategy, it may also benefit you to consider creating local partnerships since you can band together to create a local competition, which will help put your company in front of many people at one time.
As an example, the winner of your contest could get a night’s stay in your Airbnb, a meal from a local restaurant, flowers from a local florist, etc.
Together, you can work to build engagement and generate visitors by marketing together!
You could also create deals with local Airbnb hosts. For example, if they purchase two nights at both houses at the same time, they get a free night. All three parties will benefit, and you’ll meet potential repeat customers down the road.
Collaborate With Influencers
Collaborating with influencers can significantly impact your marketing efforts. On Instagram, influencers are extremely popular people with a large following and, subsequently, more marketing reach.
However, there are various niche influencers within particular communities that are extremely popular.
You can expose your brand to the audience of influencers who are frequent travelers, who live in your area, or who are frequent Airbnb renters by finding out their interests and asking them to mention your profile.
In general, these services usually come at a cost, but sometimes there are influencers who believe in your brand and will trade you a stay in your Airbnb property in exchange for a shoutout.
Occasionally, you have to spend money to make money (as anyone looking to crush a competitor will tell you).
Consider reaching out to popular influencers who announce they're itinerary ahead of time. If someone’s heading to your area and they have over 10,000 followers, offer a free night for a shoutout on their Instagram, Facebook, or Snapchat story, as well as a permanent multi-picture post on their account.
Price Your Listing Strategically
By pricing your listing strategically, you can create marketing contents that suit different people with different needs (and one of the reasons why we recommend using AirDNA).
Would you recommend your Airbnb property be better suited for short-term stays, or does it cater to long-term stays? What type of property are you listing–a full house, a room, or an apartment? Are there special amenities available for your guests, such as a hot tub or swimming pool?
It is important to keep a wide range of things in mind when deciding how much to charge for an Airbnb listing. Check out our article on how to price your vacation rental to make the most money.
While you do not want to undercut your value, you also do not want to make your rates out of line with the average Airbnb properties or hotels in your area. To ensure maximum occupancy, keep in mind everything you have to offer, and price your listing fairly.
You should also consider your additional fees, such as cleaning fees and fees for extra guests. In the Airbnb industry, it’s not uncommon for these fees to exist. However, too many or exorbitant fees may deter potential guests.
While listing your fees, it’s also crucial to have as many pictures and amenities displayed on the page as possible. People should know what they’re paying for, even if you undercut the local competition.
Final Thoughts
As you continue to fine-tune your marketing strategy, keep in mind how people are exposed to Airbnb listings. Most often, they’re recommended by friends, family members, or other influencers on social media. If your marketing is working, potential customers will start to know and trust your brand before they even book a reservation with you.
Keep these things in mind to market your Airbnb listing successfully. You can try several different strategies, all of which are usually free!
