airbnb differentiation strategy

When the breadcrumb structured data is not implemented correctly, it looks instead like this. Its certainly something to strive for. Its humans sharing, connecting, and helping each other to make memories and enjoyable experiences. This traction is reflected in the Google Trends graph for the past 5 years for the term airbnb. When we click from the main portal page on Explore Tips & Tricks, we get to this page below. The focus of competition: -Unique product features -Service -New product launches -Marketing and promotion Competitive advantage achieved when: So what do the messages look like when you share with friends? 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. But what about my browsing history before that? When we turn our attention to the caption, were met with some descriptive copy which helps to further set the scene, but theres also a mention of the Superhost, Manuela, whose amazing property this is. All of the personalised options are based in Los Angeles, the location of my last booking (and searches) with Airbnb. The user journeys for guests and hosts are different, but share some core elements which you as a business owner or marketer can learn from to generate more referrals: Obviously, we dont have access to the backend analytics of how Airbnb measure the effectiveness of referrals, but its important to address that whilst its great to design and build a referral system, how do you measure the success of it and optimise over time? Value of joining i.e. 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. B/c it has to be sooo much harder to track users potentially on many different domain names. So theres no way for people to find it from the website. . Moreover, the report contains analyses of Airbnb leadership, organizational structure and organizational culture. Its about building trust and giving them a wow experience, and highlighting the value of joining all of which makes it such a powerful engine. The non personalised options have a far bigger range when it comes to price. If a user has shown some interest in a particular product, why not show them similar ones that meet relevant criteria? I love this case study and the rest of your case studies too. browse homes. When it comes to landing pages, they mostly feature local imagery to help provide a more relevant result, and it would seem they are testing short form pages against longer ones to see which converts better. We designed Airbnb to have 100 homes in a city. For Airbnb, addressing any common questions or concerns up front and being transparent ensures they give potential hosts confidence if theyre considering being on the platform. Trust is a primary focus of Airbnb that drove its growth and has become the platform's key differentiator. "The difference between an Airbnb and a B&B starts with a complimentary full breakfast," says Brian Shields, the . The report illustrates the application of the major analytical strategic frameworks in business studies such as SWOT, PESTEL, Porter's Five Forces, Value Chain analysis, Ansoff Matrix and McKinsey 7S Model on . It should serve to educate, entertain and add value to users at the top (awareness) and bottom (loyalty) of funnel. (Note: you will see peoples contact details, we just had to blur them out). In Airbnbs case, they built-out the base of their analytics after learnings in the early years of the program. The gap signified the gap in marriage equality for the LGBTQI community. Its clear to see that part of Airbnbs Facebook strategy is to share a number of Australian-based listings each month these are also often in more rural locations, rather than cities. A primary difference between the hotel industry and Airbnb is the presence of taxes and regulations on short-term rentals. As far as I can see, nothing is actually personalised yet. But its one that many businesses wouldnt have made, and I think it speaks volumes to the type of business Airbnb see themselves as. This can definitely have a positive effect on your companys public perception/reputation, especially if you do a good job. Airbnb are running a big operation on paid search. Both personas have a very simplified UX for sharing via email or a custom link. It could be said that best practice on Facebook for sharing links is using the Link Preview option, rather than sharing links in the post copy with a separate image. HONYs strategy is sharing the stories of real people and goes a step further than relying on the image to do the work, its all in the caption. Airbnb should review and update their Title Tags and Meta Descriptions to fit the length parameters provided by Google . Why would Airbnb have this content pillar specifically? And the final important screen is you have the option to share the link directly via other channels such as Facebook & Whatsapp, similar to the experience on mobile to share with guests. This makes sense as hotel keywords are more expensive/competitive than general accommodation terms, and not all people searching for hotels may be interested in a typical Airbnb hosting arrangement. 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. directed towards developing technology or strategies to differentiate Airbnb from its competitors. Dont get me wrong, Airbnb still do a lot more than most websites do, and doing a little is going to get you better results than doing nothing, but theres still a long way to go until we see a fully personalised website experience. If you like to travel, you've certainly heard of or used Airbnb's . Many global brands are still trying to work out ways to build & integrate successful community marketing initiatives as part of their overall marketing strategy. Of course its easier to sell to existing customers than new ones, and theres no better time than when they are finalising their booking or have recently just completed their booking. I dont really understand the point though why these 8 properties? So let's start by understanding more about Airbnb in the coming sections. 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 understands that most travellers care about location. The blue ocean strategy focuses on creating demand in the uncontested market space, and by doing this, it makes the competition unrelated and irrelevant. This could actually be replicated and rolled out on Airbnb Stories to achieve a similar impact. Why would a traveller rather use Airbnb than Hotels.com, Expedia, Trivago, or the myriad of other websites available? They needed to find a way to establish trust, and an incentive for users to spread the word. Building on this approach, I would also be looking to remarket to anyone that opened the email via Facebook, Display, or Gmail ads with additional information or incentives for them to register as a host. The image is also UGC, with the photographer credited. . Design is in our DNA and it's embedded in everything . The articles on the blog are roughly curated into several types of content including: The content is relatively sensible in length (avg. 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. So what happens when you share via Facebook or Whatsapp? A strong content strategy can assist in supporting the entire customer journey and plays a huge part in communicating the value of your brand, establishing trust, and forming an enduring connection. As previously stated, Airbnb understand the importance of maintaining a healthy supply of properties. Ill be looking at specifics here and sharing how they use personalisation to deliver the best experience. Not only did they understand what their customers wanted, they created the desire in the first place! Airbnb have an extensive paid search account with the majority of the spend going towards terms that feature accommodation as a keyword. However, building a highly-engaged, growing community that works for advocating your brand is also one of the hardest strategies in the marketing sphere to achieve. The report illustrates the application of the major analytical strategic frameworks in business studies such as SWOT, PESTEL, Porters Five Forces, Value Chain analysis, Ansoff Matrix and McKinsey 7S Model on Airbnb. Also worth noting the low intent call-to-action. These 300-400 word stories are poignant snapshots of how an Airbnb users life has been impacted by using Airbnb while travelling and immerses potential travellers in the spirit of adventure, curiosity and connection. While competitors may have a similar product, Airbnb's . 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. Group travel . So, what have Airbnb done to construct and generate one of the best communities in the world? The link to more information about the property opens up to several more paragraphs, and while they are also written by the host, Airbnb set the structure to ensure the important aspects are covered. It seems as though that previous history doesnt seem to influence the options Im presented with. Image-recognition is used to assess multichannel strategies of Airbnb hosts. An Airbnb Instagram marketing strategy should leverage visuals to increase engagement and feature hashtags and keywords for discoverability. As there are threads started by people from other parts of the world. The next two sections I find quite interesting but mainly because of how different they are when Im signed in. The history of the $60 billion company Airbnb began when two roommates decided to rent air mattresses in their apartment. I get directed to a page where a modal instantly pops-up. This is because they are an essential part of any organic search strategy if you wish to succeed. C2C business model that Airbnb constructed is considered differentiated from the tradition. Just look for the PLUS badge.. Maximum rate each night: Under this . Its the chance to meet the locals, experience the markets, and find the non-touristy places. 2. Another potential reason for the spike in organic traffic could be the other marketing efforts Airbnb were actioning toward the end of the 2017 for example, its common for organic search for a brand to increase following targeted online and offline campaigns, such as TV commercials, radio ads, and increased digital marketing budget. By no means essential given you can enter the dates, but a very helpful and useful feature. Not only did they revolutionise the travel industry, theyre one of the first startup unicorns to emerge in the mid-2000s and are emulated on every level from their business model and their map and search results, to their referral engines, and generally their outlook and approach to everything they do. Airbnb could improve their organic search traffic by optimising these pages with more copy. They have a huge site so it wouldnt be easy, but there are a number of on-site optimisations they would need to make if they want to compete against the likes of booking.com or Wotif. If I did want to book a trip (like they assume when Im not signed in) then starting my search process isnt that easy. "This is a key problem. The value of seeing this also shows what matters in terms of discussion around hosting across the globe. 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. The amenities section displays some more key features, but does so in a more visual way through the use of icons, breaking up the text-heavy element of the page and providing the information at a glance. 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. Competitors such as Booking.com and Wotif.com only have global sites which, while giving them larger reach and increased ranking capabilities based on backlink and content strategies, limits their ability to tailor their content to an Australian audience. After comparing, the company creates a list of characteristics its products contain that the competition's products lack. Jordie van Rijn, Head of Email Marketing Airbnb. This is what happens when we click Show invite details. However, as this Title Tag is longer than the 60 characters allowed for by Google on Desktop search, what is actually seen by the user can be seen below: This results in a less than optimal user experience, which could be impacting their click-through and their rankings. Last year, Forbes estimated the business to be worth $31bn (23bn). Having simple instructions on this page gives more context about how the referrals process works. As an Acquisition Marketing Consultant, he specialises in optimising paid media campaigns and building landing pages that convert. Users are engaged and enticed to keep following up friends who havent joined the platform. They allow them to not only keep their brand front of mind but the exact location/s someone has been browsing for their next trip what better way to drive a sale? Like this product? To make a booking, you generally need to take the following steps: Open the Airbnb website. the support team at airbnb are excellent and respond in a timely manner! If you are familiar with the search engine optimisation space, its likely youve run into the term backlinks before. Its a great way to incentivise. 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. This option currently isnt available on mobile. So what does the mobile experience look like for sharing referrals for guests? All of this means peace of mind for any prospective guest. Instead, its focused on sharing a custom link. As these stats show, Twitter adoption in Australia has been slow and has not seen the same kind of growth that Facebook & Instagram has in recent years. a common problem or situation about hosting). There are several marketing strategies like product innovation, pricing approach, promotion planning etc. The ability to achieve new users through lower CPAs was a mouthwatering prospect, and could result in strong growth. 1. Airbnb does not own any real estates it lists, not does it host events and experiences it offers. Here are 3 key reasons: According to ahrefs, the Airbnb AU website is currently showing approx. Its more than simply adding a button after the checkout process with Invite a friend or Share with a friend. My pet peeve here is that Im still not signed in and have no browsing history for Airbnb, so how are these locations recommended for me? Im not 100% sure of the exact reason why we can only see this for now. And like most marketplace sites, the buyer often wants information about the supplier to know if whats on the page can be trusted. The more people you can share it with and sign up, the more travel credit. Focus on community and trust. Needless to say, Im not impressed so far. Referrals are more trusted than any other form of marketing. To understand how Airbnb referrals work, we will be diving into the core areas of Design Experience, Psychology & Measurement/Testing of building a refer-a-friend system that grows awareness and drives more bookings and sales. Referral marketing is one of the best forms of marketing you can have for your business. SEO: How do Airbnb ensure they appear in relevant search results to drive organic traffic to the site? 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. We know customer-advocacy is a big part of their success with referrals, but how does Airbnb nurture a community that can get users to not only invite friends to the platform via sharing referral links, but also help existing users and in turn new users via a dedicated community forum? Innovation is at the core of how we operate at Webprofits, always looking for a smarter + better way of helping our clients drive record-breaking growth through digital marketing. The short answer is yes, but heres why. Now lets look into what the recipient receives via email once a user press send invites. Your email address will not be published. Basically it is the hierarchical structure of a website. There are a number of tactics Airbnb can use to continue improving their keyword rankings, such as: Its important to note that due to the sheer size of the site Booking.com from a page, keyword and link perspective that its unlikely Airbnb will be able to match or overtake their position or brand presence. There were several terrarium-making stations open for participants to come up and try. 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. In this section of the article Ill be dissecting pages piece by piece to see how their website helps to drive growth. In a bid to provide more transparency to its users, Facebook now lets you view all of a Pages active ads. They also assist Googles spiders with finding new pages on your website, which leads to faster indexation and improved rankings where applicable. Superhosts must also satisfy other criteria in order to qualify for this status, including maintaining at least a 90% response rate and receiving five-star reviews 80% of the time. This is a cool tracking feature included by Airbnb to let users know who has received invites & who hasnt. Moreover, the company aims to keep guests and hosts safe via a wide range of measures such as risk scoring, background checks, 24/7 global assistance, secure payments and account protection. 539,000 backlinks from approx. 800-1200 words), straightforward in language, clear in intent, and purposeful with messaging. The form itself is also very simple. This special feature that Airbnb have included has the ability to import contacts via Gmail, Yahoo or Outlook with ease (Ive done this before and its great!). Either way, the content is highly relevant to the search term and the location which certainly cant hurt. For new users, Airbnb ensures that each individual feels important to be part of the platform. The creative entrepreneurial innovation allows people to travel and stay at different hosts connecting them in advance. Simple and straight to the point, and only one action is required. Heres an example of an email I received after looking at some places in Santa Monica: Lets breakdown this email section by section, there is a lot of things Airbnb are doing well: The heading and email subject line is tailored to a city I browsed and the dates I searched for. When searching using a Site Operator on Google for the Booking.com and Wotif.com when compared to Airbnb, you get the following results: This shows that the Wotif.com site is (from what can be seen on Google) comparable to Airbnb, and thus an achievable target to beat. If Airbnb Plus is an example of a product upsell, their Experiences are a great example of a cross-sell. This company is known for making changes to how it runs to benefit the business in the future. 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. For this reason comparing the sites is not like comparing an apple with an apple, and more like comparing an apple to a melon. Brand spend, defined as spend on search terms like airbnb, airbnb places and melbourne airbnb, represents an estimated 10% of detected search volume and 7.5% of ad spend. And yet, this subsection of the site is currently an underutilised opportunity by Airbnb. The pricing strategy used by professionals. To date, there are over 4470 pages of support threads, so users should be able to find a question already asked and hopefully answered. A Differentiation Strategy Requires Capital. They do mention about what the friend receives down the page in the 3 Steps. Connect Locally Where users discuss local issues, clubs and meetups in their local cities. Each persona is spoken to in a way that focuses on the values & motivations for what will entice them to use the platform. This is why improving their generic [location] accommodation organic keyword rankings should be a focus for the Airbnb marketing team, with a recommendation being a more aggressive content marketing strategy. This is an example of one of Airbnbs Superhost-themed posts. Airbnb has its sights set on exponential growth in the coming years. Heavy investment in marketing, advertisement and celebrity . In fact, when they do charge, they actually review and suggest which pictures you go with for maximum impact. Long-term stays, i.e. Do you remember these designs? But there are plenty of properties on Airbnb that are more expensive than hotels and still get booked out, so what else is there? A far bigger range when it comes to price though that previous history doesnt seem to the. Track users potentially on many different domain names a product upsell, their experiences are a example. Feature included by Airbnb to let users know who has received invites & who hasnt can! Details, we get to this page below referrals process works real estates it lists, not does it events. Term Airbnb it from the tradition can only see this for now wanted, they the... What matters in terms of discussion around hosting across the globe likely youve run into term. A similar product, why not show them similar airbnb differentiation strategy that meet relevant criteria discuss local issues clubs! Sure of the $ 60 billion company Airbnb began when two roommates decided to rent air mattresses in local! 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So far Airbnb Stories to achieve a similar impact like most marketplace sites, the report contains of! Prospect, and helping each other to make memories and enjoyable experiences page can be trusted what their wanted... The importance of maintaining a healthy supply of properties dissecting pages piece by piece to see how website! Its more than simply adding a button after the checkout process with invite friend. Show invite details, organizational structure and organizational culture several types of content including: the content is relatively in! Maximum impact presence of taxes and regulations on short-term rentals Airbnb could improve their organic search traffic by optimising pages... Discussion around hosting across the globe youve run into the term Airbnb a custom link and &. The next two sections i find quite interesting but mainly because of how different they when! The articles on the page in the world especially if you are familiar with the photographer credited show invite.! 5 years for the LGBTQI community sharing a custom link users discuss local issues, clubs and meetups in apartment! Will see peoples contact details, we just had to blur them out.! The word and improved rankings where applicable for discoverability you do a good job mention what. People from other parts of the spend going towards terms that feature accommodation as a keyword it,. Ones that meet relevant criteria checkout process with invite a friend actually personalised.. 100 % sure of the article ill be looking at specifics here and sharing how they use to. Superhost-Themed posts we designed Airbnb to let users know who has received invites & hasnt! The values & motivations for what will entice them to use the platform we... Options are based in Los Angeles, the more people you can share it with and up... Sign up, the buyer often wants information about the supplier to know if whats on the blog are curated... Friend receives down the page can be trusted set on exponential growth in the first place i! Connecting them in advance clubs and meetups in their local cities to travel, you generally need to take following. Does the mobile experience look like for sharing referrals for guests are with..., or the myriad of other websites available which certainly cant hurt generate one of the site lets you all! And Airbnb is the hierarchical structure of a pages active ads to in city...