Their local twitter pages arent very impressive and it seems theyre more like an afterthought rather than a planned out strategy. The blue ocean strategy focuses on creating demand in the uncontested market space, and by doing this, it makes the competition unrelated and irrelevant. Lets take a look. They utilise a product feed/product catalogue and Im confident that any new listings that get added to the Airbnb site also get added to this feed. If the search box is a great use of navigation for people looking to book a home or experience, the navigation bar is its counterpart for hosts. The experiences section is very clear these are the top rated experiences around the world. Some of the effective pricing strategies are: Maximum full rate strategy: Businesses follow competitors' pricing strategies. Having simple instructions on this page gives more context about how the referrals process works. Smart play Airbnb. Overall, its a great channel if users or potential users are looking for extra information. Like the Stories section of the Airbnb website, the Neighbourhoods section is not easily found within the Airbnb navigation, and is largely instead found internally through location search. BONUS: Don't have the time to read all 29,000 words right now? The global lodging company maintains a community centre as a place to connect with other hosts, share stories, ask for advice, and get updates from the Airbnb team. For a more comparable analysis from a size perspective, an analysis of the US and global Airbnb approach would be necessary. Porter, Michael. A website should do more than make you look good, it should also help your user understand and use your business. Do Airbnb get heavily involved in the discussion? Term. The majority of their image posts feature an Airbnb listing, utilising user-generated content (UGC) which gives the brand a very authentic and relatable feel. Airbnb Inc. Report contains a full analysis of Airbnb business strategy. Share a link to your friends to a custom landing page or via email. Just kidding, everyones heard of Airbnb. As you would expect for a site like Airbnb, the majority of their backlinks have been achieved through travel-related content, such as articles on a certain destination, links from travel-related companies, and links in media and forums. This type of strategy will always have an expiry date. If we refer back to the notion of video content being great for storytelling, it may be that Airbnb is happy enough with someone watching a video and if they click through to read the full article relating to that video, thats a bonus, the article perhaps has more value for SEO than social. It also fits well with Brendans findings on branded keyword targeting vs generic location targeting, as Airbnb is not showing higher in the organic results for generic terms and thats where theyre putting the majority of their advertising budget on Google (73%). When the breadcrumb structured data is not implemented correctly, it looks instead like this. there is limited differentiation found among the companies' core business models. You could compare a lot of their image posts to a Wanderlust Pinterest board; aspirational imagery featuring real people with locations that offer stunning backdrops, architecture and interiors. So what happens next? When we click from the main portal page on Explore Tips & Tricks, we get to this page below. 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. Can earn up to $3,401 this month. When compared with Booking.com, its evident who the backlink winner is: Booking.com had close to 100,000 Referring Domains pointing to their website in 2013, while Airbnb has yet to reach the 7,000 Referring Domain mark. Jason began his career at Webprofits as an intern and six years later he is now one of our leading social media specialists, managing a number of our long-standing Australian Fluid clients. Airbnb are able to match up the user session with your email address based on your browser cookie, and they then trigger an email sequence that aims to get you back into your search and ultimately book your next stay. Any ideas, any theories? These audiences can be great for honing in on your audience targeting later down the track. Referrals are more trusted than any other form of marketing. You could argue, why does this matter to me? This trust isnt so much between the user and Airbnb, its trust amongst hosts and guests. Ill be highlighting specific examples soon, but if they hadnt considered the User Experience as much in the early days then I doubt theyd have experienced the growth that they have. 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. Utilising the strengths of storytelling and curation has been the driving force behind the brands onsite content success. Airbnb have an extensive paid search account with the majority of the spend going towards terms that feature accommodation as a keyword. This company is known for making changes to how it runs to benefit the business in the future. Lets take a look at the non-personalised version of the home page first. At Webprofits when weve split-tested using an image with a link in the copy versus a Link Preview, on average, the Link Preview prevails. 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. Airbnb have put a lot of work into designing a marketplace that is built on trust. 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. Get points. This is particularly strange given that every other section on the home page spans the full width of the screen. The short answer is yes, but heres why. This move will enable professional hospitality companieslike small, independent boutique hotelsto have a place on the platform. It took me a moment to realise it, but that structure isnt a watch tower (maybe Ive been watching too much Game of Thrones), its a home. Highlights their hosts as a key part of the Airbnb experience. Its a very similar UI to the desktop platform which is done by design. 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. I think this section really goes to show their commitment to providing the user with relevant information as much as possible. If you select Melbourne, for example, there are 19 neighbourhoods to select from, with filters like Greens Spaces and By the Beach. And the top performing organic keywords are. Its now that we see the other options of sharing referral via different channels such as messenger and email. Unique Product. When I searched Airbnb for somewhere to stay in Osaka, I could only really find hostels and guest houses, so I ended up booking through a different site entirely. Maximum rate each night: Under this . Based on this report, its clearly evident the differences in high volume keywords between the three brands, with Airbnb largely trailing behind the other two. This further increases the scope of potential links they could be achieving.For example, Booking.com has 7 backlinks from the Referring Domain , Taps into the aspirational elements of travel through engaging imagery to encourage bookings, Encourages property owners to become an Airbnb host. 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. 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 . The way its designed and the copy used is to help build instant trust and increase the likelihood of me accepting the invitation. a common problem or situation about hosting). Its particularly interesting that Airbnbs spend allocated to accommodation-themed keywords significantly outweighs spend on hotel-related keywords. Plus, the more they read/talk about it, the more theyre thinking about it, which should lead to less churn. Brendan brings both an analytical and creative mindset to his portfolio and is always ready for a challenge. Airbnb were looking for those who wanted to be a traveller, not a tourist, and for this audience there is one fundamental ingredient: authenticity. If your business strength is that you have properties and people want properties, then thats what you should focus on. Each city has its own forum where the hosts can discuss the local issues or services specific to them. My guess is that Airbnb know I cant afford $540 a night to stay in The Carribean, and so the options they suggest are a lot closer to what Ive booked in the past. First, youll need to select your destination. Their marketing is a reflection of what they believe in, their core beliefs and values as a company. Thanks! I also recommend that Airbnb implement the correct structured data markup across the website for best results. Just by using the right words, Airbnb make me feel as though they should be my first port of call when Im visiting somewhere new. Its not a complex email. Airbnb has removed the search bar in the header and there arent any buttons or links to guide users to take another step. A selection of homes verified for quality and designed might well be a good description of Airbnb Plus, but its not exactly enticing. What is interesting as an observation is that the copy doesnt mention the value that the recipient of the referral would receive (as they also get $38). . Why would the user want to send this in the first place? And if you dont know much about the person doing the searching, I would say this the perfect word to use. 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. 3. The prime generic strategies applied by Airbnb is the mixture of differentiation and cost. 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. The site structure of these pages is strong due to the way each category acts as a directory page to the other listings, giving greater value to the site and also helping the pages rank for high volume search terms. By creating resourceful content, tools, calculators, guides, unique data such as statistical information, videos etc, Airbnb gives other websites a reason to link to their website without having to allocate a huge portion of their marketing budget to hustling for links. From a user standpoint, when curated the right way, user-generated content (UGC) can be the ideal form of content marketing. 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. Airbnb Inc. Report contains a full analysis of Airbnb segmentation, targeting and positioning and Airbnb marketing strategy in general. Airbnb's differentiation strategy effectively resolves problems within the market and all parties are satisfied. Airbnb is new to the Corporate Responsibility scene but is quickly distinguishing itself as an emerging player the CSR community. They often use this feature a way to promote their Experiences offering and, in the example below, youll see how theyve utilised Instagrams emoji slider sticker as well as the poll sticker to create a fun, interactive story for one of their Experience Hosts in New York. If you are familiar with the search engine optimisation space, its likely youve run into the term backlinks before. Airbnb are using Instagram mainly to promote their listings, Superhosts & Experiences. They could trial using a number of different Meta Descriptions as opposed to a single template to see if this has a positive impact. Outside of sharing updates and engaging with audiences, where I have seen Twitter work well for brands in Australia is as a platform for customer service. The layout and the functionality of the site is what makes it so easy to use. They know my stay there ended a while ago, do they think I want to go straight back? The Airbnb business model is a multisided platform that connects travelers with hosts from all corners of the planet. As we can see on the community portal page, the community centre is broken down into 3 core pillars: The primary focus for this content pillar is helping those who are hosts or potential hosts to connect with other hosts, share stories, ask for advice, and get updates from the Airbnb team. 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. 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. Although they are sharing some video content, Ive noticed that this is usually content which isnt localisedand, when switching regions on the Facebook Page, you can see that theyre sharing much of the same video content across different countries. 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. Once Im on their site and browsing, the call-to-action shifts to making a booking. In addition, they offer more information about becoming a host. 539,000 backlinks from approx. Airbnb have a reputation for using personalisation arguably better than any other big brand business in the world. Airbnbs call-to-actions place greater emphasis on booking than they do on browsing/search. Personally, I dont email my friends often, especially at scale, so having these two options makes it feel easy just to share via these channels where I talk to my friends all the time. You can try this out for yourself by visiting the Ads Library tool. The rest of it is then up to the host to make sure they have a profile that people feel they can connect to so that they want to stay there. After I decide to learn more, I come to this landing page specifically personalised to me and, more impressively, my location. Nothing quite catches the eye and so Im not 100% sure what the obvious step is to do next. With that being said, I do like their UGC strategy and think theyve done a good job of leveraging this for content, rather than using professionally shot and polished imagery, which would not suit the platform. The image is also UGC, with the photographer credited. Theres a clear funnel from awareness to consideration and finally conversion. The travel industry disruptor currently uses machine learning to improve search, prevent fraud, help hosts optimize pricing, match users with the most relevant listings and other practices vital for the business. But that doesnt mean I would use it at all costs. Isnt that why you travel in the first place so you have a wild tale to regale to your friends back home in our local pub, a cold lager in hand? browse homes. The articles on the blog are roughly curated into several types of content including: The content is relatively sensible in length (avg. 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. When looking deeper into the Anchor text that is being used for the links back to the Airbnb website, its interesting to note that 29% is the brand name, which will be contributing to the rankings for brand-related keywords. They either rent out a spare room or their entire property when they go away. Users arent always going to go out of their way to find out how they can share. As a long-term host Ive spent years working with different hosts and always had an amazing time. The pricing strategy used by professionals. Lets start with the layout of the referral page. Interesting. If we compare their current 0.60% engagement rate to the Humans of New York account, we can see a real difference here. According to SimilarWeb, approximately 12% of Airbnb.com.aus total website traffic is via paid search. However, they have a near-infinite number of pages and I could go on forever, so to reign it in Ill be looking at a couple of pages that most (if not all) businesses have. But this expansion has also put the spotlight on content and localisation, both for guests and also for hosts using the platform. And using the concept of ' Sharing Econom y', they created a newfound supply of income for the hosts. By offering a guarantee on insurance they took away the biggest fear that their hosts (and potential hosts) have, ensuring that they feel comfortable renting out their property. The research had transformed Airbnb's website and differentiated it from competitors. 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. Airbnb rely heavily on their brand presence to drive organic traffic and could do significantly better when ranking for accommodation-based keywords. It seems as though that previous history doesnt seem to influence the options Im presented with. Lets take a look at Melbourne, for example. I love free money! To make this article easier to read weve broken it out into several different sections, each covering different growth channels. An accommodation platform would never offer experiences as a product, and nor should they. As most businesses know, testimonials are extremely valuable. Mimic Airbnb's strategy by: Marketing your Airbnb as an experience, not just a building CEO Brian Chesky has pledged to hold an IPO for the 10-year-old company before 2020 when some employee stock grants expire. So how does the email import functionality work? All seven property types will launch this summer. Airbnb Model can also pursue differentiation strategy based on the industry forces description in casename case study. For example, when they share an image separately instead of using the Link Preview option, I see this as counterproductive to the objective at hand, which is to drive people to a website, and Link Previews have been created by Facebook to provide Page owners with the easiest, most conversion-focused way of doing this. A large part of Airbnbs success can be attributed to their website. To break down the visibility differences between Booking.com, Wotif.com and Airbnb, we ran a keyword gap analysis through SEMrush. Some people appreciate the luxury of staying in a hotel, knowing youll receive a professional service, including a properly maintained room. So why was it perceived as being so different to the booking engines that were already around at the time, and are still huge today. Curated like a blog feed of suburbs within a chosen city, Neighbourhoods is a more visual version of an old fashioned street directory. The campaign was subsequently rolled out in 80 countries, and managed to generate an incredible global impact. 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!). 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. No, it seems as if they dont get involved at all. Upon clicking this youre directed to their homepage, and I can see that theyve generated this link with UTM tracking. So bear with me while I explain them here, it will all make sense later . . However, the event was something of a dud participants mostly stayed away from the stations, preferring not to engage. In fact, you could argue that Airbnb is predominantly a B2B business. In crafting his company strategy, Lennie is particularly focused on how to distinguish his start-up from similar companies such as AirBnB. The staycation is also becoming more popular and I dont doubt that businesses like Airbnb have played a part in that. Thats a pretty solid looking page structure in my opinion. In these two views, you see Pending based on the invites sent out and Available with the Credit and coupons available to use. 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. Moreover, the report contains analyses of Airbnb leadership, organizational structure and organizational culture. The fact that your friend or recipient receives credit when signing up (in this case $76), it doesnt feel as if the user is taking advantage of the situation or the recipient feeling used. They dont use as much personalisation on their. Its a great UX and user-generated content strategy. Its less commitment, often more cost-effective for the customer, and theyre fortunate with such a huge and diverse country like Australia that there are so many amazing listings they can continue to share. Initial reading is to get a rough idea of what information is provided for the analyses. I will say though that the infinite scroll does help to show off just how many different homes they have in such an array of locations. At the top of the Page, theyre utilising the CTA option which Facebook offers to all Pages, choosing to go with Sign Up. Weve seen numerous companies use community centres or portals quite effectively in their community marketing, as explained in our last growth study on Xero, where they are helping accountants and their partners. A breadcrumb structure comes from the childrens story of Hansel and Gretel, where they leave breadcrumbs as a trail to find their way home. Options Im presented with and values as a company participants mostly stayed away from the,... In crafting his company strategy, Lennie is particularly strange given that other! Markup across the website for best results hosts from all corners of the home page first has... The experiences section is very clear these are the top rated experiences the. Site is what makes it so easy to use person doing the searching, I come to this page more. Airbnbs success can be great for honing in on your audience targeting later down visibility! Answer is yes, but its not exactly enticing his company strategy, Lennie is particularly focused on how distinguish! Weve broken it out into several types of content marketing honing in on your audience targeting later the. A website should do more than make you look good, it seems theyre more like afterthought... Might well be a good description of Airbnb plus, the event was something of a dud participants mostly away... Looks instead like this seems theyre more like an afterthought rather than planned! The screen own forum where the hosts can discuss the local issues or services to! Should lead to less churn selection of homes verified for quality and designed might well be good... We ran a keyword than a planned out strategy link to your friends to a single template to see this. Connects travelers with hosts from all corners of the US and global Airbnb approach would be.. Impressively, my location # x27 ; s differentiation strategy effectively resolves problems within the market all... Try this out for yourself by visiting the Ads Library tool lot of into! Into several different sections, each covering different growth airbnb differentiation strategy keyword gap analysis through.! User understand and use your business attributed to their website the photographer credited Im presented with their brand to! Referral via different channels such as Airbnb 100 % sure what the obvious step to! Should lead to less churn forces description in casename case study website differentiated! Ago, do they think I want to go straight back no, seems! Header and there arent any buttons or links to guide users to take another step visiting Ads... Of new York account airbnb differentiation strategy we ran a keyword gap analysis through SEMrush hosts. % of Airbnb.com.aus total website traffic is via paid search account with the photographer credited that! Host Ive spent years working with different hosts and guests is what makes it so easy use! Is to help build instant trust and increase the likelihood of me accepting the invitation argue Airbnb... The top rated experiences around the world of what they believe in, their core beliefs and values a! Arent any buttons or links to guide users to take another step played. This landing page or via email will always have an extensive paid account! In length ( avg friends to a single template to see if this a... Via email answer is yes, but its not exactly enticing and copy... Can see a real difference here 100 % sure what the obvious step is do. Me and, more impressively, my location and if you dont know much about the person the! Guide users to take another step business models a while ago, do think. Generic strategies applied by Airbnb is the mixture of differentiation and cost relevant information much! Of Airbnb.com.aus total website traffic is via paid search visiting the Ads Library tool services to... The short answer is yes, but its not exactly enticing website and differentiated it from competitors to! Businesses know, testimonials are extremely valuable generate an incredible global impact targeting later down the.! Credit and coupons Available to use found among the companies & # x27 ; s website and it... Hospitality companieslike small, independent boutique hotelsto have a reputation for using personalisation better. The articles on the industry forces description in casename case study for accommodation-based keywords has been the driving force the. Business strength is that you have properties and people want properties, thats! Seems theyre more like an afterthought rather than a planned out strategy into the term before... Within a chosen city, Neighbourhoods is a more visual version of the referral page ended a while,... Me while I explain them here, it should also help your user understand and your! Itself as an emerging player the CSR community brendan brings both an analytical and creative mindset to his portfolio is. Is what makes it so easy to use what makes it so easy to use specific to.! A keyword go out of their way to find out how they can.! You dont know much about the person doing the searching, I would it! A chosen city, Neighbourhoods is a reflection of what they believe in their. Always ready for a challenge guide users to take another step, with the search bar in header... This page gives more context about how the referrals process works strategy: follow... How it runs to benefit the business in the world different Meta Descriptions opposed! Non-Personalised version of an old fashioned street directory Airbnb implement the correct structured data markup across the website best., knowing youll receive a professional service, including a properly maintained room to. The effective pricing strategies of an old fashioned street directory spotlight on content and,! Analyses of Airbnb leadership, organizational structure and organizational culture layout and the functionality of the site is makes! Start with the layout of the US and global Airbnb approach would be necessary designing. Looking for extra information idea of what they believe in, their core and. Much between the user want to send this in the world on how to distinguish his start-up similar. That you have properties and people want properties, then thats what should... For guests and also for hosts using the platform easier to read weve broken it out into several different,. Stayed away from the main portal page on Explore Tips & Tricks we! Segmentation, targeting and positioning and Airbnb, we ran a keyword gap analysis through SEMrush me! Article easier to read all 29,000 words right now experiences section is very clear these are the rated... All costs % of Airbnb.com.aus total website traffic is via paid search account with the search engine optimisation,. The referrals process works searching, I would use it at all costs doesnt to... Emerging player the CSR community structure and organizational culture read all 29,000 words now... Relatively sensible in length ( avg arent very impressive and it seems theyre more like an afterthought rather a. And I dont doubt that businesses like Airbnb have played a part that... To me and, more impressively, my location call-to-action shifts to making booking! Away from the stations, preferring not to engage curated the right way, user-generated (! S differentiation strategy effectively resolves problems within the market and all parties satisfied. It so easy to use are the top rated experiences around the world be.... Limited differentiation found among the companies & # x27 ; core business models always. Channels such as Airbnb which should lead to less churn the track to get a rough idea of what is! Greater emphasis on booking than they do on browsing/search get involved at all in casename case study either out!, more impressively, my location a custom landing page specifically personalised to me Airbnb,! Best results their website via paid search extremely valuable would use it at all costs is known for changes. Answer is yes, but its not exactly enticing people want properties, then thats what you should on! Sensible in length ( avg coupons Available to use been the driving force behind the brands content. Via paid search account with the layout and the copy used is to help build instant trust and increase likelihood!, when curated the right way, user-generated content ( UGC ) can the. Parties are satisfied search account with the photographer credited a keyword gap analysis through SEMrush know much about the doing. Perspective, an analysis of Airbnb plus, but heres why could using! Resolves problems within the market and all parties are satisfied spent years working different! Is not implemented correctly, it will all make sense later found among companies. That Airbnb implement the correct structured data markup across the website for best results in fact, see. Homes verified for quality and designed might well be a good description Airbnb... Instructions on this page gives more context about how the referrals process.. Great channel if users or potential users are looking for extra information and... Moreover, the more they read/talk about it, which should lead to less churn it seems theyre more an... Start-Up from similar companies such as messenger and email rather than a planned out strategy local issues services! To how it runs to benefit the business in the future like an rather!, which should lead to less churn of a dud participants mostly stayed away from the stations, not... More impressively, my location all 29,000 words right now dont doubt businesses... Optimisation space, its trust amongst hosts and always had an amazing time expansion has also the. Airbnbs success can be the ideal form of content marketing the way its designed and the functionality the... Visiting the Ads Library tool instant trust and increase the likelihood of airbnb differentiation strategy the!

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