Are you an Airbnb host? Then you need to make sure your Airbnb marketing strategy gives you a competitive advantage in your market!
But how can you start improving your Airbnb marketing strategy?
The first thing we learned in business school about marketing was probably the 4Ps marketing mix: Product, Price, Promotion, and Place. But is this seemingly dusty old concept still relevant in the digital marketplace and in the domain of short-term rentals? It turns out that this classic stands the test of time and still provides valuable lessons today. Drawn from the 4Ps, we provide our Airbnb marketing tips for improving your strategy. This traditional marketing mix provides tips to give your property a competitive advantage whether you are a beginner real estate investor or a more experienced one wanting to check if your strategy is on the right track.
#1. PRODUCT: Make Your Property Stand Out Above the Competition
What should be the first focus in your Airbnb marketing strategy? Making a great first impression with an inviting title. This will not only help your listing rank higher in search results but it will attract potential guests to click and read more. What is the best feature of your property? Add that in the title! Keep the same mentality when polishing the description of your rental property. Remember that the description should not only state facts, but be compelling too. Forget over-used marketing slogans. Use something unique that also helps people mentally visualize the experience. However, keep it short and simple. In the online world, people move on fast!
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. So, why not put in the extra effort and bring out the best features of your investment property with stunning and professional-looking photographs? There are a few easy tricks for taking great photos, starting from good lighting and taking photos from interesting angles. Do not forget to take pictures of the surroundings of the Airbnb rental property as well. Winning customers over with both your property and the location is a double win!
Before taking photos, make sure your short-term rental is attractive to your target guests! Read our guide on How to Furnish a Vacation Rental Home to Attract More Guests.
Also, remember that owning an Airbnb is a package deal: you promote both the rental property and yourself. So do not forget to take a professional headshot and write a compelling description of yourself as an Airbnb host. Make sure both attest to your friendliness and reliability.
#2. PRICE: Use Correct and Dynamic Pricing to Improve Your Occupancy Rate
Setting the price right is a crucial part of your Airbnb marketing strategy. Start by first evaluating the prices of competing properties on the most popular listing sites. You want to understand the Airbnb occupancy rates and revenues of your key competitors before setting your property’s rates.
A good incumbent pricing strategy is usually to set prices lower at first, and then increase rates as you start getting positive reviews. You will also want to make sure you will get the maximum Airbnb occupancy rate, but for this, you need to understand the location of the rental property as well. Is it seasonal or is there a consistent influx of guests? Adjust your prices accordingly so your Airbnb rental will not remain vacant. We recommend opting for dynamic pricing so you will rank well in potential guests’ searches no matter the season.
Worry not if meddling with your pricing strategy sounds like a headache, as there is different software available online to help you correctly adjust the prices. For example, with Mashvisor’s Airbnb profit calculator, you can learn how much you should charge based on local Airbnb rental data. That’s not all. With this tool, you can even see how many positive reviews you need to boost your Airbnb occupancy rate so that you can adjust your marketing strategy accordingly. It even lets you know what kind of ROI and Airbnb occupancy rate you should be getting in your neighborhood!
Related: What’s the Best Airbnb Analytics Platform for 2019?
Also, if there is something clearly unique about your investment property, do not shy away from charging higher rates. We do not recommend using price competition as the basis of your Airbnb marketing strategy other than as an initial entry strategy. If you are serious about making money with Airbnb, set the rates according to your property’s real market value.
#3. PROMOTION: Reach Your Guests with Strategic Use of Different Marketing Channels
Promotion is that part of the 4Ps that often comes to mind when you think of marketing a rental property. So, how can you reach your potential guests in the most effective way possible and increase your Airbnb booking rate? There is no single answer to this, so you must always be a little creative in your real estate marketing strategies. However, you do need to know your target customers. Usually, vacation rental guests are young adults. So, how to find tenants from these age groups? A must is to make sure your Airbnb marketing plan includes social media.
But which platforms should you incorporate in your Airbnb digital marketing? Try at least one or two of the most popular ones: Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube. In short, Instagram allows you to build a visual brand. With high-quality visual content, proper hashtags, and tagging/following influencers in the real estate industry, you can increase your followers quickly. Facebook, on the other hand, offers nice little features for marketing, such as allowing guests to check-in at your vacation home rental. This can add to your property’s visibility because this is visible to the guests’ Facebook friends. Or, how about posting updates on local events and other tips on your Airbnb property’s Facebook page? This is a nice touch and can really boost the number of those good Airbnb reviews. And finally, YouTube can add that extra “something” to your marketing messages. Imagine the “wow” effect of video tours or sightseeing tips around your rental property! Differentiation is key, and these social media platforms will allow you to showcase your property’s unique features.
In addition to advertising on social media by yourself, have you considered contacting social media influences, like lifestyle bloggers, as part of your Airbnb marketing campaign? If you can convince an influencer with thousands of followers to post about your vacation rental property, it means major visibility! However, choose the bloggers wisely for maximum reach, as you don’t want to end up renting out your property to every other blogger who agrees to promote it in exchange for free accommodation.
#4. PLACE: Know Where It Makes Most Sense to List Your Property
Finally, an important aspect of your Airbnb marketing strategy and how to get more bookings is choosing the place for listing your property. There are many options for that, such as Airbnb, HomeAway, Booking.com, VRBO, or TripAdvisor. You will need to list your vacation rental property on one listing site at least to get enough traffic. You can evaluate the platforms based on their costs, traffic or their audience. Luckily, there are plenty of reviews and comparisons online of the best vacation rental listing sites out there. Here are two to help you out:
One common option is also to create websites for short-term rentals. If done well, they can add exposure and bookings but can take time and money. How will you ensure that your guests find your website instead of typing Airbnb.com on their browsers? Indeed, your own website might not always make a good investment considering that most bookings are made on vacation rental sites. Having your own could however be a nice touch for more high-end properties. With a website, you can transform your listing into a brand and generate its own traffic on search engines.
Likewise, you can also consider offline channels if it makes sense in terms of your target customers.
When you first start sketching out how to make money in real estate with Airbnb, we recommend you define the channels in your business plan and align them with your overall strategy.
We hope you enjoyed our Airbnb marketing strategy insights drawn from the timeless teachings of the 4Ps marketing mix. How are you planning to adjust your Airbnb marketing strategy to improve your business? Tell us in the comments below.
Meanwhile, you can get additional insights into the market and locations with Mashvisor’s tools. Start out your 14-day free trial with Mashvisor now.
