Social Media Strategy of Airbnb

Social Media Strategy

Social media strategy can be described as a summary of all activities that a company plans to do with a hope to yield results on social media. The strategy monitors the activities and aids to realize the failures and successes. Airbnb, the reliable open marketplace, entails the booking of unique homes and have a great experience while at it. It has provided one of the easiest means for the visitors to engage with the locals while traveling. Airbnb has managed to successfully create an attractive website that is used by both the hosts and the guests. The company mostly uses social media to market its brand and by this, it has continued to grow immensely amidst the many competitors.

Customer Segment

Airbnb has two customer segmentations which include the travelers and the hosts. The travelers’ market segment comprises mostly of the people involved in tourism in different parts of the world. As they travel around and discover new places, they need a place they can stay over which is comfortable. The host segment encompasses the owners of homes who are willing to rent out their homes to the tourists (Liu and Mattila 35). The hosts make money by renting their unoccupied spaces, with an interest of listing their available homes on Airbnb.

Social Media Outlets

Airbnb utilizes Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to reach their customer segment. On this platforms, the company depends mainly on user-generated videos and images that attract the users to their pages. On Twitter, the company mainly highlights the cities and the prevalent town guides. The company’s Instagram promotion is characterized by a comedy nature with fascinating pictures if various travel places globally making the brand attractive to its customer segment.

Customer Segment’s Response

Airbnb has assimilated effectively their core value by involvement in their social media existence. The dependable practice formed for the digital populations by the company has led to boasting global followers of about 5 million on Facebook and Instagram (Liu and Mattila 37). The customers have responded positively to the Airbnb due to its ability to develop campaigns on Facebook that drive the customer segment’s commitment. The company has been selling a sure experience that has been able to capture the trust of the users on all sides. It has been able to indulge both the hosts and the travelers by utilization of gorgeous, community-centric storytelling, especially on the experiences.

User-Generated Content

Airbnb has greatly incorporated user-generated content on Instagram whereby it uses both authors and professional photographers to share the experiences from the community (Luca 570). Airbnb users both the tourist and host can share their story which is then published on their website. The selected stories are featured on the site either as a written piece with photographs or in a form of a short video piece. The practice of the company is the use of the success from the customer together with the user-generated content. The initiation of the content comes from the customers themselves; either host may talk on the experience of sharing their homes with strangers nationwide, or a traveler emphasizing on a predominantly exceptional host. The potential customers of Airbnb rely mainly on the online repute of the travelers and the hosts in regard to the reviews from the users (Luca 583). Travelers who hold the best reviews are most likely to be accepted by the hosts, and likewise, the hosts who have been reviewed positively will be in high demand amongst the travelers.

Comparison of Social Media Strategies to One of the Competitors

One of the major Airbnb’s competitors is Booking.com. Booking.com utilizes travel pages on Instagram or Facebook, putting up identical content on YouTube, and the use of identical content on YouTube. Airbnb outshines in use of the social media strategy through, the creation of exceptional content which their audience willingly shares, incorporation of user-generated content on Instagram, development of Facebook campaigns that drive into Fan involvement, and providing the follower with excellent social customer care (Liu and Mattila 40). Airbnb comes first when in customer interactions even though they put up their posts considerably less than their competitor. It understands the significance of publication of quality content and only shares the best outcomes with the public, thus receiving high engagement rates and holding their loyal customers.

Strategies to Effectively Utilize Social Media

One strategy Airbnb would use to successfully apply social media to better aim its customer segment and increase its competitive advantage is the use for the power on Instagram takeovers. Instagram takeovers are easy, fun and quick to grown the followers by exchanging accounts with another Instagram use, for about a day. Utilization of the Instagram takeovers will help in building a mutual relationship with the other influencer and it also offers a great opportunity for audience expansion. Another strategy Airbnb could use is joining the online conversation. This allows a great focus on potential customers. The online conversation would also help in initiating conversations with customers and indicating interest and dependability on following up with its network.

Works Cited

Liu, S. Q., & Mattila, A. S. (2017). Airbnb: Online targeted advertising, sense of power, and consumer decisions. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 60, 33-41.

Luca, M. (2015). User-generated content and social media. In Handbook of media Economics (Vol. 1, pp. 563-592). North-Holland.