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Improving Airbnb’s Marketing Strategy: Key Issues and Recommendations

Mar 10, 2023 | 0 comments

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Mar 10, 2023 | Essays | 0 comments

Abstract

Currently, Airbnb is the available solution for home renters on a short-term basis worldwide. Since being in operation in 2008, the organization has become a leader in the marketplace giving different accommodation options across the world. Importantly, as of 2014, it had attracted approximately 25 million visitors and more are anticipated to join the industry in many cities and countries in almost all the states with the exceptions of Cuba, Vatican, Syria, Iran, and North Korea. For a fact, Airbnb is known for its leading pioneer-ship in the collaborative consumption burgeoning trend to its peer-to-peer rental model of business accommodation. This was and still is an innovative model in business that was powered through the 2.0 Web technologies, which was a disruption of the original business sector hospitality and economy, showing a huge potential growth chance and worldwide adoption.

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1. Brief Summary of the Main Marketing Strategy Issues in the Airbnb Case

Partnership with advertisement websites

Main marketing strategy issues in the case of Airbnb that are yet applicable today are that the growth of the organization can be on its high investment in infrastructure and marketing, For example, in the U.S. Airbnb started by incorporating a strategy in online marketing that involved two giants in digital marketing, which are Google and Craigslist. Notably, establishing a partnership with Google was a form of a clear way of growth, although its inclusion of Craigslist, which is a highly employed classified website for advertisement in the U.S. was the most remarkable step the organization incorporates. This growth was achieved because Craigslist was by then being in use as people’s platform for looking and offering housing solutions on a short term basis. Hence, in attracting users from Craigslist to the organization, Airbnb used a reverse-engineered platform in matching with Craigslist thus making Airbnb and Craigslist compatible in such a way that an individual listed on Airbnb can automatically develop a post on Craigslist (Capizzani, 2015).

Besides, through the Google partnership, Airbnb was in a position to expand to geographically reach all its target customers. This partnership with Google was a step that went past the traditional marketing search engine. Since the website of Airbnb was earlier not optimized for direct conversations and transactions but was meant to inspiring trust, which made Airbnb devote many resources on the display network on Google advertisement, having an attractive banner campaign that involved images from real offered housing solutions. Thus, this made Airbnb make introductions of its services as a way of traveling across the world, as an approach of inspiring travel habits to change from searching to discover.

Rebranding Campaign

In 2014, Airbnb discovered a key rebranding campaign that included a new logo brand. As stated by Brian Chesky, the advanced branding changed the expression and identity of the organization as well as helping the firm take steps to its target as the Airbnb ubiquitous offline; in essence, of making a common sharing symbol to pave an expanding way to an economy service sharing platform to be offered in the future, maybe to involve ridesharing or cleaning services.

Furthermore, as part of the company’s rebranding marketing strategy, it has introduced a Create tool, to allow the guests and hosts to have access to the basic service of Photoshop-style in personalizing their logo, For instance, in the U.S. the firm established a partnership with Zazzle that is an online dealer allowing customers to upload pictures in creating personalized merchandise(Capizzani, 2015). Through this, guests and hosts were persuaded in creating tangible items like apparel and mugs with their personalized unique Airbnb logo that can be subsequently shared as stay mementos, hence developing an experience that is worthy of remembrance.

Story-doing policy strategy

Remarkably, Airbnb is among the largest world platform for story-doing as depicted by the main marketing officer, Jonathan Mildenhall. This statement is based on the company’s extensive content marketing use that crowd-sourced the user-generated content emphasizing storytelling as the main tool for customer connection.

Contemporary marketing strategy issues at Airbnb

Content Marketing Strategy Matters

This involves making appealing spaces on the firm’s website that results in a higher rank on search results on the website. Again, Airbnb offers a mutual professional photo beneficial service of the listed spaces on the guidelines and site for images that are user-generated leading to visuals with better space and content that are more attractive to their users in looking for a place to stay.

2. Thorough Recommendations on handling the key marketing plan issues

The above key marketing plan issues should be handled most appropriately to ensure that Airbnb gets the best of their customers. This will involve being particular in the firm’s sectors, the typical consumers, and the geographical areas that the business will serve. This will be achieved by a strategic document that will give clear market segmentation on different criteria like products offered, socio-economy, and geographic location. Furthermore, the factors that impact the buying behavior of the customers like psychological, personal, cultural, and social factors must be stated because a clear understanding of the aspects results in the company emphasizing the most important issues (Capizzani, 2015).

Also, Airbnb should differentiate its strategy through stating its competitive advantage and what it offers different from its competitors like distribution channel, emotional, personnel, service, product or the nation of origin since, without a clear differentiation that is often communicated, the organization will be subjected to higher competition.

Finally, Airbnb should always keep a good brand image that involves the required company perception that is needed to be created in customer minds. Markedly, the image is created with time-based on the theme that is always communicated in various marketing initiatives.

3. Justifications for the stated Recommendations

Every company is supposed to develop key marketing strategies mainly for the organization as well as its brands to be on the highest priority. This process, which will fully benefit the company, will involve the entire business goals, weaknesses, and strengths, the customer profile, and competition. This is because a well-defined strategy gives a clear path to achieving success as well as making the process of execution easy.

References

Capizzani, M. (2015). Airbnb: what’s next? Prioritizing opportunities in Southern Europe. IESE Business School University of Navarra, Spain.

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