Airbnb and the Power of Social Media
What would a digital world be without social media? It’s one of the most popular and effective marketing strategies a brand can implement to gain massive exposure and attention in just a few seconds. It is crazy to think how many ad posts or sponsored content that we run into on a daily just using social media for our personal accounts.
Personally, for me and my personal social media feeds, the ads the pop up revolve around my favorite clothing brands (because I’m a big shopper) and different artists + their concerts (because I love music and shows). These are things I frequently engage and interact with when I’m on social media, so I am not surprised they show up as ads in my feed.
There are so many way advertisers can engage viewers and create exposure for their brands through social media. To narrow it down, let’s take different tools of Instagram that could be used. There are paid posts for promotion or organic ones that are apart of your everyday feed and add to your brand’s aesthetic. There are also reels (video content) and stories (short few second videos or photos). A popular advertising tactic commonly used today is native advertising. These are ads that are met to blend in with the rest of your social media and aim to be less disruptive. There are also live streams as well as influencers and brand ambassadors, which I’ll dive into depth during the next post.
To talk about how specific brands have implemented a strong social media strategy, I will analyze from my own curated feed as I have a firsthand view of its effectiveness. The first one I’ll cover is the short video as for Airbnb that pops on my Instagram. “Bedtime” explains and shows the perks of how renting an Airbnb over a hotel room can give parents freedom from the kids and aren’t constrained by a specific bedtime sharing a room with their kids. It is such a playful little animation and hooks me in every time.
Here’s another shorter ad I also see on my feed too that I enjoy and love watching too. This one reminds us to think of our fury friends and how “pet-friendly” in a hotel is way different than “pet-friendly” at an Airbnb. Both short ads are basically opening viewers eyes to why Airbnb’s beneficial for everyone and gives options to the viewer to consider during their next vacation or getaway.
For me and I’m sure others as well, these videos make me consider looking into staying at an Airbnb instead of a hotel and balance the differences between each. I’ve never been a big Airbnb goer and have always drifted toward hotels, but seeing these videos consistently definitely makes me look into switching up my typical stays when traveling. Airbnb has plenty of other short and effective videos like the two mentioned above with similar concepts like "Get a Place to Yourself".
Brian Chesky, Airbnb's Chief Executive explained the shift in the brand's marketing efforts after the pandemic. Obviously travel declined drastically in 2020 and the company had nearly lost 80% of its business overnight and Chesky described that were determined to tackle the problem opportunistically (Barnett, 2023).
Not only did this drastically effect the product, operations, and finances of the company, but also effected their marketing strategies too. Hiroki Asai, Chief Marketing Officer for Airbnb talks a little of the much-needed strategic adjustment to the brand within their marketing efforts. They were strictly performance-driven before the pandemic hit and they were losing control of the brand's narrative. So Asai knew they had to regain control on their story once the world shifted out of the pandemic and focused on the core of the business. This was "marketing creating experiences, creating features and creating a product … to differentiate ourselves – and then to use brand to actually communicate and teach people what those differences are" (Barnett, 2023).
Social media is the ultimate powerhouse of today’s digital era. Each platform has its own mass audience. We can market our brand, products, events, etc. through social platforms and it is such a powerful tool that can propel us forward into success. We can engage and gain insights from current loyal consumers and gain insights into any potential ones too. Building and implementing social media strategies into your campaigns will only give you another avenue to gain exposure for your brand and broaden your marketing to reach a larger base instantly.
Reference:
Barnett, K. (2023, August 24). Airbnb CMO on ditching performance marketing for big, Bold Brand Campaigns. The Drum. https://www.thedrum.com/news/2023/08/24/airbnb-cmo-ditching-performance-marketing-big-bold-brand-campaigns