In this edition of social media highlight, we'll check out our first technology business: Airbnb. You can check out the other social media highlights here.
Background: Airbnb
Launched circa 2008, this startup bootstrapped and creatively grew their customer base through existing platforms like Craigslist. Getting to a $30 billion valuation took some launching, launching again and rejection.
Today, 150 million people use the peer-to-peer home rental service. Through the service, you can rent a bed, a room or a whole home when you travel for work or business. Airbnb actually has more listings than the top five hotel brands. . .combined.
The startup’s success can be contributed to a lot of factors, like product-market fit, luck, hard work, the right leadership and of course, their marketing.
Airbnb’s Social Media
Airbnb’s social media marketing serves multiple purposes. First, their user acquisition strategy has two, defined target audiences:
People who wanted to rent out their houses
People who want to rent houses while traveling, as an alternative to hotels and beds and breakfasts
Sure, platforms like Couch Surfing existed (and still do), but Airbnb made sleeping in a stranger's bed cool.
Here are a few examples of how social media changed took this idea from creepy to desirable, for both the renter and the rentee.
1. YouTube Videos
Do you remember this ad from 2015? Did you get tingles? And think to yourself, "Yeah, maybe the world isn't so bad after all."?
Then you're probably in the Airbnb target demographic.
That's the point of video marketing - and why Airbnb made the video, aired it as a commercial and then repurposed it on social media. To punch you in the gut and evoke an emotion.
Airbnb continues to invest in video marketing, as a key part of telling their brand and product story, with nearly 500 videos on YouTube accumulating more than 100 million views. Other notable YouTube videos from Airbnb include:
Views, with 3 million views
Breaking Down Walls, with 5.9 million views
We Accept, with 4.9 million views
Each one is carefully shot, edited and the paired with the perfect music to warm even the coldest hearts.
2. Instagram
Airbnb is queen of user-generated content (UGC). UGC occurs when you ask your customers to post their interaction with your product or service, usually findable across social media channels using a hashtag.
Because Instagram is a millennial show-off haven, and Airbnb’s brand is associated with “millennial cool,” this is a match made in heaven.
If UGC is done correctly, with a lot of other strategic marketing efforts, then this will eventually happen organically. In the case of Airbnb, there are currently 1.8 million photos using #airbnb on Instagram — and counting. Check out these gorgeous shots from regular Instagram users/travelers, picked up and repurposed for Airbnb’s marketing:
UGC can be a huge asset for a business to showcase happy users/customers.
3. Fast-responding Customer Service via Twitter
While Twitter is indeed one of the slowest growing social media channels, and has struggled to generate a profit, it is one of the best social channels for customer service. It's designed for quick exchanges and open conversations.
Here’s an example of Airbnb responding quickly and efficiently to a customer using their Airbnb Help Twitter:
Plus, here’s an example of the brand engaging with a customer who shared their Airbnb experiences on Twitter, from the main account:
4. Influencers Galore
As previously referenced, Airbnb uses Instagram heavily as part of their awareness-generating strategy. A key piece to their early days was getting travel influencers involved in their business. Nowadays, as Millennials and Gen Zers dream of being digital nomads, wannabe travel influencers flock to Instagram to take the perfect photo of yoga on the beach or a glass of wine in Montepulciano.
Airbnb knows that.
So they work with Instagrammers with influence - people with lots of followers and good engagement rates. See exhibits A, B and C:
Influencer A: Brittany Iverson
With more than 19,000 followers on Instagram, Iverson says she and her family sold everything they owned and left Idaho for the world. After dancing and living the nomadic life all day, everyday, this influencer settles into Airbnbs for some rest.
Influencer B: Roxane ✨ Family Travel
More than 12,000 followers watch Roxane and her family travel all over the world. She makes travelling with two little boys look easy and glamorous. She taps into the Airbnb network for homes - not just hotel rooms - for her family to settle in, anywhere they go.
Influencer C: Simon Snopek
An impressive 32,000 people watch this influencer travel the world and take pictures while he’s sitting on something and gazing into the distance. His carefully staged photos just ooze cool in Airbnbs all over the planet.
5. Seamless User Experience
This may be the best part of Airbnb’s social media marketing: it’s a core factor of a seamless user experience. Using Pixlee’s Shoppable Instagram tool, a traveler can tap on the link in Airbnb’s Instagram and be directed to a landing page with all the latest Instagram photos, tap on the house they saw and be taken to the listing within the app.
Now, there are a few third party options for making your business’ Instagram shoppable, and the platform itself even rolled out the option to businesses on specific ecommerce platforms in 2017, so this isn’t unique to Airbnb.
What’s notable about Airbnb’s use of shoppable Instagram is their hand-selected, high-quality, seamless execution.
Using only the most drool-worthy travel photos, and targeting a generation in which 9 out of 10 people admit to impulse purchases, Airbnb makes it stupid easy to book a place for a travel excursion.
Go Ahead, Get Inspired for Your Social Media Marketing
If you're struggling to get website traffic from Instagram, or trying to figure out how to use Twitter for your business, follow Airbnb (Instagram: @airbnb and Twitter: @airbnb) to see how they continue to evolve to be customer-focused — and their social posts evolve with them.
And don't forget: this is just one example of how social media is merely a canvas for your business. You can get creative with how you use it to develop your brand and in this case, influence a cultural shift, from "Ew, sleeping in a stranger's bed is weird," to "Oh my god, what a view."