Airbnb Pitch
Link to final presentation mentioned in this post: https://youtu.be/qWG7LuD2HQU
I created a social media pitch for the vacation rental company, Airbnb. There were many steps involved in creating the pitch that included research and ideation before I was able to create SMART goals and come to other conclusions for the pitch.
First, I had to create an audit on the brand and research the effectiveness of its social media channels. To do this, I figured out what the mission of the brand was and then browsed through all their platforms to see if they were accomplishing the goals they set for themselves. Overall, Airbnb wanted to be an inclusive community where people can feel at home. They did accomplish this but I noticed they were lacking in engagement with their community in 2 ways.
When looking through their social media channels they were very active on their Instagram. They included some customer stories but mostly posted pictures of their rentals. During covid, they even offered those who risked their lives a place to stay. Their Instagram was definitely successful, but not so much on other platforms. They rarely ever posted on Twitter and Facebook and didn’t even have accounts on Tiktok or Youtube. In doing so, I noticed that Airbnb is missing out on a key target audience- those older than their late 20s since Instagram only targets the younger generation. By posting on Facebook, they could reach parents and grandparents who might want to vacation with their family or significant others. Twitter will also help them by including those in their late 20s to early 30s- another huge audience that might want to vacation alone or with others. Since Airbnb is so versatile for many age groups, they should be using the 3 main platforms- Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter- to reach everyone they can
Airbnb’s customer service team also needed some work. I looked on mention.com to see reviews and comments people were leaving about the company. They talked about Airbnb not giving refunds, not keeping their promises, or simply not replying to them. Apparently, it’s difficult to get in contact with the company, and if are lucky enough to get through to them, they’re not much help. This was really ruining customer relationships with the brand and well as trust in the company itself.
Knowing this and after gathering this information, I was able to create a SMART goal for the company.
Airbnb will become more active on Facebook and Twitter. They will start posting to make the brand more known to their older target audience. They will use these platforms to create polls, share customer success, read and respond to customer reviews, and stories to gain brand loyalty. Facebook will have about 5 posts a week and Twitter will have at least one tweet a day. Comments will be read and responded to daily to keep up customer loyalty and acquisition.
This goal relates to Airbnb’s lack of appearance on social media platforms that could target their older customers. They’re very prevalent on Instagram but that only includes a younger chunk of people who might want to book. Expanding to other platforms will expand their marketing reach and efforts. It will also do damage control to Airbnb’s lack of response through customer service. If they show their interest in their customers and show that they want to grow from their reviews, customers will see that Airbnb is willing to help with their issues and keep them as customers of the brand.
By posting on other platforms like Facebook and Twitter they can achieve 2 things:
1. They will be able to reach a target audience that they weren’t able to reach before
2. Airbnb’s customer service team, when it comes to booking refunds is terrible. That’s its own problem, Airbnb has to fix its customer service. But by posting on these other platforms and actively engaging with customers and responding quickly to feedback posted there, they can build customer loyalty and repair these relationships and make new ones.
Beyond profit, ROI will also be increased because keeping your customers happy and making them seem like a priority will increase your efficiency since they would want to come back to and recommend a brand that they trust. Having trust within a brand is what brings loyalty, which is what makes a company so successful in its returns.
After doing my research, I was able to understand how important the customer was and how much Airbnb was ignoring them. This is why my goals were surrounding them and talking about how Airbnb can build back their loyalty, and customer relationships to become more efficient and trustworthy.