Introduction to Digital Marketing

Experiential Learning Project

Analysis of Social Media Presence

Submitted to: Submitted by:

Dr. Nidhi Phutela Anika Endlaw (19021021067)

Kartik Singh (19021021212)

Pranav Jolly (19021021324)

Priyansha Garg (19021021335)

Shreshth Chaurasia (19021021427)

COMPANY’S ENGAGEMENT PLATFORMS
Social media platforms have now become an essential component of every digital marketing
plan. Airbnb used numerous digital marketing tools to help them create a credible online
presence and a larger community since they wanted to target people of all generations. It's best to
develop your brand image across social media platforms if you want to communicate with your
audience in real time. Airbnb opted to use the best social media optimization services to earn
billions because social media plays such an important role in people's lives. They used the
platforms listed below:

● Where the company is the admin

1. Facebook: Airbnb has amassed 16 million Facebook likes thanks to innovative social
media optimization tactics. They used a variety of ad formats, including feature
advertisements, Facebook ads, and video commercials. Airbnb's timeline is made up of a
variety of user-generated content. They've implemented a dynamic remarketing strategy,
focusing their resources on people who exhibit interest in the advertising and are likely to
convert into leads.

2. Twitter: Airbnb promotes its blog entries and exceptional listings on Twitter. Their
hashtag #belonganywhere has gained a lot of traction. They keep their feed fresh by
releasing new content on a regular basis. Airbnb used Vine short video clips to create a
4.5-minute movie that was shared on Twitter.

3. Instagram: Airbnb's Instagram feed is quite visual, showcasing the wide range of lovely
houses available on their platform to pique the interest of potential tourists. Their posts
are intelligent and original, and they use a variety of elements to ensure that their fans
interact with their content. Guests can use #airbnb to share their experiences and even
reserve a rental directly from the stream.

4. Youtube: Airbnb released its first YouTube video in October 2010 and has steadily
grown its subscriber base to 172,000 by releasing over 500 films in a variety of languages
and creating playlists for both customers and hosts, such as "Airbnb for Work" and "Not
Yet Trending." Airbnb is hoping that video content will pique viewers' interest, get them
to think about vacations, and then convert that daydreaming into actual travel demand.
The cornerstone of the brand's affinity with those feelings and long-term client loyalty
can be built on a blend of vacation nostalgia and aspiration served up through video
content.
5. LinkedIn: Airbnb is the largest community marketplace for listing, discovering, and
booking housing rooms in the world. They skillfully use the about portion of their page to
highlight not only their brand's global reach, but also the personalities and cultures of
those who work there. “No worldwide movement emerges from a single person. It takes a
whole crew to rally behind a huge project. We work hard together, have a lot of fun,
brainstorm constantly, utilise hundreds of Post-It notes per week, and give the finest
high-fives in town.” On its LinkedIn page, Airbnb creates a sense of family and
camaraderie, offering both job applicants and customers a clear picture of what makes
Airbnb unique.

● Where others are promoting the brand online (company is not the owner)

1. Blogs: Blogs on websites like Medium , Pinterest, etc are a helpful resource for
travellers. They enable the readers an insight into the Airbnb accommodation and
experiences from the point of view of customers and hosts making it more trustworthy
and providing a local lens to the whole experience.There are stories with various video
biographies of hosts and travellers, as well as their stories about why they rent out their
space and what motivates them to leave their homes and tour the world with Airbnb.

2. Referral Marketing: Airbnb encourages its customers to send out email invitations to
new members. When new members completed their first trip, they were given a $25
travel credit, and when they acted as hosts for the first time, they were given a $75 credit.
Airbnb was able to convert fresh leads this way and only had to pay out for
recommendations after new users had paid. Airbnb was able to grow in a sustainable way
as a result of this.

3. Inbound marketing: Craigslist integration helped the two sites drive more traffic and
business. People were utilising Craigslist to advertise and find short-term lodging. Airbnb
wanted to generate quality leads, so they reverse-engineered the Craigslist form to make
the two platforms work together. When someone listed a room on Airbnb, they were
given the option of automatically creating a Craigslist ad as well. They assisted the user
in obtaining new inbound connections.

4. Influencer Marketing: Airbnb used innovative influencer marketing methods to attract

journalists, bloggers, YouTubers, podcasters, and Instagram celebrities to the event.
Airbnb staged a "floating house" marketing stunt on the Thames River in London in
2015, complete with a #FloatingHouseParty where guests were encouraged to live
stream, take photos, and share their experiences on social media. 70,000 page views,
10,000 new users, and more than 200 million social impressions were the result of the
event.
BRANDING OF AIRBNB

Airbnb is an online community where hosts can list their properties and travelers can book these
accommodations for a local experience around the world. What had started with just these
accommodations or homes has now grown into offering incorporated experiences and curated
restaurants to give its users a wholesome experience.

They are able to broadcast real material that encourages viewers to book a reservation from any
place, whether it is a castle in Ireland or a treehouse in Washington State, by partnering with their
guests and hosts.

Airbnb has successfully integrated its brand storey across all of their social media channels,
resulting in a digital community built on sharing.

The brand identity: Airbnb, “Belong Anywhere”-

The Airbnb brand is generally thought to be about renting houses, but as per them it is a home.
According to the CEO Brian Chesky, “a house is just a space, but a home is where you belong”,
and hence with this global community they for the very first time have made it possible for users
to belong anywhere.
The brand strategy
Airbnb’s social media strategy has two target audiences-
1. People who wish to rent out their homes
2. People who wish to rent these houses while traveling

Some of the branding lessons that can be learned from Airbnb are-

Include your community, centre and front

On nearly every digital platform accessible, Airbnb publishes host and guest tales. The interview
videos are produced and uploaded to YouTube, short tales are created and shared on Instagram,
while also maintaining a blog with written content of the same kind.For example, the hashtag
#Airbnb on Instagram invites visitors to share tales about their vacation experiences.

Connect and remain committed to higher, more significant ideals

At its most basic level, Airbnb provides accommodations, but so do a million other websites.
Their noticeable emphasis on deep-rooted values like multiculturalism, diversity, and the joy of
travel has been the key to building a distinct position in the marketplace and differentiating their
service. These are universal concepts that appeal to everyone on a fundamental level, regardless
of who they are or where they live. Associating the Airbnb brand with higher values and keeping
to their promise to respect them has helped the team establish a distinct position in the eyes of its
consumers.
Welcome Each Other With Love | Aibiying | Airbnb

Working the right channels

Using the same pieces of content on each platform is a typical error that companies make across
their social platforms. Because no two channels are the same, you must deliver a distinct
experience on each platform in order to be successful. And that is precisely what Airbnb does.
Their Instagram grid, for example, seems and reads like a traveler's diary. Their tweets, on the
other hand, are considerably more participatory, frequently inviting their followers to vote or
take part in a poll.Then there's Airbnb's YouTube channel, which is chock-full of stunning Travel
Channel-style video content.
Be present at every step of the journey
Airbnb tells us that trust is built on the foundations of producing guides, sending thoughtful
letters, and providing assurances for excellent service. Trust in a brand. The sort that leads to
repeat business, referrals, and customer loyalty.

Do something surprising every now and then

Airbnb shows us how to create unexpected brand moments that are still relevant. They're out of
the ordinary, yet they're still in line with the brand's core message. One such was the Lego House
in Denmark, which allowed lucky fans to stay there, this saw a huge amount of fan engagement
and high media coverage.
Night At LEGO House | Airbnb

Data Driven Content

Social media engagement depends on the relevancy of your material. One approach to make sure
that your postings resonate is to adapt your material to your audience's trends.Airbnb does this
by posts that disclose the most popular searches on their site. A closer dig into some of the
company's trend reports reveals other insights, like a preference for distant places, distinctive and
work-friendly workspaces, and longer stays. And you'll notice that the brand's social material
mirrors these insights: road trips, working from home, floating cottages, and the odd
envy-inducing vista.

Make great partners

Partnerships may result in all sorts of business benefits, including improved reputation and
distribution. They are also fantastic brand builders, drivers of consciousness and content.
Partnerships may assist to broaden your reach, promote fundamental values and provide your
public with new possibilities to connect and contribute on your social media. Airbnb’s most
recent and the biggest partnership with the IOC to promote the Olympic movement till 2028 is
the perfect example. This collaboration will result in hundreds of thousands of new hosts, new
Airbnb "Olympic Experiences," assistance for refugee athletes, a positive economic effect, and
innovative, one-of-a-kind lodgings and services.
Do you want to know what else it produces? Content. Olympian interviews and experiences have
become an important part of Airbnb's content strategy.

Understanding your audience’s needs deeply

The brand launched ‘Online Experiences’, a digital alternative to the previous “Experiences”.
This was not only a method for individuals to stay connected during the shutdown, but it was
also a creative way for hosts to generate money while their houses were empty. Online
Experiences have become a key element of Airbnb's social content strategy, and they may
continue to be a cornerstone of the company's service offering long after in-person Experiences
reopen.
Another advantage of Online Experiences is that Airbnb can learn even more about its audience
by using data from sign-ups and social interaction. Those insights will be critical to nearly every
aspect of the business, from marketing and sales to R&D and customer support.
#StayHome with a drag queen, chef or naughty sheep | Airbnb Online Experiences

Act fast
By acting quickly, Airbnb was able to have a meaningful influence on the global issue at a
crucial time. Furthermore, rather than simply contributing money, they contributed their offering.
It's a wonderful exercise for your business to explore how your one-of-a-kind product, offering,
or service may help in a moment of need.
The first initiative was #FrontlineStays, in which they collaborated with hosts to provide free
lodging to 100,000 physicians, nurses, and other frontline responders. What was most amazing
was how quickly the brand put this campaign together. The campaign #FrontlineStays was
established on March 26th, just 13 days after COVID-19 was declared a national emergency in
the United States.
ACTIVITIES UNDERTAKEN

Airbnb is a company which strongly believes in marketing campaigns so as to stay relevant in

the market and also ahead of the competition. Airbnb offers many marketing campaigns as it has
many benefits like maintaining the brand name of the company and reiterating your presence in
the market, bringing all the marketing strategies the company has made to life, marketing
campaigns also help the company to highlight its strong point and put it as the centre of
attraction. Marketing campaigns also help the companies to identify the target audience of the
product or service and also help in determining the actions to be taken by the target audience.
The marketing campaigns organised by Airbnb were-

1. Made Possible by Hosts- This was an advertising campaign that was made to attract the
hosts who left Airbnb back to the platform for a more rich experience. This campaign
was held as many of the company's hosts left the platform due to the problem the
company was facing to refund during the pandemic. The campaign was held through
YouTube and social media in almost all the countries and also on TV channels in some
countries. The duration of this campaign was all through the summer holiday season
when the effect of covid was comparatively less. Another reason for this campaign was
for Airbnb to show what the work of Airbnb is and what the company makes possible and
to fully show it to the world.

2. Go Near- This campaign was launched just after the first fatal wave of covid so as to
support domestic travel for the guests. The whole world was majorly hit by covid and
travel industry was no different, so initial studies found that people are willing to go on a
trip that is within a days drive from there home because of the uncertainties. Airbnb
partnered with local tourist agencies and businesses for travel within the domestic
boundaries of a country that started to increase the travel from the guests and also helped
 local and small businesses economically. This had a dedicated homepage on their website
to seek the partners.

3. We Accept- Airbnb has an important value that they follow, that is to provide a culturally
diverse travelling experience and when there were allegations that the company is
discriminating against its guests on the basis of race and gender, the company responded
to these with the “We Accept” campaign. Airbnb released a YouTube video with people
of different race and gender with soft music in the background outlining the message ‘We
Accept’ in the centre.

4. Live There- This campaign of Airbnb was inspired from the huge amount of people
going to the same place to travel and having the same experience at that place like
everyone else. Airbnb showed their brand proposition by showing how you can have
unique and fun experiences from the rest of the travellers with them, with them you can
experience the whole trip like the guest lives in that place only thus providing one of a
kind experience. This campaign was also marketed through YouTube and Vimeo by
posting many videos of different countries and how you can live there. A video for India
had Radhika Apte in it to better market the campaign. They also promoted this by giving
 free trips to actors like Farah Khan, Twinkle Khanna, Shilpa Shetty and many more and
asking them to promote this by posting their pictures on Instagram and twitter.

5. Tokyo Together Curated Programme- Tokyo Olympics having no spectators was a big
blow to the sportspersons all around the world but Airbnb partnered with the
IOC(International Olympic Committee) to give the fans 200 different ways to experience
the Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games. These experiences will be both online
and in person and will run through the course of the games. Athletes from more than 50
sports and more than 30 countries will take part in this to make the Olympic and
Paralympic Games special for both the sports enthusiasts as well as to support the
athletes. Fans met the US Basketballer Scottie Pippen virtually.
ENGAGEMENT LEVEL FOR DIFFERENT PLATFORMS

Social Network URL Follower Count Monthly

Activity

Website Link 98M visits

Facebook Link 16.1M Inactive (last

post in
January)

Instagram Link 4.9M 40-45 posts

Twitter Link 734.8K 10-20 posts

Linkedin Link 1.6M 1-2 posts

YouTube Link 245K 2-5 videos

Social Media Strategies Used by Airbnb

1. YouTube
With nearly 500 videos on YouTube having more than 100 million views, Airbnb continues to
engage in video marketing as a critical aspect of delivering their brand and product story.

Other significant Airbnb YouTube videos include:

● Views- this video has a lot of potential.
 ● Breaking Down Walls- it is one of the most popular videos on YouTube, with 5.9
million views.
● We Accept- with 4.9 million views, Iit is one of the most popular videos on YouTube.

Each one is thoughtfully shot, edited, and coupled with the ideal soundtrack to warm even the
coldest of hearts.

2. Instagram
Airbnb is supreme when it comes to user-generated content (UGC).

User-generated content (UGC) is created when you ask your customers to share their experiences
with your product or service on social media.

This is a match made in heaven because Instagram is a millennial show-off haven, and Airbnb's
brand is connected with "millennial cool."

This will happen organically if UGC is done appropriately in addition to a variety of other smart
marketing efforts. On Instagram, there are presently 6.4 million photographs with the hashtag
#airbnb – and counting.

3. Twitter
Airbnb’s engagement on twitter is considerable with people sharing their experiences and those
becoming threads of conversation. Airbnb uses the account to share its accommodations and
experiences and people on twitter are interactive with their retweets and comments. The brand’s
focus is also on retweeting the posts of customers and especially known personalities and
influencers which has led to greater number of followers and retweets for the brand, a sign of
good engagement.

While Twitter is one of the slowest-growing social media platforms and has struggled to make a
profit, it is also one of the best for customer care. And Airbnb makes full use of it to reply to
customer grievances as well as for positive feedback.

Here are a few examples of Airbnb Twitter to respond swiftly and efficiently to customers:
Also, here are a few examples of the company engaging with customers who share their Airbnb
experiences on Twitter:

4. Facebook
Airbnb recognises that great content is the reason for successful social media campaigns, and
they've figured out how to regularly produce extremely engaging content. Despite the fact that
Airbnb does not publish as regularly as its competitors, they received the most interactions over
the summer months.
Airbnb's content typically includes stories by their guest and host, which serves to strengthen
their brand by repeating their brand story.

5. Linkedin
To make a purchasing decision, 32% of users today require six or more touchpoints. Airbnb is
well aware of this. This carousel commercial emphasises company awareness by providing
post-COVID advice.
Airbnb adds one or two value-packed engagement ads to their marketing plan.

LinkedIn video advertisements, out of all the ad forms on the network, are the most effective at
increasing engagement and it is worth it!
ANALYSIS OF REVIEWS

The study investigates the qualities that impact Airbnb clients' encounters by dissecting a "big
data" set of online review comments through the course of message mining and opinion
investigation. Findings reveal that Airbnb clients will in general assess their experience
dependent on an edge of reference obtained from past inn stays. Three key ascribes recognized in
the information incorporate area, conveniences and host. Surprisingly, cost isn't recognized as a
key force to be reckoned with. The analysis recommends an energy inclination in Airbnb clients'
remarks while negative opinions are for the most part brought about by commotion. This
research offers an elective methodology and more reasonable comprehension of the Airbnb
experience. Methodologically, it contributes by delineating how large information can be utilized
and outwardly deciphered in the travel industry and hospitality studies.

The overall rating of Airbnb on google play is 4.7 out of 5. Which means definitely it is a
positive recommendation as per the reviews. The reviews show a mix of positive and negative
reviews. I am listing below the majorly given positive and negative reviews as per the site.
Positive:
 ● The search and book option has been found very useful
● The app is very easy to use and easily understandable
● It is easy to look for hotels, resorts etc. be it nearby or far away from your city.

Negative:
● When customers book any place, usually the total price is not shown in the very first step,
rather it is visible to customers when they click on the Reserve button.
● The customer support of the site is not very helpful.
● A lot of customers have faced login issues during verification via SMS or Email. People
do not receive verification codes hence it becomes difficult to login to the app.

Taking a closer look at people’s reviews on social media platforms:

1. Instagram

Airbnb has a mix of positive and negative reviews on Instagram, mostly pertaining to the
service it provides or other such related issues.

When faced with negative reviews or when the customer is facing an issue, Airbnb’s
Instagram response team handles the situation with mainly two standard responses, which
are quick and within a span of 72 hours, in most of the cases.

Negative feedbacks and Airbnb’s response:

Positive Feedback and Airbnb’s Response:

2. Facebook

Airbnb is not very responsive when it comes to their facebook page, hence, various queries
remain unresolved. However, the company tries to resolve most of the issues in their capacity by
responding to the consumer reviews and feedback and ensures to take a follow up for the same.
 3. Twitter
Twitter witnesses the most number of customer reviews, both positive and negative. The
company is active on Twitter and acts as customer support for the company. There have been a
number of discussions on Twitter initiated by hosts and customers. Apart from writing reviews
directly to the company, people sometimes mention their Airbnb experiences on their timeline,
this leads to discussion and others get an idea about other people’s unfiltered reviews about their
stay.
 4. Linkedin
Over the time, Airbnb has built an image in the positive light by posting relevant content on
Linkedin and the posts related to the social causes is what gains the most attention.
People have been putting up their reviews on Linkedin and some of the examples of the same are
listed below:
 5. YouTube
Today, when a customer is looking for a product or service, they want to know its features and
more information on it. They like to be inspired, entertained, or educated rather than sold to.
Airbnb, appears to have caught on to this trend and aims to place a greater emphasis on
developing media content in order to better capture, inspire, and convert more committed fans to
their service. Airbnb invests a good amount on YouTube and creates their original content. The
videos are based on experiences and people love to see them. Some of the videos have generated
views in millions and received a lot of love from the audience.