Learner Name Aishath Maasha

Learner Registration 210908010

No.
Study Centre Name RGHE
Qualification Title OTHM level 7
Unit Reference No.
Unit Title Business Research Method/ Case Study
Word Count 2778
Submission Date

Declaration of authenticity:
1. In submitting this assignment I acknowledge that I understand the definition of, and penalties for,
cheating, collusion and plagiarism as set out in the OTHM policy.
2. I declare that the attached submission is my own original work. No significant part of it has been
submitted for any other assignment and I have acknowledged in my notes and bibliography all written
and electronic sources used.
3. I acknowledge that my assignment will be subject to electronic scrutiny for academic honesty.
4. I understand that failure to meet these guidelines may instigate the centre’s malpractice procedures and
risk failure of the unit and / or qualification.
5.

_________________ _________________
Learner signature Tutor signature
Date: Date:

1
 EFFECTIVENESS OF BUSINESS
MARKETING STRATEGIES FOR
ORGANIZATIONS: A CASE STUDY OF
AIRBNB

Aishath Maasha
Business Research Methods

2
 Table of
contents

1. Introduction
a) Introduction of problem/opportunity............................................................................................. 3

b) Clearly explain the background to the business problem or opportunity.......................................3

c.) Outline the research project's aims and objectives....................................................................... 3

d.) State the limitations and scope of research................................................................................... 3

2. Literature review............................................................................................................................... 4

a) A critical review of literature......................................................................................................... 4

Different types of business marketing............................................................................................ 4

Effectiveness of business marketing.............................................................................................. 5

Steps of business marketing........................................................................................................... 5

Business marketing strategies used in Airbnb................................................................................ 6

Theory/model based on business marketing.................................................................................. 7

Challenges faced in business marketing......................................................................................... 9

Strategies to improve business marketing.................................................................................... 10

b) Conceptual and theoretical framework........................................................................................ 11

3. Research Methodology................................................................................................................... 13

a) Explain and justification of research approach and strategy........................................................ 13

b) Data collection............................................................................................................................ 13

c) Population and sampling.............................................................................................................. 14

d) Data analysis............................................................................................................................... 14

4. Statement of ethics.......................................................................................................................... 14

a) Discuss access to respondent issues............................................................................................. 14

5. Timeline.......................................................................................................................................... 15

a.) Develop a plan using the GANTT chart..................................................................................... 15

Reference list........................................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.

1. Introduction

a) Introduction of problem

Airbnb is a marketplace where travellers can stay at properties listed on the site by local
hosts. A person with a spare room can put his home on the website, and someone traveling
to that location can reserve it and appreciate the unique experience provided by the host.
(lapaas, 2019). This research is going to focus on the effectiveness of the "business
marketing strategy" of organizations, primarily focusing on Airbnb.

b) Background to the business problem.

Airbnb's marketing strategy focuses on creating and sustaining a strong community among
its users, with the goal of achieving long-term loyalty from both client segments: guests and
hosts. To attract new users, the brand creates demand through engaging content and engages
in strategic influencer partnerships to improve digital delivery (PAFITIS, 2020).

c) Outline the research project's aims and objectives

The purpose of this study will be to critically examine Airbnb's business marketing
strategies. This research will provide a description of and reports on Airbnb's market
challenges. Objectives for this research are as follows:
● To discover appropriate answers to this company's difficulties.
● To propose solutions to Airbnb's problems and prospects.
● To manage business effectiveness, it is necessary to analyse market dynamics
and establish client needs.
● To identify potential for Airbnb to increase its market share.
d) Research Objectives
● How to discover appropriate answers to this company's difficulties?
● How can propose solutions to Airbnb's problems and prospects?
● What are the ways to manage business effectiveness, it is necessary to
analyse market dynamics and establish client needs?
● Ho can identify potential for Airbnb to increase its market share?
d.) Limitations and scope of research

The scope of this research is that it will use facts and statistics to explain the market
environment for Airbnb. Facts and data can be deceiving at times and may not accurately
reflect the situation. Furthermore, statistics and data cannot describe the management and
other difficulties that a company is facing. Numerical data are useful for determining a
company's net worth and profits or losses, but other aspects such as competition, branding,
client demand, and current technology should also be considered when developing a
marketing strategy. Apart from this, time and money constraints can pose limitations to the
research.

2. Literature review

a) A critical review of literature:

Different types of business
Marketing Business-to-
Consumer Market:
A business-to-consumer, or "B2C," market is one in which a company advertises and sells
its products to individual customers. Grocery businesses, retail stores, and car dealerships
are a few examples. Franchises.

Business-to-Business Market:
The business-to-business (B2B) market focuses on products, goods, and services that are
generally sold to other businesses rather than directly to consumers. Office furniture,
business accounting services, and conference and exhibit materials are among examples.

Services Market:
A business in a service market provides services rather than items. The company may only
interact with consumers, such as offering telephone services, plumbing, and electrical repairs
to the consumer market.

Industrial Market:

Industrial markets sell industrial or manufacturing products, as well as goods and services,
to other commercial industries. These are frequently non-marketed items, such as raw
materials like steel, glass, and wood, or large-scale goods like multi-network computer
systems.

Professional Services Market:

Professional services are specialized sectors of business that often come with some level of
accountability in terms of license and certification. Legal and medical services are two
examples.(McQuerrey, 2018).
Effectiveness of Business Marketing
Identifying growth possibilities through SWOT analysis is one of the most essential
components of any marketing plan. It is also critical that boards remain involved in the
process of implementing their selected strategy over an extended period of time. Senior
management must be knowledgeable and open to new ideas in order to advance the
company's brand. The main goal of the firm's marketing strategy should be to establish and
expand awareness of the company's brand, as well as to build trust and confidence in that
brand (Summerfield, 2014). Airbnb’s online marketplace has grown rapidly since its
inception in 2008, thanks to the use of efficient digital marketing tactics. To learn more
about Airbnb's marketing approach, consider three of the digital marketing techniques it
employs: its website, content marketing, and influencer marketing (UKEssays, 2020).

Steps of Business Marketing:

To build successful marketing processes for a business need few simple steps.

1. Develop a plan
Before delving into the exact channels, text, and advertisements that the firm want to run, it
is necessary to take a step back and develop a strategy for the company's marketing
activities. If you have previously created a Lean Plan for your company. This comprises the
mission statement, the value proposition, and the goals and objectives.

2. Conduct a market analysis

To guarantee that the value provided and the goals established are achievable, the firm must
first understand its market. So, now that the strategy is in place, it's time to validate it using a
market study.

3. Outline your marketing tactics

A strategy is required. Conduct your research. It is now time to establish the company's real
marketing strategy. This is referred to as the corporate marketing mix, and it is where the
firm develops the product, pricing, location, and promotion of the business.
4. Run, analyse, revise and repeat
The firm will debut after developing a marketing plan, establishing milestones, and
particular methods to achieve those goals. However, the procedure is not finished. Set a
timeframe for the firm to evaluate its efforts and determine its return on investment.
Having an effective marketing plan is critical to your company's success. It will aid in
improved customer communication, the avoidance of unnecessary spending, and the
establishment of team rules (Cummings, 2021).

Business marketing strategies used in

Airbnb. Airbnb's Marketing

Approach:
Airbnb, which was founded in 2008, is currently the world's largest vacation rental service,
with over 7 million home listings in over 220 countries. While travellers benefit from
additional short-term rental alternatives at lower prices than hotels, hosts win financially by
monetising their available spaces and retaining tourist money inside their local communities.

Customer Profile:
Airbnb's visitors are both male and female, with the majority being between the ages of 25
and 44. They are defined as active participants in the peer-to-peer ‘sharing' economy, and
they are driven by the opportunity to experience unusual vacations while still securing
competitive prices. Indeed, Airbnb's listings are between 6% and 18% less expensive than
hotels in both the United States and Europe.

Marketing Mix:
Airbnb spends extensively in digital marketing, concentrating on distributing compelling
content to its target audience through different platforms, with an outstanding yearly
marketing expenditure of about $1 billion. Its offline advertising, which attempts to increase
awareness of the service and recruit new users, supplements its comprehensive internet
marketing approach.

Content Marketing:
Airbnb use content marketing to build a user community around their brand. The
primary goal of this approach is to improve the relationship between the brand and
its consumers by extending interaction before, during, and after purchases and, as a
result, promoting long-term loyalty.
Influencer Marketing:
Airbnb's extraordinary expansion has been backed by its excellent influencer
marketing over the years. Collaborations with high-profile celebrities are used by the
disruptive brand to widely market its services to new, targeted consumers. Typically,
celebrities would share photos of their luxurious Airbnb stays on Instagram, which
will be sponsored by the firm. This is successful in driving online traffic to the
Airbnb website, with 91m visits in January 2020 alone (Pafitis, 2020).

Theory/model based on business Marketing:

The Product Life Cycle:

A product's lifespan is the amount of time it spends on the market. Beginning with
its introduction to the market and continuing until it is removed off the shelves.
The Product Lifecycle (Levitt, 1965)
Stage 1 — Market Development & Introduction:

When a new product is introduced to the market, it is usually preceded by some

research and development to ensure that it is market-ready and that there is a
demonstrated need for it. Costs mount up before a product is released onto the
market, even if no sales occur. The product is then introduced to the market, with the
objective of increasing product awareness. The costs of marketing are considerable
in this area. Pricing can sometimes be higher to recover costs associated with
product development.

Stage 2 — Growth:
If a product launch is successful and buyers accept it, it enters the market growth
phase as demand grows. As the firm seeks to grow market share, the size of the
entire market expands, which is frequently referred to as the 'Take-off Stage.'
Production, distribution, and availability are all being increased.

Stage 3 — Maturity:
A product enters the market maturity stage when demand and sales begin to level
off. At this stage, sales are at their peak, and production costs are falling as
manufacturing becomes more efficient. Marketing expenses are also cut.

Stage 4 — Decline:
When items begin to lose consumer appeal and sales begin to drop, they enter the
market decline phase. Market share is lost, frequently as a result of increasing rivalry
when new items enter the market, with other companies attempting to replicate their
success. With advances in technology, for example, or cheaper pricing, these can be
more adapted to consumer demands (Hopper, 2020).
Challenges faced in business Marketing

Every business owner confronts unique problems, wears many roles, and makes
numerous decisions every day.

1. Generating (Quality) Traffic:

Solid lead generation is critical to inbound marketing success because it helps you to
nurture leads through the buyer's journey by giving helpful information and guiding
them toward a purchase decision.

2. Information Overload:

In addition, the firm should look into innovative methods to connect with or convey
information to the audience. When a firm has a clear knowledge of who its target
audience is and where they hang out online (social media, forums, etc.), it can start
having meaningful discussions with actual people.

3. Tools and Technology:

With so many tools available, it may be difficult for marketers to go through their
options and select the best technology for their campaign. In fact, according to
HubSpot's State of Inbound study, 24% of marketers struggle to discover the proper
tools and solutions for their purposes.

4. Overwhelming Data:

It receives an enormous quantity of data from inbound marketing. Many marketers

are unsure about where to focus their efforts. From defining a company's buyer
persona to selecting the most efficient technique of measuring your ROI, the quantity
of information that must be understood and processed appears to be limitless.

5. Securing Enough Resources:

Many marketers regard it as a struggle to get enough hands on deck and obtain
enough funding without having to cut the cord before seeing results.
Impressing individuals at large corporations is typically the best method to get a
larger budget. This gets easier if you can demonstrate the return on investment for
each marketing dollar spent (Harris, 2019).
Airbnb suspended all marketing operations at the end of March in order to save an estimated
$800 million in 2020.Airbnb's internal valuation has been reduced by 16% to $26
billion. In mid-March, the firm also experienced a 40% decrease in reservations.
Online communication does not enable a company to completely comprehend
external circumstances (DAVIDOFF, 2020).

Strategies to improve Business Marketing:

No matter how great your product or service is, your success will be limited without
an effective marketing strategy.

1. Analyse the Data:

To correct a company's ineffective marketing activities, the issue areas must first be
identified. Make use of an analytical tool to identify the elements of its plan that
aren't functioning. Google Analytics is a fantastic resource for determining which
marketing channels are bringing in the most company visitors and which are
underutilized.

2. Make Adjustments:

It is possible to rinse and repeat for effective marketing efforts. However, in order to
correct unsuccessful marketing methods, you will need to change your game plan. If
they are conducting a social media campaign and a specific site is receiving little
traffic, they may want to try a different tactic.

3. Focus on Top Customers:

Pareto's concept is based on the 80/20 rule. In business, this indicates that about 80%
of consumers bring in 20% of revenues, while the remaining 20% bring in 80% of
sales. As a result, concentrating on the most profitable 20% should increase business
sales volume.
4. Stay Abreast of New Possibilities:

The Online Marketing Institute's number one piece of advice for marketers is to use
cutting- edge digital technologies. Staying in the loop by studying other choices can
expose a firm to new ideas and keep a campaign from becoming dull.

5. Be Consistent and Persistent:

Make a concerted and consistent effort to improve your commercial practices. Don't
give up if business don't get an immediate reaction from customers. It takes time to
see visible benefits, so stay focused (Pratt, 2013).
Airbnb reached new heights with incredible speed and success thanks to careful
preparation and the implementation of digital marketing techniques. Along with
enhancing the quality of the pleasures it provides, they also assist the world's
unknown places show off its flamboyant tourism. Airbnb promotes its attractions by
making them more accessible and affordable to visitors and travellers.
b) Conceptual and theoretical framework
To put it simply, a conceptual framework is a diagram that depicts the connection of
variables. To comprehend that researchers study to investigate certain areas of the
world. In doing so, they produce literature in which they investigate and suggest how
various parts of the world interact with one another (Cueva, 2020).

INDEPENDENT VARIABLES DEPENDENT VARIABLES

profiles of the customer

positioning of Airbnb brand

marketing mix - price, product,

place and promotion
 Figure 1: Conceptual
Framework (Source:
Created by author)
This above mentioned conceptual framework shows the relation between different
factors in business marketing which aids on influencing business effectiveness.

3. Research Methodology

a) Research approach and strategy

A "deductive approach" will be used in this study. The deductive research technique
investigates a known theory or phenomena and determines whether or not it is valid
in the specific conditions. It has been observed that the deductive method more
closely follows the route of logic.
The reasoning starts with a theory and leads to a new hypothesis. This hypothesis is
put to the test by confronting it with observations that either lead to a confirmation
or a rejection of the hypothesis (Larner, 2009).
There are some key benefits of this approach, which are:

1. Explaining causal connections between ideas and variables is a possibility.

2. Concepts may be quantitatively measured.
3. To some extent, it is possible to generalize study findings.

These benefits will be necessary in this testing in order to do a quantitative analysis

of this report. In terms of research strategy, both primary and secondary research
strategies will be used in this study. Primary research is gathering new reports and
data and then analysing them to create a report, whereas secondary research use
already gathered data, facts, and figures. It is less costly in comparison. The primary
research approach will be used to gather new information about the firm, whilst the
secondary research strategy will be utilized to create reports based on previously
collected facts and statistics.

b) Data collection
Primary and secondary data collecting techniques will be employed in data
collection. Primary data will be collected through interviews, whilst secondary data
will be collected through the internet, the company's website, and different sources
that give data for various analyses related to the issue.
 c) Population and sampling

The interview process will consist of a total of 10 questions. These questions will be
emailed to 5 Airbnb superiors through Google form, and their replies will be
gathered. Over here, random sampling approaches will be most effective. As an
organization, this will help us understand even better. When compared to other
sources, the answer from superiors will be far more relevant and credible. This will
benefit in gaining a better understanding of the organization and its business
marketing process.

d) Data analysis
The replies of interview participants will be analysed in order to conduct primary
data analysis. Secondary data, on the other hand, will be gathered from a variety of
secondary sources such as journals, articles, newspaper articles, and books.

4. Statement of ethics

a) Access to respondent issues

This research will be conducted in a fair and impartial manner. All data, facts, and
figures included in this study will come from reliable sources and will not be altered.
Before bringing any participant into this interview process, their consent will be
obtained, and they will be participating with their concern. The facts presented in
this study will be accurate and devoid of any modification.

5. Timeline:

a.) Develop a plan using the GANTT chart

Sl. Activities Duration

No. (days)
1 Project Proposal 2
Reviewing
2 literature 9
3 Data collection 8
4 Data analysis 9
Final report
5 submission 2

Figure 2: Gantt chart

(Source: Created by author)

15
References
Cueva, D. (2020, 05 20). How to Make a Conceptual Framework (with Samples).
Retrieved from Topnotcher: https://topnotcher.ph/how-to-make-a-conceptual-
framework/
Cummings, J. (2021, 02 09). LivePlan. Retrieved from How to Create a Strategic
Marketing Process for Your Business: https://www.liveplan.com/blog/the-
essential-marketing- processes-to-set-up-for-your-startup-business/
DAVIDOFF, A. A. (2020, 04 15). Fast Company. Retrieved from Why Airbnb made a
big mistake by ditching its marketing:
https://www.fastcompany.com/90489914/why- airbnb-made-a-big-mistake-by-
ditching-its-marketing
Harris, N. (2019, 08 16). You’re Not Alone: The Top 5 Challenges Marketers Face.
Retrieved from New Perspective: https://www.npws.net/blog/top-5-challenges-
marketers-face/
Hopper, D. (2020, 11 19). 5 Marketing Management Theories That Every Serious Marketer
Should Know. Retrieved from Business 2 Community:
https://www.business2community.com/marketing/5-marketing-management-
theories- that-every-serious-marketer-should-know-02363676
lapaas. (2019, 8 19). Airbnb Business Model(Case Study) How Airbnb Works And
Earns Money? Retrieved from Lapaas: https://lapaas.com/airbnb-business-
modelcase- study-how-airbnb-works-and-earns-money/
Larner, R. S. (2009). The Art of Being a Scientist: A Guide for Graduate Students and
their Mentors. Cambridge University Press, (p. 16).
McQuerrey, L. (2018, November 21). Five Types of Business Markets. Retrieved from
Bizfluent: https://bizfluent.com/about-6753838-definition-consumer-
industry.html
Pafitis, E. (2020, June 17). Airbnb’s Marketing Strategy: What Your Company Can Learn.
Retrieved from Startinng Business:
https://www.startingbusiness.com/blog/marketing- strategy-airbnb
PAFITIS, E. (2020, June 17). Airbnb’s Marketing Strategy: What Your Company Can
Learn. Retrieved from Starting Business:
https://www.startingbusiness.com/blog/marketing- strategy-airbnb
Pratt, M. (2013, 06 19). Business Org. Retrieved from 5 Steps to Improve Your Marketing
Strategy: https://www.business.org/marketing/seo/steps-to-improve-your-marketing-
strategy/
Space, M. (2019, 04 16). The Ultimate Digital Marketing Strategy Of Airbnb. Retrieved
from Paradise Trra: https://www.paradiseterra.com/digital-marketing-strategy-of-
airbnb/
Summerfield, R. (2014, June). Finencer Worldwide. Retrieved from The importance of an
effective marketing strategy: https://www.financierworldwide.com/the-
importance-of- an-effective-marketing-strategy#.YMJEIp0zZnI
UKEssays. (2020, 12 08). UKEssays. Retrieved from Airbnb Marketing Strategies:
https://www.ukessays.com/assignments/airbnb-marketing-strategies-
2021.php
16