When traveling or looking for a place to stay, nearly everyone goes right to AirBnB these days. Only a few years ago, customers would look straight to travel agencies or OTA’s to book a hotel. Since then, customers are really relying on and trusting AirBnB as a place they can go to find their true home away from home when traveling. AirBnB disrupted the traditional way of booking travel, and it’s only natural that others try to stay afloat. How did they do this you ask? It’s all about the power of the customer and they knew that from the start.

In marketing, one of the most important things you need is trust. AirBnB really nailed it when it comes to their customers trusting them. By using customer quotes and user generated content from their customers, they can show off the true spaces that their fans can realistically travel to. This brings credibility when it comes to the brand overall because customers believe other customers rather than the company itself. From the start, AirBnB utilizes the peer-to-peer rental space, allowing their users to show off their home in a virtual reality space for others to see. Now, they have rapidly grown with their content marketing by creating city guides, aka AirBnB Neighborhoods, and tips/ information to help you pick your next destination. Not only are they focusing on homes to travel to, but they also show off the cities that you can travel to with AirBnB. When AirBnB neighborhoods was first launched, it promised to provide it’s customers with the most top notch content along with advice from the hosts, giving the inside scoop on all of their favorite places to go. To create such amazing content, AirBnB showcases local photographers in the neighborhoods that they are featuring, and includes their artwork / bios in the gallery. These guides not only help customers find where they want to go to next, but users are continuing to come back to the website to book their next destination.

Not only does AirBnB work on obtaining engaging content from social media, they use this content in a way to leverage it across their website as well. On Twitter, they re-tweet engaging stories and content from their users including information on what locals love, the secrets of the cities and more. They also host giveaways on their social platforms, encouraging their fans to show off their location using the hashtag “#AirBnBFun.” This is a way to encourage content to be posted for their use, allowing their fans to win something. Their Instagram account is made up entirely of user generated content or gorgeous photographer imagery that showcases the places you can go.

To gain even more trust with their users, AirBnB has allowed the opportunity for fans to connect their Facebook accounts to their AirBnB account. Through “Social Connections”

Once connected, the tool shows if users’ friends have previously booked a place they are currently considering. This feature is particularly important because it taps into social currency and word-of-mouth recommendations, the most powerful drivers of online sharing and commerce.

This is an amazing tool that allows you to connect with AirBnB and your friends. By word of mouth, you can really find the places that you’ll trust because someone you know booked that spot. What a way to keep your customers coming back for more!

Sources:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/amanda-feinberg/content-marketing-closeup_b_3541809.html

https://contently.com/strategist/2014/12/05/how-airbnb-is-using-content-marketing-to-stay-on-top/