In the past few years, I have become a huge fan of Airbnb. I truly believe that it is the future of travel accommodations and will soon replace hotels and hostels for a large majority of us. As a peer-to-peer rental service, Airbnb gives users the ability to virtually tour and rent apartments from real owners. Recently Airbnb has been considering a move into travel and city guides through Airbnb Neighborhoods. This move is, of course, a smart one as it is a great accessory to their core business. However, it is not without its fair share of entrenched competitors like Lonely Planet, Trip Advisor and Rough Guide.
Airbnb Neighborhoods has launched numerous interesting
digital marketing campaigns to promote this new content including the
following:
- Airbnb TV hosts original videos ranging from
testimonials to guided tours
- Airbnb Lifestyles exclusively focuses on peer’s
Airbnb stories and adventures
- Airbnb Connections allow users to link their
social media profiles and connect beyond the Airbnb virtual walls
All of these ideas are great examples of an online
hospitality company leveraging the personalities of their typical customers to
promote peer-to-peer marketing and content. Most Airbnb users are young, travel
enthusiasts who love taking photos, creating videos, writing blogs and making
friends during their adventures. Airbnb is now allowing them a space to do all
of this.
Most recently, Airbnb Neighborhoods launched “The Hollywood
and Vines Campaign” to crowd source short clips from Vine and Airbnb users
which will be used in creating a travel and adventure film. One quick upload of
this video onto Facebook and Buzzfeed will be all it takes for this film to
eventually go viral promoting Airbnb almost as an afterthought.
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