Marketing your Airbnb Listing | Tips to Optimize your Airbnb listing

One of the most successful websites for booking vacation rentals, Airbnb draws millions of users daily from all over the world. The global pandemic didn't make it less popular; if anything, it made it more so. Add to that Airbnb's long-awaited IPO's success, and you have a solid business and one of the most promising platforms for marketing your holiday rentals.

Why should you get listed on Airbnb now?

Now is a perfect moment to list your property on Airbnb for a number of reasons; a few are listed below:

• The average booking value stands at approximately $930 which is a year-on-year increase of $110, meaning that properties that advertise on Airbnb have the potential to draw high-value reservations.

• Bookings for durations longer than a week made up 40% of the nights. As a result, Airbnb listings may draw bookings for extended stays, which have become more common due to the pandemic.

• In the last three months, there has been an increase in the number of Airbnb reservations booked in advance. Evidence of a rise in travel confidence can be witnessed as travelers are already making reservations for stays during the next summer.

That should be enough to persuade you that you're missing out if you haven't advertised on Airbnb yet. Let's now discuss 5 tips to optimize your Airbnb listing.

The 5 elements of an effective Airbnb marketing strategy

1. Use an Airbnb-approved channel manager

As a professional property manager, it is important to use a channel manager that Airbnb has identified as a Preferred Software Partner such as Hostaway. This shows that the channel manager is a reputable technology supplier who satisfies Airbnb's highest criteria and has excellent synchronization abilities. Working with such a supplier is essential to optimizing your Airbnb listing.

The benefits of using an Airbnb-certified channel manager include:

• Regularly updated API connections that let you use the newest features and resources from Airbnb as soon as they become available. This includes updates like new features, and cancellation policies

• Priority customer service to assist you in resolving problems more quickly than anyone else.

• You may enhance your conversion rates on Airbnb by optimizing your listings.

2. Health-check your Airbnb listings

If you've been running vacation rental properties for a while, you presumably have some experience creating engaging listings. You're probably aware of the minimal content standards that OTAs like Airbnb demand you to adhere to (for example, regarding the size of images). We won’t bore you with any of that.

However, we would like to emphasize the significance of verifying that your listings are truly appearing on your connected channels in the manner you desire.

When something goes wrong on the front end, (on Airbnb) everything may appear to be fine on the back end (in your PMS and channel management) however, it may not be the case on the front end. You run the risk of not putting your best foot forward and losing out on bookings when there is a difference between what you see and what your guests see. Therefore, the first thing you should do after connecting your channel manager to Airbnb and publishing your listings is to do a health check.

Regular health checks should be a crucial component of your Airbnb marketing plan because they may help you optimize your listings to the last detail.

3. Get your Airbnb pricing right

The next thing you need to decide is your Airbnb pricing plan once you have the appropriate software to market your properties and have examined your listings.

Distribution and revenue management should always work hand in hand; otherwise, even if you present the most attractively designed listing, it won't convert.

Here are our top recommendations for setting your Airbnb property's price:

• __Use a tool for dynamic pricing.__text in bold Based on historical and current market data, platforms like Beyond Pricing, PriceLabs, and Wheelhouse assist you in determining the best nightly fee for your rentals every single day. Additionally, they link with channel managers like Hostaway, making it simple to submit the dynamic pricing to Airbnb immediately.

• Discounts should be used strategically. You can use one of the many discounts and special offers that Airbnb provides to entice visitors to make reservations. The list is expanding as Airbnb adds additional deals to their arsenal, and they currently offer last-minute, early-bird, and LOS discounts in addition to bespoke promos.

• The host-only pricing structure. All Airbnb property managers must use this simplified price structure, except those in the United States, Canada, and Mexico (you can still decide whether to use it). Reducing the service charge (up to 20 percent) from the final price that is displayed to customers at checkout, helps to increase the number of reservations. In essence, it means that you pay the guest's service charge. You can simply increase your nightly rate or include a markup in your prices to make up the difference.

4. Master Airbnb SEO

The next step in your Airbnb marketing strategy might make or break it: putting SEO (Search Engine Optimization) best practices into effect.

This step will help you rank higher in Airbnb search results, which will help you make the most of your listings. Making sure that visitors notice your properties is just as important as creating the ideal listing.

Like any other search engine, the Airbnb algorithm favors postings that satisfy certain criteria. We do, however, have a list of optimization techniques that you can use to rank better, become more visible, and increase your conversions on Airbnb even if no one is quite sure what these prerequisites are.

Here are some pointers to help you rank higher on Airbnb right away:

• Gather ratings as soon as you can. More reviews increase your chances of appearing higher in Airbnb search results. The easiest method to achieve this is to offer a first-rate guest experience, post reviews for your visitors, and ask visitors to review your listing.

• Within 24 hours, reply to every message from a guest. Airbnb favors hosts who are proactive in keeping in touch with their visitors since it improves the guest experience. Messages can be scheduled and some responses can be automated using vacation rental software.

• Have competitive prices. As was previously said, setting the proper prices is essential for obtaining bookings on Airbnb and also plays a significant role in ranking. For instance, you can be excluded from searches and lose out on bookings if your pricing is excessively expensive in comparison to other rentals in your market.

• Avoid refusing reservations. If your properties are listed on Request to Book, it's important to maintain your rejection rate low because too many will hurt your rankings.

• Boost your clickthrough rate. Your chances of ranking higher increase as more people click on your properties after viewing them in search results. Write captivating headlines and ensure that the thumbnail or hero image you've chosen shows the finest side of your property to increase click-through rates.

• Increase the maximum stay and decrease the minimum stay. Your listing will appear in more searches if your constraints on the length of stay are more lenient.

5. Stay up-to-date on new optimization opportunities

As the most well-known marketplace for holiday rentals on the planet, Airbnb is constantly seeking to make guests' booking experiences better and assist property managers and owners in increasing reservations. In order to help property managers adjust to changes in demand and traveler behavior, Airbnb frequently upgrades its platform and periodically introduces new services.

Therefore, it's essential for your Airbnb marketing strategy that you stay on top of Airbnb's changes and use new tools as soon as they become available.

As mentioned before the Hostaway channel manager enables you to achieve this because of our regularly updated API connection and close association with Airbnb.

To stay one step ahead of your competition, you should also make it a point to learn about new tools as soon as possible. You can do this by simply keeping an eye out for the product update emails you receive from Airbnb.

In conclusion

It is important to optimize your Airbnb listing in order to ensure high visibility of your listing and stay ahead of your competition. While it does look like a lot of work on the surface it can easily be managed by using property management software such as Hostaway. To find out how we help property managers around the world run their businesses simply request a free demo.