The Complete Guide to Airbnb Advertising for Your Business

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Airbnb is a platform that connects property owners and managers with travellers. The platform is free to start and has quickly become one of the world’s leading short-term rental sites due to its accessibility and popularity amongst consumers.

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One of the things that makes Airbnb so special is that it allows hosts to adjust their rates based on the season, availability and market.

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Having someone stay in your hard-earned property may be daunting for many people, which is why Airbnb also offers a Host Guarantee Program, which will cover the costs for up to $1,000,000 in damages, ensuring your asset is protected as it generates income.

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Before we tell you the secrets of maximising your Airbnb ROI and the steps to how to advertise my business on Airbnb, let’s cover the different types of listings.

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1. Entire place: Entire places typically include a bedroom, a bathroom, a kitchen, and a separate, dedicated entrance, meaning your guests can stay in a home away from home.
2. Private rooms: If you have a room in your home you’d like to rent, Airbnb gives you the flexibility to do so.
3. Hotel rooms: Airbnb provides hotel owners with an additional marketing channel to fill their hotel rooms.
4. Shared rooms: Airbnb originally started by promoting couch-sharing, and this stays true today with the ability for you to make a business from the space in your own home. As long as you don’t mind sharing, this is a great way to attract flexible travellers looking for new friends and budget-friendly stays.

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How to list on Airbnb?

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You can’t advertise your business on Airbnb unless you've listed it. This section will teach you everything you need to know about how to list on Airbnb.

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You’ve probably been wondering how complicated it must be to rent on Airbnb. To make the most of your valuable time, we’ve outlined it here for you. As the Airbnb management specialist, we know how to answer "how to manage my business on Airbnb."

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Signing up for Airbnb is free, and so is listing your property. You only need to pay hosting fees if someone books your property - generally Airbnb charges 3-5% - giving you a no-risk opportunity to make some extra cash.

First things first, you need to go through Airbnb’s thirteen easy steps to get your property business on board.

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1. Get started: Go to Airbnb’s Host page and click on “Get Started”.

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2. Select the type of place you want to host: Based upon the type of listing your property fits into from above, select one of the boxes before proceeding. If you don’t think your property fits in with the selections, you can always press other or speak to an expert to guide you through the process.

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3. Select what best describes your place: Do you have a home, cabin, villa, chalet or holiday home to host? Select which one best describes what you want to offer.

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4. What kind of space will you offer: As we touched upon above, you can offer an entire place, private room or shared home - pick your offering in step 4.

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5. Enter your address: Now comes the detail of your place; enter where it’s located. Don’t worry; your guests won’t see the exact address until they’ve booked their stay.

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6. Select how many guests: Once you’ve confirmed the address, you can select how many guests you can accept and how many bedrooms, beds and bathrooms your property has.

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7. Property details: If you’ve ever picked an Airbnb before, you’ll know guests can filter depending upon the amenities and safety options in a property. In step 7, you can select precisely what your property offers, including exercise equipment, a pool, Wi-Fi, parking and a fire extinguisher.

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8. Add photos: As we’ll cover below, the quality of your photos can make the difference between an Airbnb’s success and failure. After adding details of your property, you can now add images.

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9. Select a title: No Airbnb is complete without a title.

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10. Select highlights: Now, to make your listing stand out - Select the key highlights of the listing that will attract audiences to your property.

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11. Create your description: A description details the key aspects of your property. In step 11, you have 500 characters to cover everything - this is the step many of our customers ask for our advice, as you have to get it right!

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12. Set a nightly price: Unsure what nightly price to put your property? Get your estimate using our Airbnb price calculator.

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13. Final touches: Before reviewing and positing your listing, you’ll need to add some final details, such as whether your property has security cameras or not.

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Top 7 Tips for Creating a Successful Airbnb Marketing Campaign

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A successful ad campaign is not just about the quality of your property. We have seen remarkable properties that haven’t performed because they were not backed up with a successful marketing campaign. That’s why so many of our customers ask, “how to advertise my business on Airbnb”.

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To save you the pain and answer how to advertise my business on Airbnb, below, we have added 7 of our top tips.

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If you have any questions or want us to take care of the hassle, feel free to contact the Houst team!

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#1 Optimise Airbnb SEO

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But wait… Isn’t SEO a Google thing?

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SEO stands for search engine optimisation. Because Airbnb has a search engine for guests to find properties that fit their needs, hosts can optimise their listings so that they appear at the top of searches.

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Just like how the top result of Google gets 32% of all clicks for that search term, if your listing makes it to the top of a search, you’re much more likely to get clicks and bookings.

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Therefore, you need to optimise your Airbnb SEO to get in front of more guests and increase your bookings. Fortunately, we’ve compiled a simple checklist for you to follow to boost your rankings:

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• Up-to-date calendar: If you ensure your properties’ availability is up to date, the Airbnb algorithm will promote your listing as it recognises you are active and likely to provide customers with a better service.‍
• Word your listing carefully: Like with websites, if you use the language your customer uses, you’re much more likely to rank. Using the above example, if you’re looking to attract couples, you may want to include romantic features in your property or romantic attractions nearby, as Airbnb promotes listings that it believes will be right for a certain customer.‍
• Competitive rates: One of the reasons we offer a rate estimate calculator is because knowing what rate to list your property is complex. If you’ve completed the above steps, you’ll know that this is a required step in the signup process. The platform will also suggest a fair price based on the competition, so to get ranked, you need competitive pricing that appeals to customers.
  If you’re scaring customers off via high prices, you’ll damage your chances of ranking.‍
• Flexible stays: One of the biggest reasons people use Airbnb over hotels is its flexibility. If your listing is flexible, it will be rewarded on the rankings. For example, if you don’t have a minimum night restriction, you’ll appear on more searches.‍
• High-quality images: The age of social media has made aesthetics more important than ever. Low-quality images put off potential guests, and they also damage your rankings. Therefore, make sure you invest in professional photography, as it can make all the difference between successful and unsuccessful listings.‍
• Instant Book: Again, flexibility and availability sell. For people looking to book a holiday stay, they want it now! If you allow instant booking on your property, you’ll be expanding the demographic of potential customers and therefore increasing the number of rankings on the Airbnb search engines.‍
• Great reviews: Remember, Airbnb is a business that makes money from guests having unique experiences at properties. If your listing has more 5-star reviews, then Airbnb will rank you higher as it’s more likely to make money from you. Investing in your customer’s experience may cost more money in the short term, but when good reviews add up, you’ll shoot up Airbnb’s rankings and get more bookings.‍
• Become a Superhost on Airbnb: Take your listing to the next level and earn a Superhost badge. Not convinced? Ask around your friends and family, and you’ll be surprised by how many people explicitly filter only to see Airbnbs with super hosts. Get the badge and appear on more rankings.

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We’re only one tip in, so carry on reading to see the most common pitfalls you need to avoid to ensure your Airbnb is a success.

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#2 Work with influencers or bloggers that are connected to your target audience

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It’s essential to know what your target audience is on Airbnb. Your target audience will depend upon several things such as your listing’s price, interior, location, rooms available and personal preference.

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Once you have this target audience clearly defined, working with an influencer or blogger to grow the reach of your listing can be a great way to ensure your property is filled.

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With the influencer marketing industry expecting to reach $16.4B in 2022 and 37% of consumers trusting influencers over brands, there is a clear opportunity to reach your target audience using the trust that reputable influencers have with their audience.

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For example, part-time landlords with one property in London may want to market themselves specifically to young couples. For this demographic, they may be able to charge a higher than average fee, kit out the space with decor they themselves enjoy and know the local area well, so they can recommend romantic places to visit for their guests.

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In this case, working with a couples travel blog or TikTok influencer would be a great way to reach this audience, particularly as 45% of Gen Z search on Instagram for products and experiences to purchase.

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Influencer marketing doesn’t have to be expensive either. You can work with a micro-influencer with a loyal following for as little as £100, providing excellent reach outside of Airbnb to generate bookings and revenue.

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#3 Collect your Guest’s Email Addresses

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This is one of the most overlooked tips for skyrocketing your Airbnb revenue. Retargeting is the practice of marketing to the customers who have already stayed at your property to get them to revisit or stay at one of your other properties (if you’re a multi-property landlord).

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With GDPR, you must get your guest’s email addresses in the right way and get their permission to do so, but once you have it, you have a direct connection to them to get rebookings.

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Remember, those people that rebook are also likely to be your biggest fans, promoting your stay over social media and recommending it to your fans. Building this personal connection is one of the best answers to how to advertise my business on Airbnb.

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Unsure how to get your guest’s email addresses? Below we’ve added four easy ways to get their emails while remaining GDPR compliant. NOTE: Some booking platforms, such as Airbnb, have restrictions on what you can send to guests (particularly before they confirm their booking). So ensure to do your own research on Airbnb’s communication page.

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• Wi-Fi login: Services such as Beambox offer “the easiest way to provide guest Wi-Fi that grows loyalty” through a login process which requires a connection to Facebook or email signup. This is a GDPR-compliant way of collecting emails (as guests can opt-out if they like on signup) and provides you with a direct connection to your guests once they leave - allowing you to remarket and build a direct connection.
• Registration form: Before your guest stays at your property (whether they have come through Airbnb or another platform), sending them a registration form is a professional way to capture contact information and make your guest feel welcome.
  Registration forms can also provide a way to collect additional information. Some Airbnb businesses may send a postcard after the guest has stayed to thank them for looking after the property - this is an inexpensive way to build loyalty and a great answer to how to advertise my business on Airbnb.‍
• Texts: It’s easy to get a guest’s phone number through the booking platform, allowing you to send important information about the property and even call them during an emergency. On top of that, you can sign up for professional text messaging services that allow your text to come from the name of your property business rather than your number, providing a professional way to build brand loyalty.
  Unconvinced? 90% of text messages are opened in the first 3 minutes. Try and get that open rate with emails!‍
• Email addresses: Some booking platforms will automatically give you the guest’s email address. If that’s the case, you can market to them directly. If not, simply ask them so you can send them additional booking information or experiences to try nearby. That way, you always have the option to add it to your mailing list in the future.

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#4 Communication is KEY

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The Airbnb experience is about providing a pleasing environment and meeting the customer’s needs. Marketing your Airbnb goes beyond just having well-designed features; it starts with understanding how to communicate with your guests. This ensures that they have a pleasant stay throughout their Airbnb experience and answers how to advertise my business on Airbnb.

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You may have noticed when making your own bookings that hosts have a response rate and time on their profile. These are scores which can indicate how responsive and attentive an Airbnb host is - one of the reasons why Airbnb management companies are so popular, is that they manage this for you and ensure your scores are high.

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For those who decide to manage their property and communicate themselves, below are some top tips to follow before your guests arrive.

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• Send a message to remind them of the arrival time and check-in information to prevent any mishaps (this can be automated, by the way!)
• Leave a welcome packet for your guests when they arrive, which includes local experiences to try during their stay.
• If your guest is staying for multiple days, send them a message halfway through to see if there’s any way you can help, such as by recommending areas to visit.

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Getting guests to come back and stay can be as easy as creating a delightful experience. Crisp and timely communication is one essential part of this.

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#5 Have a property website

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Airbnb is a fantastic way to market and collect bookings for your property, but there’s no harm in spreading your net and providing more ways for guests to book and communicate with you. After all, if you’ve asked how to advertise my business on Airbnb, you’ll be aware that other options are available.

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Having your own website allows you to collect the contact information of potential guests for a very low fee. These guests can then either book through Airbnb or directly.

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We’ve added some of the other benefits below, which may help.

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• Websites allow you to take bookings directly.
• You can connect your website to your social media platforms to create additional channels to advertise your business.
• A website allows you to signup for a GMB listing. If you want to know how to advertise my business on Airbnb, having your Google My Business listing means you’ll appear on Google maps when people search for terms related to your property listing. You can also collect reviews outside of Airbnb and build up a reputation outside the platform, which in turn helps bookings and drives cash flow.
• Websites can allow you to build partnerships and make it much more likely that you will get featured. For example, your website could get listed or featured by your local tourism body or relevant organisation.

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If a website isn’t for you and you’d prefer to keep everything in the booking platforms for simplicity, check out tip six, which is a must for many Airbnb listings.

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#6 Grow a social media following

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58% of the world now uses social media. This is likely much higher for your guests, as they’ve probably booked your property via a smartphone.

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Building a social media following is a great way to build a relationship with your former and future guests and share many of the features that make your listing unique. As we all know, a picture can tell a 1000 words, so if you’ve invested in a professional photographer for your listing, why not share those for free across socials?

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Photos aren’t the only thing you can share on social media; you can also share videos showing the check-in experience at your property or even screenshots of the reviews you’ve received. Sharing screenshots of reviews is a great way to show off “social proof” and link straight to your Airbnb booking page - a straightforward answer to how to advertise my business on Airbnb.

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Additionally, suppose you’re looking to attract a younger audience. In that case, it’s worth knowing that millennials are likely to connect with businesses on Facebook (70%), Instagram (64%) and Twitter (33%), meaning you can directly build a relationship with them outside of paid platforms.

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#7 Create a unique story

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If you’ve read this far, you’re likely a property owner looking to maximise the ROI on their hard-earned property and learn everything they can to increase their booking rates.

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You haven’t gotten here by chance - you have your own story that has led you to have a listing in the first place.

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This unique personal story likely led to a tale of how you got the property in the first place, something which in itself can make you unique and stand apart from the crowd.

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Getting this story and background across in your listing, whether in the photos or the description, adds a level of authenticity that many properties cannot match.

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For example, let’s say you’re a dog lover and have gone through the extra effort of making your listing dog-friendly. Adding a photo of your dogs in the property or local attractions (such as the beach) is much more likely to resonate with your target audience and lead to bookings.

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If you want your listing to stand out, remember that people buy from people, and getting your story across in your listing could be a great way to do so.

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Common Pitfalls to Avoid When Advertising Your Business on Airbnb

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You’re now much more knowledgeable on how to advertise my business on Airbnb, but nothing can quite beat experience.

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After managing over 250,000 bookings, we’ve come across many pitfalls and speedbumps that our fantastic team has quickly learned from.

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To save you time and money, we’ve added five common pitfalls to avoid when advertising your business on Airbnb.

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1. Inaccurate listings: Properties change over time, and mistakes happen - it’s fairly tempting to make your listing sound greater than it actually is. In any case, you should always make sure your listing is accurate.
   Remember, Airbnb reviews are public, so if you upset a guest by inaccurately marketing your property to include something it doesn’t, you could get a bad reputation. To avoid this, triple-check your listing and describe it exactly as it is, without embellishment.‍
2. Bad photos: As we discussed above, having professional photos that show off your property in the best way possible can be a surefire way to get bookings. The opposite is also true. If your listing has rubbish photos, expect rubbish booking rates! Would you book a property with dingy photos?‍
3. Lack of pricing strategy: Your listing’s pricing should change throughout the year depending upon demand and when the busy season is in the area. Not having a pricing strategy can not only miss out on additional revenue from your property but also deter bookings if you’re not competitive.
   When deciding on a pricing strategy, consider competition, industry trends, special events, weekends, cleaning fees and seasonality, or speak to an expert to promote your Airbnb.‍
4. Not communicating effectively: Under-communicating or even wasting your time by not having a clear FAQ list is a common pitfall we see across homeowners to multi-property landlords.
   When guests contact you and stay in your listing, every interaction they have is part of their overall experience. The time to respond and responses can make a difference to their mood, and the best listings go out of their way to demonstrate that they’re before guests. It’s therefore essential to show your guests that you care about their experience and that they are in good hands with you.‍
5. Not knowing the regulations in your area: When you’re dealing with property and people, there are naturally lots of rules that you must follow. This has become a minefield with the rapid growth of Airbnb - the legal situation across the globe varies and changes over time - look at our 90-day Airbnb Rule blog for an example. One of the most common mistakes we see that have the worst consequences is not knowing these rules and staying up to date with the changes. Remember, as well as being a host that needs to provide the best possible experience to their guests, you’re also legally responsible and must follow the local rules for short-term rentals.

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Advertising your Airbnb FAQs

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Can a business advertise on Airbnb?

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Airbnb allows listings hosted by professional property management companies, such as Houst, or individuals, as long as they meet their criteria. To join, you must go to Airbnb.com and add a new listing as a host.

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How do I promote my listing on Airbnb?

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How to promote your listing

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1. Create a listing on Airbnb following the steps discussed above
2. Create a website and embed your listing onto the website
3. Share your listing and website across social media platforms such as Instagram + TikTok.
4. Collect your guest’s contact information for marketing

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Does it cost to advertise on Airbnb?

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Airbnb is a free-to-use platform that allows you to list your property at no cost. You only pay a hosting fee once you get booked, so it’s a no-brainer to list or get someone to do it for you.

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How do I get Airbnb customers?

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‍Below are Houst’s top 8 tips to get Airbnb bookings

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1. Optimise SEO on Airbnb
2. Competitively price your listing
3. Communicate quickly and effectively
4. Offer a flexible cancellation policy
5. Remove minimum stays
6. Ask for and give reviews
7. Update your calendar regularly
8. Grow a social media following and/or build a website

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