Ch. 16 Integrated Marketing Communications

Why is it so important to have good communications on Airbnb?

Airbnb forms part of an old industry where business like hotels and rentals require integrated communications skills in order to ensure the necessary safety that customers demand. Airbnb uses the e-commerce benefits to implement strategies that assure the travel network a lead to be successful in this market.

“ Travel like a Human”

The marketing message of Airbnb is the key that has opened the imagination of users that are willing to try a new way of traveling. Along with the rest of promotional strategies, Airbnb makes sure that the communication process works correctly and that the marketing message gets delivered to the target audience.

Informative promotion

Youtube promotional advertising campaign strategy was one of the most important mediums that helped Airbnb to rise in popularity. It has been an essential promotional tool for the travel network 
because Airbnb is relatively a new product that needs to be introduced to market.

A pull strategy

Airbnb recognized the need of enhancing communications between hosts and guests. The final booking is the final step or the purchase decision in this case. The travel network marketing managers incorporated text messages to facilitate bookings. Some of the advantages of this feature are:

• confirm a bookings through their phone from any place.
• cut costumer service expenses by eliminating the need of calling users that need to complete the booking.

                          IMPROVING 

Flexible Marketing Integration

E-commerce makes it easy these days. With so many media services, tech startups like Airbnb can access many ways of marketing that helps to coordinate all marketing messages and also helps by integrating new features that can maximize the bookings rates.

Twilio and Airbnb

Twilio is one of the companies that offers automated mobile communication services. Airbnb sends the host’s information in a text messages to potential the user, facilitating
the booking which also reminds them to do the purchase decision before the booking time expires.

Besides helping to improve the percentage of successful bookings, Twilio saved precious time and expenses to the travel network.

Ch 10. Product Concepts

Product Concepts 

Product type

Airbnb’s product can be called an unsought product. It is still unknown for many potential buyers because it is pretty new. Airbnb is just 4 years old. The advertising and word of mouth have been the principal tools to create the awareness of Airbnb’s product in the marketplace. Their product varies so much. Besides offering a place to rent, Airbnb also offers a way to earn money. Then, we can say it is also an heterogenous product. 







Modifications and Product Warranty

Airbnb’s product had to go through some functional modifications. In order to reinforce the security against apartments vandalists, the travel network had to implement an insurance policy to protect users against these inconveniences.






Competition

One of the reasons of the sudden success of Airbnb is due to the limited competition. Among the travel networks out there such as “couch surfing”, Airbnb is the most know out of all of them. The heavy advertising launched as an attempt of introduce the new way of traveling, worked out even better than everyone imagined. 


 


                          COUCH SURFING




 







Branding

A big part of the succes of the travel network, was the branding strategy. Due to the product benefits that come with at private brand, Airbnb became a loyalty product that has created a connection between hosts and guests. It also enjoys the advantages of being the most popular in terms of price offers when the customer has to chose between it and the competition. Airbnb offers a totally difference experience. It goes beyond renting a room. Now it persuades the costumer with the implementation of the service in entire neighborhoods.






Packaging and Labeling

The e-commerce advertising plays the same role when companies like retailers feature products but in a different way. Airbnb’s presentation is the key component of differentiation with the competition. There is a reason why this travel network provides photographers for free to customers. It is all about the pretty pictures. The most important part of the advertising strategy among the description of the apartment, house or castle and the pink offers tags, is the good presentation of the product that Airbnb utilizes to do the best it can to influence the new travelers to book places.