social media Archives

How to Market Your Property on Instagram!

Posted on 12 July 2021 - 2:00 pm

Instagram is a visual social media platform, therefore, it’s a great way to showcase your rental space and gain online exposure through images and videos.

Not to mention, it’s an impressive way to get inspiration from other Airbnb pages; network with travel lovers and content creators and reach potential future guests.

Considering that Instagram has over 1.074 billion monthly worldwide users, it’s no shock that it’s a powerful social media platform, perfect for marketing your awesome Airbnb stay.

Here’s our guide on how to use Instagram effectively to promote your Airbnb:

Ready, Steady, Go…

Setting up your Airbnb’s Instagram page can be a little confusing at first, especially if you’re unfamiliar with Instagram in general.

Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered, so you don’t have to hire professional social media specialist to help you do the basics…

First, to make an account with Instagram, all you’ll need is an email address or a phone number.
Next, pick a username that reflects your Airbnb or stay. We recommend to use your listing’s name if you already have one. For example, “Sunshine Stay”.

You may find that your desired user name is already taken or in use. In this case, consider adding your location or numbers to your username, for example, if London is your location and/or your house number is 10, then consider the following examples, @SunshineStayLdn, or @SunshineStay10.

Top tip: keep your username as simple and short as possible, so that it’s memorable and easy for people trying to find your profile.
Edit your profile layout.

Your Profile Layout

On your blank profile page, you will find the “Edit Profile” button located underneath your username.
Here, you can add information and features to your profile about your Airbnb, such as, your profile photo, profile name, biography and website link to your website or Airbnb listing.

For your biography, you should include:

Your Airbnb’s location;

A catchy description of your Airbnb;

A link to your booking site or Airbnb listing.

Top tip: Switch to a professional/business account, as it will allow you to categorise your profile as a property or hotel, helping to describe your page better to viewers.

Not to mention, by switching to a professional account, you can obtain insights from viewers who engage with your content; reach audiences further than you would normally and add your contact options so that people can easily contact you about your Airbnb –an essential feature to bringing in new bookings.

Explore more reasons as to why you should switch to a professional/business account for your Airbnb’s Instagram!

Show and Tell

Your Theme

Instagram is a visual platform filled with photos and videos. When it comes to your content, try to keep in mind that all of your posts should look aesthetically pleasing and cohesive on your Instagram feed (your profile) to entice viewers to stay on your page for longer.

The most effective way of ensuring that your feed looks good to your viewers is to simply create a theme.

Focus on creating a consistent theme around your use of colours, lighting and editing style. A great way to do this is by using presets and editing effects (customised filters for editing photos) in all of your posts.

Adobe Lightroom is a great free app to use when editing photos for your Instagram feed.

The Media Content

Inside your Airbnb

Once you’re happy with your Airbnb’s aesthetic, it’s time to snap some pictures on your camera for your Instagram page.

Showing off your Airbnb, room by room is a great place to start. Don’t be scared of showing off everything, from whole rooms to tiny details – people love to see it all!

Be sure to focus on what your property has to offer a guest, highlight and emphasise the best parts of your property’s space and know when it’s appropriate to use photos of smaller, up-close details, ie,. When you have just added a new piece of furniture to your Airbnb’s living room, or want to show off the quality of the bed frames.

Remember that you’ll be using Instagram to showcase your Airbnb, therefore, treat it like a second listing opportunity. Consider hiring a professional photographer to snap some pictures of your Airbnb to add to your online presence and professionalism.

Outside of your Airbnb

Expanding your Instagram’s media content to outside of your Airbnb’s four walls is a huge game changer. Guests may love the interior design of your rental, but most likely won’t be spending all of their time there.

It’s a great opportunity to show off where your Airbnb is located, so that the viewers can get a true feel for the guest experience.

Consider taking photos and videos of your favourite local bar, or show off some funky street art. Taking your content outside of your Airbnb, is a great way to inspire people to visit the area and book a stay with you.

Instagram was originally used for posting photos and videos directly to your feed. However, in 2021, Instagram has a vast number of additional photo and video features like, stories, reels, IGTV, live stream, etc.

Read now: How Video Production Can Benefit Your Business.

Hashtags and Algorithm

Now that you’ve successfully set up your profile, taken and edited some good media content, ready to post, the next question is, “how can anyone find my Airbnb’s Instagram page?”

Well, that’s where hashtags come in.

When you want to post some content; photos or videos to your feed, you can add a caption to your posts, in addition to, up to 30 hashtags per post.

Using popular and well searched hashtags are one of the many ways you can attract new guests.

In the world of social media, using Google to find a good Airbnb to stay at isn’t always the only search options guests use. It’s pretty common to search for hashtags to find hidden Airbnb gems, or just to check out different locations before they book a getaway.

If your Airbnb is located in London, you could use the following popular hashtags:

#London
#AirbnbLondon
#LDN
#GetawayLondon
#Instanthotel
#AirbnbHotel

If your Airbnb is in a certain part of the country, ie., Camden Town, North London, then consider using smaller and specific hashtags to really niche down. For example:

#CamdenMarket
#AirbnbCamden
#CamdenLondon
#CamdenTown
#NorthLondon

Hashtags are used to help you describe your posts, so you can also use them to show what’s in the photo or video. For example, #BunkBeds, #ChicModernDesign or #DiningRoomDecor.

It’s a good rule of thumb to pick hashtags that are trending but aren’t too popular. That’s because, some larger hashtags like, #London (with 149 million posts), gets used in new posts every few seconds, this in turn, pushes your posts further and further away from being discovered.

On the other hand, you don’t want to use super niche and specific hashtags like, #CamdenRental, because, if not many people are using the hashtag, then not many people are searching for that hashtag.

Top tip: Only use hashtags that are relevant to your post. You will be attracting the wrong people if your post is to do with your Airbnb and you use the hashtag #DogLover, especially if you aren’t even a pet friendly Airbnb.

Engage and Interact

Aside from hashtags, another way to drive traffic towards your Instagram page is to engage and interact with other accounts, especially similar accounts to yours, such as, travel related pages or other Airbnb’s.

Engaging and interacting with others on Instagram is a great idea, you can like, comment on and share posts from creators and make authentic connections.

When you get a new follower, give them a follow back, like and comment on their posts to show your interest in their Instagram posts. Also, if they interact with your posts, be sure to reply to their comments to encourage them to engage with any of your future posts.

Engaging with followers shows your viewers that there’s a real human connection behind your profile, this in turn, helps you to build trust and become respectable online as a host.

When potential guests stumble across your page, they’ll be checking out your likes and comments to see if you have a genuine online presence and a good brand identity. Too many generic comments like: “cool post”, or “good photo”, doesn’t add much to your reputation and might even be a warning to viewers that your Airbnb isn’t the go-to place to be because your comments don’t appear genuine.

Try to build real and meaningful connections so that you receive legitimate comments like, “I love your interior design, I was thinking of something similar for my Airbnb” or, “I’d love to book a visit with you, how can I do so?”

Just remember to engage with other people’s posts in a way you’d appreciate to be engaged with.

Check out this blog for more tips and tricks on how to increase your Instagram engagement.

Get in touch with us over at Keey.uk to see how we can help you to outsource your Airbnb guests using Instagram marketing.

5 Important Steps to Promote Your Airbnb on Social Media

Posted on 5 July 2021 - 1:00 pm

It can be draining waiting for guests to stumble across your Airbnb listing on a booking platform like Airbnb or Booking.com, hoping that they’ll choose to stay with you. It’s likely that you’ll have thousands of other great rental listings next to yours that can really overshadow your listing’s spotlight.

The use of social media can help your rental flourish without distraction from outside competition and will allow you to show off your property’s best assets and highlights.

Social media is a great way to outsource guests that may not be looking for a getaway, but just couldn’t resist what your page has to offer. Not to mention, social media is a free marketing tool, ready at your disposal.

Start thinking outside of the box and stop waiting for your guests to find you – connect with them first through the power of social media.

Where to find your Guests

You’re probably already aware that there are loads of social media platforms such as: Twitter; Instagram; Facebook; Pinterest; Reddit; Youtube; and Tiktok, just to name a few.

Specifically in relation to social media, according to Audiense.com, demographics are a way of segmenting social media users based on their age, sex and location, as well as, their duration of time spent on the online platform.

With different social media platforms come different user demographics; a great marketing tool to be aware of before marketing your rental property online.

Learning about various social media platforms, and their user demographics, can help guide you to which platform would be most effective to use to reach your ideal target guest and increase your chance for success.

An example of effective marketing platforms for your Airbnb:

Your rental description: nearby to theme parks and attractions, large flat garden, 1 x double bed, 2 x single beds (bunk bed).
Your ideal target guest: young family of 3-4 with children ages 5-15.
The most practical platform for you: Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest.

The least practical platform for you: Tiktok, Youtube, Snapchat.

Facebook and Instagram’s 2021 demographics suggest that the largest age group of users on the platform, are 25-34 years old, which is usually the consensus of a younger family type image. To add, Facebook is still the largest social platform with 2.7 billion monthly users. Therefore, it is the most marketable platform due to its ability to reach a larger audience.

On the other hand, Tiktok, Youtube and Snapchat’s largest age groups range from 13-25 years old. Consequently, if you decide to promote your Airbnb listing on these platforms mentioned above, your marketing efforts could be wasted as your ideal target guest is less likely to be using these particular platforms.

Read now: Which Social Media Platform is Best for my Business

Create Your Story

When it comes to listings or social media in general, people want to be WOWED.

What better way to do that than to create a story to evoke emotion from your Airbnb?

You might be thinking that your Airbnb doesn’t have a story, or that you don’t even know where to start. However, your Airbnb doesn’t have to be in the middle of an enchanted forest or on the edge of a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean to incite emotion.

Every rental has a story, it’s up to you how you want to tell it.

Begin to focus on what is unique and special about your Airbnb. The Interior design of your Airbnb will be a big part of your social media presence. Therefore, it would be a good idea to really narrow down your ideal target guest and focus on how to stand out to them specifically.

For example, Gen Z are notoriously known for their own personal social media presence and always seem to be waiting for that perfect photo opportunity. If your target guest is Gen Z, then consider an interior design that would look good on camera to inspire their stay with you.

Story telling can be done through your Airbnb’s location, interior design, renovation progress and just about anything – even its name!

Read now: 3 Reasons Why Every Landlord Should Use an Interior Designer

Grow your platform

Growing your social media platform won’t happen overnight, unless you buy followers and likes – but, don’t do that. The key to success with growing your Airbnb’s social media platform is to have a plan.

Set out your goals for your platform. What do you want to see from it? Do you want 5,000 followers or 50,000 followers? Would you like lots of shares and enquiries about your property?

Ultimately, the end goal for you will be to get more traffic towards your Airbnb bookings.

Here’s some tips on how to build your platform:

Post a good mix of high-quality photos and videos
Post regularly and consistently to your platform (every day)

Share your social media links with previous guests so they can follow
Link your social media channels to your listing and emails
Respond to your enquiries quickly (within 24 hours)
Engage with your followers and other similar profiles
Create a professional brand identity (logo, specific colours, official emails etc.)

Read now: Using Social Media to Boost your Brand’s Reputation and Success

Collaborate for success

A great way for your Airbnb to gain exposure on social media is to collaborate with content creators (photographers, bloggers, influencers) and offer discounted stays in exchange for their time, effort and content produced.

Some influencers will be happy to receive discounted or gifted (free) stays at your Airbnb, while others will be expected to be paid in exchange for sharing their guest experience at your Airbnb with their followers.

With 89% of marketing professionals believing in the success of influencer marketing, using an influencer marketing strategy can really help you to get your foot in the door when trying to grow your following and increase your bookings, regardless of the number of your current followers.

Try to collaborate with content creators and influencers that fit your ideal target guest, as their followers will be following them for their usual relatable content. The idea of collaborating with a likeminded content creator, is to encourage their followers over to your page.

Luckily for you, Airbnb is primarily associated with the travel industry, therefore, you should find that it is relatively easy to find UK based travel influencers that would be happy to collaborate with you.

Our top tips on how to reach out to influencers:

Communication: Sometimes, influencers can be hard to get in contact with, especially if they have a large following and tons of messages per day. Make sure you go through the right communication channels. Usually, they have an email for collaborations somewhere on their social media page.
Be professional: Introduce yourself, tell them about your Airbnb and why you want to work with them. Offer them a free or discounted stay with you and/or offer to pay them for sharing their guest experience with their followers. Make it a win-win situation for both parties.
To The Point: You should both agree on the outcome of your collaboration. You’ll need to state what you expect from the content and when (dates and times). Depending on your budget, you could ask for certain requests from their content, i.e., multiple videos and photos to be posted to their Instagram story and feed.

Typically, it’s easier to collaborate with smaller content creators and influencers as they’re easier to contact and are more readily available and flexible to work with, compared to influencers with larger followings. In addition, smaller creators are usually happier to work with your budget.

Read now: An Introduction to Influencer Marketing

Be Authentic

Marketing your property can be tricky to navigate at times, especially if you’re new to it.

The most important thing to keep in mind is authenticity. While you’re using social media to promote your Airbnb, you don’t want to be that annoying over-the-top sales person that people try to avoid.

Be genuine when you post your own content and when you engage with other accounts. Don’t start spamming accounts because they look like your ideal target guest and you want to make money – it’s a big turn off and can hurt your reputation for future genuine guests.

Our Final Say

Social media can be the most powerful marketing tool readily available to you, if used effectively.

Growing a following takes time and won’t happen overnight. Have fun with your social media pages and get creative and be consistent with your content. It’s important to keep in mind that all good things come to those who are wait.

Still a bit lost on how to use social media to outsource your guests? Speak to one of our advisors today here at Keey, to help your Airbnb business flourish.