One of the most frequent questions when implementing a new sales channel in a hotel is how does it work? We are referring to the dynamics of the potential market of the channel. Who buys there? What kinds of fees attract them? How can I position myself? How to achieve higher income on Airbnb? Airbnb as a sales channel for hotels is no exception.

Being a relatively new channel, hoteliers tend to have quite a few doubts about its operation, since having been designed for another type of consumer, the way in which it is possible to capture more reservations is different. Next, we will show you the 3 main differences between Airbnb and other traditional channels, and then we will be able to give you our 3 best tips so that you can achieve greater income through this channel.

How is Airbnb different from a traditional OTA?

1. Messaging platform prior to reservation

Unlike other platforms, Airbnb guests can use the platform’s chat to make inquiries prior to their reservation. This means that, unlike other OTAs, you will not receive the requests of your guests when they make their reservation, but before. For example, a guest can ask about the pool hours, the exact location of the property, or if it is possible to bring a pet before booking. This ensures that your property is truly the one for the guest and gives them confidence when booking.

2. New discounts and possibilities to build rate structures

As we mentioned before, Airbnb is a platform that arises in a different market than the hotelier. It is for this reason that published properties perform differently, as does the purchasing behavior of their guests. That is why the platform designed revenue management options that are very different from those of traditional OTAs. For example, on Airbnb, it is possible to have up to 15 types of discounts for different lengths of stay. It is possible to offer a guest a discount of 5% if they stay 3 days, 7% if they stay 5, 15% if they stay a week, and so on until they reach 3 months. This provides an infinite number of possibilities to create new strategies and rate structures. A Channel Manager will help you manage this point easily.

3. Attractive and highly descriptive ads

In OTAs, hotels are used to having their information standardized with little gaps for the imagination. From the title of your ad, which is the name of the hotel, to the descriptions of your rooms. On the contrary, Airbnb provides a great space for marketing and creativity. Instead of being called “2 bedroom apartment in Bogotá” the ads are called “Spectacular Condo. View to the City 2 Rooms ”. Professional Airbnb hosts know how to perfectly use this strategy to get more clicks, as well as nurturing their listings with brand-new descriptions and photos that look like they were taken by photographers with years of architectural photography experience.

Tips to achieve higher income 🚀

Now that you know the differences between Airbnb and a traditional OTA, you can apply the three most important tips to make your ads success and thus achieve higher income on Airbnb:

1. Respond to requests and messages from your guests as soon as possible

Professional hosts on Airbnb respond to requests and inquiries in less than 5 minutes. It sounds challenging, and it is. For this reason, there are professional companies that are dedicated to the management of this type of platforms. Responding very quickly ensures confidence in your product and that the guest does not have the need to write to another host.

Imagine you want to stay in a hotel tomorrow and you write to two different hotels. You really like the first hotel you wrote to, but 4 hours have passed and no one has responded to your message. On the contrary, the other hotel responded to you within 5 minutes, solved your doubts and they have invited you to book with them. Now imagine that it is already 7 pm and they still do not answer you from the first hotel, which one would you choose to stay? As a consumer, you will feel disinterest in the first hotel and you will prefer to stay in the second, even if it was not your first choice.

Airbnb has a very complete messaging center that even allows you to schedule messages and save frequently asked questions. Use those tools and respond in the shortest time possible.

2. Check the market, its rates and adapt yours

Analyze the prices of your competition very well and propose different scenarios. By doing this, you will notice that, for example, your neighbors may be charging $ 50 for overnight stays, but when their guests stay at least one week this price drops to $30 per night.

On Airbnb, you can see the prices of properties in your area for different lengths of stay and thus estimate what your price could be. It is important to understand that Airbnb may need different rate structures, and many times hotels do not achieve conversion in the channel because they do not carry out an adequate competition study that allows them to adapt their current rates to those of the market.

By making these adjustments you will be able to appear better positioned in the search results and attract the attention of more travelers. To achieve this more effectively, you have software such as LobbyPMS, through which you can easily modify these details.

 3. Create an attractive title and choose the order of your photos very well

To do this, we recommend that, just as you did a market study to determine the rates, you can do a market study of the properties that have the best comments, that appear at the beginning of the search results and that have had many past reservations (You can see this by the number of ratings). You can see ads that are not even from your city. Some of the best hosts draw inspiration from successful properties to do this inspiration process.

What attributes does your hotel or room have that it can stand out from the rest? It may be the breakfast, the view, the spaciousness of the room. The important thing is that you can identify it and then translate it into your title in an attractive way in just 35 characters. Sometimes we come across ad titles that say “Double Standard Room”. This almost 30 character title is unattractive and has not provided valuable details to the traveler. On the contrary, if your title is “Modern Room, Beach View and Jacuzzi” you will be able to attract the curiosity of travelers and they will click on your property.

This striking title must be accompanied by a cover photo that reflects the best of your property, followed by attractive photos that highlight all the attributes of your property. Many times there are hotels that fundamentally forget this part and their first photo is the room’s bathroom. This causes them to lose potential reservations.

Finally, we found that the main differences between Airbnb and other channels are, at the same time, where there are most possibilities of attracting guests if they know how to use the differences correctly. Now it remains for you to put these recommendations into practice and begin to achieve higher income on Airbnb.