One of the most frequently asked questions when implementing a new channel in a hotel is how does it work? By this we mean the dynamics of the channel’s potential market. Who buys there? What kind of rates attract them? How do I position myself? How can I achieve higher revenues on Airbnb? Airbnb as a sales channel for hotels is no exception.
Being a relatively new channel, hoteliers often have many doubts about how it works, since, having been designed for another type of consumer, the way to capture more reservations is different. Below, we will show you the 3 main differences between Airbnb and other traditional channels, in order 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. Pre-booking messaging platform
Unlike other platforms, Airbnb guests can use the platform’s chat to ask questions before booking. This means that, unlike other OTAs, you won’t receive your guests’ requests when they make their reservation, but before. For example, a guest can ask about pool hours, the exact location of the property, or whether it’s pet-friendly before booking. This ensures that your property is really the right fit for the guest and gives them confidence when booking.
2. New discounts and possibilities for building tariff structures
As we mentioned earlier, Airbnb is a platform that emerges in a different market than the hotel market. This is why the properties listed work differently, as does the purchasing behavior of its guests. This 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 5% discount if they stay 3 days, 7% if they stay 5, 15% if they stay a week, and so on up to 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
On OTAs, hotels are used to having their information standardized with little room for imagination. From the title of their listing, which is the name of the hotel, to the descriptions of their 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. City View 2 Bedrooms.” Professional hosts on Airbnb know how to perfectly use this wordplay to get more clicks, in addition to feeding their ads with brand new descriptions and photos that look like they were taken by photographers with years of experience in architectural photography.
Tips to achieve higher income on Airbnb
Now that you know the differences between Airbnb and a traditional OTA, you can apply the three most important tips to make your ads a success and thus achieve greater income on Airbnb:
1. Respond to your guests’ requests and messages as soon as possible
Professional Airbnb hosts respond to requests and queries in less than 5 minutes. It sounds like a challenge, and it is. That’s why there are professional companies dedicated to managing these types of platforms. Responding quickly ensures trust in your product and that the guest doesn’t have to write to another host.
Imagine that they want to accommodate you 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 answered your message. On the contrary, the other hotel answered you within 5 minutes, resolved your doubts and invited you to book with them. Now imagine that it is already 7pm and you still haven’t heard back from the first hotel. Which one would you choose to stay at? As a consumer, you will feel a lack of interest from the first hotel and you will prefer to stay at the second one, 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 these tools and respond in the shortest possible time to achieve higher earnings on Airbnb.
2. Review the market, its rates and adapt yours
Analyze your competitors’ prices carefully and consider different scenarios. By doing this, you will notice that, for example, your neighbors may be charging $50 for one-night stays, but when their guests stay for at least a 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 estimate what your price might be. It is important to understand that Airbnb may require different rate structures and, many times, hotels fail to convert on the channel because they do not conduct a proper competitor 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 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 carefully
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 reviews, appear at the top of the search results, and have had many past reservations (you can see this by the number of ratings). You can see listings that are not even from your city. Some of the best hosts are inspired by properties with very good results to do this inspiration process.
What attributes does your hotel or room have that can make it stand out from the rest? It could be the breakfast, the view, the size of the room, the important thing is that you can identify it and then capture it in your title in an attractive way in just 35 characters. Sometimes we come across ad titles that say “Standard Double Room.” This title of almost 30 characters is not attractive and has not given the traveler any valuable details. On the contrary, if your title is “Modern Room with Beach View and Jacuzzi” you can attract the curiosity of travelers and they will click on your property.
Finally, this eye-catching title must be accompanied by a cover photo that reflects the best of your property, followed by attractive photos that highlight all of your property’s attributes. Many times, hotels forget this fundamental part and their first photo is that of the room’s bathroom. This causes them to lose potential reservations.
Finally, we found that the main differences between Airbnb and other channels are where there are the greatest possibilities to attract guests if you know how to use the differences correctly.
