This document outlines AirBnB's social media strategy. It includes an audit of current performance on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. The majority of traffic comes from Facebook, though engagement is higher on other channels. The strategy sets objectives to grow followers and shares customer content. It also establishes roles, a content plan, and a system to measure results and respond to issues. The goal is to use social media to support revenue by fostering an online community and customer interactions.
2. TABLE OF CONTENTS
▸ Executive Summary (pg. 3)
▸ Social Media Audit (pg. 3-5)
▸ Social Media Assessment
▸ Traffic Sources Assessment
▸ Customer Demographic Assessment
▸ Competitor Assessment
▸ Social Media Objectives (pg. 6)
▸ Online Brand Persona and Voice (pg. 7)
▸ Strategies and Tools (pg. 7)
▸ Timing and Key Dates (pg. 8)
▸ Social Media Roles and Responsibilities (pg. 8)
▸ Social Media Policy (pg. 9)
▸ Critical Response Plan (pg. 10)
▸ Measurement and Reporting Results (pg. 11-12)
3. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Our major social media priorities for 2017 will be growing our online community and interacting more with customers and
hosts. The primary focus will be to support revenue goals through increased online traffic by sharing and encouraging content
that hi-lights the financial benefits and local experience of choosing AirBnB
Two major social strategies will support this objective:
▸ 1. A plan to increase the volume of content we publish to our social profiles
▸ 2. Photo and story contest for customers that post engaging content of their AirBnB experiences
SOCIAL MEDIA AUDIT
SOCIAL MEDIA ASSESSMENT
Social Network URL Follower Count
Avg. Weekly
Rating
Avg. Engagement
Rating
Twitter twitter.com/airbnb 573,000 12 posts 15%
Facebook
facebook.com/
airbnb
5 million likes 5 posts 6%
Instagram
instagram.com/
air_bnb
1.6 million 7 posts 25000 likes
Summary: The majority of traffic comes through Facebook, although the engagement rates on the other
channels are higher. This is something we should look into.
Data as of January 1, 2017
4. SOCIAL MEDIA AUDIT
TRAFFIC SOURCE ASSESSMENT
Source Volume % of Overall Traffic Conversion Rate
Twitter 300,000 unique visits 5% 2.3
Facebook 2 million unique visits 30% 1.8
Instagram 700,000 unique visits No Data No Data
Summary: The majority of traffic comes through Facebook, although the engagement rates on the other
channels are higher. This is something we should look into.
Summary: Facebook is the biggest driver of traffic to our website, however it has lower engagement.
Increasing Twitter's ability to driver customers to the website should be looked into.
COMPETITOR ASSESSMENT
Competitor Name Social Media Profile Strengths Weaknesses
Hotels.com FB: Hotels.com
direct access to booking
hotels
usually sticks to chain
establishments
Couch surf IG: Couchsurfing cheapest way of travel
can be viewed as
“sketchy”
Summary: Hotels.com is probably the biggest competitor because that is the main alternative to Air BNB.
Couch surf is not as big of a competitor because it is usually used for 1-2 people and may be viewed as
sketchy.
Data as of January 1, 2017
Data as of January 1, 2017
5. CUSTOMER DEMOGRAPHIC ASSESSMENT
Age Distribution
Gender
Distribution
Primary Social
Network
Secondary Social
Network
Primary Need Secondary Need
60% 18-30 55% Male 55% Male 20% Twitter
Find a cheaper
place to stay than
otherwise offered
by a hotel
Have a more local
experience of the
area that the
customer is staying
in
30% 31-40 45% Female 45% Female 20% Facebook
10% 41-55 30% Twitter 40% Instagram
1-% 56-80 50% Facebook
15% Instagram
SOCIAL MEDIA AUDIT
Summary: The majority of AirBnB users are in the 18-30 year old range, and they primarily use
Facebook and Twitter. More effort should be put into developing Instagram’s content and
Facebook engagement.
Data as of January 1, 2017
6. SOCIAL MEDIA OBJECTIVES
▸ Some Specific Objectives Include:
▸ Increase Twitter followers by at least 3000 followers
▸ Increase Instagram followers by at least 3000 followers
▸ Retweet at least two photos a week from customers who have used AirBnB
In 2017, the primary focus of our social media strategy will be to support
revenue goals by growing our online community and interacting more with
customers and hosts.
▸ KPIs
▸ Number of unique visitors from Facebook, Twitter, and
Instagram
▸ Number of Instagram followers
▸ Number of weekly photo and video posts to Facebook
and Instagram
▸ Sentiment Analysis
▸ Key Messages
▸ Belong Anywhere
▸ Experience a city like a local
▸ People, Places, Love
7. ONLINE BRAND PERSONA AND VOICE
▸ Adjectives that
describe us:
▸ convenient
▸ bold
▸ adventurous
▸ local
▸ When interacting with our
customers, we are:
▸ inviting
▸ outgoing
▸ cautious
▸ helpful
STRATEGIES AND TOOLS
STRATEGIES
▸ Hold a photo/story contest every other month that hi-lights a
customer’s AirBnB experience. The winner gets a $100 credit
to their travel account
▸ Retweet at least two photos a week of a customer’s
meaningful AirBnB experience
▸ Promote global, national, and regional hashtags for people to
explore different areas through social media
▸ ex. #AirBnbWorld #AirBnbUSA #AirBnbChicago
TOOLS
▸ Approved Tools
▸ Hoot suite
▸ Buffer
▸ TweetDeck
▸ Existing Subscriptions
▸ Vimeo
▸ Photoshop
▸ Canva
Photo from Couch surfing Instagram. This is an example
of something AirBnb should repost/ retweet, or consider
as a candidate for the contest.
8. TIMING AND KEY DATES
▸ Holiday Dates
▸ Valentine’s Day
▸ St. Patrick’s Day
▸ Memorial Day Weekend
▸ President’s Day Weekend
▸ Events
▸ Mardi Gras
▸ Music Festivals
▸ Large Sporting Events
SOCIAL MEDIA ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Chief Marketing Officer - Johnathon Mildenhall
Head of Design - Alex Schlieffer
Chief Financial Officer- Laurence Tosi
Supporting Social Media Team Members
Rob Chestnut (general counsel)
Joe Zadeh (head of product)
‣ Reporting Dates- Reporting will occur once in a quarter in March, June, September and December.
Exact dates are TBD
9. SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY
AirBnb has a wide range of customers from many different backgrounds. It is our
duty to be inclusive of all cultures and demographics in our social media posts. We
want to uphold our motto of “Belong Anywhere.” As an employee and
representative of AirBnb, you are expected to demonstrate best practices and a
sense of etiquette in your use of social by following some simple guidelines:
‣ Be respectful to all
‣ Act helpful to customers
‣ Explain why you may need to decline your
services to a potential customer in your bio
‣ Encourage interaction with customers
‣ Make sure pictures/videos posted are of good
quality
‣ Research before posting to social media. Have
all of the facts.
10. CRITICAL RESPONSE PLAN
Starting August 15th, when hosts book reservations through Airbnb their personal property will be
covered for loss or damage due to vandalism or theft caused by an Airbnb guest up to $50,000 with
our Airbnb Guarantee. Terms will apply to the program and may vary (e.g. by country). This program
will also apply retroactively to any hosts who may have reported such property damage prior to
August 1, 2011.
24-Hour Customer Hotline: Beginning next week, we will have operators and customer support staff
ready to provide around the clock phone and email support for anything big or small.
2x Customer Support Team: Since last month we have more than doubled our Customer Support
team from forty-two to eighty-eight people, and will be bringing on a 10-year veteran from eBay as
our Director of Customer Support next week.
Dedicated Trust & Safety Department: Airbnb now has an in-house task force devoted to the manual
review of suspicious activity. This team will also build new security features based on community
feedback.
FROM OUR WEBSITE:
‣ Respond to the social media post with a reply saying that the customer will be contacted. Contact
them directly.
‣ Offer your own assistance and support.
SOCIAL MEDIA PLAN:
11. MEASUREMENT AND REPORTING
Source Volume % of Overall Traffic Conversion Rate
Twitter 307,000 unique visits 5% 2.7
Facebook 2.01 million unique visits 30% 1.9
Instagram 710,000 unique visits 8% 0.04
Data as of March 1, 2017TRAFFIC SOURCE ASSESSMENT
SOCIAL MEDIA ASSESSMENT
Social Network URL Follower Count
Avg. Weekly
Rating
Avg. Engagement
Rating
Twitter twitter.com/airbnb 576,000 12 posts 15%
Facebook
facebook.com/
airbnb
5.05 million likes 5 posts 6%
Instagram
instagram.com/
air_bnb
1.65 million 7 posts 25000 likes
Data as of March 1, 2017
12. MEASUREMENT AND REPORTING
SENTIMENT ANALYSIS
FUTURE ACTIONS PROPOSAL
An analysis of the interactions on 200 Facebook posts, 200 Tweets, and 100 Instagram posts revealed
the following:
‣ Very positive responses following a trip using AirBnb. Customers seemed most pleased when their
host had small, complimentary items during their stay.
‣ Biggest driver of negative sentiment was not having access to AirBnb services in certain areas.
‣ Continue weekly postings of positive AirBnb experiences.
‣ Continue to promote photo/story contest on all social media profiles.
‣ Counter negative sentiment by promoting AirBnb etiquette, such as singing up in advance to stay
with a host to ensure option availability.