The Future - Beyond Damage Control and Into Solutions, Hope, Real Help - Marketing Now

[Sharon1014]

@Airbnb  Has anyone thought that it would be helpful for Airbnb to begin the marketing campaign for business post C-19 right now given many guests will already be in the grip of cabin fever and looking for something to pin their hopes on for a life returning to normal?  Plan your next vacation now, 3-4 months away or 5-6 months away, and what better time to do it while many potential guests are in lockdown or busy with social distancing.  Feed the masses what they want, escape to the future, normality.

And for something with serious creative, proactive teeth, let hosts immediately be paid and keep 50% of any booked Airbnb, instead of the company holding all the funds themselves until after check-in.  Airbnb retain 50%, hosts get paid their 50% early.  Literally share the joy and the load.  This would help hosts (and Airbnb) to manage cash flow right now and solve a multitude of problems for both.  One time special "Book anytime in the next 8 weeks" for this special 10% off deal.   Get in early before the rush. etc etc.  Thoughts?

[Dimitar27]

3-4 months? Do you really believe, that there will be a STR market during the next 12-15 months?

[Sharon1014]

@Dimitar27  Yeah, I do.  It will rebound real quick.  Don't under-estimate the human desire to interact with other humans and to be out there doing things!  NYC, LA and London may take 6 months (higher density population) but it will happen.  Less populated areas much quicker.

And come to think of it, @Airbnb  should make the 50/50 split at the time of booking the default business model going forward.  Hosts get paid their 50% at the time of booking.  Now THAT would be REAL partnership.  Hosts make their own decisions about their 50% take on refunds, Airbnb make their decision on their 50%.  

[Sharon480]

If STR doesn’t comeback anytime soon, give guests full refund vouchers (means Airbnb holds the money for next 12-18 months), that’s even more wrong 

[Huma0]

@Sharon1014 

I wouldn't count on Airbnb doing any big marketing campaigns anytime soon. See: https://www.prweek.com/article/1678649/airbnb-pause-marketing-amid-covid-19

They are trying to cut their costs right now in a situation that will massively impact them, as well as hosts. While I do not agree with the way they have dealt with the whole refund situation, there is no doubt that they are going to have to cut corners too and the travel industry is not going to recover from this in such a short space of time.

Even when travel restrictions/lockdowns are lifted, a great many travellers will be cautious for a while and many, many others facing financial hardship, so holidays may not be on the top of their list. Sure, some people are going to want/need to travel, whether for business or leisure, but I think it's realistic to expect numbers to be much lower for some time to come.

[Susan17]

@Sharon1014 

Your suggestions do actually make a lot of sense. Unfortunately though, won't be happening anytime soon.

Firstly, Airbnb have just this week halted all marketing spend, as part of their efforts to save $800 million this year, so a marketing campaign would be out of the question. (Besides, they don't really need to be spending money on marketing just now - they're getting tens of millions of dollars-worth of free global advertising at the moment with their "Airbnb Provides Free Housing For COVID Responders", "Airbnb Provides !00% Refunds To Guests Until May 31", and "Airbnb Provides $250 Million Lifeline For Hosts" global campaigns. Benevolent knights in shining armour, indeed)

Also, their Pro partners and big commercial operators on the platform have long since had the facility for early payments, but they've just pulled the plug on that in recent weeks too - presumably due to cash-flow difficulties - so there's not a snowball's chance in hell they'd start paying us out ahead of time now either, particularly as the longer they can hold onto our money, the more time they have to play around with it for their own purposes.

I do make you right about the recovery potentially coming a little earlier than people might expect though - for hosts who adapt and diversify, at least. For Airbnb itself - well, perhaps not so soon. If ever.

[Sharon1014]

@Susan17 @Huma0 

I still think there's a truckload of PR benefit and cash flow bucks in doing an early bird limited time 50/50 split booking offer, both for the company, and especially for hosts.  Brian et al could start counting the days until the IPO again.

Old saying (well ok, I made it up)… when you are in a hole, you get out of it.... by any means possible.  Except perhaps our young gig economy friends are too busy feeling the fear, to see the opportunity to capitalize on their stuff ups and do the right thing by hosts, and the company.

The people who travel are the people who have money, so I'm not convinced there isn't a very deep untapped market out there just waiting for some smart young bloke to tap into it. 🙂  Guest frustration is a huge motivator.  Circle a date on your calendar some months hence, there, feel the relief kicking in?

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

@Sharon1014 

I'm in the group that thinks we will be living with covid-19 related travel restrictions and social distancing needs for AT LEAST till end of 2020..... although I am praying that a vaccine is developed within the year, no later than within the 1st half of next year. Considering the economic impact and financial difficulties everyone will be experiencing in the long term..... I doubt people will be thinking about vacations or getaways anytime soon (while I do understand needing something to look forward to). 

In times like these, one of the 1st budgets slashed in firms is marketing. Many companies (including the one I work for) have already sent a clear message to all employees to 'secure cash, and hold on to it for as long as possible' so I doubt Airbnb is going to pay anyone earlier than they absolutely have to. 

[Sharon1014]

@Jessica-and-Henry0 

Take your point, however I think that vacations and getaways is ALL anyone is going to be thinking about.  A local host friend msgd me this week all excited, they got a booking for October.  We jointly celebrated the fact that ppl are in fact thinking ahead and already planning for "after the apocolypse".

Creative, proactive companies don't wallow in it.  They look for ways to seize the opportunity, build their brand and their loyalty base, both guests and hosts.  Is @Airbnb up to it?  Don't know.  But do wish they would cease the navel gazing while trying to fortify the walls of the hole we're all in and start looking up to see the sunshine and way out.

[Anonymous]

@Sharon1014  I would not accept a deal like this from Airbnb as long as they still have Extenuating Circumstances in place. If you collect a 50% payout now on a booking for June, the guest is basically just giving you a loan. What happens if you don't have the means to pay out a refund when they ultimately cancel? Or if you're unable to fulfill the booking because in the interim it's become practical to accept long-term tenants or sell the property?

It's quite understandable that people are dreaming of travel now, but the data strongly indicate that we are still on the upward slope of both the infection crisis and the economic fallout. Under these circumstances, it seems exploitative and irresponsible to take advantage of the cabin fever by encouraging people to spend money on trips that they very likely won't be able to take - especially ones that involve long-distance or international journeys. 

One thing Airbnb could be doing a lot better here is making there service more useful to hosts who need to transition into long-term rentals. For example, for requests of 28 days or more, allowing hosts to collect an actual security deposit and receive the guest's full identity info to conduct background/credit checks, and keep a cap on the guests' Service Fee to allow for more competitive pricing. 

Also, this would be a good time for Airbnb to improve its search features for rural locations - particularly those within a day's drive or train ride from a major city. Even as restrictions start to ease, many of those dream overseas holidays will not be possible - whether due to border restrictions or financial setbacks - so a lot more people will be looking for a viable getaway in a nearby region. Currently, the search is quite unwieldy for those who don't have a specific destination in mind - for example, you can't search the 100 km radius around Berlin in a way that excludes Berlin listings, and there aren't many filters to select for the type of environment (e.g..farm, forest, historic village, nudist colony, etc). As a guest, I find Airbnb a lot more useful when traveling to a big foreign capital than when looking for a weekend retreat closer to home, and that's something it wouldn't take too much development time to fix.

[Sharon1014]

@Anonymous  Aribnb would have to change their business model first and drop the EC policy altogether.  Go to a proper 50/50 partnership split which is still a lot better than most other platforms who pay the host 100% at the time of booking, and which of course is why hosts on other platforms get to make their own decisions about refunds in keeping their own established refund policy.  I'm thinking Airbnb should be looking at marketing towards vacations/getaways from July to Dec 2020.  June is a bit too soon, imo.

At present, the host/Airbnb "partnership" is a very one sided affair, since they control our money until such time as they deem fit to let us have it.  Paying hosts 50% immediately at the time booking would move the model into more "adult" space, distributing the power more evenly.  Hosts are currently Airbnb's hostages, and subject to whatever the latest whim might be.  I think we're all rather capable of making our own decisions, hosts and guests, don't you?

Cash flow is the issue for many hosts at present.  So being able to keep 50% of forward bookings (even if those guests later reschedule) would be such a huge help to those struggling to pay bills.

[Anonymous]

@Sharon1014   Airbnb doesn't care about your bills. If the market rises to meet them again, there will be no shortage of hosts that see them as the solution to their financial struggle, just as there was in the last recession. To the extent that value is a product of resource scarcity relative to demand, hosts are currently worthless on paper. Airbnb's partners are its investors .

I don't see AIrbnb overhauling its whole business model and dropping one of its core, heavily-publicized policies anytime soon. The product teams who develop and update features are often pretty receptive to user feedback, but they don't have any influence over the major policies. So I tend to bear this in mind when contacting them.  They tune out the gripes and complaints and focus on things like "what makes this feature more usable" and  not "what would help Harry in Wichita pay his mortgage."

[Sharon1014]

@Anonymous  But it's so archaic don't you think?  Like a throw back to the days when the elite held all the cards and everyone else was shut out.  That power imbalance (in contemporary society) is pure evil.  It's certainly been an eye opener for us just how biased Airbnb's business model is.  So vote with our feet is definitely on the horizon.

[Sarah977]

@Sharon1014  And you are under the impression that the elite no longer hold all the cards? Funny how COVID testing was available for members of the US Congress and Senate, when there aren't anywhere near enough for the average person.

[Sharon1014]

@Sarah977  I was thinking more ancient history.  🙂  Like when neither the average man or women had the vote.  Like when property was only ever held by the first born son.  Like when the UK parliament only had the Lords.  But yes, the US in particular is rather skewed toward the powerful and the rich.

We are bit luckier in the Lucky Country - drive thru testing clinics everywhere.  Aus and NZ will likely come out of this much quicker than the Americas or Europe - there are advantages to being island nations.  

Maybe it's our convict heritage but it does really make us spit chips when the elite suck up all the good stuff for themselves.  Airbnb is happy to insist on "inclusiveness" except of course when it comes to hosts and a fair 50/50 partnership.  Double speak.  Do as we say, not as we do.