No visibility after becoming superhost

[Neeraj20]

Started hosting in Oct 2021 and became superhost. Was packed for whole 3 months and as soon as I became superhost the occupancy went down to 25%. Pandemic is a factor for sure but it hurts to see non superhost listing showing higher that my listings? Any comments? What's going wrong? You guys can go through my listings and let me know? 

[Anonymous]

@Neeraj20  When a new listing goes live, Airbnb's search algorithm gives it an artificial boost to compensate for the relative disadvantages of having no established reputation. That thumb on the scale expires after an undisclosed period of time - we don't know how long, and it might vary according to the market, but it's something between 2 and 6 weeks.

You were able to get enough successful bookings in your first quarter to earn a Superhost badge, which is a great start. Congratulations for that! But the main point of the Superhost designation is to modify your behavior as a host - it's not really an important component of the search formula, it's just a silly way to trigger status anxiety. Most guests don't seem to have any idea what on earth is behind it, and plenty of hosts seem utterly deranged about it.

Your brief period of hosting has coincided with an extremely volatile time for the global travel industry, so i doubt your current results represent a long term trend. But nobody is in a position to predict whether or when business will improve. I can only suggest that you think of Airbnb as one of many listing services you can use for your business, and try not to take its little behavior modification tools as any indication of your actual worth. If Airbnb isn't delivering the volume of business you were hoping for, don't hesitate to try out some alternatives. 

[Neeraj20]

Thanks Andrew. Yes I already registered one of my listings on Booking.com 2 days back but I can see the competition is huge there and given the fact that we are in pandemic I may have to just wait for things to get back to normal for higher occupancy. Yes clearly agree with you about customers not giving much importance if the host is superhost or not. Only hosts understands how much you have to really go through for it. Specially when your guests loved the stay and says I had great time staying with Neeraj, his place has everything you need for a comfortable stay and rates you 4 star. 😞

[Elaine701]

@Neeraj20 

@Anonymous explains it well. 

I'd only add that airbnb's reach is different in different regions, for varying reasons. For example, Airbnb is extremely popular here in continental Europe, but traditionally has been lagging in popularity in the British market (although gaining rapidly there too).

One question you might ask yourself is who you are targeting. If it's a foreign audience, then who is most likely to be attracted to your property and location? Is it Americans? Europeans? British? Asians? All of the above? 

Airbnb is pretty strong in the US, but VRBO is a somewhat close second. But in Europe, VRBO is far behind Airbnb in terms of market reach. It's not a highly recognised name, but as part of the Expedia group, has reach into more localised platforms such as fereienwohnung, a popular German platform (or "FeWo" for short, owned by Expedia).

Brits tend to favour businesses that appear British, and for travel, tend to prefer those who belong to the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA), which provides ratings and financial guarantees to it's members and their clients. Airbnb is not British or an ABTA member, which may help explain their struggle for dominance in that region. 

I don't really know if airbnb's reach is substantial in India. There may be other platforms that are more dominant there. Or not. It's beyond my scope. 

The bottom line is that if your listing is ideal for certain international travelers, then you should consider what platforms you market on, and form your presentation on each platform to appeal to their interests.

To target North Americans, try listing on both Airbnb and VRBO (although like Airbnb, VRBO gives you global visibility, but to a lesser extent than Airbnb) .

For Europeans, Airbnb is the most effective. For Britain, well, Airbnb is growing, so it's probably wise to stay there, but you might consider trying to find a popular ABTA listed platform located in Britain and make a highly targeted listing there that "fills all the British check boxes". We don't really target Britain, so I really can't offer advice on that. 

In any case, "shotgun marketing" is rarely a successful strategy. There is no "one size fits all" and you need to be conscious of that. Your place will appeal to some, but not to others. It's important to identify who it appeals to, and target them. Chasing the others is a waste of time and energy. 

Edit: also beware that booking.com is all instant book and does not vet any guests or require any identification other than a credit card. You have to accept the booking, but you have no idea who they might be. 

Anyway, I hope that helps. Good luck with it all. 🤞

[Neeraj20]

@Elaine701 wow!! Really liked your insights. I am definitely going to work on your suggestions. About the audience I actually don't have any such target. As of now 99% of guests are domestic only because of travel restrictions for foreigners. Airbnb has very low popularity in India and as you rightly said is used alot by Europeans when they are travelling in India. But its now also growing rapidly in India and could be popular if Airbnb can plan some ad campaigns in India. We all are desperately waiting for covid to over so we can welcome everyone again. Thanks again for the help. The liked the options you suggest. 

[Colleen253]

@Neeraj20 As Andrew said, you’ve gotten the new listing bump, and have used it to good advantage, but now you’ve got to keep the momentum going without it. Viewing your first listing, which is very nice, you have room to go into much more detail about what’s on offer. Your description of the space is very sparse, and lacking in detail. Utilize the captions on all photos, to indicate to the viewer what they’re looking at, and point out more detail. Include a few more photos of the bedroom, from different angles, and showing more detail. You might also fill out your profile. Best of luck in your hosting journey!

[Sarah977]

@Neeraj20  I agree with Colleen that you could work on your written description, it really doesn't provide much information. 

Also the rooms themselves look rather stark- all those bare white walls and hard flooring. I would put some art or textiles on the walls and some colorful throw rugs. Also more pillows on the beds- 2 flat-looking pillows that are too small for the beds don't look that enticing.

And take new bathroom photos with the toilet lids closed.