7 Secret Airbnb Hacks for Hosts to Maximize Bookings and Revenue

A slew of posts have flooded Facebook, Reddit, and social media: hosts don’t understand why they stopped getting bookings. Images are beautiful, the property itself is beautiful and in a desirable location in peak season… you’ve got great description text. So, what’s going on? Why are Airbnb bookings down?

There are many factors at play here, coming together in a perfect storm.

We explain what’s happening in the market and what to do about it with secrets that you won’t find in the common social media post.

Why are Airbnb bookings down?

Market saturation in highly desired areas

Simply said, if you recently bought a property in a highly desirable area, there are a slew of hosts that already have good reviews, know how to market their property, and likely stand out in Airbnb’s search algorithm. As we’ll discuss below, if you want to stay on Airbnb, you’ll need to get creative to drive your own traffic to your listing page.

Consumer demand for differentiation

Consumers no longer look at Airbnbs as someone’s home. We all know that. They look at vacation rentals as a place that will offer them a more unique experience than a hotel would. Consumers want homes to give them a glimpse into a lifestyle they don’t experience day to day.

The more aggressive hosts, and the ones with plenty of capital to expend have started building or buying/remodeling Airbnbs with an experience-first mentality in mind. This means they are actively spending more money than the average host to stand out, and it’s working. Consumers are booking these properties.

Most hosts can’t afford totally transforming their properties into experiences that are more unique than hotels, but they can give any consumer a glimpse into a new lifestyle. Below we discuss how hosts can do an Airbnb house swap, learn from another host, and slightly tweak the experience to give the average consumer a more unique experience.

The impact of inflation

Those that don’t have the big bucks to spend on a totally curated home experience expect to stay at a vacation rental at lower prices than hotels. Oh yea, and they still want the stay to come with greater pizzas. This was probably also the case, but inflation is putting even more pressure on consumers to tighten up their purse strings.

Many hosts are selling their properties, but this doesn’t have to be the only option. As we discuss below, hosts can tap into a new market of points loyalists to still get paid, while offering consumers new ways to purchase.

Airbnb is transitioning from startup to ‘big company’

As Airbnb grew, went public, and began to operate as any big company, they lost sight of the factor that got them to their rise: the focus on their users. With the influx of hosts looking to make money, guests need to come in greater droves to balance the marketplace. Airbnb tried to air on the side of guest-rights in order to make their platform more favorable and even out the equation, but the reality is, guests still weren’t getting the best experience. Simply said, guests are turning to new platforms or back to hotels where they get consistent experiences…and points that they can use towards future stays.

How to improve bookings

As an Airbnb host, you want to maximize your bookings and revenue. These hacks will help you do just that, from pricing strategies to guest communication tips.

1. {most important} Optimize for conversion

The Airbnb search algorithm optimizes the results they show a user based on bookings. This is called conversion rate and Airbnb is incentivized to show properties with the highest conversion because, after all, that’s how they make money.

What does this mean? Well, for one, if you are sending a bunch of low intent traffic to your listing page and the people aren’t actually making a booking, you will have a low conversion rate: the ratio of people looking at your listing to those booking is low. It is far more advantageous to have fewer people looking at your listing page and booking than it is to have many people look at your page and not book. To fix this, ask a few friends to try out your place at a discount. It will pay dividends in the end to get some bookings on your listing page and you can increase your rate later.

You also want to add your listing to as many sites as possible that draw in high intent traffic. By adding your listing to the48dots, we send guests that are interested in booking to your site.

2. Be thoughtful about picture placement

You’ve heard this a million times: quality images matter. But, you may not know that the order of your images matter. Sites like Airbnb will help organize the pictures for you, but make sure you play an active role in showing a complete picture when selecting the first few images.

Have a pool? Put that up front.

Hot tub? Up front.

Scenic view? Up front.

You get the drift…

3. {creative differentiator} Tap into a new market of points loyalists

Offering reward points is an effective strategy for vacation rental hosts to tap into a new market of frequent travelers. It’s the secret hotels use all the time. In fact, value-add rewards allow hotels to offer a more enticing booking without lowering the average daily rate, improving the top-line

By providing reward points for every booking, hosts can attract frequent travelers with a valuable incentive for them to choose a particular vacation rental over others.

With inflation, it becomes even more important for hosts to target business travelers who are less price-sensitive and more willing to pay for quality accommodation. But, remember, frequent business travelers love their points more than any other group. It’s the perk they give themselves for nights away from home.

Overall, reward points are a valuable marketing tool that can help vacation rental hosts increase bookings and tap into new markets, especially during challenging economic times. We explain how you can offer reward points through the48dots in the next sections.

4. {table stakes} Own your customers with a direct booking site

You don’t want a leaky bucket. Once you get a few bookings on Airbnb, incentivize your best guests to come back. Make sure to grab your customer’s email address every time! Having the guest contact info transitions them from an Airbnb customer to your customer, and you can use your direct booking site to re-market.

You can set up a direct booking site, for free in minutes. Here’s a 5-minute hack:

  • Get a landing page with Carrd (Free)

  • Set up your listing on the48dots to Allow Bookings and add your iCal

  • Embed the48dots wallet widget to your Carrd site

    • once you do this we will market to guests that visit your site on your behalf!

    • guests will be able to earn points on your vacation rental and be highly incentivized to come back

  • Link your Carrd homepage to your listings on the48dots (when a guest makes a booking, we take 0% commission from you)

5. Do an Airbnb host swap to tweak your experience

Swap your Airbnb with other hosts to get candid feedback on the experience on your property. The most beautiful thing about home exchange is the inherent sense of ‘trading lives’ for a bit. When you request a swap, start out by discussing your intent. Write something along the lines of this in your swap request: “Hey! I’d love to see if we can learn from each other to improve our hosting experience. Would you be open to a swap?”

Once you’ve made an Airbnb swap with another host, look out for the following things:

  • What was the host’s communication style? Tip: fast communication is a factor in Airbnb’s search algorithm

  • What details are missing to make the home feel like it’s part of a community?

  • What things could you only experience in this home, and in no other home in the world?

  • What made the experience different from your guest’s day to day life?

6. {creative differentiator} Go eco

According to a survey conducted by TripAdvisor in 2021, Americans are increasingly looking for a vacation rental that provides sustainable amenities. Nearly 46% of the surveyed respondents mentioned that they’d prefer to stay in a property that uses less energy and water and 43% of them mentioned they would choose an environmental-friendly rental if available.

Add any eco benefits to your listing. Do you have solar? Add it. Do you recycle? Add it. Does your property have lush greenery? Add it!

7. Set competitive pricing by staying current with local events

One of the key factors in maximizing bookings and revenue as an Airbnb host is setting competitive pricing. Remember hosts: competitive pricing doesn’t mean the lowest price. It’s just a fair price for the value of your listing based on supply and demand.

You can use tools like Pricelabs to help you set competitive pricing, or you can just do it yourself. But, the key here is to make up earnings in peak periods to cushion for lull in slow seasons.

Pricing isn’t a one-and-done activity. You can also adjust your pricing based on demand, such as raising prices during peak travel seasons or for popular events in your area. So, stay current on local events.

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