Audit of Airbnb’s Social Media
In 2023, Airbnb held a 20% market share in the vacation rental industry, beating out other booking platforms such as Expedia, according to Enterprise Apps. So, while they command the market when it comes to rental homes, or “experiences” in their words, do they have the same impressive command over social media when competing with their direct competitors?
Instagram Analysis
Airbnb’s verified Instagram account has amassed 5.6 million followers and is a frequently visited platform. While Airbnb has turned off the like count on each one of their posts, normally their photos of unique properties tend to gain the most attention on Instagram. Typically, the posts showcasing the most unique properties, like a Trullo in Italy, bring in around 400 comments and over 100 shares. Apart from highlighting the funky rentals, Airbnb also takes its CSR, providing places to stay for individuals who have lost their homes due to crises, seriously and dedicates multiple posts to that. On their page now, there are a few posts explaining their most recent mission, finding places for victims of the Turkey Earthquakes. Overall, their Instagram page is impressive but provides little help when it comes to FAQs or booking problems, which is something a lot of customers are looking for.
TikTok Analysis
TikTok is the last and least followed verified Airbnb social media account with 272.8K followers. Their TikTok account continues the strategy of highlighting niche rentals but also has a mix of comedic traveling POV videos, making fun of people’s vacation habits. Their most recent viral TikTok garnered 4.8 million views for the opening of Shrek’s Swamp. Yes, that is a real place people can (and want to?) stay. However, they have not posted since January, and they get a lot of heat on TikTok from customers posting about their negative experiences. They are also getting made fun of by VRBO’s TikTok account so perhaps it’s time to move to more comedic content, which does well on TikTok.
Your Turn!
Check out their social media pages for yourself!
Facebook Analysis
Facebook needs a lot more attention from Airbnb. Although their account is verified and followed by 16 million Facebook users, they have not posted since March 2021. Their Facebook followed a similar content strategy to Instagram when it came to highlighting different properties but has many more posts dedicated to social change initiatives, such as BLM or Stop Asian Hate. By not posting on Facebook, Airbnb is essentially losing a large part of the older market segment, since many individuals ages 40 and above use Facebook as their primary social media platform. A great way to address this problem would be to set up the sync function between Instagram and Facebook, so whatever is posted on Instagram is simultaneously up on Facebook.
X Analysis
Airbnb’s verified X account has a lower following than the two previous platforms, coming in at 879.4K followers, but they have more than one account. Airbnb has an X account for each country where properties are available, an account dedicated to customer support (@AirbnbHelp), and an account dedicated to their home-sharing initiative (@AirbnbPolicy). The main Airbnb account itself rarely posts, instead, it retweets positive mentions of the account to emphasize customer testimonies over internal promotion. While posting more original content could be beneficial to the growth of their account, Airbnb does a great job taking customer complaints offline immediately or redirecting them to the help page.
The Full File
For more information, a full audit, and a SWOT analysis of Airbnb’s social media presence, see below!
Social media audit for Airbnb. Includes: Instagram, Facebook, and X
TikTok portion of social media audit and full SWOT analysis