Airbnb Social Media Audit
By: Brynn Herncane
Purpose of this Audit
The purpose of conducting this social media audit is to research Airbnb’s social media presence and platforms to determine what platforms are gaining the most engagement and also which platforms are struggling and how we could improve on those. The process of research started with researching the six platforms on which they have a presence which include Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, X, Linkedin, and Tiktok. The information that I found from that research can be found above in the embedded Excel document.
When looking at which content resonates best with Airbnb’s audience based on evidence I would say it is video content but each platform uses a different form of content for the audience based on that platform. So with that being said it depends on which platform you are looking at. Starting with their YouTube channel with only 655k subscribers the views on their videos gained millions of views the most views compared to any other platform they use. Their YouTube channel has completely different content than any of their other platforms. The main content being 30-second commercials seen on TV or ads, all with the same style which is storytelling through animation. Looking at their latest videos they have two commercials posted with over 1k views and then some “Tips from Top Hosts” videos which are significantly lower in views with less than 500. Their Instagram and Facebook are the two most followed accounts with Facebook having the most with 16 Mil and Insta with 6.1 Mil. These two have similar content types incorporating a little bit of everything reels, pictures, and videos. Facebook surprised me despite being their most followed they have not posted since March of 2021. Their content also surprised me, they have a lot of posts bringing political and social issues to light which could cause some controversy. Looking at numbers they receive more comments on these types of posts than likes. For having so many followers on this platform there is not much engagement on the posts they do have. Looking at Instagram their main content is pictures taken from photographers of places around the world where you could stay. The engagement and likes on these posts are low. Their most recent posts about offering free housing to people impacted by the LA wildfires gained a huge amount of engagement. Looking at X they are decently active. The main content on this account is reposting vacationers’ posts about their stays and occasional posts about their collaboration homes. Engagement on the posts varies due to using audience content. Their LinkedIn account shocked me with having 3Mil followers. The main content on their LinkedIn account is a range of videos featuring their commercials, polls, links to articles, pictures, and some documents from top hosts. Lastly, their Tiktok account, which has 353.1k followers features strictly videos but not videos like their commercials on Youtube. Their TikTok videos are a range of tours of Airbnb you can book, collab videos like a Beetle Juice-themed Airbnb posted around the release of the new Beetlejuice Movie. Most of the TikTok’s gain 10k views or less with few comments. The ones that gain the most likes are the collab ones including a Shrek-themed Airbnb video which gained 500k likes and 5mil views.
Observation of Social Media Care
Now let’s look at their social media care. Airbnb receives many comments with complaints and questions across their platforms. After looking at the recent 25 posts from each account. Again, even the social media care varied depending on platform. On Facebook, Airbnb replied to a decent amount of comments saying DM us for help or go here and use this link to get in contact with us, but the comment replies to their audience felt very autogenerated. Looking at TikTok, there was little engagement between customers some posts had no replies or likes from Airbnb and some posts had comment replies and likes from the Airbnb account. The comment replies had personality and emotion, you could tell a real person was replying to peoples comments. Their X account has a decent amount of engagement between viewer and business. Airbnb reposts a lot of peoples posts and will occasionally reply too it. X also features an @ to another account in their twitter bio that is specifically Airbnbhelp for addressing customer concerns and questions. On YouTube all the videos I looked at had comments turned off which I found surprising. On LinkedIn there was little to no engagement in the comments from Airbnb but like X they reply followers posts. Lastly, on Instagram they only replied back/engaged with the comments that had complaints or issues with Airbnb, offering help and how to contact them. It seems Airbnb is really only engaging with comments if they mention complaints or issues. Obviously they want to protect their reputation and get those people complaining the help they need. Engaging with customers online is a tactic that a lot of businesses do and it’s important too do it create that connection with your audience and show that you care for them. I think overall , Airbnb could do a better job engaging with their audience online.
Observation and Analysis of Social Media Comments
For the next section of this Audit, I was instructed to ask AI about ways Airbnb can improve their content across their social media platforms. I chose ChatGPT as my AI because it is better in conducting research and SEO. The prompt I put in ChatGPT was as follows:
“ Pretend you are advising a social media strategist for the company Airbnb. The goal is to uncover consumer-generated content ideas for social media. Look at Airbnbs accounts on these six platforms: X, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn, and YouTube. What new content ideas do you have based on those platforms consumer opinions?“
ChatGPT’s response did not go into detail specifically for each platform but just some overall findings among all of them and gives six ways to in ChatGPT’s words to enhance engagement through user-generated content (UGC). The first suggestion was highlighting stories from hosts and vacationers because this builds a sense of community and trust which is what Airbnb stands for. It also suggests themed content campaigns. Including #Airbnbdecor (highlighting the interiors of the home) and #Airbnbcuisine ( guests enjoying food recommendations in local area from the host). Their next suggestion was educational content for hosts which includes webinars/tutorials and community spotlights. The main purpose would be to empower hosts and overall better guest experiences. Next suggestion was interactive challenges and contests. Including video and storytelling contest from experiences they’ve had staying in an Airbnb. Next suggestion was addressing and showcasing feedback. Showing more success stories from feedback. Last suggestion was behind-the-scenes contests, showing the employees of Airbnb’s personal stories. Overall, I think these are good suggestions for Airbnb to consider.
Closing Analysis and Learnings
Overall, I believe that Airbnb is posting the correct content for that specific platform but they are lacking in engagement or the amount of followers they have and they lack being active on some of their most followed platforms. Which I think needs to be fixed. I do not think they need to post everyday but more than once a month. I think they could also do better customer care across all platforms and not just on X. I also think just responding more to comments even reacting or saying something silly back to a comment would be game changing instead of just engaging with the comments that are complaints. They only do a good job addressing those on certain platforms which needs to be moved to addressing them across all platforms. I think Airbnb does a good job of the layout, aesthetics, and bios they choose for each platform. I think they are very fitting. In general Airbnb’s content seems kind of bland which shows in their engagement on most of their posts. I think finding new content and expanding on the content they have would help them have a stronger social presence. Even in my own life I hear about Airbnb but I do not ever see them on social media or trending anywhere. I only see their content through commercials on Tv or an ad on YouTube videos. I believe the findings in this audit give a basis of what Airbnb is doing and what their lacking in doing on their social media platforms.