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Key Takeaways
You’re Not Competing with Airbnb, and That’s the Point: Airbnb is a global marketplace; you’re a focused business. Their $1B+ budget and six-million-listing footprint shouldn’t scare you off. You’re not trying to beat Airbnb; you’re trying to fill your 10, 50, or 100 homes profitably. The scale is different, and so is the strategy.
Focus on What You Can Control: Competing means clarity, not mimicry. Airbnb may dominate in brand awareness, but you control your brand experience, your guest journey, your retention, and those matter more than trying to outspend them. Your success depends on creating trust, relevance, and repeat guests, not being the biggest name in the room.
Big Budgets Don’t Equal Local Domination: Your small budget can still work wonders—locally. While Airbnb’s billion-dollar spend is spread across 6M+ listings globally, your $50–$500/month ad budget in a small market can dominate share of voice if targeted properly. Don’t let “Airbnb has more money” be a mental block.
Vanity Metrics ≠ Success: Don’t obsess over what competitors or OTAs are ranking for. Your job is to generate profitable bookings, not win leaderboard points in auction insights reports or Google Ads dashboards. Track what actually impacts your business: cost per lead, repeat stays, and guest sentiment.
Know the Difference Between OTAs and Metasearch: OTAs (like Airbnb, Vrbo) are not the same as metasearch (like Google Hotels or TripAdvisor). Many hosts confuse the two. Understanding where your listings appear and how different platforms funnel traffic will help you optimize both your paid and organic presence.
Your Local Advantage is Your Superpower: You’re the farm-to-table burger—not McDonald’s. Guests want experiences, not just lodging. You have something unique: a place, a community, and often a story. Leverage that through great photos, local tips, unique amenities, or even passion content (like fishing, surfing, hiking) to stand out.
Airbnb Isn’t As Untouchable As You Think: Public market performance tells a different story. Airbnb’s stock has underperformed, and attempts to expand into experiences, services, and hotels aren’t gaining traction (e.g., only 5 experiences in Myrtle Beach, a 10M-visitor market). The cracks are visible; focus on your lane.
Control Starts With Direct Bookings: If Airbnb is your only source of revenue, they own your business. Diversifying into direct bookings—even just 20–30%—gives you leverage and long-term stability. Your marketing efforts should support that independence.
Build with the Right Metrics in Mind: Don’t just publish content, measure impact. Know your cost per acquisition (CPA), track rebookings, and use analytics to refine your efforts. Avoid content for content’s sake; tie it to business outcomes like higher occupancy or repeat guests.
Experiment With Creative Marketing: Marketing doesn’t need to be dry or generic. Tie your content to passions (fishing, food, events), create series-based content, or experiment with reels and storytelling. Airbnb won’t do this for you, but it’s exactly how you win attention and loyalty.
Build Your Own Funnel, Not Airbnb’s: Leverage Airbnb for volume, but build your own funnel for profit. OTAs bring guests in, but the real value lies in converting those guests into direct bookers next time. That’s how you turn dependency into strategic use.
The Endgame? Be Unforgettable: Your marketing goal? Be their only option next time. A guest should leave thinking, “If I go back, I’m staying with them.” You win by being memorable, trustworthy, and helpful—far beyond what any algorithm can offer.
What We Cover In This Episode
In this episode of The Heads In Beds Show, we chat on Conrad’s LinkedIn post “Can You Really Compete with Airbnb” to talk strategy, marketing, goals, profits, and a LOT more…
NOTE: this was recorded BEFORE the Airbnb 15.5% price increase move -> non-PMS connected price increase for hosts. So we didn’t mention that…
