7 Best Strategies to Promote Your Airbnb Listings in 2024

You run a growing vacation rental business, but with each property you add to your portfolio, you realize getting bookings on Airbnb is extremely competitive—you need to increase occupancy, but you can’t afford to do so at the cost of the guest experience.

You’re not alone. Many Airbnb hosts struggle to achieve high occupancy rates and, when they do, it’s even more of a struggle to keep their guests happy. Fear not.

In this article, we share expert insights on how to get more people looking at your Airbnb listings. That way, you can increase your booking rates and continue to scale your operations without sacrificing your five-star reviews. 

We’ll look at the strategies to employ and the tools to use to help you increase revenue and maintain strong relationships with your guests and homeowners.

If you want to scale your Airbnb business, you need to understand and engage your target market. See our recommended strategies, including insights from an Airbnb SEO expert and a professional Airbnb photographer.

Get more eyes on your Airbnb listings with these 7 tips

Before looking at how to drive people to your vacation rentals, you need to make sure the Airbnb listing itself will engage your target audience. To do so, you should ask yourself the following key questions: 

1. Tell a story with your listing

• What does my target audience want from a vacation?
• How can I differentiate my properties and services?
• How can I express key ideas concisely and impactfully?

Successful listings answer these questions with professional-looking imagery and storytelling that sells a compelling vacation experience, and by anticipating and resolving any common doubts or issues.

Here’s an example of an Airbnb listing that combines high-quality photos and a description that speaks to its audience’s love of nature and need for rest and relaxation. Notice, too, that the Airbnb hosts use a family-friendly profile picture to highlight their openness and approachability.

Place the guest experience at the center of your listing with beautiful imagery and captivating scene-setting.

Further down the page, the listing also references its positive reviews, shares information about local places of interest, and provides details about the property’s accessibility features with photos that clearly show step-free access and grab bars.

Detailed information about access could be a differentiator for your property.

2. Optimize your Airbnb search results

Airbnb’s search results are based on complex algorithms designed to provide the best experience for users. So, if you don’t appear at or near the top for common searches around your local area, experiment to see what you could do differently. 

Here are some search engine optimization (SEO) strategies you can consider using: 

• Use dynamic pricing tools to automatically adjust your rates and stay competitive
• Be sure to note all your amenities so you appear in as many filtered searches as possible
• Use high-quality imagery
• Use Instant Book and minimize any restrictions, like the length of minimum stays
• Strive to attain, then maintain, Superhost status

3. Use a personalized URL

You’re going to want to share your Airbnb listings via marketing materials and on social media channels (which we talk about below). Instead of using URLs made up of indecipherable code, you can have a personalized web address for each property.

Creating your custom link is easy with Airbnb’s 3-step process—so all you have to do is come up with a memorable domain that your future guests will want to click.

Check out a few tips from seasoned Airbnb Superhosts:

• “Highlight something unique about your space,” alohamaui.

• “Help set expectations for guests [by using] adjectives,” atmospheric-bloomsbury-flat.

• “Promote your personalized web address far and wide,” schoolhousecottage.
  
  

4. Leverage social media marketing

Social media platforms let you engage and directly interact with potential guests, find out what excites or frustrates them, and benefit from user-generated content that endorses your services and acts as social proof.

With a wealth of stunning imagery and insights for people to explore, a strong social media presence helps draw people to your listings. But keep in mind that each platform has its own characteristics and specializations. Here are a few ideas you can start putting into practice straight away.

Facebook property pages and groups

Facebook lets you learn about your guests’ expectations and show off your knowledge and professionalism. So create a dedicated Facebook page for your properties and showcase your listings on a localized group page for short-term rentals. 

Additionally, you can join travel-related Facebook groups where Airbnb hosts and guests can share experiences and ask each other questions. Just remember to be mindful of group rules and be sure to engage authentically with questions and comments rather than simply using them as an opportunity for free advertising.

Instagram Stories

Build a library of high-quality photos and videos that get to the heart of what your audience wants from their stay. Once you’ve built a following, start sharing stories to highlight special offers, show behind-the-scenes videos, and repost user-generated content.

You can also use Instagram stories to add special engagement features, like polls, which can be a fun way to encourage audience interaction. Though your stories will automatically disappear after 24 hours, you can share them on Facebook to help reach a broader audience. Also, you can share them for more than 24 hours by posting them as highlights on your profile.

Cali Villas targets a young female audience, sells the guest experience, and uses engaging imagery to promote its special deals.

TikTok to grow your audience and jump on trends

Use TikTok’s user-friendly editing tools to make videos that show off unique aspects of your listings. The most successful Airbnb TikToks feature stunning locations that get the viewer imagining themselves enjoying all the property has to offer.

POV shots like this one by MountainMama add character to your videos and draw your audience in.

5. Collaborate with influencers, journalists, and bloggers

A single mention in passing by the right blogger, influencer, or travel journalist—let alone an entire feature or video—can be all it takes to see your followers and online engagements skyrocket. But it pays to do your research first and seek out individuals whose audiences coincide with your own target market.

One way of doing this is to explore a platform like Instagram to find the most popular content creators for hashtags that relate to your listings (like #floridavacation, #familyairbnb, or #forestglamping). Then, see which content creators share your target audience.

Once you’ve identified influencers and journalists you want to work with, make contact to discuss terms for them to review or promote your listing. If you end up offering a free night or two, be sure to provide a fantastic stay, including warm and helpful guest messaging, a seamless check-in experience, and impeccable property care.

6. Create a promotional video

Professional photos and videos are evergreen content you can share across all your channels to increase awareness of your Airbnb listings. While there are lots of different options available to you, property walkthroughs are especially effective at making your Airbnb stand out.

Share these videos on social media channels, especially YouTube and TikTok. They give potential guests a sneak peek at what it is like to stay at your property—more than just imagery could.

Professional photography and videography can be a great way to set your Airbnb apart.

7. Offer special deals and packages

As much as Airbnb guests want unforgettable experiences, they also want a good deal. So if you can offer something you know your audience wants and build a special offer around it, there’s a good chance you’ll increase interest in your services.

Here are some ideas:

• Offer discounted rates for bookings made for the low season.
• Offer discounts for bookings made long in advance of a stay.
• Offer discounts for long-term stays.
• Connect with local businesses to offer special deals, for example at restaurants in the area, guided tours, and special events or experiences.

In fact, while a traveler is still inquiring about a stay, you can use Airbnb’s special offer feature to offer discounted rates and suggest alternative dates.

Get Back More Time to Promote Your Airbnb Listings with Breezeway

Ultimately, the best marketing strategy to increase your Airbnb bookings is to consistently provide an exceptional guest experience. But, if you’re growing your property management business, it’s hard to maintain error-free operations.

Especially if you’re experiencing a high turnaround of guests for each property, it’s easy for a clean to get missed, which leads to you having to quickly make a series of urgent calls or jump into housekeeping mode yourself before the guest arrives. 

Equally, you can become overwhelmed during busy periods with guest messages and calls as you respond to Airbnb inquiries about directions and parking, property access, and WiFi passwords.

With Airbnb management software, though, you can automate tasks, cut out human error, and deliver a better service to your guests.

For example, you can use Breezeway, an official Airbnb partner, to integrate your turnover scheduling with the Airbnb platform and its booking engine. So, whenever you get an update to your Airbnb availability, a new schedule is automatically created and shared with your cleaners. 

You can also connect Airbnb reviews with individual tasks and property workflows in Breezeway. This way, you can use guest feedback to show you what’s working and what’s not, giving you insights into how to improve the guest experience.

Here are some of Breezeway’s features you can use to automate your Airbnb business:

• Task and cleaning schedule automation
• Digital cleaning checklists
• Automated guest messaging
• Digital welcome books
• Automated gap night offers
• Inventory tracking

By using Breezeway’s user-friendly platform, Pro Famila Homes, a vacation rental business with three homes, saved five hours of work each week.

Provide five-star, stress-free stays for all your guests

Airbnb is a fantastic platform for guests and hosts, but it's highly competitive, and you’re judged on every stay. So, you need to deliver superb hospitality, fantastic cleaning operations, and on-point messaging for every single guest.

To do just that, adopt the following strategies:

• Use your Airbnb listings to sell the experience your target market is looking for with high-quality imagery and descriptions.
• Implement Airbnb SEO tactics, carefully using your title and selecting your imagery to strategically compete with other similar listings
• Use a personalized URL and social media marketing to build your audience
• Consider influencer marketing as a way to broaden your audience
• Create a property walkthrough video to attract and engage travelers
• Work with local businesses and offer special deals

Finally, automate your tasks so you can cut out the stress and provide 5-star stays every time, which you can do with Breezeway, your trusted property care platform.