My student project for my Airbnb social media strategy.

1. Airbnb
Social Media Strategy

2. Executive Summary
 Our primary social media objective for 2017 is to
increase our following.
 Although we already produce great content, our main
goal is to drive traffic to our website by building
deeper connections with our audience and creating a
social media contest.

3. Social Media Audit

4. Social Network URL Follower Count Average
Weekly
Activity
Average
Engagement
Rate
Twitter https://twitter.
com/airbnb
573,000 8 posts per
week
2%
Facebook https://www.f
acebook.com/ai
rbnb
5,198,315 3 posts per
week
3%
LinkedIn https://www.li
nkedin.com/co
mpany-
beta/309694/?p
athWildcard=30
9694
331,851 2 posts per
week
0%
YouTube https://www.y
outube.com/us
er/Airbnb
61,688 8 posts per
month
Average views=
2,000
Instagram https://www.i
nstagram.com/
airbnb/
1,600,000 15 posts per
week
Average
interactions per
post= 20,000

5. Audit- Social Media
Assessment
 Currently, the highest number of post interactions
occurs on Instagram. Followed by Facebook,
YouTube, Twitter, and then LinkedIn, with little-to-
no interaction.

6. Audit- Website Traffic Sources
Assessment
Source Volume Percentage of
Overall Traffic
Conversion Rate
Twitter 800 unique visits 5% 2.1%
Facebook 3,000 unique
visits
25% 1.5%
LinkedIn 500 unique visits 0.8% 0.3%
YouTube 1,000 unique
visits
10% 2%
Instagram N/A N/A N/A

7. Audit- Website Traffic
Sources Assessment
 We currently have the most unique visits to
Facebook, leading the chart with 3,000 and 25% of
overall traffic. Followed by YouTube, Twitter, and
LinkedIn.

8. Audit- Audience
Demographics Assessment
Age
Distributi
on
Gender
Distributi
on
Primary
Social
Network
Secondary
Social
Network
Primary
Need
Secondary
Need
70% 18-30 Female
54%
50%
Instagram
40%
Facebook
A place to
stay while
traveling
or on
vacation
To be
adventuro
us
30% 31-40 Male 46% 45%
Facebook
30%
Instagram
8% 41-55 30%
Twitter
20%
Twitter
2% 56-80

9. Audit- Audience
Demographics Assessment
 The majority of Airbnb guests are 18-30 years old.
There are slightly more female guests than males
and their main social networks are Instagram and
Facebook. Their primary need for Airbnb is for an
affordable place to stay while traveling.

10. Audit- Competitor
Assessment

11. Competitor Name Social Media
Profile
Strengths Weaknesses
Tripping.com IG: tripping They have a clean,
professional profile
with a decent
following. Their
pictures are clear
and quality.
They don’t post
content frequently
enough
FlipKey FB: flipkey They have a large
following and post
content frequently
Despite their large
following, they
don’t receive many
interactions on their
posts
HomeAway TW: homeaway They also have a
large following and
post frequently.
They also respond
and interact with
customers
Dull profile– they
could improve their
profile picture,
cover photo, and bio

12. Audit- Competitor
Assessment Summary
 We analyzed our top three competitors with strong
influences on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Their posts are clear, quality, and fairly frequent.
However, their accounts could use some
improvement and they could be more interactive
with their audiences.

13. Social Media Objectives
 For 2017, our overall business goal is to increase our
following and build deeper connections with our
customers. By posting quality content more
frequently, we can reach more people and drive
traffic to our social media networks and website.

14. Social Media Objectives
 Some objectives to support our business goals
include:
 Increase our number of unique visitors per month by
30% in 6 months by:
 Creating more conversation with people on Facebook,
Twitter, and Instagram
 Launching a social media contest that engages followers
and customers
 Increase Twitter followers by 5,000 in 6 months
 Increase the amount of visual content on Facebook
and Twitter by 30% in the next 6 months

15. Social Media Objectives
 KPIs:
 Amount of unique visitors across Facebook, Twitter,
YouTube, and LinkedIn
 Increased number of Instagram followers
 Amount of photos and videos posted to Instagram,
Facebook, and YouTube
 Guest reviews
 Key messages
 An ideal getaway with the comfort of home
 Affordable adventures

17. Online Brand Persona and
Voice
 Adjectives that describe our brand:
 Cozy
 Unique
 Diverse
 Affordable
 When interacting with customers we are:
 Reliable
 Honest
 helpful

21. Strategies and Tools
 Strategies to will support of our social media objectives:
 Paid: Every Monday boost the post with the most
interactions from the weekend, but the post must have a
minimum organic reach of 150 people, with 3 comments.
 Owned: Launch #WhereIBnB across all social media
platforms, repost a minimum of pieces of 3 user generated
content, and promote the hashtag on all mediums.
 Earned: Monitor keywords, hashtags, and mentions across
all platforms. Host a few celebrities during important
events/holidays and in return, ask them to promote you
online.

22. Strategies and Tools
 Tools
 Approved tools:
 HootSuite
 Buffer
 Rejected tools:
 N/A
 Existing subscriptions/licenses:
 Google Analytics
 Kapost
 Splice

23. Timing and Key Dates
 Key dates:
 Valentines day
 4th of July
 Thanksgiving
 Christmas
 New Years
 St. Patrick’s Day
 Mother’s Day
 Memorial Day (long weekend)
 Labor Day (long weekend)
 Reporting Dates:
 Reports will occur every Friday, once a month for the next 6
months.

24. Social Media Roles and
Responsibilities
 Social Media Director: Jasmine Atherton
 Increase the company’s online presence and leads the
outreach teams and processes
 Social Media Manager: Tan Lam
 Design and implement the global social media strategy for
marketing communication and customer support. Also
build customer support processes and teams on social
media
 Social Media Coordinator: Michael Schaecher
 Create content, tweet, post, and update changes made to
the social media accounts.

25. Social Media Policy
 Social media plays a vital role in our everyday lives.
We use it for personal enjoyment, but it is also an
important tool to our company. It is used to build,
promote, and strengthen our brand, connect with
customers, and drive traffic to our business.
Therefore, it is crucial that each employee is aware
that they are a representative of Airbnb and they are
expected to practice proper social media etiquette
and appropriate behavior by following these
guideline:

26. Social Media Policy
 Be kind to everyone
 Be respectful to competitors, customers, yourself,
and your peers
 Be helpful to customers
 Be careful of what you post
 Failure to comply with appropriate use of social
media will result in a corrective action plan, and if
seen necessary, termination. Further questions may be
directed to Human Resources.

27. Critical Response Plan
 Scenario One: Inappropriate tweet sent from @Airbnb
 Action plan
 When tweet is detected, take a screenshot via mobile device
or on computer (Command+Shift+4)
 Delete tweet
 Alert Social Media Director (Jasmine Atherton)
 Tan Lam to meet with Jasmine to discuss impact of the
tweet
 Tan to write follow up tweet with approval from Jasmine
 If the tweet has drawn attention to the media, Jasmine is to
manage contact
 Jasmine and Tan to meet with responsible employee to
discuss consequences as they see fit
 No pre-approved messaging applicable for this scenario

28. Critical Response Plan
 Scenario two: host’s property is vandalized
 Action plan
 Customer service to contact Brian Chesky (CEO)
 Brian Chesky alerts John Mildenhall (Marketing Director)
 John to analyze social media impact of the incident and
discuss follow up posts with Brian and Jasmine
 If media has been alerted of the incident, Jasmine is to
manage all direct contact
 Jasmine and John to determine if a longer/additional social
media statement is necessary
 Michael Schaecher (Social Media Coordinator) and Social
Media Team to continue to closely monitor the situation

29. Critical Response Plan
 Pre-approved messaging:
 Twitter: We are relieved to announce that the suspect
of the crime is in custody and we will be
compensating the owner of the property.
 Facebook: We are extremely regretful of the incident
that occurred this morning. However, we are relieved
to announce that the suspect of the crime is in
custody. We are promising additional safeguards to
the victim and will be compensating the owner for all
items and property damaged.

30. Critical Response Plan-
Contact Information
Owner Name Telephone Alt.
Telephone
Email
Marketing
Director
John
Mildenhall
(425) 346-7669 (425) 279-3979 J_mildenhall@
airbnb.com
Social Media
Director
Jasmine
Atherton
(425) 346-9047 (425) 279-3979 jatherton@airb
nb.com
Social Media
Manager
Tan Lam (425) 850-4169 (425) 279-3979 tanlam@airbnb
.com
Social Media
Coordinator
Michael
Schaecher
(425) 757-6250 (425) 279-3979 munchery@air
bnb.com
PR Agency Natalie
Harrison
(425) 626-7442 (425) 279-3979 Natalie_h@air
bnb.com

31. Measurement and
Reporting
 Quantitative KPIs:
 Reporting period: 6 months
 Data as of August 1st, 2017
 Social network data- Table 1- monthly average from
January 2017-July 2017
 Website traffic data- Table 2- monthly average from
Junary 2017-July 2017

32. Measurement and
Reporting
Social network URL Follower count Average
weekly activity
Average
engagement
rate
Facebook https://www.f
acebook.com/ai
rbnb/
7,020,000 10 posts per
week- 8%
growth
4%
Twitter https://twitter.
com/Airbnb?re
f_src=twsrc%5E
google%7Ctwca
mp%5Eserp%7
Ctwgr%5Eauth
or
577,500 16 posts per
week- 10%
growth
6%
Instagram https://www.i
nstagram.com/
airbnb/?hl=en
1,650,000 20 posts per
week- 5%
growth
Average weekly
interaction-
25,000
YouTube https://www.y
outube.com/us
er/Airbnb
80,194 10 posts per
month- 5%
growth
3%
LinkedIn https://www.li 361,856 1 post per 1%

33. Measurement and
Reporting
Source Volume Percent of
overall traffic
conversion
Facebook 20,000 unique
visits +10%
growth
30% 2%
Twitter 12,000 unique
visits +8%
growth
10% 2.3%
LinkedIn 200 unique visits
+4% growth
5% 1%

34. Measurement and
Reporting
 Results assessment:
 In this 6 month time frame, our company saw the
most growth on Facebook, reaching our goal by
increasing our traffic and following by 30%.
 Our team has been successful in producing more
quality content on all networks, engaging with our
audience and customers by being attentive to their
needs, and launching a successful social media contest
using the hashtag #WhereIBnB.
 We saw growth in all of our social networks, even
LinkedIn, which had the lowest amount of traffic, by
4%.

35. Measurement and
Reporting
 #WhereIBnB Hashtag Performance
 The purpose was to have guests share photos of their
experience using Airbnb from around the world using
the hashtag #WhereIBnB. Winners would receive a
free trip to a surprise destination.
 The contest saw excellent success. It was used 4,000
times on Instagram, and had 1,200 mentions on
Twitter.

36. Measurements and
Reporting
 Qualitative KPIs: We had great feedback from our
customer reviews, social media mentions and
comments.
 Sentiment analysis: Of the posts on Facebook,
Twitter, and Instagram from the last 3 months, we
saw an overwhelming amount of positive feedback.
Excellent reviews flooded our website as well as
social media comments and mentions. Our photos
and videos saw an increase in the amounts of
reposts on Instagram, retweets on Twitter, and
shares on Facebook.