In a world where things are always changing, your STR (Airbnb) business needs to stay current, and this includes your branding or in this case rebranding. Sometimes, like as a result of, say, a global pandemic, you need to do a complete pivot. Many hosts don’t create a unique brand for themselves when they start out and simply rely on the branding of Airbnb. This means your listing gets lost in the search results of similar listings and you end up competing solely on price. Or you make the mistake of holding onto an old identify long after it’s no longer effective. Your brand needs to be uniquely you AND up to date in order to stand out in the very busy marketplace. Is it time to do some rebranding?
Communication of your brand needs to be current
Rebranding may become necessary in order to reflect the big global changes we have seen this year in travel and work. You might need to be appealing to the new WFH market or travelling nurses or long-stay guests. It could be something smaller like the highlighting parts of your listings that were not such a big drawcard previously. Whatever the change, it necessitates a brand makeover.
Getting Serious About Your Branding
Like many hosts, you may not have thought about your branding correctly to begin with. Some people just think they can put their listing up on Airbnb and let them do the marketing for you. It’s often hard when you first get started to fully grasp the needs of your ideal guests and your unique position in the market, for your location and your unique hospitality talents. As you start to understand your hosting style better and the sorts of guests who you love to host, you may feel like you’re lacking a strong brand identity compared to listings in your area. Now’s the time to develop one.
Connecting with a New Audience
Many hosts this year are deciding to re-brand in order to appeal to the needs of the “new normal”! Perhaps, like my own hosting business, you were focused on inbound international tourists but now you have to concentrate on the domestic market. Since you’re reaching new guests who are adapting to their new remote work/life too, you need to reassess how your listing meets these new demands. A fresh approach can ensure your branding can communicate this.
Changes in the Competitive Landscape
The competitive landscape has definitely changed this year. If you were in a high turnover urban or tourist location appealing to an in-bound international tourist market, you might need to re-brand in order to show domestic travellers or longer-stay guests how you understand them. Rebranding can help you stay relevant in this rapidly changing market. Lots of hosts have suddenly found themselves in a booking drought for the first time in recent weeks and are confused about how to deal with it.
More Bookings and Higher Value for Your Listing’s ADR (Average Daily Rate)
Brushing up your brand makes your hosting business sustainable and perhaps even more profitable – yes even in 2020. Many remote cabin listings are having their best year ever as they are now targeting people who want to WFH in remote areas. Many people are using the downtime to renovate to reach a more premium traveller or for high end corporate guests. This end of the market seems to be doing great right now. If you are in an urban or tourist area you might be suffering this year, rebranding towards say travelling nurses or longer stays means you can cover your costs until the travel sector rebounds.
How Do You Know It’s Time for Rebranding?
Rebranding can be a major mindset shift that takes considerable effort. Here are the signs that it may be time:
- Your messaging seems outdated or unclear; you feel stuck and like you’re not doing as well as the other listings in your area
- Your branding is attracting the wrong guests
- There are major changes in the market – hello 2020!
- You’re seeing a drop in bookings or your profits are hitting a plateau
- You’re creating a new business strategy to reach out to a new segment of the market – say you have done a big renovation, added a pool, hot-tub
- You are adding new listings and expanding into new areas
- You didn’t really put the time and energy into your branding at the beginning
Rebranding starts with clarifying your vision and goals and performing a brand audit to determine how well your current branding is communicating your unique value to the market. It’s a great way to reinvigorate your business and meet new challenges.
Do you want to learn more about rebranding your business? Check out my course, The Wholehearted Host, which teaches you the A to Z of branding and rebranding and helps you achieve your business goals. The course kicks off in Jan 2021. Click here for details.
Or I can conduct a full Branding and Listing Audit for you. Click here for more information.
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