Airbnb.com is one of the most successful peer-to-peer digital communities acting as an intermediary between people who want to rent out their space and travelers looking for short-term accommodation. Founded in 2008, headquartered in San Francisco, the company has over 500,000 listings in 33,000 cities and 192 countries.
The company managed to monetize a simple idea and turned it into a $2.5 billion enterprise by effectively applying digital marketing techniques. Their main objective was to connect hosts to the travelers and travelers to the hosts by bringing them on a common platform.
Let’s have a look to how Airbnb used digital marketing techniques to achieve their objectives and how it worked for them.
Contents
Craigslist Integration

Google Display Network Partnership

Social Media Engagement
In summer 2013, by creating a 4.5-minute movie using only short video clips from Vine and a mobile video app, Airbnb became the first company to write, produce, and direct crowdsourced content from 42 Twitter followers who were given specific directions and a timeframe to submit their work. Although, it might seem like making too much effort for an outcome with unpredictable viral effects, however, it worked for Airbnb augmenting their social media coverage to a great extent, increasing their following, and helping them to clearly communicate their brand message to their target audiences.
Content Management
Power of Images

Video Contest

Besides!
When the ice storm hit Toronto in December 2013 making many people to stay without power, Airbnb launched a disaster response tool allowing current hosts and local residents with extra space to host those in need. The most remarkable point is that all bookings in affected areas during the time of the storm were free. This again illustrates that how Airbnb helps local communities using digital tools.
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