Understanding Your Target Guests

Before diving head-first into building the perfect Airbnb listing, it’s important to first take a step back to consider who it is you are trying to attract to come stay at your place.

Why? Because Airbnb is active in 81,000 cities and 191 countries. With more than half a million Airbnb stays each night, there are a lot of guests out there looking for a place to stay. All too often, Airbnb hosts make the mistake of casting their net as wide as possible in the hope of appealing to anyone that happens to stumble across their listing.

The hosts that ultimately receive the most reservation requests are those that understand what type of guest is most likely to be interested in their place and then ‘positioning’ their listing to directly appeal to those target guests.

Will they inevitably lose possible bookings? Potentially.

Will these losses be offset by the vast increase in bookings from a smaller number of keener target guests? Most likely.

And will these target guests have a better experience being hosted in a way more aligned to their travel needs and preferences? Almost certainly!

Remember our different types of guests you may want to consider targeting?…

  • Ethical Travelers
  • Cultural Purists
  • Obligation Meeters
  • Social Capital Seekers
  • Reward Hunters
  • Simplicity Searchers

Understanding who your target guests are, and then tailoring your Airbnb listing to appeal specifically towards them will increase the number of reservation requests you receive.

These reservations will also arrive from guests more likely to enjoy their stay and leave positive reviews. As a virtuous cycle, all of this will lead to additional bookings from similarly-interested target guests in the future too.

Ensure that as you bulk up and build out your Airbnb listing, you remain mindful of who it is you’re trying to attract at all points in time.

Complete and Continue