E-commerce and marketing Abstract

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E-commerce and marketing

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Abstract
This report included the e-commerce of Airbnb which is used for marketing the products. The
social media platform is used for promoting the products in a different market. While promoting
the services of Airbnb, the organization uses the website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter for
promoting the brand in the market. the challenges and opportunities are discussed in the report
which is faced by Airbnb for using different social media marketing ways. Social media
marketing includes the platform which helps in connecting with the audience with the helps in
building the brand, increasing sales and driving the websites. The various range of social media
management tools helps the business in achieving the audiences and reaching to a large number
of customers.

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Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Social media marketing...................................................................................................................3
Challenges and opportunities of E-commerce from using social media marketing........................5
Recommendations............................................................................................................................7
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................8
Reference.........................................................................................................................................9

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Introduction
Airbnb, Inc. is an online marketplace that arranges and offers to lodge and provides the
homestays and experience of tourism. It was founded in August 2008 by Brian Chesky, JJoe
Gebbia, and Nathan Blecharczyk. It’s headquartered is in San Francisco, California and services
are provided across the world. Airbnb uses the platform of digitalization as social media in every
sector in commerce. This report includes the analysis of theories and different e-commerce
business models are evaluated. The challenges and opportunities of social media marketing are
evaluated which are faced by the organization. The various recommendations are provided which
helps the company in improving the use of social media marketing. Airbnb is required to adopt
effective strategies for the growth and development of the business in a different market. Airbnb
uses Facebook and other social media websites for promoting services and attracting customers.
Social media marketing
The multiple purposes are served with Airbnb social media marketing. With the strategy of
acquisition, they are focused on targeting audiences to those people who wanted to rent out their
houses and to the travelers who want to rent houses. Airbnb uses twitter, Instagram, travel
influencers, Youtube and Blog, etc. as social media marketing. The marketing strategy is used
which includes the travelers who are required to be provided a good experience with low prices.
Airbnb majorly focuses on its marketing strategy which includes market segmentation and
Airbnb is dealing with the customers. The target customers Airbnb are the hosts and guests. The
hosts are those who need to monetize their place and also they want to meet people. In guests,
they provide the services to people who require an affordable option to the hotel by providing the
home-like atmosphere and promises for local experiences (van Osch, et al., 2015).
The website is mainly a traffic conversion engine, and the user experience provided by the
website will ultimately drive the conversion. It is analyzed that websites are most effective and
powerful for new community channels which helps in increasing awareness, building brands,
shaping customer opinions and communicating the special offers. The organization manages its
operation through the website in which the purchase of Bnb can be conducted for all the
transactions through websites. The main website of Airbnb is www.airbnb.com which is
considered as an essential digital platform for business (Wang and Nicolau, 2017).

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Airbnb has also adopted influencer marketing which includes the organization is able to generate
brand awareness and maximizing exposure with the help of mass audiences of social platforms
like Instagram. Airbnb has curated its sponsored events as well as some major pop events to get
the attention of the social media community and the press.
Social media marketing is the process of using a social media website to attract the attention and
exposure of a business or brand. Promotions can take many forms, from posting or sharing
photos or videos, to links to external websites or content, and even paid advertising through
social media platforms (Nielsen, et al., 2016).
By using the various social media marketing, the challenges and opportunities are available as
social media helps in growing and expanding the market. It provides the opportunity of
expanding the business in the whole market as, after the economic crises, customers look for
cheaper rents which include the lower purchasing power.
Content marketing is essential for the success of online marketing campaigns and vital for the
tools of digital marketing. For Airbnb, content marketing is at the core of its marketing strategy.
In order to normalize the behavior of staying in strangers' homes and host strangers, Airbnb is
committed to conveying the true experience to the public through storytelling platforms. In the
case of content marketing, storytelling is the main objective that includes transferring messages
to customers. On the website of Airbnb, content marketing includes the stories in which travelers
and hosts share the stories (Liu and Mattila, 2017).
Airbnb cleverly shows how they can help upcoming customers improve their lives and inspire
potential customers to become Airbnb hosts and travel targets. It turns out that user-generated
content in the form of online customer review has an important impact on consumer purchase
decisions.
Digital media provides various benefits which include conveying the message consistently and
share fundamental values of Airbnb and reaching a wide range of audiences with the presence on
Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Youtube. Airbnb has well-integrates the strategy of social
marketing.

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Airbnb has started creating the own community with the help of creating the content strategy in
which users can share the experiences for the Airbnb services and they are able to book the
accommodation directly by using the link which is provided to them (Kumar, et al., 2013).
Airbnb is a leader in providing the P2P accommodation for its community. It helps in building
their communities by building trust between users. It helps in encouraging regular
communications, detailed profiles, and powerful reviews. One of the most significant social
media marketing techniques is around actually interacting with your audience on social media.
This means taking the time to answer their questions, answering them in a useful way,
communicating with people who comment on what you share, and usually spending some time is
interacting (Constantinides, 2014).
Social Media Marketing (SMM) includes the process which helps in empowering the individuals
for advertising the website, product or services which helps in communicating with the help
online social channels work with and leveraging the large community which may not be
available through traditional advertising channels. Social media marketing is about listening to
the community, build relationships with them and communicate with the community-related
products and service products (Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010). SMM helps in connecting service
providers and companies to a wide audience of influencers and consumers. With the help of
social media marketing, companies can drive traffic and drive relevant links to their websites,
make consumers aware of the brand and drive it and trigger conversations (Zarrella, 2009).
Challenges and opportunities of E-commerce from using social media marketing
Airbnb is doing e-commerce by using social media marketing from which they face various
challenges. Airbnb is required to create the modern social media marketing strategy which
includes the roadmap for bringing the accomplishment in a short time. Airbnb faced the issue of
authentic connection as social media requires segmenting the audience which includes sending
the personalized messages and maintaining the conversations and for improving the customer
experiences. In social media marketing, it is necessary to maintain originality which includes the
management of social media (Mody and Gomez, 2018).
The story is created for promoting Airbnb on social media and it also requires to work with
blogger of journalists for attracting the attention which offers to allow them to stay in contact

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with the people. The opportunity of e-commerce to Airbnb provides the Expansion into
developing markets as companies still have few developing countries. The company requires to
enter the countries which are developing such as India, which can greatly help the company
expand its business on an international level. In developing countries, there is no fierce
competition in the online market industry, so companies can get involved in this market and
enjoy high brand awareness and visibility. Expanding into emerging markets will greatly help the
company increase overall revenue and profitability (Singh, et al., 2015).
The mobile application is required to be developed which helps in advertising, promoting and
offer the services. The trend of online services is increasing as it helps to expand the business in
more geographical areas (Frue, 2017).
The growing trends helps in online services provides companies with the expand of opportunities
their business into rural areas of a wider international territory and existing markets. Cooperation
agreements with travel agencies can benefit companies (Karimi and Naghibi, 2015). In the case
of e-commerce, it is necessary to maintain customer loyalty because the competition is more in a
market that requires the organization to attract and retain the customers by providing effective
services.
The organization faces the issue of measuring ROI as it requires to evaluate the techniques and
strategies for implementing the work. In order to attract customers, the organization is required
to manage social media on a daily basis by using updated technologies and creativity. Social
media helps the organization is able to increase the engagement of the audience and it provides
the platform for interacting with potential customers. It works as a medium to communicate and
connect with the customers (Lehr, 2015). The issue which is faced by the Airbnb is to connect
with the customers for increasing the engagement.
In the case of social media marketing, time management is essential for managing the work and
providing opportunities to the business. It requires numerous social networks and engaging the
audience, creating the content on social media and requires to manage the social media
campaigns to achieve the targets of social media (Macarthy, 2018).
Social media analysis includes a daunting task for managers of social media. A large amount of
data available on social networks makes it almost impossible for marketers to classify useful data

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that can be used to learn more about audience behavior. The data is required to be managed in an
effective way and if the industry trnds and brands are not managed properly the data will be
missed (Chanthinok, et al., 2015).
In the modern world, every organziation is expanding its reliance on technology and innovation.
The use of the Internet and related technologies has become widespread among companies in any
sector. With the development of some new players in the online and offline markets, Airbnb
faces high risks of fierce market competition, thus providing tourists with unique, cheap and
high-quality housing, accommodation and accommodation services. Competition is intensifying
every day, which will force the company to invest more time, energy and resources on R & D
functions in order to compete in the market through strategies such as cost leadership and
product differentiation. As a result, competition is increasing (Yannopoulou, et al., 2013).
Recommendations
Airbnb is required to adopt the strategies for achieving the iconic status in the market for making
the leadership and competitive position. In order to make the business globalization, the internet-
based technologies are required to be maintained for improving the easy and rapid accessing the
services. The technology helps in reducing the operating costs which help in collecting the
marketing information and it requires providing the information on websites. Technology is
required to be provided on all the areas of operations. The alternative strategy is product
diversification which Airbnb can adopt for improving competitiveness (Tsou, 2015). The
organization can also provide the food and restaurant services along with the services which help
in encouraging the business from growing and improving the competitiveness. For improving its
social media marketing, it is recommended to automate the communication as in dealing with the
customers, the organization is required to quickly respond to inquiries and bookings. Instant
booking options must be available to the customers as it helps in attracting the customers. The
plan of social media marketing requires promotions and discounts and it requires the ability to
offer feedback for attracting the customers (Hofacker and Belanche, 2016).
It is recommended to endorse celebrities in promoting the services on social media marketing. It
will provide benefits as nowadays people are more attracted to celebrities. They get attracted to
their promotion. It is also recommended to manage the customers by providing the effective

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services on social media marketing which includes to satisfy the customers in an effective
manner by providing the services by responding to their messages.
Conclusion
By using proficient and effective marketing tools, Airbnb has achieved the benefits of applying
the 5Ss framework to digital marketing. Proper use of tagging tools can make Airbnb greatly
increase its user base and listings (sale), provide more value-added services to meet customer
needs (services), effectively communicate with customers and communicate its business
information to target audiences (say) and build a trustworthy brand name (Sizzle). In order to
conclude the report, it is analyzed with the social media marketing is effective for Airbnb as it
helps in reaching an extensive market and benefits indirectly interacting with customers. In the
organization, high competition helps to derive the valuable return from social media marketing.
It is recommended to provide effective customer services with a quick response and providing
the information and updates on time with the help of customer services.

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