When will Airbnb India growth hack?
- anand das
- May 20, 2016
- 1 min read
I was reading mohit srivastava's interview (MD, Airbnb India) and wondered whats stopping Airbnb India from driving aggresive growth hack tactics @yourstory https://yourstory.com/2014/05/airbnb-india/
India is not US. Relying on the "small set" of early adopters who become evangelists to help spread word of mouth might not be enough. (it might, but is it a risk worth taking?). Hospitality & travel is gaining traction for the middle-class and many competitors are entering this space.
Factors that allowed airbnb adoption from early adopters to early majority in the western countries is not the same here. e.g. will a gujarati vegetarian traveller be open to stay at a bengali fish eating host ? Probably, he will. But once Airbnb goes aggresively explaining the concept and benefits on airbnb.
There are unknown challenges and education will go a long way to overcome them [ e.g. will the housing associations allow airbnb in their apartment complex, is safety an issue when hosts invite unknown guests as hosts.] aggresive communication tools will help.
My proposal to Airbnb India is simple.
"Aggresively" & "Repeatedly" drive targeted marketing communications to explain the concept and its benefits. Don't sell Airbnb, sell the concept.
Its important that Airbnb India becomes more visible to potential customers. most folks haven't even heard this name before. e.g. AirBNB should share unique experiences of its hosts and guests on mass media to help the target customers understand this animal. ( remember the google ads)
Improving visibility about the concept will go a long way in generating a significantly bigger army of early adopters, to help them cross the Chasm. There is a real risk IMHO.
Comments