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‭Vrbo‬
‭Marketing Strategy Paper‬
‭Wyatt Clarence Kramer‬
‭Melissa Quezada‬
‭Jeremy Ethan Cheng‬
‭Faith Marie Rogers‬
‭Melanie Desiree Armenta‬
‭California Baptist University‬
‭MKT 333- Principles of Marketing‬
‭Professor Roston Willis‬
‭3 December 2023‬
‭Authors Note‬
‭First paragraph: Vrbo’s Marketing Strategy and Results- Wyatt Kramer‬
‭Second paragraph: Vrbo’s Market & Various Segments Targeted- Melissa Quezada‬
‭Third paragraph: Vrbo’s Strong Suites & Areas of Improvement- Jeremy Cheng‬
‭Fourth paragraph: Vrbo’s Strategy- Faith Rogers & Melanie Armenta‬
‭Vrbo‬
‭1‬
‭(1.) VRBO has a distinct marketing strategy. They are trying to focus on getting each‬
‭customer with the property that fits them the best. It is typically geared towards middle/high‬
‭class family & friends that want to book a large entire home. Vrbo has done this through their‬
‭massive amount of commercials mostly shown to consumers via Youtube.‬
‭These commercials make the viewers feel that the family/friends in the commercial are‬
‭right where they each want to be. It portrays the idea that even though there are multiple‬
‭generations, the location that they are in is perfect for everyone. This is different from their‬
‭largest competitor: Airbnb. Airbnb focuses mostly on small families. Their advertisements‬
‭usually consist of a group or family of three people. VRBO is geared towards larger numbers of‬
‭people.‬
‭Vrbo does not so much care about the quantity of listings/rentals they get. They are more‬
‭worried about the quality of their listings. “Vrbo does not care about getting the most listings. It‬
‭wants the ones that are the best for its target consumers,” (Masson). They want to ensure that‬
‭each and every customer leaves with a smile on their face.‬
‭Vrbo has been successful. Through these market campaigns mostly via youtube, they‬
‭have done overall pretty well. Expedia owns Vrbo, just simply looking at the stock, it has been‬
‭on an uptrend. Vrbo was able to pump the market full of a lot of marketing and advertising. This‬
‭was successful in the end and has continued to have steady growth as a company. This growth‬
‭and advertising is not only worldwide either. They are currently in over 190 Countries. Vrbo has‬
‭been successful, and I believe they will continue to be successful. As of now, it does not look‬
‭like anything is standing in their way.‬
‭Vrbo‬
‭2‬
‭(2.)‬
‭As previously mentioned, VRBO markets their listings to families or groups of friends.‬
‭Throughout the website, they make this apparent by showing multiple pictures of either families‬
‭or groups of friends in various places. In their section, “Get to know Vrbo,” they have a picture‬
‭of a family at the top, and they go on to list their mission, followed by a brief explanation of just‬
‭how important family is to them. This catches the attention of clients who are looking for‬
‭potential family getaways.‬
‭While it may seem simple, Vrbo has paid attention to its demographics and typical‬
‭clientele. When looking at Vrbo’s demographics on Similar Web, we see that one of the most‬
‭prominent groups of interest is people between the ages of 45-54, followed by people between‬
‭the age of 35-44. Additionally, taking the gender percentages into account, females at 58.3% and‬
‭males at 41.7%, we understand why Vrbo chooses family as their most vital selling point.‬
‭Typically, women in the age range mentioned above hold family values at the top of their list. By‬
‭advertising family values and the importance of togetherness, Vrbo calls those people in left and‬
‭right.‬
‭Regarding marketing, Vrbo tends to be more successful through word of mouth since‬
‭their highest market channel is their website directly, at 53.32%. (Similar Web) We see much‬
‭smaller numbers when looking at the attention coming from social media at 1.66% and display at‬
‭2.73%. This does not come as a surprise when considering that the majority of their clientele is‬
‭between the ages of 35-54; this age group does not typically have social media, which explains‬
‭the drastic difference in percentages.‬
‭Vrbo‬
‭3‬
‭(3.)‬
‭So in light of this information, what conclusions can be made on the performance and‬
‭quality of Vrbo’s marketing strategies? It’s very apparent that the company knows its target‬
‭demographic, abundantly spreading information that helps connect people who they think are‬
‭interested in their service.‬
‭As mentioned before, Vrbo’s most recent online ad campaign titled “Only your people”‬
‭does exceptionally well at emphasizing their target market’s need for privacy when renting a‬
‭home. Within the campaign, they take the qualities of therapeutic music, diverse images, and‬
‭captivating words to compile an appealing advertisement that covers a multitude different‬
‭segments in one go. Whether you're with family, friends, or someone special, Vrbo presents it so‬
‭that if you chose to book a home with them, any plans you’ve made would go smoothly without‬
‭any outside interruptions. However, even if Vrbo is good in their appeal to those with strong‬
‭relational and familial values there is quite literally a price to be paid for such a strong emphasis‬
‭on that particular market.‬
‭For all Vrbo's success with appealing to families and friends, it struggles to address the‬
‭financially conscious who may find value in its pricing. Lancefield in his comparative study‬
‭found that hotels tend to be generally cheaper among housing rental services, especially through‬
‭other countries. He found that hotels in Greece, the UK, and the Netherlands had financial‬
‭advantages ranging from 58-85% between venues. In addition, refund policies vary from place to‬
‭place depending on the homeowner; such information is rarely addressed in their advertisements.‬
‭Vrbo isn’t in the deepest of water however. It’s tendency to aim at large groups assist in‬
‭creating value for such an expensive purchase, as most people would prefer the abundance of‬
‭Vrbo‬
‭‬
4
‭space provided by Vrbo’s selection of housing. However, it wouldn’t be harmful to add some sort‬
‭of financial appeal to consumers.‬
‭(4.)‬
‭Through Vrbo’s strategy to market to family and friends, they can help big groups travel‬
‭by offering large vacation homes tailored to each group and their specific needs. With their‬
‭slogan, “Where families travel better together,” they offer a safe space for families and groups to‬
‭bond together and relax in community. Therefore, their marketing strategy has successfully‬
‭targeted their market and utilized campaigns and branding to focus on their familial market‬
‭(Garcia).‬
‭During the pandemic, Vrbo implemented strategies to continue their business by posing‬
‭their vacation homes as families coming together, being finally united under one roof again. As‬
‭the travel season restarted in 2021, their strategy in changing their tagline in their YouTube ads‬
‭from “travel better together” to “your together awaits” illustrated their adaption to the modern‬
‭changes in society. Additionally, author Thibault Masson explains in his article, “Vrbo‬
‭commercials reveal its clear focus on family vacation rentals,” that Vrbo successfully targeted‬
‭the market’s want to resume safe travel once again (Masson). Thus resulting in Vrbo maintaining‬
‭their sales within the shifting economy.‬
‭Although Vrbo has been very successful in its marketing strategy to target families and‬
‭large groups by uniting them through their vacation experience, Vrbo can improve its marketing‬
‭strategy by making the users’ booking experience more personal and marketing it as a‬
‭personalized booking process to fit every need. Although the booking experience is positioned as‬
‭“instant booking,” it lacks personalization within the booking process. Instead, Vrbo could attract‬
‭and target more families by implementing strategies such as previous booking history or a‬
‭Vrbo‬
‭5‬
‭chatbot to answer questions about preferences or housing styles during the booking process.‬
‭They can use these improvements and market these strategies as a personalized experience for‬
‭family and friends to seek comfort, convenience, and familiarity within their booking process.‬
‭Another form that VRBO could improve on their marketing actions is by focusing on‬
‭fostering stronger connections with both property owners and travelers. This could involve‬
‭personalized marketing campaigns, loyalty programs, or incentives to encourage repeat‬
‭bookings. With this also including the form of the target market by expanding geographic‬
‭expansion by‬‭Identifying emerging markets and strategically‬‭expanding into those regions could‬
‭help VRBO increase its global footprint. Targeting regions with high tourism potential but lower‬
‭competition might offer growth opportunities. This will help VRBO grow and have a higher‬
‭potential of targeting other tourists with more opportunities to expand.‬
‭It is important for VRBO to build a loyal community and having features that stand out‬
‭from different communities to bring more attention to VRBO. Therefore creating a sense of‬
‭community among users by facilitating forums, user-generated content, or social media‬
‭engagement could foster trust and enhance the overall user experience. emphasizing unique‬
‭features or exclusive property listings could help VRBO stand out in a crowded market.‬
‭Highlighting diverse and unconventional accommodations or providing niche offerings could‬
‭attract a larger community, even bring others from a different community to be a part of VRBO.‬
‭Overall VRBO has historically been recognized for its effective marketing strategies that‬
‭have contributed to its success in the vacation rental industry, but these are some concepts that‬
‭may improve VRBO marketing even more.‬
‭Vrbo‬
‭6‬
‭References‬
‭About cancellation policy options‬‭. Vrbo. (n.d.).‬
‭https://help.vrbo.com/articles/What-are-the-cancellation-policy-options‬
‭Get to know Vrbo‬‭. Vrbo. (n.d.). https://www.vrbo.com/about/‬
‭Lancefield, Neil . "‘Surprising’ study finds hotels generally cheaper than Airbnb".‬‭The‬
‭Independent(United Kingdom),‬‭September 16, 2023 Saturday.‬
‭advance-lexis-com.libproxy.calbaptist.edu/api/document?collection=news&id=urn:‬
‭contentItem:6960-7J51-JBNF-W20S-00000-00&context=1516831. Accessed December‬
‭1, 2023.‬
‭Masson https://www.rentalscaleup.com/author/thibault-masson/, T. (2021, November 17).‬‭Vrbo‬
‭2022 strategy: Focus on large families, more listings on Expedia and hotels.com: Rental‬
‭scale‬‭. Up‬
‭Masson, Thibault. “Vrbo Commercials Reveal Its Clear Focus on Family Vacation Rentals:‬
‭Rental Scale.”‬‭Rental Sscale-Up‬‭, 20 Oct. 2020.‬
‭www.rentalscaleup.com/vrbo-family-vacation-rentals/.‬
‭Vrbo.com traffic analytics, ranking stats & tech stack | similarweb‬‭. Similar Web. (2023,‬
‭October). https://www.similarweb.com/website/vrbo.com/‬
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