“The majority of our bookings come from past guests, and it’s actually been the strong guest retention that we’ve had for years since the beginning of Airbnb that’s been a powerful driver of our growth,” Stephenson explained. Indeed, some 600,000 articles were written about the business in 2022 and nearly 90% of the platform’s traffic remains direct, he confirmed on a call with investors last night (14 February).ĬFO Dave Stephenson added that the “strategic change” in marketing spend has proven to be “incredibly effective” from 2020 through to 2022. However, PR is Airbnb’s “most important” channel, Chesky has said. We’re getting more efficient and effective at the timing, and we think bringing forward a little bit more marketing into Q1 is a more effective use of our dollars. The cut meant shifting investment away from performance marketing and SEO into brand and PR.ĬEO Brian Chesky said Airbnb now looks at the role of marketing as one of “education”, not “to buy customers”. The business launched its first large-scale brand marketing campaign in five years in early 2021, ‘Made Possible by Hosts’. The travel accommodation business first announced it would be making a permanent cut to its overall marketing investment in February 2021, having noted that slashing spend during Covid had little impact on traffic. The vast majority of marketing spend remains focused on brand-building.

The business also reported its first full year profit, with a 23% net margin and net income of $1.9bn (£1.6bn).Īs revenues have increased, so too has Airbnb’s sales and marketing spend. The profit boost came amid a 24% rise in revenues to $1.9bn (£1.6bn) over the period, Airbnb’s highest fourth quarter revenues to date.įor the full year, adjusted EBITDA hit $2.9bn (£2.4bn), up from $1.6bn (£1.3bn) in 2021, as revenues surged 40% to $8.4bn (£6.9bn). Airbnb has reported its most profitable fourth quarter ever, two years after slashing its overall marketing investment but shifting spend from performance channels into brand building.Īdjusted EBITDA reached $506m (£417m) in the final three months of the financial year, up from $333m (£274m) a year prior.

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