Turn Airbnb Guests Into Direct Booking Regulars (Without Breaking Rules)

Have you ever had an amazing guest stay? Once through Airbnb, they left a review and then they absolutely disappeared. No email, no follow up, no chance for them to book with you again unless they stumble across your listing by total accident. So in this video, I'm going to show you how to turn almost every Airbnb guest into a direct booking superfan. All without breaking any of the T's and C's. I'm Maximson, founder of Boostly. I grew up running our family farm stay business called the Granary. We were fully booked on all the platforms, but handing thousands in commission every year until we learned about direct bookings. We built our direct booking system and that changed everything. We kept more profit and more importantly, guests started to come back and book with us directly. Since 2016, I've helped over 2000 hosts all over the world increase their direct bookings. And over the last 10 years, they've brought in over $1 billion worth of bookings. If you're tired of paying commission for the same guests all over again and you want a simple human way to turn one Airbnb stay into to a long term direct booking relationship, stick around. And if you would like the shortcut to all of this and you would like to grab all of these free books for free, in my book, Direct Blueprint, click on the link below. All right, so let's start by shifting how you think about Airbnb's role in your business. First, we need to change how you see Airbnb and the other OTAs. And remember, when I say OTAs, I mean online travel agency. So Airbnb booking.com Expedia most small hosts treat these sites as their whole business. If the Airbnb calendar is busy, things feel fine. If it's quiet, panic sets in. But here's the truth. The OTAs are a fantastic discovery tool, but they're not meant to be your entire marketing strategy. Think of it like this. Airbnb brings the guest to you once. That's the top of the funnel, the very beginning of the relationship. Your systems are what bring them back time and time again. This team, though, through your website, on your terms, with no commission. The big operators use this model all the time. They let the OTAs fill beds when they work hard behind the scenes to turn those visitors into loyal direct guests. And that's how you reduce commission costs and you grow your margin over time. So from this point on, I want you to see every Airbnb guest as a lead. Someone who's already trusted you once. The question isn't how do I get more strangers from Airbnb? The question is, how do I make sure that this guest never has to find me for an OT again? Once you see it that way, the rest of the guest journey starts to make sense. Before we go end to end for that, before we go any further, we need to talk about the rules. When I say without breaking the T's and C's, I'm talking about the terms and conditions you agree to when you use a platform like Airbnb. Airbnb is very clear on a couple of points. You can't ask guests to move the current booking off the platform. You can't push people to pay or message someone else before the booking is confirmed. And they've tightened their off platform and fee transparency policies in recent years, especially around using guest contact details for marketing. I'm not here to give you legal advice. Every country and platform has its own rules and they do update them. What I am saying here is don't use Airbnb's own messaging system to spam guests with book direct instead messages. Don't try and hijack a live booking to avoid fees. That's exactly the sort of thing their policies are written to stop do. Focus on giving a brilliance day, building a clear brand and making it obvious that you exist outside of the Airbnb bubble. Once the relationship is established, everything I'm going to share assumes that you've already read the latest policies yourself and you follow local laws on data and privacy. Treat those as your guardrails and inside those guardrails there is still a lot you can do. Okay, so let's zoom out a little bit and look at the whole guest journey. There are a few key stages. So you've got inquiry booking, pre arrival, check in, check out, post day. Most hosts often pay attention in the middle of the night. The guest is physically in the property. But if you want to build superfans, you need the whole journey to be direct ready. That simply means that every stage that the guests can see you as a real brand with a real home base, not just all that Airbnb that I stayed at. The trick here is to use the same property or brand name everywhere on Airbnb, on your website, on your social media. Make sure that your logo and name are top of mind everywhere. So use it on your digital guidebook. Your house rules have a simple line that basically says if you want to find out more about us, this is our brand name, then go to here. It's not aggressive, it's not selling. It's just making sure that you're top of mind. It's making sure that when the guest remembers about their stay at their property, they're going oh I had to stay at insert brand name instead of I stayed at an Airbnb. So ask yourself this question. Where does my brand actually show up? Is it mentioned anywhere on my Airbnb listing? So step two is about the guest details, mainly name and email address. Guest data sounds fancy, but it just means who stayed, when did they stay and how can I reach them again? And more importantly, have they given me permission? For years, OTAs kept almost all the information to themselves, which meant you couldn't easily re engage people after they left. But there are now plenty of ways for guests to share their details directly with you during or after they stay, and many operators are using these moments to capture contact information in a way that helps both sides. A few TNC Safe guest friendly ideas A digital welcome guide so you can send a link where the guests can enter their email to get directions, tips, restaurant acclimations make it clear what they're signing up for and where they can opt out. Also a wi fi friendly page that the property shows your brand, your site and if appropriate in your area, let them pop in an email to receive a local discount on future stays registration forms. They are required by local law sometimes just be transparent about how they're going to be used. Obviously check Airbnb's latest OP platform policy and check your local privacy laws as as well. But as long as you're good to go, you are fine to collect your data this way. Number two Tell guests in plain English what they are green to for example, we occasionally share news about the area, special offers for past guests, no spam and you can subscribe at any time. If you do that, collecting details feels like a natural part of the stay, not just a sneaky trick. Step 3 Create Superfans Superfans is where your business is made. You can have the best systems in the world, but if the stay is average, guests won't fight to come back. A super fan experience isn't about gold plated taps. It's about ease, clear instructions, smooth check in, no guessing games, reliability, the property is clean as described and everything works the guest feels looked after, not just processed operators that win repeat direct bookings. They focus heavily on this. They go beyond acceptable and create small memorable touches through thoughtful welcome baskets, locally sourced treats, personal notes or tailored recommendations for families, couples or remote workers. For you that might look like a handwritten card that says thanks for choosing us. We're a small family run business. If you need anything, message us. A one page local guide with the logo on it that says this is our top 10 things to do within 20 minutes. A small branded item that they can take home like a postcard, a fridge magnet, a bookmark with the property name and the website on it. People become superfans when they have a stay that they want to repeat and a host that they trust. Your job is to make it easy. Finally, the follow up. This is where we quietly shift the relationship from Airbnb guest to direct regular. And the magic happens once they've gone home. In hospitality, email is still one of the most effective ways to drive repeat direct bookings. It's low cost, it's trackable and perfect for nurturing relationships with people who already know and trust you. You don't need anything complicated. Start with a simple three step four Follow up Number one thank you plus review request send shortly after checkout. Keep it human. So thanks so much for staying with us. We've loved hosting you. You've got 30 seconds. A quick review really helps us reach more guests like you. Number two here's what you might have missed. Message a week or two later. Share a quick tip or local update if you're ever back in. Name your area. Here are three new places we think you'd love. Number three Next time. Here's how to book Direct invitation. Once they've already had a full experience and you've added value first, something like by the way, if you or your friends ever want to stay with us, you can book directly with us. Here's our website we offer insert perks, priority dates, late checkout, etc. For returning guests. No hard sell, no pressure, just a clear path to book with you on your own website next time they're planning a trip. So let's build this super fun ladder. This is what I'd like to call $superfan ladder. That's just a simple way of saying guests move up in the loyalty over time. So the first day they book through Airbnb. Second stay they trust you enough to come back. Ideally direct third stay. And beyond they come super fans. The kind of people who recommend you to friends and family. We could do this through loyalty programs and tiers. These are where you know you reward the people who stay again and again and again. You don't need points or a fancy dashboard like the hotels do. Just have some thoughtful little touches. Don't just say we see you and we're glad you came back. A simple ladder might look like this. So for example, seconds, day, priority dates on popular dates, a little small gift when they arrive. Third day could be a personalized message or maybe a little upgrade or a late checkout where possible. And every other time, every other time they come to stay with you, you can do something a little bit more and more to reward their loyalty. Over time, this turns to a list of past guests into a small loyal community of people who choose you on purpose, not just because they happen to pop up on page two of Airbnb, but because they want to stay with you. But here are some common mistakes to avoid, and I see it time and time again. So before we wrap this all up, let's quickly run through a few of the common mistakes. Mistake number one, being too pushy, too soon, trying to drag guests off Airbnb before they even arrive. It's not only off putting, it's exactly the kind of thing that can get you into trouble with the T's and C's. Keep the first day simple and focus on service. Mistake number two, over complicating the tech. You don't need to have five different softwares and a points app to get repeat guests. Just simply start with a solid website, a basic email tool and a simple way to track with your CRM who has stayed with you and when. Mistake number three, inconsistent branding. If you're a coastal escape, north, base days etc on Instagram and something totally different on your website, you, guests won't connect the dots. Pick a name, stick with it and use the same photos everywhere. Mistake number four, not tracking returning guests at all. If you don't know who stayed with you, you can't build loyalty. I've even used a basic spreadsheet with names, email, stay dates and just little notes like anniversary trip, work, travel. It's a huge step forward. Avoiding these mistakes puts you ahead of most small hosts who are still stuck on the hamster wheel of I hope Airbnb fills my calendar. So let's pull this all together. Airbnb and the other platforms are brilliant at Bringing you guests 1. But what grows your profit and control is what happens next. You treat Airbnb as top of funnel, not the whole business. You understand the rules and you work with them, not against them. You design a guest journey where your brand clearly shows up at every single step. You collect the guest details ethically with permission and transparency and you turn the stay itself into a super fan experience. You follow up after they've gone home, adding value and showing them how to book directly next time with you, and you build a simple ladder, the one that turns one time visitors into loyal regulars. And here's your next move. Pick one part of that ladder and improve it this week. Maybe that's right in your first poster email. Maybe it's ordering some simple branded merch. Maybe it's finally sorting your guest list into one place. If you like a shortcut, I've linked a couple of these resources below and of course you've got the full direct booking playbook that you can go and grab for free in the comments. And if you want to take this further, and if you want to book a call with our team, there's a link in the description below. Thank you very much for tuning in. YouTube has recommended that you watch this one next to improve your direct booking journey, and I'll see you on the next one.