Airbnb’s Founder Led Content Playbook

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Airbnb’s Twitter account has ~900k followers. Brian Chesky’s Twitter account has ~700k followers. Which account do you think has the higher engagement rate? And why? That’s what we’re talking about today.

And as always, thank you to our partner Palmo Content.

Get your brand in front of 200,000+ marketers & founders.

In March 2020, Airbnb lost 80% of its business in several weeks.

To bounce back from the pandemic, Airbnb had to become more disciplined and focus on critically important areas for long-term growth.

One of the changes?

CEO Brian Chesky going all in on a personal brand.

• Actively posting on Twitter

• Appearing on podcasts

• Creating content engines around himself as the face of the brand

• Telling the brand story

• Communicating product changes

The result?

Airbnb spends about half of what its competitors spend on marketing.

Here are a few lessons you can borrow.

And if you’re a Founder ready to launch a personal brand, I’d connect with my friend Preston at Palmo ASAP.

Leverage Founder-led Content to Interact with Customers and Get First-hand Feedback

Brian Chesky doesn't just lead from the boardroom.

He's a frontline CEO who personally stays and hosts in Airbnbs to understand the customer experience.

And he uses his personal Twitter to ask for feedback to inform product development.

Every post gets millions of views and hundreds of comments, sparking conversations directly with customers.

He says he hopes people see the changes, see that he's listening, and keeps making updates they'd like to see.

Takeaway #1: Use content to spur founder-customer interaction that builds an unparalleled level of trust and loyalty.

Founder-Led Content Builds Credibility, Trumps Faceless Branding

As a founder, you have the unfair advantage of telling the story of your brand in a way that no one else can.

That's how you should think about your content strategy.

Founders can have instant credibility.

It's their name on the line, not a faceless company.

They can use their own authentic voice, not just writing up tactical articles they don't believe in.

Brian Chesky's posts outperform the official Airbnb account despite having fewer followers.

Because people listen to people. They connect with individuals, not a faceless brand.

Takeaway #2: Founders have an unfair advantage to evangelize the brand story.

Founder-Led Content Bridges the Gap Between Marketing & Product

Founders are uniquely positioned to bridge the gap between marketing and product development.

Chesky highlights the disconnect: "Marketing and engineering are in different universes. Companies do 10 marketing efforts, but no customer's heard anything. They ship all these products, but a customer can't tell you a single thing they did."

By using your content to tell the product's story, you shape the product itself.

And it’s the founder-led content that creates this invaluable feedback loop.

Takeaway #3: Founder-audience feedback can help you build products that your customers actually want.

But you don’t have to be a Fortune 500 company for it to work.

Here’s how I leverage Founder-led content to grow Marketing Examined.

In partnership with Palmo Content

How to Execute a Founder-Led Content Strategy

Marketing Examined has always grown from a Founder-first content strategy.

After all, it’s my name that lands in your inbox.

And as a result, we get to work with some of the coolest brands that I personally love and use.

All because they read my newsletter, or saw an Instagram video, or listened to the podcast.

Prospective clients know, like, and trust me before we’ve even spoken.

So if you want to do the same, instead of trying to hire and manage a team - I would recommend working with Palmo Content to prop up a Founder-led strategy quickly.

They’re a content as a subscription service - and the Founder (Preston) is a part of the Marketing Examined community.

They’ll help you with everything from:

• Strategy, to

• Content calendars, outlines, ideas

• Copywriting

• Graphic Design

• Video Editing

And they’re ready to give you 10% off your first month + a complimentary content strategy session.

I’ve met Preston and their team is dialed.

If you want to stand out from the crowd - schedule a 15m strategy session to find out how.

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