A lesson for pawnbrokers from Airbnb
Kieran Flanagan of Hubspot recently tweeted that “Airbnb turned off their paid marketing in 2020 and didn’t notice a massive impact because 90% of their traffic is direct and organic. They now see the top of their funnel as PR (telling stories). Search + Storytelling is how you build real demand.”
While a bold move, it wasn’t prompted by vision or brand awareness. They were forced to shut off their marketing because of the COVID impact to their business. Their market then rebounded back to 95% of previous levels without turning their paid marketing back on. Airbnb’s Co-founder and CEO, Brian Chesky said, “…that’s how we really built the brand of Airbnb more than anything, probably, is PR. “
Because they were deemed essential during the height of the pandemic crisis, most pawnshops, much like Airbnb operators, saw wild fluctuations in their business over the past 12 months or so.
Now is a perfect time to take a look back on opportunities this COVID experience has revealed and ask some critical questions about how you can rebuild a better approach to growing your business. Airbnb learned important messages about marketing and were able to regain traction without restarting some of the expensive practices they’d used in the past. Pawnbrokers have the same opportunity to take a hard look at things they’d always done leading up to the pandemic shift and decide for themselves how they’ll pivot moving forward.
Like Airbnb, it’s likely that high on the list of tactics that pawn businesses should question are those that they’ve used for marketing. We believe that now is the most important time in pawnbroking’s history for strategic storytelling that because it will not only help your pawnshop grow but help fend off oppressive legislation as well.
Public relations matters to any comprehensive marketing plan. For pawnbrokers, the stakes are particularly high. Public relations matters to pawnbrokers because public perception matters to lawmakers.
We’ve launched the industry’s first and only media blog because we are on a mission to tell the stories that are the best of pawn. We invite YOU to share your story with us! Email editor@pawnbrokernetwork.com today to get involved! Be sure you add your insights to the ‘comments’ section below!
(here’s the link to the Airbnb Q4 earnings call transcript if you’d like to learn more): https://www.fool.com/earnings/call-transcripts/2021/02/25/airbnb-inc-abnb-q4-2020-earnings-call-transcript/)
