How to Beat Airbnb

At 20 years old, my momma worried about me for the first time. I dropped out of college with hardly a bulletproof back up plan.

Personal training was always the dream career path. The second I turned 18, I got my license and applied for jobs before high school graduation.

When I chose my college, I made sure there was a student personal training job I could focus on. I didn't tour a single classroom. #Priorities

Two years in, I realized the money in this business was made by selling to the masses online. They didn't teach this in fitness school.

By chance, I found Facebook Ads. This was the key.

For 18 months, I studied ads daily.

• Early mornings

• Late nights

• Spending what was left of my small income to practice

I began drifting from the fitness industry to run ads for random businesses.

• HVAC

• Finance bros

• Healthcare

• and more

Personal training ended up getting put on pause. Ads were too addicting. I never went back.

Since then, I have:

• Started one small agency (since has closed)

• Four other businesses (also no longer around)

• Allowed 3 friends to go full time in their business

• Founded Lodge Social

• Built this newsletter where I talk to you every week

All because of one core skill...

Ads.

The most powerful marketing skill you can learn.

Why Facebook Ads are so powerful

Social media is the best marketing channel to target people who are interested in your thing, but aren't searching for it.

Channels like:

• Google

• OTAs (Airbnb, VRBO, etc...)

Require a guest to actually be searching for a place to stay.

The number of people who are searching is much smaller than who are interested.

Plus, imagine your airbnb or hotel is off the beaten path from a popular attraction.

Do you think a lot of people are searching for places to stay near you?

H*ll no.

Therefore,

• Google Ads

• OTAs

Probably aren't going to fill up that booking calendar. It's a demand issue.

With Facebook Ads, you create your own demand.

This is why they dominate.

The best 3 ways to run Facebook Ads

There are 3 ways to structure a Facebook Ads campaign.

• Brand Awareness

• Purchase

• Both

Option #1: Brand Awareness

If you don't know:

• Who is interested in your stay

• What part of your stay they love

• Where they are coming from

• Why / why not they book

• etc...

Choose this. You have a lot of unanswered questions that only data can answer.

Brand awareness is the quickest and cheapest way to do that.

With this, your chasing two metrics:

• Followers

• Leads

These two metrics is where bookings are sold.

Option #2: Purchase

Choose this if people are familiar with your concept. Examples:

• Near a popular area

• Camping

• Most glamping

• Hotels

• Lake cabin

• Beach house

Let me explain:

If I had a five-bedroom hill top mansion in Mason, New Hampshire, I would not choose a purchase campaign.

• Few people book mansions

• I've never heard of Mason, NH until a few months ago

The concept is unfamiliar and requires more touch points.

If I had a two-bedroom seaside cottage outside of Acadia National Park, I would go straight for the purchase.

• Most people book two bedroom stays

• 3.9M people go to Acadia each year

• It's very familiar.

I say this because purchase ads are very expensive to run. If that money isn't coming back quickly, you'll rack up quite the bill.

Option #3: Both

As always, there are hybrids. Most of our clients are in this situation:

The type of stay is familiar...

• Glamping

• Seaside cottage

• Nature resort

But their location is not.

So we do this:

• 50% of the budget goes to misc. brand awareness tactics.

• 50% goes straight for the purchase.

After 2-3 months, if most bookings are coming from brand awareness efforts (email list, leads, etc...) we will focus more budget there. And visa versa.

If you have no clue where to start, I'll make it easy:

If you're stay is:

• <$450 per night

• Within 30 minutes of something popular

Go straight for the purchase.

Not you? Choose brand awareness or both.

How to run Facebook Ads

When I was 20, I paid $3,000+ to learn Facebook Ads.

Plus, thousands more over the years to practice.

If you want to learn the most powerful marketing skill for $3,000+ less than me, join my on-demand training: How to Run Meta Ads for Bookings

Warning: It may be technical. You'll get my personal email to ask questions.

Sign up HERE

That's all for today. I'll see you in the next article.

P.S. Writing this from Ostuni, Italy. Spent the last few days biking around the Puglia area. Wrapping up the trip so I’ll give you some stats:

• Miles ridden: 239

• Pizzas had: 6

• Days biking in the rain: 1/6

• Music choice on this day: Noah Kahan’s new album

• Days biking with a headwind: 4/6

• Music choice on this day: EDM. The hardcore stuff.

• Top speed: 38mph (2-mile downhill)

Before you go

I spend about 10 hours writing this newsletter each week. The rest of my time is spent running $100K Stay and Lodge Social.

1) $100K Stay — Learn how to make $100K for your Airbnb or hotel from social media.

• This hybrid-live training program is everything you need to get your own guests from the internet. Even if you have zero audience, experience, or marketing skills.

• Enrollment is currently open. Book a call to join →

2) Lodge Social — Our marketing team will help you get more guests to like, share and book. Work with me and my team here.

Links you might like:

1. How to Make $61,673.79+ BEFORE Opening a New Airbnb or Hotel (YouTube)

2. Tips for your direct booking website (Anastasia Tara)

3. How to get more Airbnb bookings (Instagram)

4. Airbnb's Most Wishlisted Stays & What They Tell Us About What Guests Want in 2026 (The Daily Host)