According to Airbnb, listings with professional photography earn on average 40% higher returns than other listings in their area.
Your property photos are one of the top reasons guests choose to book. Here's the data from Airbnb:
Researching the short-term rental and Airbnb markets in Australia? Get a free copy of the Australian Short-Term Rental Report, updated for 2020 by clicking the link below:
1. Professional photos make you stand out from the crowd
Airbnb is usually crowded with listings in your area. In most cases, there will be properties that appear more appealing compared to your own. Because of increasing competition, it will be important to make sure your listing stands out from the crowd.
Among all these listings, yours needs to be striking, and you have 8 seconds to grab your guests attention. Some even say 3 seconds, and that’s only for your listing image and title. The point is, you want your first picture to be exceptional, different and intriguing.
Sounds like a lot?
Professional photography will help you differentiate yourself from other listings. Showcasing its best features, with brighter backgrounds and spacious settings will have a better chance of grabbing an interested guest’s attention.
2. Showcase your home
The interest in hiring a professional photographer is also to showcase your property’s best features. Some angles are better than others, and that’s why they are professionals. They will be able to find the best angle to highlight your property's best features.
Your property is unique and capturing its’ best angle, details and furniture is the best way to showcase it.
3. Triggers guest's emotions
You’re probably aware of your property’s potential, but your guests aren’t. They’ve never been to your home before.
Picture yourself searching for your next destination, and suddenly coming across a photo of a white sandy beach, turquoise water and giant palm trees in the background. You are suddenly aware this will be the ideal place to go for your next holiday.
Same goes with your guests. Triggering your guests’ emotions with professionally presented pictures is the main goal. With emotions triggered, you are one step closer to getting your guests to book your property.
4. Helps you set a higher price
An Airbnb study found that listings with professionally taken pictures tend to charge nightly rates 26% higher than listings without.
You know that feeling when you’re not sure if you should buy a product because: “what am I getting myself into, I don’t even know how it looks”. Well it’s the exact same for your guests, you wouldn’t expect them to pay the highest price for a property that doesn’t even look that good in pictures.
Having professional photos of your property adds value to your listing, allowing you to set a higher price.
5. Helps you get more bookings
When you stand out from the crowd of other listings around you, your listing will automatically increase your number of bookings. Airbnb data shows that listings with professionally taken photographs have on average 24% more bookings than listings without.
6. Increases your income
So, professional photography increases your bookings together with your nightly price, can you guess what increase comes naturally?
That’s right, your income! Simply by adding professionally taken photos to your listing can increase your revenue by 40% compared to listings with self-taken photos. (Airbnb data from 2016)
(Bonus) Reassures your worried guests
Booking an Airbnb for the first time can be stressful for some of us, which is why showing your property as a whole and under its’ best angle is important.
Bright, spacious, well-staged property listing will always be more appealing and reassuring than a dull, dark and messy property.
Summary
We are aware of how much is involved in managing a successful short-term rental listing. And taking great pictures for your property can be challenging, especially considering the amount of pictures available nowadays. Another challenge when listing your property on booking platforms is property styling. You can read more about this topic here.
Hiring a professional to take your property pictures is essential if you are looking to maximise your rental incomes from your Airbnb.
The good news is, you can hire one of Airbnb's professional photographer here.
The even better news is, MadeComfy makes sure every property is unique and stands out in its own way. What best way to do this than with an established network of professional photographers, pricing managers and an amazing guest service?
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