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Airbnb Business Card Hacks: Design Ideas + What to Include
An Airbnb business card is helpful for communicating key information, representing your brand, and providing guests with a small reminder of their stay at your vacation rental. Read on to find out how to make yours stand out among the others.
Key Takeaways:
- An Airbnb business card is still a relevant strategy to promote your listing as it allows you to spread the word about your property to new potential guests and stay top of mind among previous guests.
- While you have the freedom to personalize a template, ensure that your Airbnb business card includes key information like the name of your listing, short property description, and contact information.
- Design best practices like sufficient negative space and a pop of color will let your business cards stand out and create a good impression.
With the boom in online advertising, more traditional and paper-based forms of Airbnb communication and advertising have taken a backseat — including using an Airbnb business card. However, because some Airbnb hosts tend to overlook it, you could use it as a secret weapon to impress prospective guests.
When an Airbnb business card is done right, it has the potential to be a pocket rocket that guides travelers right to your doorstep. Read on to find out how to use business cards to your advantage.
What Is an Airbnb Business Card
An Airbnb business card is a small, usually rectangular, piece of cardboard that contains important information about your vacation rental business. It is handed out by property owners and property managers to prospective guests in order to generate interest in their Airbnb business.
An Airbnb business card typically includes the essential information your guests need to book your Airbnb rental, like:
- The property’s name
- Name and surname of the host or property manager (along with their job title)
- Contact information
- A short description of the property
- A website URL
- Visual elements like an image and/or logo
- Facebook, Instagram, and/or TikTok handle
Are Airbnb Business Cards Still Useful?
While other vacation rental advertising techniques might be more effective for getting your Airbnb listing seen faster, Airbnb business cards still have a place in your marketing arsenal. Here are some of the key benefits of having your own Airbnb business card:
Communicates key information quickly
One of the best advantages of an Airbnb business card is that it can communicate a lot of important information about your Airbnb listing without having to spend a lot of money. Essentially, you’ll only have to pay for printing and design costs (the latter being optional). After that, you can distribute it for free.
Easy to distribute
A business card can be passed around from past guests to their friends and family when they recommend your vacation rental. Therefore, with one business card, you can reach many potential guests.
Encourages repeat bookings
If a guest enjoyed their stay at your Airbnb, finding your business card in their wallet or car could remind them of their great experience. It can act as a sign that they should make another booking, and as they have all the details conveniently on hand, booking should be seamless.
Creates a professional business image
A business card may be a potential guest’s first impression of your vacation rental. If you’re able to impress them from the get-go with a stunning business card, it could help convert their interest into a booking.
What Should I Include On My Airbnb Business Card?
Technically, you can include whatever you want on your Airbnb business cards. Generally speaking, though, there’s an expectation that you’ll at least include a website link and your other contact details.
Here are the main elements most hosts include on their Airbnb business cards:
1. Name of the host or property manager
If you are including personal contact details like an email or phone number, it is good practice to include the name of the person. Adding a name helps to personalize the experience and show that there is a human behind the operations.
You could also include your job title, like “property manager”. This way, guests have a better idea with whom they are communicating.
2. Listing’s name and description
If you have given your Airbnb listing a unique name, it is a smart idea to include it on your business card. It gives your prospective guests a name to refer to in their communication, as well as something to search for online helping them to find your property among the millions of Airbnb listings.
It is also a good idea to include a very short description of your property. When you’re writing property descriptions, get straight to the point by using phrases like “3-bedroom beachside villa” or “modern New York apartment”. This will entice travelers who are looking for a property like yours to enquire more about your vacation home and search for your property online.
3. Website
In general, a website is a must-have for all vacation rental hosts who are serious about scaling their vacation rental business. Not only does it help avoid Airbnb service fees, but it also provides the ideal place for potential guests to visit when they like your Airbnb business card and want to learn more about your rental property.
Vacation rental hosts who are serious about scaling their Airbnb business are strongly encouraged to create a direct booking website for their business. Not only does it help avoid Airbnb service fees, but it also offers another platform to share more details about your listing and location like restaurant suggestions, ideas for places to visit, etc.
If you don’t know much about website design, designing a website from scratch may seem daunting. Luckily, there are great website builders available that can build a professional vacation rental website for you, with no coding or web design knowledge needed.
In fact, the iGMS website builder is able to convert your Airbnb listing into a professional website that is ready to receive bookings in minutes. All you need to do is share the URL link to your listing.
4. Logo
If you don’t already have a logo designed, an Airbnb business card presents an incentive to get one. A vacation rental logo makes your business more identifiable and will help your brand to stand out.
Read more about how to design your own business logo and where to find a template in this article: Vacation Rental Logos: How to Create One + Top 5 Logo Tools
5. Image
Including a photo of your property is optional, but highly encouraged. A high-quality photo that shows off the best features of your Airbnb property (or the surrounding location) will attract more attention and encourage potential guests to make a booking.
Find out how to take high-quality photos of your property in our guide: How to Take Great Airbnb Photos: An Essential Guide for Success
💡Design hack: Use the back of your business card to print a full-size image of your property, so that it does not interfere with the text.
6. Contact details
One of the most important things to include on your Airbnb business card is a means for prospective guests to contact you. Some hosts leave off contact details and only include a website URL. But it’s a better gesture to include your phone number and email address, too so that those trying to contact you can choose their most preferred communication method.
How Do I Design A Vacation Rental Business Card?
Now that you know what to include on Airbnb business cards, it’s time to take a closer look at how you can create your own cards. It essentially boils down to two options: creating it yourself, or hiring a professional to do it for you.
Do it yourself with design software and business card templates
Creating your business cards yourself will cost less money as you won’t need to pay for professional services. There are lots of free or affordable tools to choose from, with many of them offering business card templates to get your creative juices and inspiration flowing.
You can, for example, check out:
Hire a professional graphic designer
If you have the budget available to hire a professional graphic designer, it will also be worth the investment. A professional will be able to give you an entirely original design and incorporate your branding into your business card.
7 Airbnb Business Card Design Tips Guaranteed to Stand Out From the Competition
Once you have the basic building blocks of your Airbnb business card, it’s time to make them shine. Here are our top design tips to make a good impression on your prospective guests.
1. Triple-check all spelling
A spelling mistake is an easy way to turn away a potential guest. It comes across as unprofessional and communicates that you don’t really care about your business. Subconsciously, it could communicate to guests that you will be careless with their vacation stay too.
To avoid this, the best advice is to check that all the information on your business card is spelled correctly and that it’s the latest version multiple times.
2. Show off your brand
If your property aims for a modern and sleek style, you could mimic that with your Airbnb business cards to show off your unique brand identity. Similarly, if your property has a coastal theme or offers a unique feature, you could highlight this on your business card too.
3. Play with negative space
When you’re designing something as small as a business card, your natural instinct will be to fill the space with as much information as possible. But, from a visual perspective, less is more. Playing with negative space will help make your text stand out because it guides the viewer to where they need to look.
4. Play with geometric shapes for a modern look
If you’re going for modern design, play around with geometric shapes and designs like stripes, circles, and triangles. It’s a designer’s trick for creating depth, introducing different colors, and making a design look interesting without overcrowding it with photos.
5. Try a vertical layout
Most business cards are designed with a horizontal layout. By giving your Airbnb business cards a vertical design instead, they will automatically look creative and modern without you having to do much else.
6. Use color strategically
A splash of color can help make your Airbnb business cards pop. It will attract the eye and hold the viewers’ attention. However, it’s crucial that you don’t overdo it either, because it can quickly start to look confusing and unpleasant if too many bright colors are used.
7. Try a black background
While most business cards tend to use a white base with black text, you can help your business card stand out by using a black background with white text instead. This is another low-effort design hack that instantly transforms your Airbnb business cards to make them stand out among your competitors.
About the Author
Callan Riddles is the former Content and Social Media Specialist at iGMS. Callan has a passion for finding new ways to help vacation rental businesses thrive. In her free time, she loves to travel, read, and experience all the new things that life has to offer.
FAQs
Do Airbnb hosts need business cards?
Business cards aren’t required to run an Airbnb business, but they are a cost-effective way to promote your listing. They’re especially useful if you want to drive more direct bookings or leverage word-of-mouth advertising.
Where can I find Airbnb business card examples?
You can try online marketplaces like Zazzle or Etsy. Alternatively, if you don’t want to spend money, a platform like Pinterest can be a source of inspiration.
Which tools can I use to create a business card for my Airbnb business?
Canva, Visme, and Adobe Express are popular tools for creating business cards. What makes these tools great options is that they offer templates, making it easy to create your own cards. You can then download the card and print it yourself or take the design to your local printers.
Can I make digital business cards for my Airbnb?
Yes, you don’t necessarily need to use printed business cards. You can, for example, also use digital wallet cards or QR-only cards to spread the word about their Airbnb listing or direct booking URL.
