Agents & Developers – Imagine you were listing your next property on airbnb. What would you do differently with your photos?
airbnb-ification is a thing & you’d be correct in thinking they have extremely tight rules around their photography to maintain it – after all, it works for them…
🤯 According to a study of 13,000 images from airbnb by Zhang, Lee, Singh & Srinivason, focussing on better imagery increased booking frequency by 7% & resulted in over $4000 of additional revenue for hosts.All this begs the question - how do you BE more ‘airbnb?’
1) Composition
This is the arrangement of visual elements that make the image aesthetically pleasing by leading the eyes of viewers to the centre of the photo. There are 3 key parts to composition that airbnb focus on. Diagonal Dominance, The rule of thirds & Visual Balance. Google them to learn more!
2) Colour
The study found that improving colour attributes by one standard deviation can bring in an additional $6,790 revenue per listing! In short - optimising picture colour is by far the most profitable improvement in terms of visual content because it affects the level of emotional arousal in viewers.Customers prefer vivid & colourful property pictures over dull, unexciting ones.- Highlighting warmer tones elicits more excitement and generates interest.- Emphasising cool colours increases the level of relaxation for the viewer.
3) Figure-ground relationship
Follow the gestalt theory, which states that things that share visual characteristics such as size, colour, and texture are seen as belonging together by viewers.In other words, when you’re taking a photo of a bedroom, ensure the bed is highlighted by contrasting surroundings (you can see the floor, the walls behind etc) – giving the potential customer an easy overview of the room.Don’t photograph rooms in a way that makes it difficult for a user to distinguish the surroundings i.e. don't only show tops of beds, sofas, units with NO floor or contrasting walls around it....
So............next time you’re photographing a house, just think. How can I be more airbnb?
