How Airbnb masters advertising by connecting with real user pain points

By Ignacio Margulies (former CPO at Paisanos)

Communication strategy, value proposition, and segmentation applied to product and growth.

Introduction: the core idea in one sentence (and why it matters)

Airbnb’s advertising works because it doesn’t sell properties, it sells a clear solution to a clear problem, for very specific people. Instead of talking about price, promotions, or the number of listings, it crafts messages that make users think: “this is exactly my situation.”

In one sentence: Airbnb communicates from its value proposition by putting user pain in context and showing how the product relieves it, before talking about the transaction.

In this post, we break down a masterclass that is simple to explain and hard to execute: communicating through jobs to be done, pains, and gains. Airbnb pushed this approach to the extreme in a recent campaign built around multiple segments and segment-specific spots, abandoning the generic “message for everyone.”

Why most brands communicate poorly (even with a good product)

It’s common to see companies communicate as if users were comparing spreadsheets: features, prices, promotions, “why we’re better.” The problem is that decisions rarely start there.

People use products because of the problem they solve or the goal they help achieve. And yet, in practice, many companies:

• don’t have a clear value proposition, or
• have one, but express it in internal terms (what we do) instead of user terms (what we unlock).
  
  

When communication starts with the product instead of the problem, the message arrives too late. The user has already decided, just not with you.

Communicating from the value proposition (without getting academic)

Communicating from the value proposition isn’t about theory, it’s about structuring the message around how people actually make decisions.

A well-defined value proposition connects three elements:

• Jobs (goals or tasks): what the person is trying to accomplish
• Pains (frictions): what frustrates, complicates, or blocks them
• Gains (benefits): what they value as an outcome, beyond “it works”
  

When this map is clear, communication stops being “about your product” and becomes “about the user’s life.”

In practice, good communication aims for three things, in this order:

1. The user recognizes their problem or goal
2. They understand your product can help
3. They clearly see how it helps, without guessing

The Airbnb case: why its advertising works better than most

Airbnb reshaped the accommodation market through its business model, yes but also through how it communicates. Its core premise is simple and powerful: put user pain front and center.

Over time, Airbnb learned an expensive lesson: a single value proposition for a massive audience doesn’t work. It dilutes the message and burns budget on communications that don’t fully resonate with anyone.

That’s why, in a recent campaign, Airbnb redesigned its advertising approach: it identified eight distinct segments and created segment-specific spots.

Each piece clearly shows:

• the pain, in context
• the pain reliever (how it’s resolved)
• the triggering job
• the perceived gains
• the type of experience that completes the story
  
  

There are no abstract promises, only recognition.

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What this looks like in an ad (example: travelers seeking nature)

Instead of saying “we have X listings,” Airbnb builds scenes where users recognize a familiar pattern.

For the “nature” segment, the spot works because it highlights something very real: you want to disconnect, but you end up in the wrong place.

The simplified mechanic looks like this:

• Pain: ending up in an urban hotel, far from nature
• Pain reliever: staying inside (or very close to) a natural environment
  
  

The point isn’t the example itself, but the method: connecting the product to the user’s mental model, not to a list of attributes.

The emotional factor: why this kind of communication beats price

Even when we believe we’re making rational decisions, emotions move first. Airbnb doesn’t just describe its value proposition,  it foregrounds emotional jobs to be done.

In this logic, users aren’t buying “a house” They’re buying things like:

• a sense of adventure and freedom
• disconnection from routine
• reduced digital and urban noise

This approach aligns with findings from consumer neuroscience, which show that emotional and memory networks activate before final rational evaluation (as discussed in McClure et al., 2004).

What Airbnb does well (and what you can copy without being Airbnb)

Airbnb didn’t invent storytelling, but it executes it consistently. Some of its most replicable elements include:

1) Emotional storytelling with a clear structure

Stories that show a problem, a context, and a recognizable resolution.

2) Immersive visuals (not a catalog)

It doesn’t show rooms — it shows how the space is lived.

3) A consistent message: experience over transaction

The focus is on what changes for the person, not the price.

4) User-generated content (UGC) as social proof

Real stories that add authenticity and credibility.

Expected outcomes of this approach (without promising miracles)

When messages connect with real jobs, pains, and gains, something fairly logical tends to happen:

• higher initial engagement
• stronger emotional connection with the brand
• clearer differentiation from generic messaging
• some users naturally become advocates
  
  

It’s not magic. It’s relevance.

Closing: the question that shapes your next campaign

If your brand is currently communicating features, prices, and promotions, it’s not “wrong.” But it’s probably arriving too late.

The question that brings clarity to the next step is simple:

What specific pain are you showing, in what context, and which part of your product clearly relieves it?

When that’s clear, everything else (formats, copy, media) becomes execution.

Spots for every customer profile If you want to learn more about Airbnb's campaign, you can see all the locations here.

Frequently asked questions

What does it mean to communicate from the value proposition?

It means building messages that start from the user’s problem or goal (jobs), show what’s holding them back (pains), and explain how the product creates meaningful outcomes (gains). Instead of talking about features, you talk about transformation in context.

What are pains, gains, and jobs to be done in marketing?

They’re a way to understand why people choose a solution: the job is what they’re trying to accomplish, pains are frictions or risks, and gains are desired benefits. In marketing, they’re used to create more relevant and targeted messages.

Why does segmentation improve advertising?

Because it avoids generic messaging that speaks to no one in particular. Segmentation allows you to show the right pain in the right context and demonstrate the solution more clearly, which usually improves relevance, recall, and creative performance.

How can I apply this without Airbnb’s budget?

You don’t need eight spots. Start with two or three core segments and a simple jobs / pains / gains matrix. From there, create pieces that show “pain → relief → benefit” using real examples, micro-stories, or user-generated content.