How we grew WelcomeScreen from nothing to the #1 digital guest experience solution for vacation rental TVs
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Twelve months ago WelcomeScreen was just an idea on a whiteboard. Today it powers thousands of listings and hotels and has become the default TV experience for short term rentals.
This jump did not happen because of luck. It came from smart distribution, a beautiful product built by entrepreneurs and designers, and a content engine that compounds every day.
Here is how we grew it from zero to market leader in a year.
Before ads. Before SEO. Before videos. Our growth started inside Facebook communities.
We launched our own Airbnb host groups and began posting in other STR groups. Those early discussions brought in the first wave of users. Hosts saw screenshots, asked questions, and tried the product because they thought it looked interesting and they loved the intimate conversations with the founders.
It was the perfect starting point, although it eventually saturated. That forced us to build channels that could scale far beyond a single community.
Once we knew hosts loved the product, we moved to paid acquisition. Meta ads showed the TV interface, highlighted WiFi instructions, welcome messages, local recommendations, and the automatic TV launch experience. Short form video ads are by far our most successful ads.
Paid social gave us fast feedback on messaging and helped us figure out what actually made people install WelcomeScreen. It was fuel, but not the engine.
The engine was YouTube.
Most companies see YouTube as entertainment. We treated it like a search engine.
We created videos that answered the exact questions Airbnb hosts type into YouTube every day. The goal was simple. Capture high intent searches and turn them into customers.
A perfect example is “How To Put A Welcome Message On Your TV For Airbnb Guests.” It has roughly eight hundred views and continues to rank for a problem hosts search for constantly. The matching blog is also our second most visited page on our site.
Then came “Onn 4K Plus Is Changing The Short Term Rental Game.” That video took off with more than sixteen thousand views and introduced a flood of hosts to our brand. It is one of our strongest top of funnel assets and it still performs months later.
Another example is “Best TV For Airbnb (The Ultimate Guide).” It has around five hundred views, but those views convert at a very high rate because the search intent is so specific. Hosts watching that video are deep in the buying mindset and often end up installing WelcomeScreen shortly after.
We have dozens of such videos and of course not every single one hits or becomes a success but the more you post the more chances you get at creating a super valuable evergreen marketing asset.
The best part of this strategy is that it scales by itself. Once a video ranks it brings in high intent traffic every single day. Not flashy views. Not random viewers. Real hosts who want to upgrade their property.
Every new piece boosts the others. Videos push traffic to blog posts. Blog posts send people back to our landing pages. Our domain authority increases. Our YouTube authority increases. And the entire system gets stronger month after month.
This is why we continue to see customers signing up from YouTube daily with no ad spend. Evergreen content compounds, and the advantage compounds with it.
The reason this traffic converts so well is simple. The product solves the problems hosts deal with constantly and is differentiated significantly.
Guests forgetting WiFi details. Guests messaging asking for the door code. Guests not knowing check in or check out time. Guests asking about activities or restaurants. WelcomeScreen puts everything on the TV and the mobile guidebook so the stay runs smoother and hosts get better reviews.
Version three took this even further by allowing full customization of the entire TV layout. It is modern, simple, and adds a premium touch the moment guests walk through the door.
A year ago nobody knew our name. Today WelcomeScreen is the market leader in guest facing TV experiences for short term rentals.
The formula was straightforward. Start in Facebook groups. Boost through paid ads. Build an evergreen SEO machine on YouTube and pair it with blogs. Create the best product for hosts and update it constantly.
Most companies chase viral moments. We built a system that grows every day, even when we are asleep.
And we are still just getting started.
If you want us to help you dominate your market fill out a contact form!