Friday, 23 March 2018 05:58

Search Engine Marketing Proves Lucrative For Travel Industry

Whether you are a beach bum or a thrill seeker, there are hundreds of options out there for the perfect vacation spot. In a society where an individual is exposed to more than 4,000 advertisements every day, the impact of each interaction is greatly diluted. In a sea of brand interactions, one thing is working for the travel industry – search engine marketing.

These highly targeted ads seem to have a much greater impact on the travel decisions of young people than even those creating the ads could have predicted. Bing collaborated with the travel research firm Phocuswright to understand the role digital advertising plays in travel decisions.

The statistics resulting from syndicated research from Phocuswright and two new surveys facilitated by Bing were remarkable.

  1. Hotel brands exposed to search ads on online travel aggregator sites experienced a 10%-50% increase in click-thru rates

  2. More than half of all travelers recalled travel-related ads that they saw on Snapchat, Instagram, Youtube, or Pinterest and considered them extremely influential

  3. Recall differs based on the format of the advertisement:

    • 49% recalled a picture

    • 41% recalled a deal

    • 37% recalled personalization

  4. 71% of loyalty members found hotel ads helpful when planning a trip

Source: MediaPost

Here is what we can take from this data: digital spend for the travel industry is making an impact across all demographics.

In order to have such success through digital marketing, you must first understand how your consumers are interacting with search engines in the quest for the kind of information you can provide. When travelers are making plans for a vacation, there are two types of queries – informational and transactional. The intention depends on the stage a consumer is in in the sales funnel. It is during the informational searches that travel-related search engine ads are most influential for consumers.

With more than 3.5 billion searches occurring each day, you can imagine the opportunity hotels, airlines, and other vacation necessity providers have to make an impact on their target audience. Even more so with the unique circumstances, search engine users provide by using search engines to research what will lead to a relatively immediate decision. Compared to those who are not sure what they are looking for, those using search engines to make vacation plans are much more easily guided through the sales funnel.

In addition to search engine marketing, the travel industry has also become increasingly more user-friendly in the digital space. With mobile apps and the ability to book online the path from research to purchase is significantly shortened, which works to the benefit of both the brands and the consumer.

Overall, there are a lot of factors that play into the digital success of the travel industry, but the digital advancements certainly take the lead. Search engine marketing supports the other digital efforts to help consumers take their journey, both on and offline.


 

In or out of the travel industry, search engine marketing can be an effective tool in your marketing toolbox. Interested in expanding your digital reach? Contact FiG Advertising + Marketing for a consultation.