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According to STR mainland China hotels are starting to show first signs of recovery. Reportedly they could observe first green shoots in occupancy rates which, falling as low as to 7.4% at the end of February, have then climbed to almost 32% at the end of March. If the rest of the world follows in the footsteps of China, then a similar trend could be expected in many countries in the following months. As many professionals from the tourism & hospitality industry have been forecasting so far, domestic travels should be the ones to start happening first. For hotels which have already started preparing for this moment of pickup by designing attractive deals this means that they should also start thinking about defining their target audiences and how to reach them. Ultimately that means that hotels should now start setting up their marketing strategies to target the right audiences and start leveraging the different tools to use the moment of pickup to their advantage.

As we have already mentioned in this article, over 80% of meta search traffic comes from domestic travellers, therefore it would make a lot of sense for hotels to use these channels in the travel market pick up phase. Not only do meta search placements provide internet users the real-life pricing and availability of rooms, they also help hoteliers drive more traffic to their own websites and control the distribution costs. On top of that they also allow hotels to define and target their key audiences by several key factors such as location, check in day, the advance booking time frame, length of stay, traveller set dates, location and device.

Note: Some of the following targeting techniques are only available for a subset of marketing placements. For more details, feel free to reach out to the myhotelshop team.

Let us now dig deeper into a few simple steps and see how meta search can concretely help hoteliers to properly target the right audiences.

Target locally

This is the perfect opportunity to focus on domestic and local travellers and make the most of it. Google’s geolocation services allow us to determine where the customer is coming from before they have even clicked on our ad, which means that can help hotels establish who their potential guests are in geographical terms and target accordingly.

Since international travels will be in a state of slumber for a while, it would make sense for hotels to focus on domestic markets as long as the borders are closed. Once the borders reopen and international travels become allowed again, we can readjust the campaigns by slowly increasing the visibility of hotel’s ads for relevant international target markets.

Looking at it from a return on investment perspective, this strategy should make a lot of sense, as it should help hotels from spending their limited budgets on target groups that at this point in time are not their focus target groups at all.

How far in advance do people book? 

We have the ability to target future dates in order to focus on the dates guests are most likely to place and consume a booking. That means that hotels can leverage their meta search campaigns in a way that allows them to block their ads from being shown for any dates prior to a given check-in date within a given advance booking window. Tripadvisor is already reporting early recovery trends by observing “a steady pickup in travellers across the world searching for hotel dates 90+ days out for domestic travel” and this trend seems to be most pronounced for European countries.

Observe the check-in days

What exactly does this mean? Well, literally that! Depending on the type of your property there are certain days for which bookings are more likely to happen. If you are a business hotel, the majority of your guests might want to check-in beginning to mid-week, as opposed to leisure properties where guests might rather choose to check in at the end of the week or during the weekend. We have the ability to gather this data and adjust campaigns accordingly to maximize returns.

Focus on the right length of stays

This is one more parameter that could potentially help hotels target the right people in the right way. Again, depending on the type of the property, length of stay can vary. The important thing is to know what your usual average length of stay is. We can pre-target your guests for relevant length of stays and adjust the targeting by gathering data on the users. Which again brings us to smart targeting by being more visible for the right people. This type of targeting will allow you to be visible to large amounts of travelers while limiting costs for higher returns.

Spread out across different channels 

The customer journey generally takes place in three stages: dreaming about a trip, planning it and placing an actual booking. Which means that as a hotelier you want to have your hotel’s link in front of the user’s eyes every step of the way. When we talk about online marketing, we have in mind not one but several different platforms, with Google, Trivago and Tripadvisor being the biggest ones. And once you have users on the internet searching for their trip, it is most likely that they will be collecting information at least across these three platforms, comparing hotels, prices and reading the reviews before they place their booking. With this in mind it makes sense for hoteliers to have their properties present on as many platforms as possible as this will increase the visibility of the property as well as help reach the users on every point of the customer journey to drive as much traffic as possible directly to the hotel’s website.

By effectively targeting the right users, hotels are able to be return on investment focused and make this level of visibility affordable.

What does the CPC (Cost-per-Click) really influence? And what other factors need to be considered when assessing the performance of a campaign? In our last part of the series “The most common errors on Metasearch” we provide you with the answers and show you what really matters in metasearch ads!

Error #7 – Too few availabilities

Placing metasearch ads only make sense if you can offer enough available rooms. If there are no more availabilities, your ads will not be displayed and you leave the space and thus the booking to another provider.

The principle is simple: the more availabilities you send to your sales channels, the more traffic and consequently more bookings can be generated by your campaigns.

Error #8 – Outdated and inappropriate content on the channels

When setting up a metasearch campaign, care is taken at the beginning to fill the channel with as up-to-date content as possible. Over time, however, comparatively little importance is often given to this task and accordingly neglected. Content maintenance is unavoidable and the basis for a successful campaign.

The recency and quality of the content on the various channels play a major role in the metasearch ranking. The worse the content, the further back the ad is listed. And not without reason: Users prefer to click on ads with beautiful images and complete and above all up-to-date information.

So always make sure that your metasearch profile is up to date and that the information is also of high quality and above all suitable for presenting your company in the best possible way.

Error #9 – Choose the right channels

You think every metasearch channel works the same and is suitable for your goals? Wrong! Therefore, you should research exactly which channels are best suited for your goals and target groups.

The metasearch market is enormously dynamic. It is therefore inevitable to follow its development and to adapt your own marketing measures accordingly and, if necessary, to use new channels.

Error #10 – Limited monthly budget

This factor focuses on budget management. In most cases, the budget for the coming year is determined before the end of the year and in some cases already distributed among the individual campaigns. But those who set a monthly cost maximum often prevent the chance of increasing sales.

Summary

There are some mistakes in the area of metasearch management. The list is far from complete and infinitely expandable. The basic problem, however, is the lack of know-how due to limited capacities, whether in terms of personnel or time. Take advantage of this opportunity and rely on experts who will work with you to pursue your goals and steer the campaign to success.

For hoteliers worldwide, meta-marketing via Google is an indispensable channel to increase direct bookings. With options such as the flexible cost-per-click (CPC) and the popular cost-per-acquisition (CPA) model, Google provides an effective platform for price comparison.

But a dramatic change is coming: Google recently announced the end of commission-based meta-search campaigns. This announcement has attracted much attention as many hoteliers have relied on this model to increase their online visibility and bookings. But what exactly does this change mean, and how does it affect hoteliers?

What does CPA mean?

The CPA model stands for “cost-per-acquisition”, in which hoteliers only pay a percentage commission when a booking is generated via the platform. This allows for a low-risk advertising strategy where hotels only pay for confirmed bookings rather than clicks or impressions, as in the CPC model. This model has proven to be a popular and effective advertising strategy, especially after Covid19 entered our lives. Abolishing this could seriously affect hoteliers, as the model offers them a permanent opportunity to strengthen their presence on the platform.

Why is it stopped?

The reasons for discontinuing this model are manifold.

The main reason, however, is that data protection rules are becoming stricter and that many users are increasingly skeptical about using their data for advertising purposes. As a result, it is becoming increasingly difficult to track bookings via cookies. Furthermore, it has become more challenging for companies like Google to track and measure advertising campaigns’ success accurately.

What does this mean for you as a hotelier?

For hoteliers using CPA, the end of commission-based meta-search campaigns means a significant change in their advertising strategy, if you should decide to stop Meta campaigns. Specifically, this change could lead to hotels losing more visibility on the Google Hotel Ads platform and their guests booking via OTAs in the future if you stop the meta-campaigns.

They need to adapt to alternative advertising models and their marketing strategies accordingly. This could mean switching to the cost-per-click (CPC) model, where hoteliers pay for clicks or conversions, regardless of whether a booking is made. This model is more risky but can also be more cost-effective with optimised campaigns and professional monitoring. Myhotelshop will be happy to support you.

Continue to use CPA via myhotelshop

We know how important it is for many hoteliers to use the CPA model. Because of this, we will still offer you the CPA model for your Meta Search campaigns in addition to the CPC. For this purpose, we will determine a suitable percentage with you, e.g., the one already stored with Google. Myhotelshop bears the risk of reaching the percentage, just like Google before. We are convinced that we can achieve excellent and reliable results thanks to the three components on which our myhotelshop campaigns are based. Firstly, the use of data as the basis of our work; secondly, our own optimised software and algorithms, which, among other things, take into account the customer’s rate parities, which are crucial for a price comparison; and thirdly, our many years of extensive industry knowledge.

An example illustrates this: Google is the stock exchange, and you, as a hotel, are a bank customer. myhotelshop is taking over the role of the bank. If you want to increase your money, you can put your money in a day money account (in this example, CPC), but you also bear the financial risk. If you want to minimise this risk, your bank (i.e. myhotelshop) can invest the money for you and increase it on the stock exchange. As a customer, you get an excellent return on investment and do not have to act on the stock exchange yourself.

This transparent and risk-taking approach demonstrates our confidence in the performance of our advertising campaigns and our commitment to delivering accurate results for our customers. This model can continue to be an effective way for hotels to increase their online visibility and generate bookings.

If you currently use the CPA model with myhotelshop for your meta-marketing, your account manager will contact you as soon as possible.

We are also happy to advise you if you are not currently running Meta Search ads with us but want to keep the CPA model. Our experts can help you adjust your advertising strategy and stay successful in the future.

Contact us here.

The goal is clear: to increase direct bookings and thus sales via the hotel’s own website while keeping costs as low as possible. By now, everyone is aware of the importance of metasearch campaigns. However, such a campaign is not a successful self-runner. We continue the first part of our series “The most common errors on Metasearch” and show how your campaign will be a success!

Error #4 – Non-trackable bookings are not considered

Even though we live in a technologically advanced world, we cannot follow every single user on their entire booking journey, even if this is often mistakenly assumed.

For example, a significant number of users use cookie blockers, which make it impossible for online marketing providers to track customer behaviour online.

Another major problem is the so-called “multi-device issue”: Users first search for an accommodation on their mobile phones, but then use their laptops for booking. It is therefore possible that the person making the booking became aware of your hotel due to your ad on trivago, clicked on it, but used another device to go to your website and book directly.

We estimate that 25% to 30% of all bookings due to metasearch campaigns cannot be tracked via normal user tracking. Therefore, it is always worth comparing the data of the meta campaigns with those of your own booking engine in order to gain an insight into how many bookings were actually generated online.

Error #5 – A ROAS as high as possible

A further error often lies in the evaluation of the ads only on the basis of the return on ad spend. The key figure is erroneously considered too one-sided. Although the ROAS provides information on the actual profit achieved per ad spend, it does not inform you on the overall impact of metasearch campaigns.

When evaluating the advertisements, it is therefore essential to take into account the interaction of the individual campaigns. With a ROAS of 16% for the mobile ad on Tripadvisor compared to 240% of the desktop campaign, most hoteliers would probably rather switch off the mobile ad than continue running it, but this is the mistake.

Due to the cross-media booking journey of most users, it makes sense in some cases to leave the ads live even if the individual performance is supposedly unsatisfactory, as this can have a positive effect on the overall result. In the example, the overall result of the Tripadvisor campaigns should be considered and not the individual ads.

Error #6 – Missing onsite-conversion optimization of your website and booking engine

You are running a metasearch campaign with the aim to improve the bad conversion rate of your website or booking page? This is another erroneous assumption! These are two completely different situations.Metasearch campaigns are used as an instrument to draw the attention of users and thus start at the beginning of the sales funnel. However, they cannot induce the user to actually book. So the ads have no direct influence on the conversion rate.

Rather, the requirement for a successful metasearch campaign and the increase in the willingness of users to book is a conversion-optimized website or booking engine.

This should be analyzed with regard to user friendliness and content. Also the effect of the design should not be underestimated, for example colours have different effects on the user. A red booking button is sometimes more dissuasive than a green colour. The be-all and end-all, however, is mobile optimization. Travellers are now primarily using their smartphone and tablet instead of their computer. Even though most visitors still book via their desktop, the number of mobile bookings is also increasing.

Before you decide to launch a metasearch campaign, you should first make sure if your current website and booking engine are suitable for this and, if necessary, have them optimized by experts.

The goal is clear: to increase direct bookings and thus sales via the hotel’s own website while keeping costs as low as possible. By now, everyone is aware of the importance of metasearch campaigns. However, such a campaign is not a successful self-runner. We continue the first part of our series “The most common errors on Metasearch” and show how your campaign will be a success!

Error #4 – Non-trackable bookings are not considered

Even though we live in a technologically advanced world, we cannot follow every single user on their entire booking journey, even if this is often mistakenly assumed.

For example, a significant number of users use cookie blockers, which make it impossible for online marketing providers to track customer behaviour online.

Another major problem is the so-called “multi-device issue”: Users first search for an accommodation on their mobile phones, but then use their laptops for booking. It is therefore possible that the person making the booking became aware of your hotel due to your ad on trivago, clicked on it, but used another device to go to your website and book directly.

We estimate that 25% to 30% of all bookings due to metasearch campaigns cannot be tracked via normal user tracking. Therefore, it is always worth comparing the data of the meta campaigns with those of your own booking engine in order to gain an insight into how many bookings were actually generated online.

Error #5 – A ROAS as high as possible

A further error often lies in the evaluation of the ads only on the basis of the return on ad spend. The key figure is erroneously considered too one-sided. Although the ROAS provides information on the actual profit achieved per ad spend, it does not inform you on the overall impact of metasearch campaigns.

When evaluating the advertisements, it is therefore essential to take into account the interaction of the individual campaigns. With a ROAS of 16% for the mobile ad on Tripadvisor compared to 240% of the desktop campaign, most hoteliers would probably rather switch off the mobile ad than continue running it, but this is the mistake.

Due to the cross-media booking journey of most users, it makes sense in some cases to leave the ads live even if the individual performance is supposedly unsatisfactory, as this can have a positive effect on the overall result. In the example, the overall result of the Tripadvisor campaigns should be considered and not the individual ads.

Error #6 – Missing onsite-conversion optimization of your website and booking engine

You are running a metasearch campaign with the aim to improve the bad conversion rate of your website or booking page? This is another erroneous assumption! These are two completely different situations.Metasearch campaigns are used as an instrument to draw the attention of users and thus start at the beginning of the sales funnel. However, they cannot induce the user to actually book. So the ads have no direct influence on the conversion rate.

Rather, the requirement for a successful metasearch campaign and the increase in the willingness of users to book is a conversion-optimized website or booking engine.

This should be analyzed with regard to user friendliness and content. Also the effect of the design should not be underestimated, for example colours have different effects on the user. A red booking button is sometimes more dissuasive than a green colour. The be-all and end-all, however, is mobile optimization. Travellers are now primarily using their smartphone and tablet instead of their computer. Even though most visitors still book via their desktop, the number of mobile bookings is also increasing.

Before you decide to launch a metasearch campaign, you should first make sure if your current website and booking engine are suitable for this and, if necessary, have them optimized by experts.

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