A small group of online travel agents, including Booking.com, OnTheBeach.com and Trivago, dominated paid search in the first quarter of 2018, each spending over £7 million on search through Google, with Booking.com splashing out almost £20 million, according to new research released by Kantar Media.

The study – which uses data from Kantar Media’s Digital Advertising Intelligence Solution, combining insights on both pay-per-click (PPC) and organic search/display ad spend – also identified TripAdvisor as the clear leader when it came to organic search in the first three months of the year.

TripAdvisor saw over twice as many impressions and almost twice as many clicks as Lastminute.com, its nearest rival in the travel sector, with an estimated PPC value of over £120 million. Of the three biggest PPC spenders, only Booking.com features among the top six sites for organic search impressions.

Accommodation tops the keyword charts, but the battleground is for cheap holidays. ‘Hotels’ was the keyword with the highest spend during the three-month period, with businesses spending an estimated total of £8,504,262, over seven times more than on the next most invested-in keyword, ‘air bnb’.

Booking.com in particular made huge investments in hotel related search terms. The site’s top ten keywords for both spend and estimated PPC value in organic impressions all contained the word ‘hotel’ or ‘booking’, accounting for a total spend of around £4.8 million.

Outside of accommodation, the key battleground for PPC in the travel sector is around low-cost breaks. ‘Cheapest holidays’, ‘cheap holidays’ and ‘cheapest flights’ all feature among the 20 most sought-after travel related keywords, accounting for almost £2 million in spend between January and March this year. 21 separate advertisers were spending on the keyword ‘cheapest holidays’ and 19 on ‘cheap holidays’, making them some of the most competitive keywords in the industry. In comparison, for all the spend on ‘hotels’, the keyword was only contested by 14 advertisers.

Richard Poustie, CEO, Kantar Media UK, commented: “Both search and display advertising are incredibly competitive in the travel sector, especially in the first quarter of the year, and this is reflected in the huge investments brands make in this space. It’s important, therefore, to remember that spend in itself is only one part of the campaign – if brands want to get a good return on their advertising investment, it is vital that there is consistency across their online search and display, and that their chosen search terms complement their display advertising.

“In such a competitive space, being able to see what competitors are investing in – across both search and display – and to understand why, will help businesses tailor their own advertising strategy in order to stand out from the crowd and to continue to attract consumer spend.”

Also read: Booking.com launches ‘Women in Tech’ program.

The post Booking.com leads the big spenders for PPC in the travel sector appeared first on TravHQ.

There is no denying the fact that travel is hard to sell. Selling something intangible takes a lot of effort and usually there is a long way from inspiration to conversion. This is exactly why it is important to leave an impression that lasts and with the changing content consumption patterns, video is emerging to be a popular medium on social platforms.

Aashish Chopra, Head-Content Marketing at ixigo

During the recently concluded Travel Marketing Summit by TiE Delhi, social media marketing was the central topic. However, young startups often don’t have the budgets to spend on making high quality videos or getting onboard a creative agency to do so. Pradeep Chopra, CEO, Digital Vidya, Navneet Kaushal, CEO, PageTraffic and Aashish Chopra, Head-Content Marketing at ixigo engaged in a discussion on what are some of the best ways to get noticed without spending big. Here is what they had to share:

Think mobile

While there would still be a significant number of people who are booking on desktop, the inspiration to travel comes on mobile. New internet users in smaller cities usually have low end devices. Facebook and WhatsApp are their entry point to the internet world and you should explore the possibility of connecting with your customers there.

Navneet Kaushal, CEO, PageTraffic

It is also important to tailor your content to mobile devices. Brands still make the mistake of using smaller fonts that aren’t legible. Even for videos, marketers should be looking at square format as portrait video is a trend catching up momentum.

Dig into the options

During the early days, it is often better to target a small number of customers than a bigger set of customers who might not be the perfect fit. With the massive volume of consumer data they have, social media platforms and search engines offer very precise targeting options which you should leverage. The right customers will speak for your brand and people trust something coming from their friends more than they would trust an ad. Even beyond the ads, work hard to over-deliver on your promise to build this set of loyal customers who will be your advocates.

Pradeep Chopra, CEO, Digital Vidya

Distribution is the key

While creating the content, account for how you will distribute it. Think of why someone would want to share it and try to induce elements that would drive shares. Keep your audience in mind and build distribution channels accordingly. If you videos are being shared on Facebook, engage with communities there and give them more of your content over time.

Experiment

Don’t take the beaten path. To stand out, you will have to experiment with a dozen things, look at the data, iterate and then run a new set of experiments to see what works. Taking the usual route would never help you go viral, experimenting with new things just might. Look at other markets to see what works and try to create content that connects through emotion or humour

Find the right people

Instead of spending on the costliest of resources, look around for the resources at your disposal and make things work. Set up the team with people who have the passion to do big things, put trust in young talent and you might achieve great results at a fraction of the cost.

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The post Marketing experts share how to promote your travel startup without burning through a pile of cash appeared first on TravHQ.