Hotel customers are a fussy bunch. They’re demands are ever increasing, their expectations ever rising. Hotel customers want more flexibility, more inclusions, more service, more value. They want to feel loved, respected, appreciated. They don’t want to feel like a statistic, a metric, a generator of revenue.

They have needs and they want them met. Thousands of people searching Google right now, looking for their next place to stay. Thousands of people searching by location, style, room size, amenities, service, price, and availability – and being disappointed by all but a handful of forward-thinking hotels.

It was bad in 2009. It was bad in 2012. And it’s still bad in 2019. It’s no wonder travel and tourism is now widely regarded as the least innovative industry, lagging behind construction and education. A huge missed opportunity for the travel industry, leaving hotel managers frustrated and disappointed.

The demand is there – customers have become more sophisticated – but there’s no-one there to meet the demand. The majority of hotels, large and small, still refuse to appear on Google. Even for highly-relevant search phrases, where their hotel is clearly the most suitable option for the customer’s needs, where a booking is almost certain to happen if the hotel were to simply appear at the right time on Google, most hotels just sit there, refusing to take action, refusing to embrace the opportunity.

For hotels which do appear – the majority still choose to show poorly-targeted, generic, unengaging ads which fail to cater for the specific needs and requirements of their audience.

Hundreds of frustrated potential guests staying at home because theirs needs are unmet. Hundreds of hotel rooms left unfilled. Hundreds of hotel managers scratching their heads. All that lost utility – all that missed opportunity. A disaster of economic proportions.

It doesn’t need to be that way

Raise your standards. Don’t accept mediocre when better is possible. Demand more from your Google Ad manager. More relevancy, more efficiency, more bookings from Google. More filled rooms and more happy guests. More revenue, more profit, more return on investment for your hotel.

1. More keywords

• At least 10,000 relevant combinations
• Segmentation by location, style, amenities, size, price, availability, service, and inclusions
• Segmentation by relevancy, qualification, and stage of buying cycle
• Consideration of nearby locations, landmarks, events
• Balance of generic, mid-tail, and long-tail themes

2. More ads

• At least 5,000 ad messages
• Tailored by search query theme
• Keyword-specific headlines, descriptions, and display URLs
• Separation of brand from non-brand
• Proposition, promotion and call to action relevant to context
• A great first impression to maximise impact and chance of booking

3. More audiences

• At least 50 audience segments actively collecting data in Google Analytics
• Segmentation by source, search query, and theme of visit
• Segmentation by website actions and level of engagement
• Segmentation by recency of visit and stage of buying cycle
• Cross pollination across multiple audience themes

4. More retargeting

• Messaging relevant to context and purpose
• Remarketing lists for search ads (RLSA)
• Display remarketing tailored by segment
• Frequency cap to avoid ad fatigue (7-10 impressions per person per day)
• 25% direct, 75% subtle to build trust and maximise booking potential

5. More measurement

• The basics of measurement – conversion tracking, goal tracking, revenue tracking, custom variables
• Earth, air, fire, water – external context for your data
• Booking engine integration (Siteminder, Booking Button, Little Hotelier etc)
• GCLID tracking to pass offline data into AdWords
• Import of customer emails into AdWords for more personalised ad messaging

6. More analysis

• 10% clicks rule to identify ad groups for expansion
• 2 magic numbers to assess spread of clicks and impressions
• Theme analysis to identify trends within searches
• Broad match generation to research keyword gap opportunities
• Multi-variate analysis to compare ad messages and extensions
• Ad scheduling for better allocation of budget
• Match type comparison to refine bids by performance
• Budget pacing for lower costs and higher revenue
• Machine learning to automate the simple stuff

7. More optimisation

• Avoidance of tunnel vision
• Avoidance of double-optimisation
• Avoidance of ‘recommendations‘
• Appreciation of data analysis

It’s never too late to transform your hotel marketing. Lower your costs, increase your occupancy, and boost your profits with a Google strategy of 2021. Request a free analysis of your hotel today.