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Driving More Direct Reservations Through Digital

11 Ways To Boost Direct Hotel Bookings in 2018


Table of Contents

In a competitive digital world p.1

Intercepting the OTA Booking p.2

Chapter 1 / Pay Per Click p.3

Chapter 2 / Search Engine Optimisation p.7

Chapter 3 / Mobile Search p.10

Chapter 4 / Developing Your Database p.12

Chapter 5 / Email Marketing p.14

Chapter 6 / Remarketing & Retargeting p.17

Chapter 7 / Retargeting Lists for Search Ads p.20

Chapter 8 / CRO: The Booking Experience p.22

Chapter 9 / Content Marketing p.24

Chapter 10 / Social Media p.27

Chapter 11 / Smarter Inventory Management p.29

Chapter 12 / Attribution Modelling p.31


a

In a competitive digital world, accommodation providers must adapt in order to thrive. Thanks to the size and buying power of OTA’s, direct bookings are under threat and are forming a diminishing share of revenue for accommodation providers across Australia.

Direct revenue is under threat and indirect revenue is increasing for accommodation providers across Australia. We’re not here by any means to suggest that it’s realistic to try to take the OTAs on and replace them entirely. Instead, let’s focus on things you can do to shift more of that revenue stream directly your way. The aim of this book is to help you increase the quality and quantity of your direct online bookings through informed digital marketing.


You’re probably familiar with the challenges and limitations of an OTA booking. OTA’s don’t

provide complete data. You don’t know if the guest has any particular needs or what time they’ll

be arriving. You don’t know if they’re happy with their room booking. In addition, the guest has

most likely booked the cheapest room available, and the OTA commission makes them your

lowest paying customer. After all of this, user behaviour indicates that OTA bookings do not

necessarily lead to brand loyalty to your hotel. Direct reservations are clearly the preferable

choice, so our aim is to intercept those OTA bookings.

The major OTAs have done an incredible job at building their brands. They’ve invested millions of dollars into

their user experience, their platforms and their data analysis. In doing so, they create awareness and inspire

timely decisions. The point is, you can actually consider these OTAs part of your wider marketing strategy and

jump into the slipstream of interest they generate. With the right digital approach you can guide the customer

journey from awareness to consideration to selection, to ultimately becoming an advocate – a loyal customer.

Our team uses a proven methodology to build tailored strategies that help accommodation providers drive

more direct reservations. Typically, these strategies will involve some or all of the 12 tactics that we’ll be

outlining here.

Intercepting the OTA Booking


Pay Per ClickChapter 1


The first area we’ll look at within the customer journey is pay per click advertising through

platforms such as Google AdWords. Competition, complexity and cost per click are all

increasing within PPC so it’s crucial to target your spending. Focus within the accommodation

space should generally be on branded over non-branded search.

Non-Branded SearchIf you look at a non-branded, classic search such as “Sydney Hotel”, a desktop results page speaks for itself.

OTAs dominate with very little room for specific hotels. So realistically, won’t lead to an ROI for most individual

hotels on those terms. We’d suggest letting the OTAs and travel sites fight over these terms and being judicious

about the budget you put into non-branded search. Are there non-branded opportunities with longer tail search

terms? Yes, and with more specific

requirements there can be a higher likelihood of a conversion. However, this comes down to measuring and

testing whether you’re getting an ROI for your efforts.

If you’re offering accommodation in more regional locations where you have some form of unique value

proposition for that property, then there may also be scope to run a geo-targeted AdWords campaign that targets

certain non-branded search terms. Again, measuring your lead quality will tell you if this will be worthwhile or not.


Branded Search Strategy

When it comes to AdWords, you need to be protecting and managing your brand. The person searching for your

hotel name is a more targeted consumer with more commercial intent. You should be doing everything in your

power to get that person to your website.

It seems obvious to bid on your own brand as the cost per click can be 30-40% cheaper than some of the generic

terms. Nevertheless, some of the biggest hotels are still failing to protect their own brand and that traffic is going

to indirect channels instead. There are several ways you can maximise your branded real estate.

Hotel Price Ad

Hotel price ads take up prime real estate and attention on a search engine results page. Many assume that only

OTAs play in this space, however you can use HPA for direct bookings if you’re able to manage the integration

from your booking engine. This melding together of organic and paid properties is part of a wider trend and can

be a commonly missed opportunity.


Structured Snippets

We’re seeing an increasing use of content such as knowledge graphs, snippets and answer boxes in 2018. Within

a branded search result you’ll want to include every one of your property’s unique selling points through structured

snippets. Location extensions link people directly to the most relevant property, while sitelink extensions bring

visitors straight to your booking engine with one click.

Mobile Ads

Mobile ads and searches are uniquely structured. By using ex-

panded text ads along with your business map location and other

properties, your brand could claim the entire screen to itself. The

critical consideration for mobile ads is to follow with a mobile site

that’s easy to book on. The ideal scenario is an adaptive webpage,

which gives you the most control over the user experience.

Review Sites

TripAdvisor is also in the PPC mix because it has moved from providing objective information to featuring its

own booking engine. You’ll still pay commissions depending on views and impressions, however each of these

direct visitors increase your ability to build ongoing customer loyalty. It’s worth split testing the look and feel of

branding to see what is most effective in this space.


Search Engine OptimisationChapter 2


The fact is, organic traffic probably makes up the majority of visitors to your website. Content,

links, site structure and metadata are still critical, however one of the biggest changes we’re

now seeing in the hotel space is how user intent is affecting the way search engines make

decisions.

RankBrainRankBrain is the artificial intelligence component of Google’s search algorithm. What we’ve learnt about

RankBrain is that it assesses and adapts to the best way of answering user queries it hasn’t experienced before:

potentially even changing the search term to produce the most appropriate results. This is now the third most

useful ranking signal following content and links. What does it mean for accommodation providers? It means

that as always, content needs to be clear and high in quality, and targeted keywords should include variations to

broaden the reach for those queries.

Covering Your BasesThe ultimate aim of both SEO and PPC is obviously to be first on the search results page, particularly for branded

results. If you’re seeing OTAs starting to impinge on that branded search then you’ll want to point your investment

towards staying at the forefront organically. You need your paid and natural bases covered, so to speak. OTAs

can be particularly powerful in long tail results because they’ll have so many relevant reviews for a certain

property and location. One way of redirecting that traffic is to actually embed the TripAdvisor widget within your

website showing relevant reviews, which can help you to rank as an authority for those long tail terms.

SEO is a big topic and there are a lot of questions about the role it now plays.


Local SearchIf there’s one current thing for accommodation providers to focus on from an SEO point of view, it’s local search.

Let’s say you have branded search covered. You then want to have all of your local Google properties optimised

with Google My Business listings and elements that Google values (such as reviews) put in place. We’ve seen

25-30% of organic search coming through local search properties like this. Additionally, anyone who clicks on a

website from these results can actually be tracked and measured separately to standard organic traffic.

Local Search - Trends


Mobile SearchChapter 3


Mobile search is continuing to grow year on year. It’s fair to say that more people are purchasing

products, making bookings and completing transactions on their phones. Equally, we find that

people are on mobile sites as part of the overall buyer journey. They may move from mobile on

the train to desktop in the office, then conduct more research on their tablet in between. In the

accommodation industry, around 60% of visits to sites are still on desktops. The reality is that

you need to have all devices covered, because the complete user journey is now a complex

one.

Voice and Contextual SearchWith the growth of Google Now, Microsoft’s Cortana and Apple’s Siri comes an exponential increase in voice, local

and contextual searches. These searches are tailored for each user based on their search history, IP address,

location, social media shares and more. It’s more important than ever to put forward a consistent and focused

brand persona so search engines connect you to the demographic you’re looking for.

Hotel Smart FiltersIn 2017 mobile travel searches were up 40% from the previous year. In response Google has rolled out Hotel

Smart Filters, which enable users to narrow down their mobile searches to more specific accommodation

options. If your properties offer unique features such as a pool bar, pet-friendly accommodation or family suites,

ensure you’re adding this information to web content and advertising in order to take advantage.

In 2017 mobile travel searches were up 40% from the previous year


Developing Your Database

Chapter 4


Accommodation guests don’t respond to being treated as one of the crowd. Something that

will really underpin your opportunity to develop a relationship with your customers is building

up a database to help you reach and engage people more personally.

The more information you have the more you can tailor future communications.

Capturing OTA DataIt’s time to start controlling the guest relationship. While direct bookings make it relatively easy to obtain guest

data, OTA’s won’t send email addresses with bookings so it’s up to your own team to obtain this. Consider putting

an incentivised process into place to build up guest profiles. You might offer a small discount off their next stay

or the chance to win a future room upgrade in return for key details.

Once you have this information, you have the opportunity to tempt that guest away from booking through the

OTA the next time through cost-effective methods such as email marketing.

Which Information? The more information you have the more you can tailor future communications and interactions, both digitally

and in person. Aside from the crucial email address, it can be worth recording information such as room

preferences, demographic data, revenue per visit and booking dates. You’ll also want to clean up your database

manually from time to time to amend any misspelled or incomplete information.

In 2018’s hyper competitive landscape, it may be time to review your property managements systems if you

don’t have all of this information at your finger tips.


Email MarketingChapter 5


When used effectively, email marketing is inexpensive and it works. The ability to reach

someone via email on their mobile phone at any time of the day is a game changer. The key is,

it needs to be done right through highly segmented and customised messaging.

In our busy world, if you want people to open an email it needs to be customised.

http://rethinkhotels.com/how-do-different-marketing-channels-affect-buying-decisions/the-customer-journey-to-online-purchase-travel-usa/


PersonalisationEmail is alive and well. But in our busy world, if you want people to open an email it needs to be customised.

If a guest stayed with you for a week and you have all of the information about their holiday length, their room

preference, their holiday purpose and their fellow guests, you can use any or all of these factors to send highly

personalised emails to tempt them back. The key is to create a compelling connection between them and your

direct offering, and appeal to their personal motivations.

Join the ClubDon’t assume that someone who is currently a loyal customer is necessarily going to be one forever. They may

decide to continue coming to you, but through an OTA. The reality is you’ve got to work hard to create some kind

of exclusive club that makes guests want to do business with you directly. Loyalty programs, secret sales and

personalised promotions can have your guests returning and spreading the word to friends and family.

SegmentationWithout segmentation, it’s actually very easy to alienate people who could otherwise be ongoing loyal customers.

You’ll want to be differentiating the people you do business with: whether it’s the business traveller, family

vacationer, or repeat versus one-off guests. Segmentation ensures you won’t be wasting sale price incentives on

regular business travellers who would otherwise pay full rates, and so on.


Remarketing & RetargetingChapter 6


These days it’s highly unlikely that someone will come to your site and book the first time. Visitors are likely

comparing data and searching through OTA websites on one tab with your website in another. Remarketing and

retargeting continue to be important processes in refocusing this traffic.

You’re likely familiar with the concept. When someone visits your website a cookie is set on their browser, giving

you the ability to serve up creative advertising on other websites they then visit. You can then target visitors

across different devices and platforms in order to nudge them back to your booking button. You can optimise

your retargeting in a number of ways.

Remarketing needs to be extremely targeted, segmented and timely.

PersonalisationOne thing we do know within your extremely competitive marketplace is that branded generic marketing ads

just don’t cut through. There are lots of opportunity in remarketing to make brand presence part of your strategy,

but in the cut and thrust of hotel room bookings it doesn’t seem to work. Remarketing needs to be extremely

targeted, segmented and timely.

LocationsPeople may be visiting your individual property pages but failing to making a booking. In this case you’d be

looking to create remarketing creative relevant to each of those different properties in line with those visits. This

may mean creating fifteen or twenty sets of creative, each with different pricing factors built in, if you are really

serious about getting those visitors back to convert.


TimingTiming is critical for remarketing, as we’ve found accommodation seekers are usually most likely to convert

within 72 hours. Dependent on your analytics it may be worth capping your retargeting audiences to seven day

lists. After this you should be getting fresh traffic through and those room dates will likely have passed. Equally,

if someone has come through and converted, have code placed on the thank you page of the confirmation

booking to take them out of the remarketing audience. The last thing you want is for them to be shown a better

sale than the one they just booked!

Calls to ActionSmall changes in calls to action can make noticeable differences in clicks and conversions. It’s absolutely worth

split testing different CTAs to the extent of mentioning or not mentioning an actual price, or even mentioning

“best rates” if you’re able to. The data will quickly begin to tell you what works most effectively in attracting

interest and engagement.


Retargeting Lists For Search AdsChapter 7


Retargeting lists for search ads allows you to tailor your paid search campaigns based on

someone’s previous visits. There are a number of strategies within RLSA that we’ve been

using successfully for some time.

There are a number of strategies within RLSA that we’ve been using successfully for some time.

Search-Specific RetargetingIf you have visitors viewing your pages and searching for terms such as a Sydney hotel or specific event

accommodation, you can put quite an aggressive strategy in place to retarget these people for the next 72 hours.

You already know they’re perhaps 90% through the buying journey on your website, so why not try to recapture

this audience? Even if you have to pay a higher cost per click for this your chance of a conversion is going to

be greater. YouTube’s ‘in market’ search targeting is another effective channel to retarget an audience with high

commercial intent. Users can be targeted if they have seen your Google Ad without clicking on it. If you have

compelling video content you should consider 6 second YouTube bumper ads to drive visitors back to your site

to complete their booking.

Value Proposition RetargetingOn the other hand, if you only have the one property you may introduce a site-wide policy to bid on a wider list of

terms while the customer is in their buying cycle. These would focus on the value proposition of coming to you

directly using phrases such as “Book direct and save” and so on. These costs per click can be around 30% lower

than generic ads at the top of the search funnel, so why wouldn’t you take that second chance to get that person

back on your site and converting?


CRO: The Booking ExperienceChapter 8


Of course, all of these efforts may be in vain if your user experience makes it difficult to

book. The last thing you want is for your visitor to drift to an OTA where we know that user

experience has been carefully refined. Then what’s going to happen? The visitor may settle

on another property entirely. To avoid this accommodation providers need to look at their

booking experience and eliminate any potential barriers.

“Currencies should be automatically matched to the visitor’s geographical location.”

Barriers to BookingSome examples we often see include form fields that require too much data, using complex Captcha codes

when a modern and simple one will do, and detailed booking filters that show no available rooms. This type of

problem can instantly kill off opportunities. The overarching adage for improving conversion rates really is, don’t

make them think. Keep your interface clean, uncluttered and intuitive.

Keys to ConversionsThere are some key aspects to an optimal booking experience. Ensure your contact details are clear and quick to

find, forms are easy to fill and the site is responsive to mobiles and tablets. Currencies should be automatically

matched to the visitor’s geographical location. You may also choose to greet repeat customers with personalised

messaging and rates.

It’s worth regularly completing a booking as a visitor would on your website to ensure there are no hidden

hiccups in the process. In addition, if a repeat guest calls it’s important to have an efficient CRM system in place

to bring up their personal details and preferences for a smooth booking process. If your systems allow, look

at implementing a booking abandonment strategy: retarget visitors with an aggressive, time-limited offer via

remarketing or email them directly if you have their address. Be prepared to follow up with a second email in that

crucial 72 hour window when they are still ‘hot’.


Content MarketingChapter 9


Content for accommodation providers is all about adding value to your website to provide a

fuller picture of your hotel and value proposition rather than with the OTA’ at the end of the

passage.

Value Added ExtrasWebsite-only deals and email promotions can be a highly effective way of attracting direct bookings.

Consider if you can offer value added extras on your website that won’t compromise any OTA packages. You

may have parity on pricing, but could you offer free parking, a free bottle of wine or a discount on dinner for the

first night to make the visitor seek you out directly?

There are many ways of creating emotional connections through imagery.


ImageryThere are many ways of creating emotional connections through imagery, particularly when the OTAs use stock

standard imagery in comparison. We love how engaging video can be, and you don’t often see much of it on OTA

sites. Video can draw people into the view from one of your rooms and bring the

accommodation experience alive to create a more personal connection.

Content ConsistencyIt’s crucial to audit your content regularly. An OTA may have dropped the price seasonally and your own site isn’t

reflecting that price, or perhaps the OTA’s description includes more detail about value added extras. Visitors

aren’t likely to phone and check if they’ll get the free WiFi by booking direct – they’ll just book through the OTA.

Ensure your site offers all of the same features for that king bedroom that the OTA displays.

Localised ContentOne indicator of increased local search is that terms such as, “accommodation near X” are becoming more

prevalent on mobile. Although this may not pertain to your own strategy, it’s worth looking at local points of

interest around your property and adding blog posts and descriptions centred around these to target those

search terms.


Social MediaChapter 10


The reality is social media is now a pay-to-play space. The good news is that Facebook in

particular places very powerful advertising options at your disposal. As things currently stand,

both CPC and CPA tend to be low through Facebook and OTAs aren’t investing heavily in social

media, so there are opportunities there. We’re seeing some incredible returns on investment

within the accommodation space on Facebook – in some cases, seeing about $25 of banked

revenue per dollar invested.

Lookalike AudiencesTwo of the things that stand out from Facebook are custom and lookalike audiences. As proof of how important

it is to obtain email addresses from guests, you can feed this information into Facebook and show this custom

audience targeted advertising on whatever basis you see fit. Equally, you can find people on Facebook with

similar likes, interests, age factors and so on, who become your lookalike audience.

Critically, you can reach people when their guard is down and they’re relaxed, rather than in research or business

mode. The other benefit is that if you’re producing videos and content of use or interest, people will share it within

their ecosystem and you’ll get added amplification for every dollar.

Two of the things that stand out from Facebook are custom and lookalike audiences.

Facebook Lead AdsFacebook lead ads, where users can submit their name and email address without leaving the platform, offer a

low-friction way of engaging an audience. An example might be gaining access to a secret sale. Once we have

that information we can email, remarket and advertise on Facebook to these people on an ongoing basis, with

an almost lifetime value in having that data.


Smarter Inventory ManagementChapter 11


Whatever the industry, it pays to be looking ahead – to be proactive rather than reactive. Within

accommodation it’s obviously ideal to fill rooms ourselves before we need to pay high rates

for reactive AdWords advertising, or turn to the OTAs.

Planning Ahead If you have a reasonably profiled database, there is a significant amount of planning you can do in advance.

You could begin to build content calendars for your properties and start promoting local events ahead of time,

for example Chinese New Year, sporting events or popular conferences. These campaigns may extend across

social media, email marketing, retargeting and blog posts, to help you specifically target specific people in your

database and others whose demographic profile fits those events.

A valuable way of managing your inventory can be to look at your historical data.

Let’s Get AnalyticalA valuable way of managing your inventory can be to look at your historical data for reservations and planning

ahead appropriately. If you had a lull in a certain two months over winter last year, you may introduce some

direct-booking incentives or group discounts to try to fill those rooms ahead of time this year. Taking that small

hit on an early incentive can be minimal when compared to trying to fill those rooms through an OTA closer to

the date.


Attribution ModellingChapter 12


The customer journey to considering and booking accommodation is a complex one, often

completed across multiple platforms and devices. Attribution modelling is highly valuable

in understanding the roles your different channels play in influencing people through their

journeys.

Identifying ValueIt could be that a visitor came to your website from an OTA, experienced remarketing creative or a highly

personalised email, then made a booking. Attribution modelling gives you a wider picture of what’s going on, and

you’ll quickly start to realise you can’t give all the credit to the first interaction or the last. You’ll also begin to gain

a more accurate view of your true ROI in terms of which clicks you may be paying too much or too little for. This

understanding can be invaluable, particularly before you start to pull the pin on a channel that could actually be

playing a vital step in the customer buying journey.

Attribution modelling gives you a wider picture of what’s going on.

Understanding SegmentsIf you have highly segmented audiences receiving different messaging, attribution modelling is beneficial in

following up on these strategies. You may quickly come to realise that your rewards program loyalists typically

follow a path that you didn’t expect, or that retargeting was wasted on certain business customers who would

have booked anyway. The more advanced your attribution model for each segment, the smarter you can be

about targeting them in the future.


A Final Word...There’s no silver bullet to suddenly increasing your bookings, and any one tactic alone won’t work. The

winning strategy is going to be a combination of techniques such as SEO, paid search, email marketing

and remarketing. Conversions can be 20% higher or more when you are running these kind of engagement

campaigns across different platforms and devices.

We deploy all of the tactics discussed in this book on a daily basis. In all of the strategies that we put

together, we ultimately focus on one thing. That’s increasing the quality of lead enquiries and clearly

measuring them so you can literally see the return on investment you’re making in each marketing channel.

If you’d like to talk individual strategy for your accommodation enterprise, we’d love to speak with you.

Interested in a complimentary audit?We’d love to help.Simply get in touch with the Rocket team!

02 8310 2393www.rocketagency.com.au

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