How Hotels Can Use Retargeting

One of the top priorities for hoteliers is driving direct bookings. When a customer books directly with the front desk, the hotel avoids expensive OTA commissions. But, competing with OTAs online is no easy task. And unfortunately, with standard Pay-Per-Click web advertising, your ads aren’t always targeted to reach the people who want to or are likely to book your hotel.

A way to remedy this drain on marketing dollars is to employ a retargeting campaign. In the hotel industry, this is particularly useful in reconnecting with guests who may have started the reservations or booking process, but did not complete it.

What are the different methods of retargeting?

There are three different ways you can retarget your ads on the web.

1. Site retargeting

Site retargeting is a great way to target prospective guests who have visited your hotel’s website in the past. You can tailor display ads based on the content they viewed on your site to show more relevant ads. These ads can also take into account whether or not this guest has booked with your hotel. This way, you can either leave those customers out of display campaigns (so as not to overwhelm them with ads after they’ve already booked) or give them the extra nudge they need to make the reservation.

2. Email retargeting

Email retargeting supplements email marketing campaigns by targeting consumers who have opened your email. Using a simple code in the email, guests who open your email will then see ads for your hotel on sites throughout the web like Facebook and YouTube. It’s a subtle yet powerful way to target your email subscribers without bombarding them with more emails.

3. Search retargeting

Search retargeting uses the keywords that prospective guests search for on Google or other search engines to target them with display ads. You can tailor display ads to people searching for keywords specific to your geographical region, like “Napa bed and breakfast” or “San Francisco weekend trip.”

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