Why you need to kickstart your ad campaigns now
With the news of possible re-opening dates for hotels both north and south of the border, we are starting to see bookings being made online across our client base. With budgets being tighter than ever, we can understand why you would shy away from spending money on advertising campaigns, however, we believe these will play an important role in your recovery from COVID-19. Below we outline the key reasons for kickstarting your online advertising campaigns as you prepare to reopen.
OTAs are bidding on brands again
Booking dot com and friends have remained live with a select few ad campaigns throughout lockdown, but over the past week we have seen them restart brand advertising once again. Running ads which target anyone searching for your hotel by name will work out at roughly 10% equivalent commission and will make your hotel more profitable in the long run (the screenshot below is on desktop on June 22nd 2020). The fact OTAs haven’t updated their ad messaging gives you an opportunity to promote a clearer, more engaging message for the post-COVID traveller which will allow you to stand out and drive more direct bookings.
Less visitors, more competition
With international travel restrictions likely to continue for the foreseeable future, hotel bookings will almost exclusively come from the UK market. This will mean a reduced number of bookings for the rest of 2020. For destination searches, some properties have already kicked off their ad campaigns again targeting people looking for hotels in specific locations with updated messaging and offers. Their customers’ journey will have already started, meaning they are ahead of their competitive set. Having refined ad campaigns, with flexible and clear messaging can connect you to customers instantly and help sell your hotel. This means that when the government make the all-important announcement, you will be in pole position to bring in the revenue.
We are here to offer any questions you may have and advise as much as possible. Feel free to get in touch.
This advice was supplied by Big Flavour
