By Russell Young, Managing Director, Sojern APAC
Travel brands will compete to captivate the hearts—and wallets—of travellers in Asia-Pacific as we move into the busy summer travel season. According to Phocuswright, the APAC online market will grow by double figures each year to reach a staggering $211 billion by 2020, presenting travel brands a massive opportunity. But with that opportunity comes a challenge: how to best capture the attention of these travellers.
For example, it may be easy to assume that historical trends are enough to zero in on their target market, but is that reflective of a comprehensive marketing strategy? Is that enough to maximise their slice of this enormous travel pie? By only looking back at last summer, you could unintentionally miss a big portion of travel planners in-market for your offerings.
Instead, real-time data should be the driving force behind your brand’s marketing decisions. Our latest Global Travel Insights Report is out with a first view at where travellers are looking at this summer, to help you plan the most targeted, comprehensive summer campaign.
Nothing is set in stone
The APAC traveller is increasingly connected across devices and screens throughout the day. This means instant access to any information within a matter of seconds. So while they may be looking at your offering, they are also looking at dozens of others. Your competitors have grown.
For example, Asia-Pacific has no shortage of beautiful, white sandy beaches. But this doesn’t mean that your target audience is going to automatically book with you. According to our most recent data, Honolulu has emerged as a top beach destinations for travelers in APAC this June, suggesting that travelers are open to new destinations with similar offerings.
Knowing that an audience segment has destination type in mind rather than a specific location, allows you to tailor your ads to a unique segment while they are still in their dreaming and researching phase with beautiful beach videos.
Russell Young, Managing Director APAC, Sojern
Easy targets; easy no more
Historical assumptions can be good at a very general level. For example, history will tell you that Ramadan is a popular time for travel in APAC. Our data shows that this is, in fact, correct. Hari Raya Puasa begins on Sunday, June 25 this year and June 23 makes the list of top departure dates, so it’s clear that Asia-Pacific travellers are looking to take a long weekend to celebrate. Many travel marketing campaigns are likely targeting those people looking to travel over this weekend.
But by concentrating on Hari Raya Puasa, you are likely overlooking another segment who is seeking to travel during the beginning of June. Our real-time travel intent data shows that June 1 and 2 are currently the other top searched departure dates. Similar to what we saw in January with a high number of bookings, travellers aren’t necessarily sticking to the traditional holiday seasons to plan trips. Basing your marketing spend based on what people are doing now rather than what they’ve done historically, will allow you to maximise results.
One way to do this is to create a campaign with dynamic components, which shares real-time pricing for the exact dates a person is looking at. So rather than targeting someone who is looking to travel at the beginning of June for your specials around Ramadan, you can personalise your interaction and stay top of mind when it comes time to book. Then, instead of assuming you are showing your target audience what they want to see, you are actually doing it.
Find success by going to where your customers are
In the same way that your customers are searching for and booking travel, it’s important to streamline your messaging across devices and channels. Travel marketers can no longer afford to put all their eggs in one basket. A comprehensive marketing plan involves applying messaging across display, video, social media, native formats, and more.
Social platforms like Facebook, for example, are ideal for travel brands, where people spend much of their online life. Hotel giant Fairmont has had great success using Fairmont’s Dynamic Ads for Travel (DAT) offering, as a way to re-engage with potential guests, with real-time availability and pricing information. Facebook also has a selection of engaging formats to highlight your best features, drawing users to your site to continue their search and increase the likelihood of booking.
Summer is just around the corner, so it’s time to fine tune that marketing campaign in order to capitalise on the opportunity that this time of the year presents
