Search strategies for the summer lates
Approaching the summer lates market, we are experiencing a very different travel market online than in previous years. With reductions in industry capacity, soaring oil costs and travel business bankruptcies, there will be opportunities to claim online share through paid search for those advertisers willing to shift budgets to the digital space. We look back to 2007 to identify potential query patterns and examine the year to date to gauge the likely impact of the industry's new challenges. For full details, download the whitepaper here:Searching For Sun.
Learning from 2007
• July represents the peak traffic month of the year, 6.4% higher than January in 2007
• Weekly queries peak in early summer, at the start of July yet remain above January levels throughout July and August
• Opportunity within packages with 9% sector query outperformance and capacity cuts creating available auction inventory
• Opportunity in late summer as CPCs fall
Recommendations
• Ensure budgets are in place for peak annual traffic
• Ensure bidding is most aggressive at the start of the period
• Allocate budget for late summer bookings opportunity when efficiency is greater
• Assign budget for late August Bank Holiday weekendEnsure budgets are in place for peak annual traffic
Understanding the new challenges of 2008
• Queries in 2008 are increasingly aligned with holiday periods; post- Easter surge in searches coincided with school holidays, peaking in the 7 days up to 12th April at 39% y-o-y growth
• Missed opportunity post-Easter as queries grew yet investment remained flat
• Search efficiency greater in the shoulder periods in 2008
Recommendations
• Anticipate query growth of over 30% over the summer when setting budgets
• Claim excess search inventory arising from industry capacity reductions
• Optimise positioning by varying CPCs in cost-effective shoulder periods
• Anticipate aggressive CPC bidding at peak times with less industry capacity and consequently higher lates prices
Growth
• City break destinations such as Paris and Barcelona have retained their popularity YTD
• Long-haul destinations consistently resilient amidst economic concerns
• North America and Middle East destinations (both up 20%) have witnessed the strongest growth
Recommendations
• Expand keyword lists for local attractions and city areas and test creative messaging forcompetitive city destinations
• Ensure budgets, keyword lists and ad creatives are suitable and tailored to the high growth regions
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