INTRODUCTION
While Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) have been around for years, more and more travelers are using them to plan and book their trips each year. In fact, the market size of the global online travel agent sector is expected to exceed $820 billion by 2023.
Recent research from Expedia Group also reveals that travelers are 57 percent more likely to book through an OTA than before the pandemic. If your hotel isn’t using OTA marketing, now is the time.
Since Expedia Group (Expedia, hotels.com, Travelocity, Orbitz) and Booking Holdings (booking.com, Priceline, Agoda) are the major OTA players, it makes sense to start with them.
Following are some tips on how you can use OTA marketing to increase brand awareness and drive bookings to your hotel, hotel group or resort.
HOW TO OPTIMIZE YOUR OTA LISTING
No matter the platform, it’s important to create a complete listing for your hotel. OTA sites (and metasearch sites) use the information you provide to display your property in relevant searches (e.g. “hotel with a pool in Madison, WI”).
Although they vary from each other, most OTA sites require the same types of information. For instance, you will need to enter basic information such as the name of your property and its category (e.g. hotel, bed and breakfast), location, policies and available rooms and amenities.
Travelers tend to like detail and photos, so you should include plenty of both to capture more business. Showcase your neighborhood and guest experiences, in addition to your rooms and offerings, to give travelers a sneak peek of what to expect during their stay.
Small brands and independent hotels, in particular, should highlight what makes them unique in their listings. These types of establishments are often more reliant on OTAs for bookings than the big brands, so they need to stand out.
If you sign up with a large marketplace like Expedia or Booking, your listing also will appear on sites within their partner networks. For example, your Expedia listing will show up on Hotels.com, Travelocity and Orbitz.
Complete listings are a good start, but you also should take additional measures to improve your OTA ranking, and thus, your visibility. For example, you should manage your hotel’s reputation and reviews, as many OTA sites prioritize locations that provide high-quality experiences.
In addition, make sure to offer competitive rates and maintain rate parity across all OTA sites. Your ranking may drop if you offer lower prices elsewhere.
Finally, keep your listing active by updating it regularly. This could be as simple as adding more photos or creating seasonal promotions for your rooms.
HOW TO ADVERTISE ON OTA SITES
In exchange for increasing reach, visibility and bookings for your hotel, OTA sites take a commission (usually 5-25 percent) of each booking made through their platform. Many of them also offer advertising opportunities that can take your OTA marketing to the next level.
For instance, Expedia’s TravelAds Sponsored Listings is a self-service platform designed to make your hotel stand out to potential guests. The sponsored listings typically appear at the top of the search results with the word “Ad” in the top corner.
Sponsored Listings use a pay-per-click model, and you can get started for as low as 25 cents per click. Adjust your bid to be more competitive and set a daily budget to help control costs.
Use the targeting tools to capture guests looking at specific booking windows or lengths of stay. You also should create custom copy to highlight unique selling points for your hotel.
Similar to Expedia, booking.com has a “visibility booster” that you manage on your own. Improve your ranking in the hotel search results by increasing the commission you pay to booking.com. To do this, select the check-in dates you’d like to boost and the commission rate you’d like to apply.
Use these types of advertising to fill low-demand dates or to make your hotel stand out during holidays or special events.