MAPPING THE ROUTE TO SUCCESSUnderstanding the pathway to conversion in travel

Search PPC Content Social

Customers convert poorly on travel websites...

CRO and UX offer one route to improvement…

But what else is at issue?

LARGEM

EDIUMSM

ALL

How do you make sense of it?

Inspiration Consideration Affirmation Confirmation

Conversion pathway

Path categorisation

The Categories

Inspiration - Customers might have some ideas of the type of holiday. Very often travellers start with an idea of what they would like to do, but are uncertain about where to go

Consideration - They’ve found a selection of locations, or resorts within those locations that they want to visit and which fit their holiday type

Affirmation - Travellers look to reviews and review sites to affirm their selection, and may head back to the Consideration or Inspiration stages based on what they discover

Confirmation - Users confirm their choices and make a booking. Price and convenience become key factors in booking their holiday. And as the online travel market becomes more mature, shoppers are very savvy in these areas.

Keywords, keywords, keywords…

Keywords aren’t dead

• Personalisation of search, the increasing sophistication of search queries and the growth of voice search on mobile devices are all factors many believe will mean the keyword as we know it will disappear

• Gaining a strong understanding of the keywords that are important at the various stages of the pathway to conversion (Inspiration > Consideration > Affirmation > Confirmation) gives you an excellent understanding of how to use them.

Keyword intent and grouping

Keywords vary from the Low (less commercial) to High (more commercial) intent:

Inspiration Consideration Affirmation Confirmation

Higher commercial intent

Inspiratione.g. “Cheap holidays in

March”

Consideratione.g. “Cheap beach holidays

in Spain”

Affirmatione.g. “Es Figueral Hotel

Reviews”

Confirmatione.g. “Cheap Es Figueral

Hotel Deals”

Higher commercial intent

Keyword intent and grouping

• Categorising keywords is vital to using the right channels and tactics at the right time in the pathway to conversion

• Once you have this categorisation in place, completed keyword research and grouped keywords accordingly you can begin to see your various channel strengths and weaknesses

• If your site is strong in organic search around generic keywords you can perhaps invest paid search budget in other areas – and vice versa.

Keyword intent and grouping

Understanding your pathways to conversion

Attribution modelling

Channel touchpoints in the conversion pathway vary in complexity…

Attribution models

There are seven different attribution models in Google Analytics

The marketing bit…

The marketing bit

• Equipped with an excellent understanding of how customers are interacting with your brand during the conversion pathway you can start to think about how best to target them

• With categorised keyword lists and channel interactions, as well as some understanding of how you attribute the value of channels within your business, you can develop a robust strategy.

Key channels

• Social

• Organic Search

• Paid Search

• Display

Display

• A lot of options across many different solutions, offering advanced programmatic campaigns

• Cost of these types of campaign can deter smaller brands, but remarketing with display is a good place to start

• Brand safety however remains a key concern for travel brands

• For those with lower budgets using remarketing and Google’s new Customer Match and Affinity Group features help ensure you can make efficient use of budget – even at the start of the conversion pathway (the Inspiration stage).

Organic search

• Content marketing straddles the social, organic search and referral channels. Providing a solid foundation for traffic from all three. Especially at the Inspiration stage

• Well-produced and detailed on-site content is well-suited to several stages in the process. Providing inspiration to users from blog posts can be very effective. As can creating content-rich landing pages – which can be key at the Consideration stage

• Useful content, that perhaps curates information that isn’t readily available, can also work well in the Affirmation stage

• A sensible organic search strategy begins with detailed keyword research and keyword intent analysis.

Paid search

• As with organic search, the strategy should begin with detailed keyword research and keyword intent analysis

• If consumers are searching for generic holiday terms, PPC can be a great way of grabbing customers at the earliest point in the conversion pathway (the Inspiration stage) and also build brand awareness when they are in the Consideration stage

• Think about how Generic and Brand campaigns have an impact at various stages of the conversion pathway

• Brand campaigns are a key driver to conversion at the end of the pathway (the Confirmation stage), but can cannibalise organic traffic

• RLSA and Customer Match allow you to increase efficiency across more Generic campaigns – especially in light of recent CPC increases.

Social

• Social media is increasingly seen as a key Inspiration for holidaymakers

• Recommendations from friends on Facebook, or envy inducing selfies on Instagram can be key sources of inspiration

• It is also worth considering the impact negative comments and reviews can have at the Affirmation stage

• Look at social as a key to inspiration, but also for its role in supporting the outreach of content and building brand awareness. And always be aware of the impact negative feedback on the channel can have.

Conclusions…

Map the path and walk it

• In a complex industry such as travel, gaining a comprehensive understanding of the path to conversion, and effectively mapping it, is key to success.

• Think carefully about the different stages of this path and understand customer behaviour and intentions at those stages – what channels are they using? And what are they looking for?

• Experiments with attribution modelling can also be very telling. A look at alternative attribution models could lead you to look anew at the channels driving traffic to your site

• Overlooking organic or paid search, dismissing display or side-lining social, will mean you are missing out on a vital customer touchpoint in the conversion pathway.

Questions