Metasearch already scaled to become one of the most important online marketing channels in 2019, continuing its growth trajectory faster than traditional Ads.
NB: This is an article from mirai
The difference has grown even more in 2020 as hotels, due to the covid-19 crisis, moved a large amount of their CPC investments to available commission models in metasearch such as Google commission per stay or CPS (formerly known as GHACP) or the recently launched trivago CPA. We expect, nevertheless, that this move will be reversed once we overcome this crisis.
Regardless of the bidding model, it is certain that metasearch is here to stay and will continue to be a crucial channel once the demand picks up again. The assumption that metasearch is a plug an and play approach is a common misconception that can create wasted media dollars at lower efficiency. Metasearch requires highly sophisticated machine learning, automation and specialized management. Unfortunately, it’s not that easy, and many hotels that operate with this assumption can lose advertising dollars quickly when the channel is not managed correctly.
Hoteliers understand that Metasearch is the most important channel for driving demand,” said Alexander Steenbakkers-Noffke, Managing Director at Koddi. “The complexity and tech investment around optimization set a high bar in the past to engage with this channel, to effectively compete hotels must win when it comes to optimization for Google, TripAdvisor, Trivago, Kayak and more. Koddi is thrilled to be working with an industry leader such as Mirai to deliver that competitive advantage for their customers.”
In order to implement a successful metasearch strategy, hotels need to gain a fully understanding of how to manage the channel, or find the right partner to address and properly execute on each of the following:
- Service
- Connectivity
- Bidding Optimization
Mirai is a service-driven company, being at the pulse of our client needs (always being very close to our clients), consulting on questions and giving direction on how to improve metasearch performance advising what to do in order to improve their performance in meta.
At Mirai, we have the leading connectivity solution with proprietary integrations with the leading metasearch publishers (Google Hotel Ads, trivago, Tripadvisor, Kayak and Skyscanner), supporting all all their features such as 15 best practices in Google Hotel Ads and auction levers. Our integration with metas seamlessly redirects users to any booking engine (either ours or third-party ones).
Finally, the third, and crucial, leg to make metasearch work is defining an adequate bidding strategy. Commission models might work for many hotels to establish a baseline. However, you can do better in scale and efficiency with the best marketing technology available, squeezing every dollar you invest. At Mirai, our approach is twofold. We count with a great metasearch team who masters bidding, and we rely on our technology such as Mirai Metasearch dashboard to make the best decisions.
However, if we want to truly excel in bidding optimization, we need the best automation and AI tools in the market such as Koddi’s Enterprise solution. Starting today, Mirai will license the Koddi Enterprise platform to maximize exposure of hotel properties on metasearch channels, driving more bookings and improving marketing ROI.
Our marketing team will lean on Koddi solutions to:
- Create metasearch campaigns across the main publishers using best-in-class technology.
- Leverage advanced bidding algorithms that can be customized to match a client’s campaign goals.
- Utilize granular signals such as price competitiveness data, occupancy rates, cancellation rates, audiences, etc. to enhance bidding strategies.
- Ultimately take advantage of all available opportunities and exploit them to drive bookings and revenue with maximum efficiency.
- Create customized reporting views of client’s metasearch programs to understand the impact of campaigns at any level.
- Access incremental marketing channels such as TripAdvisor Sponsored Placements, Google Promoted Hotels, Trivago Sponsored Listings, Kayak Inline Ads, etc.
