If you aren’t using ad targeting when serving PPC or Facebook ads you are likely wasting your advertising dollars on people who will never book a room at your hotel.
In this article, we’ll take a look at demographic targeting options, behavioral targeting options, and layering those targets to create granular audiences you can reach with focused and effective messaging.
Demographic Targeting
One of the best ways to refine your hotel’s ad targeting is to segment your audiences based on their demographics. Digging into your data will reveal commonalities about your typical customer. Targeting based on these commonalities allows you to spend your advertising budget as efficiently as possible.
Geographic Targeting
Finding the geographic areas that send you the most traffic and conversions is the perfect place to start when you’re looking at demographic information. Creating campaigns for specific areas is beneficial for multiple reasons:
- Splitting campaigns up by geographic area allows you to see which areas truly drive the most traffic and which areas convert best. It prevents one area from eating up all the advertising budget. You may have a certain market that drives a lot of traffic but does not convert. Geotargeting will help you identify those areas and adjust your budgets accordingly.
- Geotargeting also allows you to use ad creative tailored to the people in your targeted geographic location. People living in nearby drive markets may respond differently to certain specials than those who are visiting from afar. It also allows you to target the area directly around your hotel for people who are looking for a place to stay at the last minute.
Age & Generation Targeting
Your data may also show that certain age groups are more likely to stay at your hotel. You can maximize your ad spend by allocating more budget to those age groups showing higher conversion rates.
Age and generation targeting also allows you to tailor your ad copy and promotions. You may be promoting amenities or specials that resonate differently with older and younger demographics. Appealing to a certain age group’s interests will likely help increase your conversion rate.
Income Targeting
Income targeting is especially useful for luxury properties. If your nightly rates are too high for lower-income families to afford, you will want to adjust your targeting so your ads only show to individuals identified as higher-income. Conversely, if your property caters primarily to lower-income individuals you could target them specifically while excluding the higher-income people who likely wouldn’t stay with you.
