A key component of a hotel’s digital strategy, retargeting ads, re-engage high-intent travelers who have already expressed interest in your property.
NB: This is an article from Cloudbeds, one of our Expert Partners
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This enables marketing teams to recoup revenue lost from cart abandonment and increase direct bookings.
We explore how retargeting ads work, why they’re an essential part of your property’s digital strategy, and how to run successful campaigns that maximize revenue.
What are retargeting ads?
97% of visitors never return to complete their purchase upon leaving a website. Retargeting ads help with this by nurturing previously engaged travelers who have interacted with your website but didn’t complete a booking. It uses cookies to track and target these visitors, ensuring your brand stays top of mind even after they’ve left your site.
Retargeting displays personalized ads across various platforms, including Google’s ad network and thousands of partner websites. This reminds travelers of your property and encourages them to return.
The main goal of these ads is visibility and views. It differs from other forms of paid advertising, including:
- Metasearch ads: Compete with online travel agencies (OTAs) for top rankings on metasearch sites like KAYAK and Google Hotel Ads for bookings; and
- Keyword ads: Attract new guests via search engines.
Retargeting vs. remarketing
While often used interchangeably, retargeting and remarketing actually serve different functions.
Retargeting refers to ad placements and display ads shown to visitors who have visited your website but did not complete a booking.
Remarketing focuses on re-engaging past guests through email, social media, and other promotional efforts.
Retargeting keeps your brand visible while remarketing encourages repeat visits. With both approaches working alongside one another, this creates a balanced digital strategy for hoteliers.
Benefits of retargeting ads for hotels
There are many benefits to incorporating these ads as part of your hotel’s marketing efforts. Retargeting ads help marketing and revenue managers create a more balanced hotel distribution strategy for their property, to attract the right audience on the right channel, at the right time.
Drive direct bookings
Our 2025 State of Independent Lodging Report found that 61% of bookings are coming from online travel agencies, a 1.2% increase YOY. While OTAs are an essential part of a hotel’s marketing and distribution strategy, they shouldn’t be the dominant source of bookings.
Retargeting ads can help hotels recover some of this share by providing consistent follow-ups with high-intent visitors and recovering revenue once lost during the booking process. Instead of paying commissions to OTAs, hotels can redirect this budget into their own digital marketing strategies.
