In 2023, digital ads are predicted to account for more than 66% of the total spend on global advertising. This goes to show just how impactful online advertising is, and how so many companies use it for increasing sales and revenue growth.
If you want to reach new customers fast, then running travel business marketing ads is the best way to do so.
A major benefit of running paid ad campaigns is that you can target the right audience and ensure that your business and booking pages are front and center of their buying journey.
And with so many different advertising channels and formats to choose from, you can be very specific about how you attract customers through travel advertising.
Not sure where to start? This guide will cover everything you need to know about preparing your first ad campaign.
Before you start running travel business marketing ads, it's important to take a number of key considerations into account. This will help you create ads that are more effectively targeted in order to achieve a better ROI.
First, you need to have a clear understanding of who your target audience is. This is essential if your ads are going to reach the right people.
The great thing about running online ads is that you can access very detailed targeting options. This means you can be highly specific about what demographics, interests, and locations your ads display.
Start by understanding exactly who your prospective customers are. The best way to do this is to create detailed customer personas that outline elements like the target customers' age, location, interests, income, pain points, and more.
This way, you’ll be able to target the ads so that only relevant people see them. This will help your campaigns achieve e a better ROI.
You’ll also need to have a clear sense of how your target audience consumes information online. This is necessary for choosing the right platforms to run travel advertising campaigns on.
An important aspect of this is understanding the customer journey and the different steps they would take from discovering your brand to becoming a customer. If you focus your ads on platforms where your audience isn't active, your ads won't end up driving conversions.
Paid advertising campaigns cost money, so you need to set aside a clear budget accordingly. Of course, your aim is to generate more money from the campaigns than they cost, i.e, to achieve a positive ROI.
Understand the different ways you pay for ads (usually PPC), and establish a budget for this. You should also be clear on what your ideal return on investment would be for your ads to be profitable.
The great thing about travel business marketing ads is that you have loads of different platforms and ad formats to choose from. This gives you plenty of options for effectively targeting your ideal customers, regardless of what their online habits are.
Let’s break down some of the best platforms and ad formats that travel businesses can use.
When it comes to online advertising, Google Ads remain the most popular. This makes sense seeing as Google is generally the first place people will go to to discover businesses or experiences.
Google offers a variety of different ad formats:
These are the text ads that display at the top of Google search results. You bid on relevant keywords to have these ads displayed.
These are ads that include images that display on other websites outside of the search engine.
Video ads that appear on YouTube (more on this later).
Ads that list products on Google search.
Ads on Google that send customers to a physical location.
Automated ad campaigns that run on Google and across the web.
These ads run across Google’s different feeds.
For travel business marketing ads, the best approach is generally search ads. These are the most common forms of Google ads, and they display similarly to regular Google search results.
Using these ads is a fast way of reaching the top of the SERP.
Your ideal customers are probably going onto Google and searching for something along the lines of “kayak tour near me”. Being savvy about the relevant target keywords can help your ad appear on top of this search query. This is a highly effective way to attract a lot more customers.
Facebook Ads are an extremely popular option for running travel ad campaigns. Consider how much data Facebook holds on its users. This gives you a lot of room to be really specific about how you're going to target the right people.
Many different types of Facebook ad campaigns exist, such as:
Image ads include a still image with a CTA.
This refers to a video with a CTA.
Full-screen ads that include interactive, multimedia options.
Ads that can feature up to 10 images and videos in a swipe-through carousel format, including a CTA.
Ads that include a lead generation form to collect email addresses.
Personalized ads that connect your product catalog with your Facebook Events Manager and Facebook Pixel. This lets you display ad content to users who also viewed the page or product on your website.
Ads that appear inside Facebook Stories.
Ads displayed in Facebook Messenger. You can also use these on Instagram and Whatsapp.
Image ads, video ads, and carousel ads are some of the best options for travel businesses, as they let you display your travel experiences in an eye-catching and engaging format. Be sure to use a relevant CTA (like “Book Now”) to increase your conversions.
YouTube is owned by Google, so YouTube Ads are Google video ads (as mentioned above).
Video is the most engaging form of content. Running video ads can be a practical way to grab the viewer's attention. It also lets you display a lot more than images. For travel businesses, this gives you the ideal opportunity to show off your travel experiences and destinations to entice users into booking tours.
Running these ads isn't as easy as other formats, as you’ll need to create quality video content. Bidding on video ads can also get expensive.
Instagram is owned by Meta, so Instagram ads and Facebook ads are managed through the same platform. If you run ads on Facebook, those ads can also run on Instagram at the same time.
Instagram and Facebook ads work in much the same way. Although Instagram also offers ads for its unique features, like Reel Ads, Stories Ads, and Shopping Ads.
It's important to understand your audience and how they interact with each different platform in order for your ads to be most effective.
If your target customers are on Twitter, this could also be a compelling medium for running paid ad campaigns. Twitter lets you run ads in a few different formats, including:
These ads look like standard text-based Tweets.
A single image is displayed in the ad.
These are ads that display a video.
Up to six images are displayed in a swipe-through carousel format.
This option allows you to curate a collection of Tweets to tell a story.
Retargeting is a type of ad strategy that can be run on Google Ads and Facebook Ads. The idea is to show relevant content to people who have already interacted with your website.
For example, a person visits your site, looks at a tour page, and then leaves. You can run retargeting ads (powered by tracking pixels), to then display an ad for that same tour page to the user on different websites.
This is a fantastic strategy for selling more tours, as the people who see retargeting ads have already shown an interest in your business, so they’re more likely to make a purchase.
Once you’ve established what ad platform is best for your travel business, you’ll need to make sure your ads stand out.
Here are a few tips and tactics to keep in mind when creating your ad campaigns.
This is an essential rule for any effective ad campaign, regardless of the platform or ad format you're using.
Your ad exists to drive conversions and to achieve that you need to have a clear call to action (CTA). make sure this CTA is simple and compelling, and that it makes sense for your ad campaign goals.
It’s crucial that you use a URL for your ad campaigns that align with your ad messaging and CTA. If you're running search ads, the user won't be very interested if they see a long URL that doesn't seem relevant. Make sure that your URL structure aligns with the objective the user has.
Your ad may be the ultimate tool for attracting a lot of clicks and driving traffic to your landing page. However, none of this will matter if your landing page isn't properly optimized for conversions.
Make sure the page you send traffic to is relevant to your ad, and that it includes all of the details and information a user will be looking for. Make sure your CTA is clear, and that you don't require too much information from the user in any forms on the page.
This will most likely be your tour booking page. By using the right travel booking software, you’ll be able to create a more optimized booking page for a better user experience.
Your ads should stand out and be visually appealing. If you're running social media ads, your goal is to stop people from scrolling and grabbing their attention.
This means you should try to include strong visual elements, and refrain from making your ads too text-heavy. Try to clearly communicate the value of your ad in a line or two.
If you run video ads, keep the videos short and try to grab attention from the first second.
If you're running text-based search ads, be very careful about creating your headline. This needs to be simple, but impactful.
A recommended strategy for running travel business marketing ads is to test, update, and optimize your ads.
By running A/B tests on your ads, you’ll be able to implement the most effective ads that offer the best conversion rates and ROI. The more you test and optimize, the better your ad performance will be.
With the right travel business marketing ads, you’ll be able to attract a lot more customers and generate more sales. Once you establish what ads make the most sense for your marketing goals and target audience, it is a highly effective way to increase your tour bookings.
If you're looking for more travel industry tips and resources, then take a look at WeTravel Academy. We have created an extensive library of guides, courses, webinars, articles, and more, to help travel industry professionals grow their businesses.