The Rise of Meta Search
It is increasingly important for properties to drive their direct traffic from meta search sites especially when you see the data…
Beyond the OTA’s lie the meta search sites like Google Maps (Google Hotel Ads), Trivago, TripAdvisor, Hotels Combined, Kayak etc. It is more important than ever to be making sure that you have DIRECT LINKS driving a continuous flow of guests to you. It is now possible through a new ‘meta’ marketing service to take advantage of this.
On a side note, I have also been seeing a lot of extra emphasis being placed on Google Hotel Ads, with Google driving more and more traffic to the right hand column of the search page. The only way to appear there for individual hotels is through meta search marketing.
In a recent study of 2000 hotels over 2015, 2016 and 2017 – the stats showed a slight decline in organic traffic, a decline in Google Adwords and a massive increase in traffic from Meta Search sites and display advertising. Heat map tracking on a Google landing page also shows more activity in the right hand column where Google Hotel Ads display. I personally have found that I click website links in this column far more than the listings on the left hand column since Google started displaying hotel, images, map, web link, phone number, address and meta search rates. An increase in Google Hotel ads traffic has risen 220% in the last year. Google Maps also pulls in and displays Google Hotel Ads, another really important exposure for direct hotel marketing.
Visibility is the key to getting more direct web traffic. It is similar to the billboard effect of being on OTA websites with the added advantage of a direct link to your website for a direct booking. It is this added exposure of your direct link in this critical booking journey that makes all the difference. Having a direct and an ‘official website link’ without having to pay TripAdvisor or Trivago. This let’s independent hotels take advantage of their very large advertising budgets and pull traffic their way.
Using a meta search tool also gives the added benefit of targeting oversees markets if you want to increase your inbound marketing in a very measured and targeted way.
Overall we are seeing the numbers add up, and this is looking HOT. We love it when we spot trends and can help our clients grow their business revenue and marketing exposure.
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