In a digital age, the vast majority of people hunt for and then book a hotel via an online search. And whether it’s for a planned vacation or a last-minute deal, your digital marketing efforts could be the difference between a booked or vacant room. 

Although SEO is an essential aspect of any digital marketing strategy, it doesn’t produce results overnight. For that, there are pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns.  

Today, we’ll discuss some strategies you can use to get the most out of your paid ads. 

Focus on Long-Tail Keywords

With any PPC campaign, you bid on the keywords you think potential guests might search for. Then, you pay every time a person clicks. This means you must strike the perfect balance between the bid amount, the search volume, and the potential audience size. 

Hotel keywords—especially more general phrases—tend to have plenty of competition. This is why you should perform keyword research and focus on long-tail keywords that are less expensive and more specific. Per Search Engine Journal: “Long-tail keywords are highly targeted search phrases that specifically serve searcher intent. These keywords typically have low search volume, low competition, and high conversion rates.”

For example, using a vague keyword phrase like, “Hotel in Santa Barbara” won’t come cheap. So, it will likely be more cost-effective to use related phrases like:

  • Santa Barbara hotels for your honeymoon
  • Beachside Santa Barbara hotels over Labor Day
  • Hotels in Santa Barbara with a pool and spa 
  • Hotels for college families in Santa Barbara 

Consider emphasizing your location’s specific amenities and benefits—those that your target audience is likely to search for. 

Stand Out with Deals and Special Offers

One of the best ways you can increase bookings through paid ads is by including a great deal via site link extensions. These automatically take site visitors to the desired booking page—all without the user having to navigate the site to find the special and book their accommodations.  

By providing a special offer with a set expiry date, you can drum up additional interest in your locale.   

Measure Results and Adjust Accordingly

One of the best aspects of PPC campaigns is how flexible they are. You can make a tweak or completely pivot on the fly. 

So, it’s important that you constantly measure, track, and analyze your campaigns and keywords. This lets you see what works, what doesn’t, and then adjust. 

Your analytics can help you refine your approach and better understand your target audience.  Over time, this is the recipe for increasing ROI. 

Utilize Facebook

Boosted Facebook content should be an integral part of any hospitality ad campaign. By investing in promoted content, you can help your hotel ads reach a much wider audience, with more than 2.89 billion monthly active users.  

Tips for Facebook ads include:

  • Leverage Facebook’s demographic data  
  • Combine the power of Facebook with that of Instagram via Business Profiles
  • Optimize guest services with Facebook Messenger for Business
  • Ask guests to check-in and review 

Similarly, if you want to increase local traffic, you can pay for an advertising campaign that puts your hotel on the map. 

Semgeeks—Helping You Book Better 

The hospitality industry faces stiff online competition, and hotels must jostle over limited digital real estate. With PPC, you can always ensure you have eyes on your site.  

Need help setting up a campaign that leads to bookings? 

That’s where we come in. Semgeeks is a PPC management company in NJ that has the experience and knowledge to help your hotel build a paid ad campaign that lands.

Are you ready to accommodate more guests? Let’s start today! 

 

Sources:

Search Engine Journal. Long-tail keywords. https://www.searchenginejournal.com/seo-long-tail-keywords/204482/

Statista. Number of monthly active Facebook users worldwide as of 2nd quarter 2021. https://www.statista.com/statistics/264810/number-of-monthly-active-facebook-users-worldwide/