What is remarketing?

It is a form of marketing that targets existing customers, or in terms of digital marketing, past visitors on your website. Remarketing campaigns are very effective in driving more conversions, upsells and even customer retention as they provide businesses the opportunity to engage with existing & potential customers who are interested in your brand. Therefore, the word ‘re’ in remarketing.
 

Why does hotel remarketing matter?

Let’s first discuss an internet user’s shopping behaviour on a retail website versus a travel website. It is observed that netizens today usually stick to a particular website, say an Amazon or a Flipkart for shopping goods. This is attributed to the ‘fulfillment’ aspect of shopping online. When a customer makes a payment he expects his delivery to be made on time, at the right place and in the right condition. However, this behavior is different in travel where customers shop extensively on multiple platforms before they make a booking. According to research online, out of 100 orders that an e-commerce company receives in a single day, 25 are made during the customer’s first visit itself. For a travel website, this figure is close to 12.5%.

This phenomenon is also reflected in a report presented at an annual Phocuswright conference — a guest will visit at least 38 websites on average before deciding on where to stay. Therefore, in travel, the leading e-commerce providers tend to use remarketing to continuously remind customers about that channel and get the customers to book with them. If you've ever browsed Booking.com, Expedia or MakeMyTrip without actually making a booking, you may have noticed that these online travel agencies (OTAs) then pursue you with various offers enticing you to make a reservation.
 

How can hotels effectively conduct remarketing?

Hotels can optimise their Google Ads campaigns to display ads to customers who visited your website but did not make a booking. Today, most travellers start their booking journey on Google and 80% of guests decide their accommodation online. According to studies online, potential guests need to view an advertisement at least seven times before they make a reservation.

Similarly, social media networking platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn help you to retarget your customers based on various stages of the marketing funnel —
awareness, consideration and decision. These platforms help you tailor your ads towards your target audience and drive higher engagement.

However, these tend to be more expensive than the conventional, yet effective ways of hotel remarketing — emails and SMSes.
 

The Simplotel advantage for hotel remarketing

Simplotel’s Hotel E-commerce (website & booking engine) provides hotels with the best-in-class technology that personalizes visitor experience by tracking user behaviour. (Learn how Leisure Hotels' direct bookings revenue jumped 200% with Simplotel Hotel Ecommerce)

• We track the customer behaviour on the website & the booking engine and nudge them for their information at various points in their journey.

• Based on the information we have for them, we automatically remarket to them via email and SMS.

• Once they come back to the website, we personalize the website for them and enable them to continue the journey where they left off.

The icing on the cake: You avail this technology at no additional cost. We solve 99.99% of hotel marketing challenges! What are you waiting for?