by Kashmira Lad
A hotel’s marketing plan would be incomplete without the mention of TripAdvisor. In the recent times, TripAdvisor has been making waves in the hotel industry. It was one of the sites that started promoting user-generated content early on. It provides free service to users who post reviews, photographs, rate and accommodation related information, etc. Users can also book hotels easily via TripAdvisor. Over the years, TripAdvisor has turned out to be an important resource for travelers. This is precisely why your hotel’s marketing strategy for TripAdvisor must be your priority this year.
TripAdvisor Sponsored Positions have gained prominence among marketers. Why sponsored? Well, the competition is heating up, and multiple results are being displayed on TripAdvisor for a single search by millions of users. That means pages and pages of hotel names, reviews and more. You’d certainly want higher ranking for your property to catch the attention of the online user. You’d also want the user to be gently pushed towards the “book now” button.
Indeed, TripAdvisor has been smart to leverage the popularity of their site to a whole new level altogether.
A hotel’s marketing plan should include TripAdvisor Sponsored Positions to drive high quality traffic for bookings. But first, you must understand the basics to make the most of your sponsored position.
What are TripAdvisor Sponsored Positions?
This concept was introduced in December 2017. With a sponsored placement campaign on TripAdvisor, you can bid on the position for your hotel on the destination page. After all, if your hotel information is not there at the top, it’s practically invisible on many other websites.
Why TripAdvisor Sponsored Positions? How can it make a difference to me?
Well, consider this. Your traveler is more likely to click on the hotel listing that appears right on top of the search results. All you need to do is to ensure your listing appears in this very important spot.
TripAdvisor’s Hotel Sponsored Position: How it works, the costs and more
As a hotel owner, you’d be rightly concerned about the costs and efforts involved. Let’s simplify this. You pay for the sponsored placements only on CPC basis (Cost-Per-Click). There are many factors that define CPC. What is the type of your hotel? (beachside or business hotel) Where are you located? Who are the competitors in your area?
TripAdvisor Sponsored Positions include a 3-month budget plan. As defined on their site, TripAdvisor charges for the clicks you receive while running your campaign. You need to define the budget in advance as per the number of CPCs you expect. Your charges for each registered click will be sent across by TripAdvisor, at the end of every month.
It’s natural to feel hesitant initially. But, TripAdvisor has made it easy for you to cancel it anytime, without any hidden charges. That’s a breather, isn’t it? You can choose to pay via credit or debit cards. There’s an auto-renewal process as well.
Who is it for?
New to the game? The sponsored placements are a blessing for new hotels.Your TripAdvisor Sponsored campaigns are important to reach out to new customers and to improve your brand visibility.
If you are an already existing property with good customer reviews, it is even more important that you appear at the top of the search results. Properties with low ranking or those that don’t have a splendid destination to boast about, can use TripAdvisor Sponsored Positions to rank higher. However, if your property already has negative reviews, it’s advisable to fix the problem-areas first before venturing into sponsored positions.
Setting up TripAdvisor Sponsored Positions is easy with everything available online. All you need to do is log in to your account. Use the Management Center to select the property type and make the payment for the Sponsored Placements. TripAdvisor site includes further instructions for hotel owners.
You can also check the status of your campaign – the number of views or impressions, number of clicks and CPCs, the click-through-rate and the total amount spent on the budget you’ve earmarked.
Things to Remember for TripAdvisor Sponsored Positions:
- A click on your sponsored placement is counted when a user is directed to another page (in this case – yours) for the search results defined. For eg: a user searching for a property in your area finds your listing right on top of the page. The user may then click on your property name or may want to read your reviews. Each action that takes a user to your page is counted as a click.
- The click does not apply to the action of “saving” your property for later. This means a user who has clicked the “save” icon would not be counted as a click and will not be billed to you.
- If you end up clicking your own sponsored placement, remember, this will be billed to you.
- You need to have a TripConnect CPC and InstantBook campaign already running to use the TripAdvisor Sponsored Placements.
- You must always display your best rate. TripAdvisor Sponsored Positions must be launched only when you have your rate management in place.
- Do not ignore your property’s profile page. Your content must provide correct information at a glance, the images must be attractive, and your page must have all the relevant information.. (Response to reviews is a must.)
- The sponsored positions appear when a user searches for information and your hotel property matches the user’s search. This could be defined by the area, price, type of property, cuisine and more.
The launch of the campaign is relatively easy for all hotel owners. Your hotel’s marketing plan must include this campaign to increase your hotel’s revenue and branding in the process. This is considered to be a relatively low-risk campaign. After all, your listing shouldn’t just exist, you need to be seen.
Make your hotel display clearly distinguishable with TripAdvisor Sponsored Positions. If you’ve already tried it, we’d like to hear your views. Drop us a line below!
Author:
Kashmira Lad is a Senior Content Marketer with Hotelogix. She holds over 9 years of expertise in the field of design and content management. She’s worked for the leading newspaper brands in India and the IT industry. Connect with her at: kashmira.lad@hotelogix.com
