Spring Engage Blog 6 Steps to Using Hotel Data to Optimize Campaign Marketing

1. Determine key segments of traffic Analyzing site data can be tricky. There are so many different factors to consider and each website visitor brings a new experience and a new data point to the table. At this stage of the website content marketing, it's important that instead of getting caught in the details, hotel marketers break down site traffic into segments. Placing website traffic into segments based on visitor conditions allows for data to be easily analyzed and content to be personalized. While it's important to remember that each person who falls into a segment may still behave differently, segmenting based on site data can give marketers a better overall understanding of their traffic. 2. Analyze traffic less likely to bookNow that you've identified the top segments of traffic coming to the website, it's easy to identify which groups of visitors are less likely to book. With the visual targeter tool, hotels can identify the top segments of their traffic that are booking at lower rates.As well, assumptions can be made to determine visitors that may not be important to focus on. By analyzing only the top segments for a number of categories (referring source, landing pages, geolocation, keyword search, etc.), small and unique profiles can be created to target the people who are not booking as often. 3. Personalize messagingThis is the easy part. Custom content and campaigns can be created to appeal to their interests. Example: Site visitors coming from mobile devices, within the hotel city are less likely looking to book a hotel. So informing them of local events and giving them easy access to a customer service portal will be more valuable than displaying a discount they likely do not qualify for. 4. Test content across audiences Now it's time to test. Testing content is one of the most important steps when creating engaging targeted messaging. The key to effectively testing is to keep the content targeted toward the same audience. This will give less variance so you are able to quickly and accurately decide the most effective method for each segment of traffic. Testing content can be done by using an A/B method, where marketers changed wording, colors, or images within one campaign to create the second. If the segment is a smaller portion of traffic, using a control group testing method may be more effective. Check out this study to learn more about campaign testing: How to Test Your Way to Success. 5. Determine value for each segmentAfter testing a few campaigns, decide which color schemes, graphics, and calls-to- action performed the best among different segments. This can be analyzed by tracking click through rates, submissions, social following, or just overall bookings. The results should be compared against the data reported prior to the campaign as well as against other segments or industry data. 6. Do it again!The fun doesn't stop here! The best campaigns are ones that are continually tested and tweaked while always keeping the customer's changing needs in mind.