How to use Google to defeat OTAs and drive direct bookings
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Google is the king of all search engines and for many properties it is the sole driver for direct bookings. In this month’s webinar we’d like to show you how you can use Google to beat OTAs so you can avoid paying those commission fees per reservation. Join rezStream for a session on how to use Google to defeat OTAs and drive direct bookings. We’ll talk all things Google and make sure you get the inside scoop on how our expert hospitality marketers increase visibility and revenue using the Google suite. - Google Hotel Free Booking Links - Google Hotel Ads - Google My Business - Google Ads Learn everything you need to clearly position yourself as the destination booking site above OTAs like Expedia, Booking.com, Hotels.com, etc.
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How to use Google to defeat OTAs and drive direct bookings
- 1. How to Use Google to Defeat the OTAs and Drive Direct Bookings
- 2. Overview • About me • About rezStream • OTAs vs. direct bookings • Google marketing products • Google Ads • Google My Business • Google Hotel Free Booking Links • Google Hotel Ads • Recap • Q&A • Next steps 2 www.rezStream.com
- 3. Liz Brown • VP of Customer Delivery • 11+ years with rezStream • Originally from the Midwest, but loving Denver for the last 14 years • Recently celebrated daughter turning six months • Enjoys taking walks, yoga, reading to my daughter and traveling to new places www.rezStream.com 3
- 4. About rezStream www.rezStream.com 4 Small company of caring and passionate individuals View ourselves as an extension of your team 100 years of combined industry experience Suite of solutions focused on helping independently- owned properties
- 6. OTAs Most OTAs make money by taking a commission per booking, which is anywhere from 3% to 25%. Although 15% is the standard commission rate. • Guests can search and book travel - all without the traditional “gatekeeper” travel agent. • These massive travel websites like Booking.com and Expedia have millions of monthly visitors. www.rezStream.com 6
- 7. OTAs While OTAs have become a necessary evil, the following should be taken into consideration before a partnership with one or more channels. • No guest contact information. • One of many other properties. • OTAs bid on your brand name taking away direct booking opportunities. • They control your property’s success based on their algorithm and contract. www.rezStream.com 7
- 8. Direct Bookings Your Property’s Direct Channel, “Brand.com” www.rezStream.com
- 9. Direct Bookings However, having success in growing direct bookings means building a strong brand that resonates with guests and promoting the perception that booking directly with your property delivers the best value for money. • Your property’s direct channel, Brand.com, is the most profitable when it comes to acquiring online bookings. • Google controls 91.42% global search engine market share (January 2022, Hootsuite). www.rezStream.com 9
- 10. Google Marketing Products In 2021, Google saw over 3.5 billion searches per day. According to their data, search queries related to lodging reached their highest levels in nearly 10 years. www.rezStream.com
- 11. Google My Business Sample Footer Text • Free listing that acts as your virtual storefront, communicating important information to potential guests. • https://www.google.com/business/ 11 www.rezStream.com
- 12. Google Ads • Free listing that acts as your virtual storefront, communicating important information to potential guests. • https://ads.google.com/ads Sample Footer Text 12 www.rezStream.com
- 13. Google Hotel Free Booking Links • Google Hotels allows guests to discover, compare, and book accommodations. • Google pulls property details from Google My Business. • The Google Hotel Free Booking Links means potential guests can search and be directed to book a room at your property from Google’s interface (specifically, Google Search, Google Maps, and in Assistant). Sample Footer Text 13 www.rezStream.com
- 14. Google Hotel Ads • This paid advertising program offers your real- time availability and rates (like Google Hotel Free Booking Links) with improved visibility in Google Search, Google Maps, Google Assistance and Google Hotels. Sample Footer Text 14 www.rezStream.com
- 15. Recap 1) Create and optimize your free Google My Business listing. 2) Partner up with a PMS provider who offers Google Hotels Free Booking Links to acquire more direct bookings. 3) Increase your brand’s online presence and direct booking acquisition by investing in Google Hotel Ads and Google Ads. 4) rezStream can assist with any of the above including launching, managing and more. www.rezStream.com 15
- 16. Q&A K N O W L E D G E I S P O W E R
- 17. Visit the rezStream Education Center For upcoming webinars, past blogs, and resource guides. 17 rezStream.com/Education www.rezStream.com
- 18. Thank You Liz Brown, VP of Customer Delivery Please forward all questions regarding this webinars to: • Sales@rezStream.com • (303) 872-0220 • www.rezStream.com 18 www.rezStream.com
Editor's Notes
- Online travel agencies aggregate all properties in one easily accessible place where consumers can shop and buy. Choice, price and convenience are among the top three reasons why travelers book their trips on an OTA. As a result, these OTAs help properties boost occupancy, and introduce them to new guests. I would say for the US market, Expedia, Booking.com and Airbnb are the most popular. Most OTAs make money by taking a commission per booking, which is anywhere from 3% to 25%. Although 15% is the standard commission rate. The actual commission rate is negotiated on a brand by brand, property by property basis. However, larger hotels and bigger brands with many properties use their leverage to negotiate lower rates resulting in smaller properties paying more.
- So, while the OTAs have become a necessary evil, the following should be taken into consideration before a partnership: No guest contact information. When a visitor books an accommodation through an OTA, the property does not have full access to the guest’s information. This is because the guests are booking through a third party which means the OTA will have all their information. Most of the time, the property only sees the guest's name, room, dates and price. This also opens the door to poor customer service since the guest needs to go through the OTA when it comes to their reservations including changes or cancellations. One of many other properties. Competition is listed and you all look the same. OTAs bid on your brand name taking away direct booking opportunities. Chances are the OTAs are bidding on your property’s brand name on Google and other search engines so they can drive qualified traffic to their website at your expense. They control your property’s success based on their algorithm and contract. It is not uncommon for OTAs to act more competitively for bookings and decrease the rates that they offer which has an impact on the property’s direct bookings.
- Your property’s direct channel, Brand.com, is the most profitable when it comes to acquiring online bookings. As the search decision-making process becomes more complex, improving your property’s online presence becomes even more critical in order to engage with more visitors and move them down the direct online booking funnel. However, having success in growing direct bookings means building a strong brand that resonates with guests and promoting the perception that booking directly with your property delivers the best value for money. Google now “owns” the travel consumer and has become the “shepherd of the digital customer journey” by positioning itself at and making money from each of the five phases of the Digital Customer Journey: Dreaming, Planning, Booking, Experiencing and Sharing Phases. To achieve a strong digital identity, you should leverage Google’s marketing products.
- In 2021, Google saw over 3.5 billion searches per day. According to their data, search queries related to lodging reached their highest levels in nearly 10 years. Therefore, it’s critical for properties to make their search strategy a priority to reach existing and new guests.
- Google’s Hotel Pack is the Google Business offering for properties. It’s the list of businesses that appear when you perform a local search, above the organic results. In order to get visibility, your property needs a Google My Business listing. Google invested heavily in Search during the pandemic resulting in updated Google My Business profiles creating more opportunities for properties to communicate their value. First thing’s first, you want to claim and verify your property’s Google My Business listing. Before your business listing can display on Google Maps, Search, and other Google services, you must claim and verify your account. Login to your Google My Business account (if you don’t have an account, sign up is free). Search for your business by name or address. Select your business. Once you’ve claimed your business, you’ll receive a notification to verify the listing. Typically, verification is accomplished by mail or phone. Fill the listing out as much as possible including 1) selecting a primary category 2) adding your local phone number 3) address 4) hours of operation 5) website URL 6) property attributes and details 7) answering any unanswered questions 8) adding high quality photos and videos 9) filling out the health and safety and Covid-19 responder policy sections You also want to encourage guests to leave reviews since those carry a lot of weight in your local listing’s visibility Lastly, you want to ensure your listing has a lot of activity so be sure to continue to answer questions, respond to reviews, add new images and more as that’s a positive signal to Google encouraging improved local rankings.
- To accelerate the property’s growth in the search engines, paid search is key. It can deliver huge volumes of traffic, target highly qualified audiences and provide quick, tangible results. The importance of this channel cannot be underestimated. Google Ads, Google’s pay per click advertising platform, allows properties to bid on various keywords related to their business so their website can display at the top of the search results. These are marked “ad”. Anyone can bid for these listings including the OTAs, as mentioned earlier. Advertisers base each bid on how much they are willing to pay for a Google user to click on their ad directing that visitor to a page on their website. Depending on your location’s competitiveness, budgets typically start anywhere from $300 to $500 per month. To get started, properties need to create a Google Ads account to begin building out their campaigns. Due to the intricacies involved in creating, launching and managing a Google Ads campaign, it is strongly recommended to hire a professional who is Google Ads certified to run this for you. You should be monitoring and optimizing campaigns multiple times each week for success.
- Google Hotels allows guests to discover, compare, and book accommodations. Google Hotels is an example of a metasearch engine where properties can display their rate and availability to acquire direct bookings (while completing against the OTAs) utilizing the Free Booking Links program. By doing so, the properties receive all guest data to create a more personal interaction. This program is tied to your Google My Business profile. Therefore, you need to have a Google My Business listing setup in order to take advantage of. When a property utilizes Google Hotel Free Booking Links, guests can see the property’s rate and availability in Google Search, Google Maps, and in Assistant To utilize the free booking links with Google Hotels, your PMS provider must provide a connection. rezStream offers the free booking links integration at no cost to users of rezStream Cloud PMS Professional. To be clear, an advertising budget is not needed nor are there commission costs involved.
- If you want to increase your property’s online presence in Google Hotels, you might be interested in Google Hotel Ads, i.e., competitive location. This paid advertising program offers your real-time availability and rates (like Google Hotel Free Booking Links) with improved visibility in Google Search, Google Maps, Google Assistance and Google Hotels. For example, Google Hotel Ads’ advertisers will show at the top of the results followed by the Google Hotel Fee Booking Links partners. By establishing a paid budget for this type of campaign, you can attract more potential guests looking for properties in your area and acquire more direct bookings at a low cost. Similar to Google Ads, the property establishes the bid on how much they are willing to pay for a Google user to click on their ad directing that visitor to the booking engine, not website page. To launch a Google Hotel Ads campaign, your PMS provider must provide a Google Hotels integration (like Google Hotel Free Booking Links).