A slide deck presentation created for ResortsandLodges.com customers to help understand the journey a buyer takes from initial discovery to purchase.

1. Understanding
The Modern Vacation
Buyer’s Journey
Level: Beginner to Moderate By: Matt Renner, VP Sales
Business Solutions

2. Overview:
Digital Marketing has become increasingly more
complex over the past 5 years. This trend will
continue as smart marketers backed by big data
match wits with discerning consumers searching for
the perfect vacation experience.
In order to increase the effectiveness of your direct
booking strategy, you need to touch customers
throughout every phase of the buyer’s journey.
In this same vein, you need to analyze different parts
of the marketing funnel for the ROI each creates. Not
all channels are meant to be the last click and not all
clicks are created equally in value.
In this deck, we examine a common buyer’s path to a
purchase.
AWARENESS
& INTEREST
RESEARCH
& PLANNING
COMPARISON
& VALIDATION
DECISION &
CONVERSION
PRE / MID
& POST STAY
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3. The Past And The Future Of The Buyer’s Journey
The travel buyer experience is becoming less cumbersome over time. This will lead to a lower number of sites
needed for completing all phases of the Buyer’s Journey. In order for Hoteliers to compete with OTA’s they will
need to invest in technology, direct advertising/marketing, distribution and services or risk losing bottom line.
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Past: Many Sites Future: Fewer Sites
INSIGHT: Widen the top of the funnel by investing in direct marketing
online. Targeted direct traffic is a leading indicator of future direct
bookings. However, to increase conversion, you must stay focused on:
Product + Pricing + Messaging + Service

4. Typical Conversion Rates
.5% - 1.5% Online Conversion Rate*
20% - 30% Phone Conversion Rate*
When a traveler visits your
website, it is not likely that you
will turn a conversion in this user
session. It is important to
understand your conversion and
abandonment rates across the
online and offline channel. This
will help to guide your
remarketing strategies
throughout the other phases of
the Buyer’s Journey.
Reasons why conversions don’t happen in the first
session
1. Timing
2. Additional Research & Planning
3. Comparison and Validation
4. Price Shopping
Purchase Cycle
81 days (tripadvisor)
20+ sites (tripadvisor)
93% multi-device (google)
3-5% direct conversion rate (google)
*Based on Internal Data collected and analyzed from Google Analytics & TRACK Pulse
When a traveler visits your
website, it is not likely that you
will turn a conversion in this
user session. It is important to
understand your conversion and
abandonment rates across the
online and offline channel. This
will help to guide your
remarketing strategies
throughout the other phases of
the Buyer’s Journey.
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5. Typical Hotel Conversion Rates
(150 Room Full Service Resort/Hotel)
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150,000
Direct
Website
Users
1,500 Online Conversions
15,000 Inbound Calls
3,000 Call Conversions
144,500
Users Without a
Conversion
QUESTION:
Are these users lost leads, or revenue
opportunities? What is your plan to address this?

6. Business Solutions
Examining The Phases

7. Awareness And Interest
There are many ways to generate awareness and
interest for a lodging property, however, few are tried
and true and have the traffic to make an impact.
A robust, omni channel marketing strategy is
important to incorporate the top channels for direct
bookings.
--
Online Travel Agency (OTA)
Word of Mouth / Social Media
Portals / Marketplaces
Traditional Media / PR
Email / Flash Sale
Display Media
Search
Direct Mail
INSIGHT: Many believe OTA’s shouldn’t be a part of a direct
booking strategy. This is a false belief. Much like the Portal /
Marketplace source, presence on the OTA sites drives brand
organic and direct traffic back to the property website - but
isn’t given credit in Ecommerce analytics the effect it has.
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8. Awareness And Interest
Google Recognizes 7 primary sources of direct
website traffic in Google Analytics.
If a source is unrecognizable in Google Analytics, it
is marked as other - or Direct/none.
Ensure you have cross domain universal analytics
on every page of your website and booking engine
for proper tracking.
INSIGHT: Implementing attribution and analyzing assisted
conversions can help determine which channels not only
drove the last click before a booking, but also assisted
along the path to the purchase.
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9. OTA’s Meta Search
Traditional Travel
Agent
Hotel Site
Regional Sites / DMA
Sites
Portal / Marketplace
Sites
Word of Mouth /
Social Media
Travel Communities
Content / Editorial
Sites
Social Media Review Sites Airline Sites
Broadband
Travel Media
Youtube Search Engine
Research &
Planning
There is seemingly no limit
To the number of sites
providing assistance in the
travel planning process. Search
is the dominant source of traffic
to these channels. Mobile is the
dominant platform.
INSIGHT: There are many sites. But
few that actually have the traffic to
make an impact on your business.
www.similarweb.com is a good
website to validate traffic.
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10. Path A
Search Engine
Hotel Website
Search Engine
OTA Site
Meta Search Site
Hotel Website
Direct Conversion
Path B
Search Engine
Portal / Marketplace
Hotel Website
Search Engine
Meta Search Site
Hotel Website
Search Engine
OTA Conversion
Path C
Search Engine
OTA
Property Website
Marketplace
Hotel Website
OTA
Meta Search Site
OTA Conversion
Many Paths To A Purchase
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11. Business Solutions
vacation
Search
For the majority of travelers, search is still
the primary gateway. However, people act
differently and have different intent
depending on device.
There are different phases of search within
the Buyer’s Journey as well. Focus on not
just brand bidding, but general keywords as
well. These keywords do not convert at a
high rate, but generate more top of funnel
traffic.
INSIGHT: Travelers at the beginning of the Buyer’s
Journey still prefer the shopping experience of a
Marketplace. Search the top keywords for your area and
make sure you have placement on the top sites with the
most traffic for your area.

12. Research and planning on
your website
Research 3-5 pages of content
(typical flow)
Home Page
Accommodations
Specials & Packages
Activities
Check Availability
Less than 1%
initial conversion
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13. Website Click Path
For more digital marketers looking for a
more advanced understanding of your
click path and user flow, you can access
this data in Google Analytics.
--
Insight: Add Event Tracking in Google Analytics
to tag various important CTA’s on your desktop
and mobile site. This can help you analyze which
pages and how deep a traveler has to get to turn
into a CTA and conversion.
Red = Drop Off
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14. Comparison &
Validation
To compare a property, travelers use Meta Search
sites and review communities.
TripAdvisor is often the click prior to the last click
before the conversion.
TripAdvisor influences a significant amount of all
hotel bookings online. Most of these bookings do
not occur on Tripadvisor - thus Tripadvisor has put
significant energy and effort into becoming a
transactional marketplace.
This has proven difficult for the largest travel
community in the world.
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15. Pricing Comparison
After the first visit to your website, a consumer is
likely to return to search and type in your brand
associated with “Deal” type keywords.
“Cheeca Lodge Deals”
“Cheeca Lodge Packages”
“Cheeca Lodge Specials”
“Cheeca Lodge Coupons”
INSIGHT: OTA Sites & Meta Search Sites Bid for this traffic to
intercept the booking process. Brand keywords convert at a very
high rate on OTA sites. You can work with Google to protect your
brand Trademark from this practice.
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16. Paid business listing
Dominated by OTA’s
Additional recommendations
on the brand page
Comparison Flow
Your Website
Search Engine
Meta Search Site
OTA Site Hotel Site
INSIGHT: TripAdvisor is the largest travel site in the world by Traffic.
It also ranks highly for every property from a “Brand” search
standpoint. Travelers will type in “Hotel Brand” and instead of going to
the Brand site - they will go to TripAdvisor and get into a new funnel vs
going direct. A business listing on TripAdvisor is as much a
“Protection Method” as it is a new guest acquisition strategy.
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17. Decision and
Conversion
After final validation, most consumers will
return to search when ready to book and
will convert via several vehicles.
Google Brand Search
1. Direct - Online (your site)
2. Direct - Offline (phone)
3. Organic OTA Placement
4. Paid OTA Placement
5. Google Meta Search
Some will convert directly, many will book via
another channel that is more aggressively
marketing and has a better user experience.
OTA / Paid Search
OTA / Paid Search
Meta Organic Search
Google Meta Search
Brand (1 of 5) Results
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18. Mobile Conversion
Typical Hotel websites see between 40% -
60% of their overall website traffic via
Mobile Devices. Those that have an
optimized mobile booking experience see
more online conversions.
Most important mobile factors:
- Speed
- Usability
- Consistency
Hotel Mobile vs Expedia Mobile
INSIGHT: Implement Click-2 Call Promotions on mobile devices to
decrease mobile booking engine abandonment.
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19. Desktop Conversion for Hotels
Although web traffic continues to skew mobile, Online
bookings continue to dominate via the desktop.
Ensure you have a seamless experience across devices.
Top CRS / Booking Engine Providers with highest
conversion rates:
- iHotelier (by TravelClick)
- GuestDesk (by Fuel)
- Windsurfer
- Booking Suite (by Booking.com)
- Synxis (by Sabre)
INSIGHT: Call Centers are proven to convert up to 50x higher
percentage rates than online booking engines. Driving calls to a well
trained reservation team can increase conversion and decrease
abandonment.
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20. Desktop Conversion
for Vacation Rentals
Vacation Rental conversion are high
average dollar purchases. Thus
conversion rates can be lower online,
however, the ROI is higher.
Top CRS / Booking Engine Providers with highest
conversion rates:
- VR Fusion (by Bluetent)
- TRACK IRM
- ICND IRM
- Scurto IRM
- Streamline IRM
- LiveRez
- Blizzard IRM
Topsail Realty by ICND
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21. Phone Conversion
The average call center conversion rate is
20x - 30x that of an online booking engine.
Despite advances in technology, the call
center is still a significant source of
conversion.
To improve conversion via the call center
focus on:
1. Track missed calls and staff appropriately to
Decrease abandonment.
2. Implement a variable comp plan with
reservation agents.
3. Capture guest data and data of callers that do
not book on 1st interaction
4. Implement a follow up process on non
converted inbound calls.
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22. 10 Tips To Increase Direct Conversions Throughout
The Buyer’s Journey
1. Increase targeted direct traffic / top of funnel
2. Update and enhance your online booking engine technology
3. Implement targeted display remarketing
4. Implement call tracking and lead management
5. Implement exit intent to capture emails
6. Send automated drip emails to subscribers
7. Engage users on-site with chat platform
8. Advertise best available rate on-site
9. Protect your brand in paid search
10. Implement Cart Abandonment
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23. Lodging
Marketplace
Hospitality
Software
Business
Solutions
ResortsandLodges.com is a full service digital company out of the Twin Cities, MN. Our
mission is to level the playing field for independent lodging companies and to help deliver
amazing experiences to consumers. We offer full service digital marketing services (Business
Solutions), TRACK Pulse cloud CRM and the ResortsandLodges.com Marketplace online since
1998 with over 7 million annual visitors. ResortsandLodges.com has been in business since
2003 and serves more than 2,000 customers across North America.
business.resortsandlodges.com l trackhs.com
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