Ms. Pingel

Sales & Marketing

The 5 Key Secrets to Capturing the Business Traveler

By Cheryle Pingel, Co-Founder and Chairman, Range Online Media

This is good news for travel aggregators and suppliers alike - great news, really. But how do travel marketing executives leverage this upswing in terms of online marketing? Well, luckily there is even more good news: There are still plenty of stones left unturned in the online marketing arena, especially in the search engine marketing space (which I must say is the darling of the online marketing world).

Stone #1 - Get your travel keywords in order

Search engine marketing is well into its prime, yet so many marketers continue to buy keywords they think people are searching on rather than buying keywords people are searching on. Don't assume that all business travelers are searching under "business" type keyword phrases.

The power of the Small/Medium Sized Business (SMB) traveler is bigger than ever and many of these travelers do not have a planned travel management team booking their travel for them. They are searching under the same key phrases as a potential leisure traveler. Make sure you have your bases covered on the leisure travel side of things. There are plenty of tools available (Overture Inventory Tool, Wordtracker, etc.) that will help make the keyword research relatively painless. Once you have done the research, start testing "travel" keywords (not "business travel" keywords) and figure out which ones will work for you. You then go through the process of implementing keywords that are working and ending use of those that aren't working.

It would be nice if this was a one-time effort. However, you need to continue this research, implementation and sifting process, since the keywords your potential customers are typing in will continually change.

Stone #2 - Get your business travel keywords in order

Although our first stone is vital, don't assume that all business travelers don't search using business-targeted keywords and phrases. Yes, the majority of consumers are searching on generic travel keywords, but there are large groups of business-specific keywords that are beginning to grow in share. Last month alone, there were over half a million searches conducted under the phrase "business travel" and close to 10,000 searches for "hotel rewards." Use this opportunity to get in front of a very qualified audience and, dare I say it, begin BRANDING your hotel as a great solution for business travelers. Get more granular and you can get 600 searches for "Zurich business hotel" and 196 for "business hotel Milan." No, they are not giving you a ton of impressions, but these are highly qualified searchers ready to purchase, if you have the product or service they are looking for. Top that off with there being much less competition on these terms (thus lower CPCs and higher ROI). By targeting these business travel keywords, you have found a way to begin making small improvements to your bottom line and successfully branding your hotel as a business travel hotel.

Stone # 3 - The truth is in the creative

One of the biggest strengths of search engine marketing is the ability to use multiple messages and change them quickly. Use this to your advantage. Try A/B testing with your titles and descriptions on your Yahoo! and Google campaigns. Google allows you to run multiple creative executions and optimizes them for you. Run two leisure travel-related pieces of creative and two business-travel related pieces of creative and see what sticks. Add copy about free wireless internet connection, reward points, or potential upgrades, and see what begins to convert better. These are the types of offers most hotels already have in place and know motivates business travelers, so it should have the same effect in the engines as well. Do not hesitate to include your business travel descriptions on more "generic" terms (e.g. Dallas Hotel, Milan Hotel, etc.) as well. It won't derail the leisure traveler, but will grab the business traveler's attention.

Stone #4 - Capitalize on in-house travel agents

Contrary to the world of SMBs at larger companies, the world of in-house travel agents/mangers is making a comeback. No longer are these in-house travel gurus dependent on 3rd party booking systems or outside agents. They have the immediate power at their fingertips to get it all done by searching online for what their team needs. All you have to do is make sure they find you.

In-house agents for large companies don't necessarily search any differently than someone booking travel for themselves, but their mindset may be different. They may be more concerned with things like per diem spending limits, proximity to scheduled meetings or even more importantly, keeping whoever is doing the traveling happy. Each one of these factors should be focal points for you. Try testing business creative, then creative with price points, then loyalty packages as all of these things will help the agent make their decision. As a bonus, if they book with you once, and the traveler ends up with a good experience, chances are in your favor the travel agent will pick you again in the future.

Stone #5 - Know where your competitors are and where they are not

Currently the business travel search landscape is laden not with hoteliers, but with credit card companies. (As a life lesson, if you ever want to find money, just follow the banks and you will find it.) Credit card companies have seen the buying power of the business traveler and are using search to capitalize. What does that mean to an hotelier? There is ample room to enter this space and have little competition in your way. As business travel continues to increase, there will be more and more niches of related keywords forming. Chances are, your competition may be missing some of these areas. Do the keyword research to find out where your competitors are and where they aren't. Each time you find a little niche that your competition has missed, there is a giant opportunity for you to reach out to the business traveler and capitalize on his or her hotel needs.

Maybe the big boulder that all the stones form is the idea that you can not be afraid to go out into the search marketplace and test your message with the new breed of business traveler. They are actively seeking out your product, all that is left to do is make sure they find you.

Specializing in Internet advertising and research marketing, Cheryle Pingel is the co-founder and chairman of Range Online Media. She and fellow co-founder Misty Locke successfully took Range Online Media from concept to one of the online industry's leading search marketing agencies. Cheryle has fifteen years of experience in marketing, retail, small business management, and online services. Today she directs online marketing campaigns for industry-leading online travel services and retailers such as CompUSA, Wyndham International, and other Fortune 1000 companies. Ms. Pingel can be contacted at 817-509-0342 or cpingel@rangeonlinemedia.com Extended Bio...

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