Ms. Vendice

Sales & Marketing

Location-Based Travel Takes the Lead in US TV Ad Market

By Beth Vendice, President, Mercury Media Boston

Domestic travel destinations looking to find a growth market should look no further than their own backyard. The US Travel Association (USTA) predicts that the next three years will be a period of recovery for the domestic travel market, which took a hit in 2009. According to the USTA, spending by Americans who are traveling within the U.S. will hit $647 billion this year, up 6.2 % from 2009. That figure is predicted to rise to $697 billion in 2011 and $740 billion in 2012.

This growth presents an opportunity for an array of travel companies, including airlines, cruise lines and hotel chains, but the biggest opportunity lies with domestic travel destinations like Disney World and Las Vegas. U.S. resorts and cities can now compete for their share of travelers who are no longer vacationing internationally, but are still traveling domestically. During a recession, many consumers consider international travel too expensive and time consuming. Factors like job security and cost become increasingly important, and consumers spend significant time planning to ensure that they are getting the most value for their money. They find value and flexibility in domestic destinations and those that get in front of these new customers first will ultimately benefit from the extra exposure.

Take Mercury Media client Vegas.com, for example. The travel services website, headquartered minutes away from the Las Vegas Strip, came to us looking to increase both brand recognition and reservations in the midst of a recession that had brought the destination’s to an all-time low. Using a multichannel, direct marketing campaign that combined television, social media, email and newspaper advertisements touting a uniform special offer to receive $25 off purchases of $250 or more by entering the code “SLAM” during checkout, Vegas.com was able to increase sales by 30% for the month. But that’s not all. Because direct response marketing is executed in real-time, our team was able to optimize Vegas.com’s media spend and placements over the course of the campaign to increase their return on investment by 300%, significantly decreasing their cost per lead. The campaign was successful on another level as well. While Las Vegas’ economy thrives on international tourism, Vegas.com was able to tap into a very challenging domestic travel market through a series of local market media buys, effectively harnessing new customers and exposure for the Vegas.com brand.

A similar opportunity exists for other destination-based travel companies as our economy begins a steady path toward recovery. Perhaps more now than during the launch of Vegas.com’s campaign in 2008, consumers have come to expect value from domestic travel. Destinations that reach consumers consistently and reliably with value-oriented offers will begin to establish themselves as go-to resources for this new class of travelers. But having just the right offer is not all you need to succeed using direct response television. In order to compete in what promises to be a tight domestic travel marketplace, destinations should integrate these five best practices for destination travel and direct response television advertising into their campaign:

1. Find the right customers

Unlike traditional television advertising, direct response television is based on testing. So, if your destination does not normally appropriate large TV advertising budgets, direct response television specialists can use testing to find the right customer targets first, before rolling out any major expenditures. For example, if Las Vegas wants to drive people to its website to book a vacation it has to find the customer segments that are most likely to do so. Through testing, we can pin point demographics and locations that will provide the greatest return on investment for travel clients.

2. Find the right creative

Direct response television provides more creative options than traditional television advertising. It can stretch from 30 seconds to 30 minutes, depending on the needs of your destination and your budget. A lesser-known destination may need more time to relay an image of itself to potential customers, whereas a well-known destination may spend more time touting its offer because it has already established itself as a recognizable brand. Direct response television can accommodate both scenarios. For example, a California beach resort can present its strengths in a short period of time because it has immediate and well-known imaging. But the Finger Lakes region of New York State would have to take more time to lay out the activities and access available to families or other recreational travelers in order to make an impression and solicit a sale.

3. Find the right media

One of the best kept secrets of direct response television is media ownership. Your direct response campaign is only as good as your agency’s inventory and clout in the media buying marketplace. We purchase huge quantities of media at a discount that we can then pass along to our clients. Over 20 years of experience informs our media buys and, especially with destination travel, media placement is critical. Are travel shows the best place to reach your potential customer? What about cooking shows? How about game shows? The results might surprise you, but an experienced direct response television agency partner will have the background to answer these questions.

4. Make the best offer

In my experience, the most effective destination travel campaigns make a strong and well-researched offer. If you know the customers you want to reach, you’ll know the offer that will move them from interested, to interacting, to booked. Maybe it’s a discount, maybe it’s a limited time offer, but it should be compelling enough to entice immediate action. Destination travel can fail without a strong call to action and in today’s value-oriented travel environment, a great offer is more important than ever before. We can test various offers in various markets to ensure that we are hitting your sweet spots. That is the beauty of testing a campaign before we roll it out. And, once we’ve made a decision with regard to your offer, we can optimize your media placement in real time to ensure you are making as many sales as possible.

5. Capture the data

With domestic travelers on high alert for the best travel deals, it is important to stay in touch with potential customers after they show initial interest. Many customers will want to continue looking around until the last minute to make sure that they are getting the best value for their money. Making sure that you have a well-staffed and well-trained call center is one way to ensure that you stay top-of-mind until your customer is ready to commit. Another way is to actively re-target customers who have interacted but not yet converted.

There are a lot of ancillary reasons for travel destinations to add direct response marketing to their advertising arsenals. It provides excellent branding outside of its lead/sales generation capabilities; it helps to build a critical customer database for future use; and it defines future market positioning. At the very least, destinations need to start testing concepts for direct response television if they are not already doing so. The domestic travel rebound that started in 2010 is sure to accelerate in 2011. Americans have decided to visit their own country again, will they visit you?

Beth Vendice joined Mercury in 2001 and brought with her over 10 years of national client service experience. Ms. Vendice has led the firm to significant year-over-year growth by attracting clients that include Mandalay Bay Resorts Group, Neutrogena, LifeLock, Liberty Medical, Boost Mobile, Conair, Vegas.com, among others. Ms. Vendice is President of Mercury Media Boston and is responsible for leading the strategic direction and day-to-day operations of the national short-form practice. She has over 20 years of experience partnering with clients in a range of industries to successfully extend their marketing scope and appreciably grow their businesses. Ms. Vendice can be contacted at 508-449-3222 or bvendice@mercurymedia.com Extended Bio...

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