Metasearch is a lower-funnel marketing channel that keeps your hotel top of mind for travelers who know where and when they want to go on their next trip. It’s an incredibly effective channel for those who put real thought into their goals, and set realistic expectations. Let’s talk about how to set yourself up for success when it comes to marketing your hotel on metasearch.
Before starting a metasearch campaign, it’s important to define goals. Here is an easy way to think about this.
Step 1: Set a realistic goal of expected volume. If you currently receive 5% of your bookings directly, a realistic goal for what you'd like to grow to might be 7%.
Step 2: Know the benchmarks for expected performance. In the case of metasearch, benchmark for performance typically ranges between a 7-9X return on ad spend (ROAS).
Step 3: Assign your budget. Based on the expected volume and performance numbers, you can then estimate what your website monthly revenue might be, based on your average daily rate (ADR). From that, you can estimate a budget to assign to metasearch.
You can have a well-thought-out, marketing strategy, but if one of your third-party partners is showing the same room at a lower price, you’ll lose that direct booking more often than not. So you want to make sure your potential guests see a consistent room rate across all distribution channels.
Rate parity means maintaining the same customer-facing rates across all of your online distribution channels, including OTAs and other third parties.
Metasearch helps you promote your best available rate (BAR). When metasearch redirects users to your own search results page, ensure that BAR appears within the first two results on the page. Don’t leave it to the user to scroll down to find it—people get frustrated and abandon their search with you. The user experience is best when they are driven to the same rate you are advertising on metasearch.
Find more tips and tricks for driving metasearch success with Sojern’s Complete Guide to Hotel Metasearch.
This is part three of our four-part blog series on metasearch marketing for hoteliers. If you missed our first two articles, you can check them out to learn more about the basics of metasearch and benefits of using metasearch in your marketing strategy.
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