TRAVEL SEARCH INTELLIGENCE: LIMITED-SERVICE HOTEL CHAINS
This is the second search-themed travel newsletter this month, highlighting the capabilities of Compete’s Travel Search Intelligence product. This week we focus on branded search as well search demographic segmentation for Limited-Service hotel chains.
Limited service hotel suppliers source a significant volume of their traffic from the major search engines. Brand terms typically represent over half of all search clicks, with Best Western the highest benchmarked. Search performance among specific consumer segments can vary greatly, however: In the $60-$100K Male demographic segment, for example, Choice Hotels and Holiday Inn dominate the search market.
Limited-Service hotel sites rely deeply on branded search terms (those containing the company’s name or any sub brands). An average of 62% of search clicks to this market segment are on branded terms, with Bestwestern.com leading the group at a 78% level. Choice Hotels and Holiday Inn rely less upon branded search referrals and more upon non-branded and generic search activity.
Performance among various consumer segments within search can vary greatly. Compete analyzed the search activity of a specific demographic group: Male travelers with annual incomes of $60-$100K. Among this segment, Choice Hotels and Holiday Inn are the strongest search performers in the competitive set, collectively capturing over half of all search clicks, a strong portion of which are non-branded terms.
Each marketer’s search campaign is different, however a willingness to go beyond comfort zones with non-branded and general travel terms can deliver a high volume of traffic. Hard-to-reach segments such as the demographic group profiled above can be tapped and lead to strong business results, as is the case with Choice Hotels and Holiday Inn.
Learn more about Travel Search Intelligence:
Contact Jack Drew from Compete’s travel team at jdrew@compete.com to have your questions answered or receive a product demonstration. Or visit our Travel Search Intelligence page.
Look for Compete at the Eye For Travel’s October conference in Las Vegas, where we will be making a research presentation on Meta Search on October 1st, and providing additional details on the Travel Search Intelligence product.
