Tripadvisor Sponsored Placements

Accommodations, drive high quality traffic to your property by putting your listing on top of Tripadvisor search results for travelers searching for a place to stay in your area.

How to Drive Direct Bookings with Sponsored Placements

How to Drive Direct Bookings with Sponsored Placements 74% of travelers who go on to book directly on a hotel website visit Tripadvisor at some point along their planning journey.1 Here’s how you can drive more of them to choose your accommodation.

In a recent survey nearly 1,000 hoteliers identified the top challenges they face when it comes to driving direct bookings for their businesses. The two most common challenges are increasing the exposure and visibility of their properties as well as competing with the OTAs.2

We know that direct bookings are a top priority for many hoteliers. That’s why we’ve added a Sponsored Placements option to help you drive more travelers directly to your property’s booking channel.

When you select this option, your direct rate will appear exclusively in the Sponsored Placements ad unit. And when a traveler clicks your ad, your direct rate will be the only offer shown within the price comparison box on your listing for that traveler.

Visit www.tripadvisor.com/AdsManager to be guided through the initial setup process. Read on for more details on setting up your campaign.

Note — If you’d like to have your direct rate appear organically on your listing page, regardless of traffic driven by Sponsored Placements, you’ll need to have TripConnectTM Cost-Per-Click set up prior to selecting the direct bookings option of Sponsored Placements. Click here to learn more.

Step 1: Select your business objective

First, you’ll pick your business objective — select the “Drive direct bookings” option. Choosing this objective will show your direct booking channel as the only offer in the Sponsored Placements ad unit.

Step 2: Verify your connectivity partner

You need to work with a certified connectivity partner in order to display your pricing and availability information within the Sponsored Placements ad unit. First, select your connectivity partner and verify the rates and availability that they’re providing. Then, confirm that the information for the dates shown accurately reflects what you have in your inventory.

Next, you’ll need to select the languages that your booking page supports and ensure Tripadvisor is pointing to the correct page for each language. Make sure that the name, address, and all other information on each page matches your business’s details.

If you experience any issues with this step, see the helpful tips section below.

Step 3: Schedule blackout dates (optional)

If you don’t have availability your Sponsored Placements ads won’t show. You also have the option to select additional blackout dates when you don’t want your ads to appear. For example, if there’s a holiday coming up when you know you are likely to sell out, you may want to schedule blackout dates for that selected timeframe. You have the ability to blackout all weekends, all weekdays or specific dates.

Step 4: Set your budget

Next, set a maximum monthly budget for your campaign. We offer three monthly budget options, or the ability to set your own custom budget, based on the number of clicks you’d like to receive. Remember, with the direct bookings business objective you’ll only pay when travelers click through to your listing or direct booking website — you won’t pay for impressions.

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How Sponsored Placements and TripConnect Cost-Per-Click Work Together

How Sponsored Placements and TripConnect Cost-Per-Click Work Together Your guide to setting up TripConnect™ Cost-Per-Click and Sponsored Placements to maximize your direct bookings

With TripConnect Cost-Per-Click (CPC), you can share your rates and availability in the price comparison box on your Tripadvisor listing. Travelers who click your rate will be connected to your booking engine to complete the reservation. When you combine TripConnect CPC with Sponsored Placements, your direct booking rate will appear exclusively within your Sponsored Placements ad as well as in the price comparison box when they click through on your listing.

For a simplified setup approach that allows travelers to only see your direct rate in your ads, you can sign up for Sponsored Placements without TripConnect CPC. Click here to learn more.

Share your rates: Set up TripConnect CPC

To get set up on TripConnect CPC go to www.tripadvisor.com/CostPerClick and you’ll be guided through the setup process. Read on for more details.

Step 1: Select a certified connectivity partner

TripConnect CPC works with your connectivity partner to display pricing and availability information specific to each traveler’s inquiry. You need to work with a certified partner in order to sign up. You can check your connectivity partner’s status here.

If you don’t work with a connectivity partner, you can see which ones are TripConnect CPC certified here. If a partner hasn't completed certification, it cannot provide TripConnect CPC services yet. In this case, contact the connectivity partner to ask when TripConnect CPC will be available.

Step 2: Confirm your rates and availability

Once you’ve selected a connectivity partner, verify the rates and availability that your connectivity partner is providing. Confirm that the information for the dates shown accurately reflect what you have in your inventory. If you experience any issues with this step, please contact your connectivity partner for assistance.

Step 3: Verify your booking page

Then you’ll need to select the languages that your booking page supports and ensure Tripadvisor is pointing to the correct page for each language. Make sure that the name, address and all other information on each page matches your business’s details. If you experience any issues with this step, please contact your connectivity partner for assistance.

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Market-Based Pricing for Sponsored Placements

Market-Based Pricing for Sponsored Placements Learn more about how market conditions influence your Sponsored Placements cost-per-click rate Today, many markets across the world regularly sell out of Sponsored Placements click inventory while others have inventory to spare. To help balance supply with demand, Sponsored Placements campaigns have now moved to market-based pricing.

What is market-based pricing?

Market-based pricing means your cost-per-click (CPC) rate may fluctuate to reflect current market conditions — including the number of active advertisers in your region, exchange rates, and available click inventory.

How can I see the CPC prices I’m paying for my campaign?

You can see your average CPC by viewing your invoices in the “Billing and Payments” section of the Management Center. Your Sponsored Placements invoice will show the “Unit Price,” which is the average CPC you paid over the course of the billing period.

Does this change mean I have to accept new Terms & Conditions?

Yes, the billing owner will need to accept the latest version of our Tripadvisor Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, and Business Advantage and Sponsored Placements Terms and Conditions.

Am I going to be paying more?

This change means that campaigns running in more popular traveler search destinations may see CPC rates increase, while campaigns in areas with less demand may see CPC rates decrease. While your CPC rates may vary, be assured that your designated maximum monthly budget will not change and your monthly campaign spend will not exceed this budget amount.

How are you ensuring my CPC rate won’t vary widely from week to week?

In general, markets do not shift significantly from week to week. In cases where there may be more movement due to seasonality or exchange rates, set limits are in place to keep the CPCs from varying widely.

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Tips on Measuring the Impact of Your Sponsored Placements Campaign

Tips on Measuring the Impact of Your Sponsored Placements Campaign Get insights on how you can use the updated Campaign Performance report to make Sponsored Placements work harder for you.

The Campaign Performance report helps you measure the effectiveness of your Sponsored Placements campaign so you can drive more traffic. To view your performance report, log into Ads Manager and select the “Campaign Performance” tab. Read on for ways to use the report to maximize value from your advertising campaign:

1. Assess the reach of your campaign

The traveler shopping experience takes time and repeat visits — on average, it spans 40 searches over 89 days.1 Seeing your ad repeatedly over time can influence travelers to consider booking with your property.

Use the number of ad impressions to assess your campaign's reach to travelers who are looking for a place to stay in your area on Tripadvisor. To increase your exposure, opt for a higher monthly budget spend. With a higher budget, your ad will be served more frequently, and more travelers will see your ad. Properties with the “high” budget typically see an average increase of 57% more clicks from potential guests over those who select the “low” budget.2

2. See how often travelers engage with your ad

The click-through rate (CTR) is the best way to measure engagement. Travelers who click on your ad like what they see and want to learn more about your property.

Tips to improve your click-through rate:

Ensure your primary photo makes a strong first impression. If you’re a Business Advantage subscriber, select your Favorite Photos as well. These are the first 30 photos guests click through in the photo carousel, so make sure they are high-quality and represent the best your property has to offer.
Confirm your amenities are up-to-date to match travelers' searches.
Entice travelers with a Special Offer, available to only Business Advantage subscribers.
Add Search Links, which allow your website to appear in search results on high profile Tripadvisor pages (available only to Business Advantage subscribers).

3. Track incremental page visits from your ads...

Glossary: Sponsored Placements Performance Report

Glossary: Sponsored Placements Performance Report Definitions of metrics included in your Sponsored Placements Campaign Performance report — and tips on how to use them....

13 Things You Should Be Doing to Drive More Bookings from Your Tripadvisor Listing

13 Things You Should Be Doing to Drive More Bookings from Your Tripadvisor Listing Best practices on how to drive more direct bookings from your Tripadvisor listing page. In our recent “Drive More Direct Bookings with Tripadvisor” webinar, we covered Tripadvisor’s impact on travelers’ booking decisions. In this article we’ll review your Tripadvisor listing page and how you can optimize it to drive more direct bookings. If you’re interested in learning how to optimize your presence on Tripadvisor search results pages, read here. First, let’s review your listing page and why it matters. By the time someone lands on your listing page, you’ve already captured their attention and are a part of their consideration set (the list of properties they’re choosing from). Your goal at this point is to keep these potential guests engaged with your property, provide all of the information they need to make a confident purchase decision and easily connect them to your direct booking channels. For simplicity, we’ve organized these tips based on the layout of your listing, starting at the top and working down to the bottom. We’ve also included a mix of free and premium tips — those tips with an asterisk (*) are features available only to Business Advantage subscribers. To become a Business Advantage subscriber, visit www.tripadvisor.com/BusinessAdvantage. 1. Upload Management Photos Research shows that travelers spend more time on property pages that have at least 30 photos.1 Be sure to upload high quality images that are within our photo guidelines — learn more here. 2. Choose a primary photo...

6 Things You Should Be Doing to Drive More Bookings from Tripadvisor Search Results

6 Things You Should Be Doing to Drive More Bookings from Tripadvisor Search Results Actionable tips to optimize your presence on — and drive more direct bookings from — Tripadvisor search results pages. In our recent “Drive More Direct Bookings with Tripadvisor” webinar, we covered Tripadvisor’s impact on travelers’ booking decisions and how you can influence them. In this article, we explore the importance of search results pages, the types of pages that exist on Tripadvisor and how you can improve your appearance on them. If you’re interested in learning how to optimize your listing page to drive direct bookings, read here. Search Results Pages on Tripadvisor Search results pages are instrumental in helping travelers sort through all of the accommodation options available and find the one that’s right for them. When travelers land on a search results page, they’ve chosen their destination — or at least narrowed it down — and they’re starting to build a list of hotels that will become their consideration set. Tripadvisor has many search results pages across the site. Here are a few examples of common pages a traveler may land on:

Traveler Ranked: Properties ranked by the quality, quantity, and recency of traveler reviews — and their consistency over time
Best Value: Properties ranked using traveler ratings, confirmed availability from our partners, prices, booking popularity, location and personal user preferences
Lowest price: Properties ranked by price — lowest to highest
Distance: Properties ranked by their location, with confirmed availability — closest to the center or location of choice
Search optimized pages: Pages designed to address specific searches conducted by travelers — on Tripadvisor as well as on third-party search engines. For example, category pages like romantic or boutique, deals pages or location-based pages., etc.

Your goal on these pages is to get noticed and to convince travelers to add your property to their consideration set. And, while there are many different types of search results pages, the way your property is presented across all of them is very similar. That’s because we’ve invested a lot of time and energy in optimizing those pages to deliver the best performance – both for you and for travelers. The benefit is that when you update one element of your listing, you’ll see the impact in how you appear across many search results pages....

How to Get More Clicks on Your Sponsored Placements

How to Get More Clicks on Your Sponsored Placements Top tips to drive more traveler engagement with your ads. Looking to drive more clicks from your Sponsored Placements campaign? Here are some tips to help! 1. Optimize your photo One of the largest and most influential elements of your ad is the primary photo. Choose one that showcases the most unique features about your property — what makes you different from other accommodations nearby. Some clients have reported click-through rate improvements of between 40% and 60% when they updated poor quality images to more compelling ones. Update your primary photo. 2. Update your amenities Amenities are an important part of Sponsored Placements targeting. For example, if a guest selects specific things like "Pool" or "Free Wifi," your ad will only appear if you have those amenities. Decision-driving amenities also appear in your ad. Be sure your list accurately reflects everything you offer at your accommodation. Update your amenities....

10 Reasons to Use Sponsored Placements

10 Reasons to Use Sponsored Placements Top reasons why hoteliers are using Sponsored Placements to drive more traffic for their accommodations. 1. Reach a highly qualified audience Tripadvisor is the world’s largest travel site with 455 million monthly unique users.1 And 74% of travelers who book directly on an accommodation’s website visit Tripadvisor at some point.2 Increase your exposure to this highly qualified audience with Sponsored Placements. 2. Appear right where travelers are searching Ads appear on high profile Tripadvisor pages including above search results, on local competitors’ pages and more. They’re also available on desktop, tablet and mobile, so they can be seen wherever potential guests are searching. 3. Precise targeting with no extra effort...

Strategies for Managing Your Sponsored Placements Budget

Strategies for Managing Your Sponsored Placements Budget Tips on the most efficient ways to drive traffic to your property throughout the year. Getting to know Sponsored Placements budgets

Sponsored Placements budgets are designed to help you easily manage your campaign from month to month. Your budget is based on two factors - an estimated number of monthly clicks and your property’s cost-per-click (CPC) rate. These two factors combined result in your monthly budget, which is the maximum amount that you could be billed in a month.

You can select from a high, medium or low budget. Each one represents a different level of monthly estimated clicks. Choose one that works for your goals. Or, you can use the custom budget box, if you have a specific budget or click target in mind.

Best practices for managing your budget So, what’s the best way to manage your Sponsored Placements budget? Here are three best practices to keep in mind. 1. Maximize your monthly budget to expand your reach....

Drive More Direct Bookings with Tripadvisor

ON-DEMAND WEBINAR Drive More Direct Bookings with Tripadvisor Details

Global tourism has been steadily increasing over the past decade and it continues to trend upwards. Unfortunately, while we're seeing a strong growth in spending — we're also seeing a steady decline in supplier direct share of online hotel bookings.

How can you capitalize on this growth in global tourism and increase your share of direct bookings? There are many tools owners can use but — because of our size, influence and role in travel — we believe Tripadvisor should be at the center of your direct booking strategy.

Our exclusive on-demand webinar gives your practical tips and tools to start driving more direct bookings with Tripadvisor.

In this webinar we'll cover:

Tripadvisor's role in the travel industry
How travelers move through the booking funnel on Tripadvisor
And, actionable tips — for those just getting started to Tripadvisor experts — for driving more direct bookings at every stage of the booking funnel

The live event is now available on-demand! Sign up now to access the recording (in English only).

*Worldwide Travel Path to Purchase 2017, comScore Media Metrix for Tripadvisor Sites, September 2017
**SiteMinder’s Global Hotel Business Index 2018
***Oxford Economics, 2018

Key Takeaways from the Shopping Phase of the Traveler Path to Purchase

SHOPPING PHASE Key Takeaways from the Shopping Phase of the Traveler Path to Purchase Last Updated: March 12, 2018 As mentioned in the previous article of this series, “An Overview of The Traveler Path to Purchase,” the Shopping Phase is your biggest opportunity to attract the attention of travelers. Here, you’re reaching travelers who have already decided on your destination and are now searching for a place to stay. Your marketing dollars have the opportunity to make a big impact because you’re reaching a targeted audience of travelers with high booking intent. OVERVIEW OF THE SHOPPING PHASE According to comScore research, the Shopping Phase occurs 1-19 weeks before a traveler books their accommodation. During this period of time, travelers are partaking in a number of activities — from searching for hotel information, to reading reviews online and scanning through photos and videos....

An Overview of the Traveler Path to Purchase

OVERVIEW An Overview of the Traveler Path to Purchase Last Updated: March 12, 2018

The traveler’s path to purchase in today’s world is tangled and complex. Travelers are inspired from a variety of sources — from something they saw online, to a billboard on the side of the road, or a story from a friend’s recent trip. With so many different channels, both online and offline, it can be daunting to decide where to invest your marketing dollars.

In an effort to learn how and why travelers book the way they do, we partnered with comScore to understand where travelers go to shop and what inspires their next trip. We consolidated this data in our recent webinar, “Influencing the Traveler Path to Purchase with Tripadvisor” presented by Charles Ballard and Martin Verdon-Roe. We encourage you to watch the full on-demand webinar, but, if you don’t have the time, or are looking for something more scannable, we have just that.

Travelers are inspired from a variety of sources — from something they saw online, to a billboard on the side of the road, or a story from a friend’s recent trip. OVERVIEW OF THE PATH TO PURCHASE...

7 Tips for Making the Most of Your Sponsored Placements

7 Tips for Making the Most of Your Sponsored Placements Sponsored Placements drives highly qualified traffic to your property. Read our top tips, for all registered owners and paid Business Advantage subscribers on how to get the most out of your campaign.

1. Update your primary photo

First impressions matter. Your primary photo is featured next to your accommodation name in search results and is the first image potential customers will see of your property. Make it count by leveraging our advanced technology which auto-selects your primary photo for you — or, follow our best practices for choosing your own. This new technology based approach uses data to remove the subjectivity of manually choosing a photo and ensures primary photos are optimized for travelers searching for their next place to stay.

Take Action: Opt into our auto-selected primary photo option in the Management Center. Under the Manage Listing menu, click Photos > Manage Photos > Primary Photo.

2. Confirm your amenities are up to date

Your amenities are a great way to make your listing stand out. Tripadvisor uses patterns in data to choose the most important amenities to highlight to travelers alongside your listing in search results. All you have to do is make sure your amenities are up to date, and Tripadvisor will do the rest! Travelers can also filter search results by amenities, so it's important to include everything you offer to avoid missing out on potential guests.

Take Action: Update your Amenities in the Management Center. Under the Manage Listing menu, click Amenities

3. Subscribers only: Add a Special Offer

Business Advantage subscribers: Your Special Offer will appear along with your property’s name, primary photo and amenities in your Sponsored Placements. So, use it to your advantage! Create a Special Offer that captures the attention of travelers and gives them another reason to choose you.

Take Action: Add a Special Offer in the Management Center. Under the Drive Bookings menu, click Post Special Offers.

4. Maximize your budget

The best way to get your Sponsored Placements seen by more travelers is to maximize your budget. When you set up your Sponsored Placements campaign, you’ll have three budget options — or you can set your own. The higher your daily budget, the more people see your campaign and the more estimated monthly clicks you’ll receive. Our best advice is to adjust your budget as needed based on your current objectives and priorities — read our strategies for managing your Sponsored Placements budget here.

Take Action: Update your budget in the Management Center. Under the Drive Bookings menu, click Manage Campaign.

5. Share competitive rates and availability

Travelers on Tripadvisor are looking for places to stay and are ready to book. Make sure you’re giving them everything they need to make their booking decisions, including your best rates & availability.

Take Action: Work with your distribution partners to ensure you’re sharing your best rates and availability with Tripadvisor.

6. Subscribers only: Add your website link

Business Advantage subscribers: Make it easy for travelers to contact you directly by adding your website link as one of your selected Contact Details. When you do, your website link will appear next to your property name and in your ad placement! It's yet another way to drive more direct booking referrals to your property — right when travelers are searching.

Take Action:Add your hotel website link to your listing in the Management Center. Under the Drive Bookings menu, click Update Contact Details.

7. Monitor your campaign’s performance

As soon as you activate Sponsored Placements, you’ll have access to the Campaign Performance report where you can see campaign analytics. Use this report to track how many impressions your ad has received, as compared to the number of clicks. Not happy with your click-through-rate? Try changing up your primary photo or Special Offer.

Really happy with your clicks, but still want more? Try increasing your budget. Your Sponsored Placements performance is up to you, so experiment a little and see what works for your property! Read our tips for managing your campaigns success, using the performance report here.

Take Action: Monitor your impact with the Campaign Performance report in the Ads Manager. To access this page under the Drive Bookings menu, click Track Performance.

Not yet running a Sponsored Placements campaign? Sign up at www.tripadvisor.com/AdsManager.

Last Updated: December 13, 2017

Success Stories

How a Spanish Hotel Company Uses Tripadvisor in Its Rebranding Strategy

How a Spanish Hotel Company Uses Tripadvisor in Its Rebranding Strategy See how Selenta maximized visibility for SOFIA Hotel to get more traffic and jump-start its online reputation.

Selenta Group manages nine properties in various Spanish cities. We spoke with Silvia Sutter, Online Traffic Manager at Selenta, to find out how she has increased visibility and traffic for SOFIA Hotel with Tripadvisor.

Tripadvisor as part of the rebranding strategy

Rebranding Selenta's properties has been a huge undertaking that began last year and taken months of planning and preparation. "We transformed the company and rebranded as a whole, and are now working on repositioning our properties as luxurious and high-end," says Sutter.

The goal? Growing visibility and traffic to all nine properties. Says Sutter, "We want to expand our market and reach more US travelers — since the majority of our guests are traditionally from Spain and the United Kingdom."

Sutter turned to Tripadvisor to market the re-launch of SOFIA Hotel, a property Selenta has recently renovated. "Tripadvisor is an important marketing channel because this source of traffic raises our overall performance and travelers from Tripadvisor are more likely to convert," she says. "We updated SOFIA's Tripadvisor listing page with our new name, photos, and other information to not only promote the renovations, but also reset guest expectations."

Increasing visibility with Sponsored Placements

To get more exposure for SOFIA in the competitive Barcelona market, Sutter uses Sponsored Placements. "We decided to try Sponsored Placements to increase SOFIA's visibility and brand awareness. The additional exposure from Sponsored Placements puts the property in front of more travelers who are searching for a place to stay in Barcelona," she says.

SOFIA has gained more visibility and traffic. "The results have been great: Sponsored Placements has performed so well for SOFIA that all nine Selenta properties now have active campaigns to increase their exposure," says Sutter. "On average, these ads have generated over 50,000 impressions for each property in 6 weeks to highly targeted travelers."

And that visibility is paying off: "We've driven more traffic to the SOFIA website, creating leads that ultimately convert. Since starting Sponsored Placements, booking referrals for SOFIA have increased," continues Sutter.

SOFIA's online reputation cycle has also accelerated. "The uplift in visibility has jump-started our online reputation cycle for SOFIA, which has helped it to be ranked in the top 10% for accommodations in Barcelona," Sutter says. "As more guests stay at SOFIA, they write reviews and post photos, restarting the cycle of inspiring potential guests to pick our property."

Sutter plans to run Sponsored Placements all year. "If conversions continue increasing thanks to Sponsored Placements, we'll always run our ads as our rebranding progresses. The ads have helped me reposition our properties, drive more traffic to our websites, and get more bookings," she says.

Last Updated: December 10, 2018

How a European Hotel Group Uses Content Marketing to Reach Travelers

How a European Hotel Group Uses Content Marketing to Reach Travelers 25hours Hotels increases visibility, raises brand awareness, and drives incremental revenue with Tripadvisor. 25hours Hotels is a group of 13 properties scattered across Germany, France, and other European countries. See how Alexander Schuster, Head of Digital, influences travelers to book one of their properties using content marketing and Tripadvisor.

A focus on content marketing

To build relationships between customers and the 25hours brand, Schuster uses content marketing. "We choose to focus on content marketing instead of solely relying on promotions, discounts, or packages. Content allows us to tell a larger story about how guests don't just stay at our hotels. They can have a fun, relaxing, immersive adventure at our hotels, which are designed to embody the city and neighborhood they're in," he says. "Our photos and videos reinforce our brand. Our blog for each hotel offers local insider knowledge."

Reaching travelers on the customer journey with Tripadvisor

Schuster offers relevant information to travelers while they're shopping for a place to stay on Tripadvisor, a major marketing channel. "The customer journey has many touch points, and we need to reach travelers at the right time on the right channels. So, we amplify our content on Tripadvisor, Google, social media, and other marketing channels to capture travelers' attention and provide a compelling, consistent story," he says. "I use Tripadvisor to increase our visibility, highlight the 25hours brand, and get more direct bookings."

Working with Tripadvisor, Schuster supplements his content strategy by highlighting traveler review content and responding to those reviews. "Travelers check reviews, which makes Tripadvisor an important part of the customer journey. We respond to these reviews — not only offering our view, but also showing how we care about and feel responsible for our guests," he says.

More revenue with Business Advantage

Schuster draws in travelers by showcasing his content and optimizing the 25hours Hotels’ Tripadvisor listing pages with Business Advantage. "We can entice travelers in the booking funnel on Tripadvisor search and our listing page when they're considering our properties and prices," he says. "We're able to test and optimize different Business Advantage features. For example, we post Cover Photos and Favorite Photos that best represent our hotels, and then we check the photo engagement rate in the Analytics Suite to see what works in drawing in even more travelers."

He also uses Business Advantage to connect with travelers directly. "With Contact Details, we can put the right communication channels—our website, phone number, and email—on Tripadvisor. We're able to drive travelers to our website, have them book directly, and not lose them to OTAs — it's easy for them get in touch with us," says Schuster. "Another way we incentivize travelers to book directly with us is we run Special Offers with an advanced, lower booking rate that they can redeem on our website."

Schuster notes that all 25hours properties have Business Advantage because of its ability to grow the 25hours brand and business. "Business Advantage is beneficial — it shows a return on advertising spend, and we drive incremental revenue for all our properties," he adds.

Increased visibility with Sponsored Placements

To maximize his reach to travelers and drive more traffic to 25hours, Schuster decided to try Sponsored Placements. "Relying on search for travelers to find our properties isn't effective. With Sponsored Placements, we expand our visibility to travelers who are already on the customer journey, especially when they're searching within a dedicated city, but don't have a specific brand in mind," he says. "The five properties that tried out Sponsored Placements each received over 100,000 impressions on average in two months — meaning they were seen 100,000 more times than if we didn't have Sponsored Placements.”

Sponsored Placements has also helped Schuster get more booking referrals. "In addition to the increased visibility, Sponsored Placements create leads so more travelers make reservations at our hotels. We saw a 20% boost in booking referrals on average. We also saw an increase in page visits to our five properties' Tripadvisor listing pages," he says.

Seeing the benefits of Sponsored Placements, Schuster believes the ads are a worthwhile investment. "Sponsored Placements is valuable because I'm able to raise awareness of the 25hours brand at multiple touch points of the customer journey. Every click means that travelers are engaged and interested — If travelers see our ad, it's highly likely they'll be back later with high intent to book with us," he says.

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Success Story: A Jaipur Hotel Uses Tripadvisor to Drive Inbound Marketing

Success Story: A Jaipur Hotel Uses Tripadvisor to Drive Inbound Marketing Learn how the Royal Heritage Haveli attracts travelers with Sponsored Placements and converts them with Business Advantage. The Royal Heritage Haveli is a small family-owned boutique hotel that won the Travelers’ Choice award for multiple years in Jaipur, India. See how Shambhavi Singh, the Haveli Director, uses Tripadvisor as an instrumental part of her inbound marketing strategy. Challenge: Maximizing the busy season

Singh strives to get as many travelers to book as possible during the busy season. "Our busy season is short so it's crucial that we make the most of it. It's hard to fill rooms during the off-season because it's very hot in Jaipur," says Singh.

Many other local accommodations providers are pursuing a similar strategy. "It's challenging to stand out among our competitors in Jaipur. We're a small business that competes with well-known hotels for a limited number of travelers who visit during the busy season. So, we need to differentiate ourselves from properties similar to ours," she says.

Solution: Using Tripadvisor to drive inbound marketing "To address this challenge, I use inbound marketing to attract, convert, close, and delight guests, and Tripadvisor is crucial to my strategy," Singh says. "Inbound marketing creates awareness among travelers, and it builds trust and credibility for the Haveli."...

How a New Lisbon Hotel Is Succeeding on Tripadvisor

How a New Lisbon Hotel Is Succeeding on Tripadvisor Corpo Santo built a strong online reputation and amplified that success with Tripadvisor Business Advantage and Sponsored Placements. Corpo Santo Hotel is an independently-owned historic hotel that became a top Traveler Ranked property in Lisbon after opening in 2017. We caught up with General Manager Pedro Pinto to learn about his strategies for success. Building a strong online reputation

Building a great online reputation starts with providing great service. To achieve this, Pinto has invested in staff and constant improvements: "Our strategy is to provide exceptional service and delight guests with new things. Great staff is key so we're careful about who we hire and regularly communicate the feedback we receive," says Pinto.

He then encourages guests to share their experiences with other travelers on Tripadvisor. "We work to outperform ourselves instead of our competitors, always focusing on service and reviews. It's not only about providing a quality experience, but also a commitment to using Tripadvisor to get the word out about Corpo Santo," he shares.

Through a commitment to building Corpo Santo's online reputation with guest reviews on Tripadvisor, Pinto has been able to attract guests — and he continues the cycle with fresh review content. "We encourage guests to write reviews with Review Express," Pinto says. "Guests love our hotel so they're keen to share their experiences — for many, it's even their first review. People who read these reviews arrive excited to stay at our hotel and are then inspired to write us a review after their stay."

Pinto also uses Management Responses to make a lasting impression on past guests and influence potential guests to choose his hotel. "Collecting reviews doesn't guarantee success. We respond to reviews, personalizing our responses and thanking guests," says Pinto. "We also show how we're incorporating feedback to improve. For example, we replaced windows that let in too much noise and then contacted each guest who mentioned the noise to let them know the enhancements we made based on their feedback."

Capitalizing on success with Business Advantage and Sponsored Placements

"With all of our reputation management activity, we've been climbing the Popularity Ranking for Lisbon. We saw from our analytics that 40% of our traffic was coming from Tripadvisor. We wanted to grow our traffic and get more guests so I purchased Business Advantage and Sponsored Placements," says Pinto.

Using Business Advantage and Sponsored Placements together helps Pinto amplify Corpo Santo's presence on Tripadvisor. And the results exceed what he had hoped for. "It’s like winning the lottery. The traffic to our website has grown by 500% with both products. Sponsored Placements has expanded our reach — we've received roughly 69,000 impressions in 6 months with the ads and gotten more clicks to our property listing," Pinto explains. “And thanks to Business Advantage, our direct bookings have increased — and we're achieving a 90% occupancy rate."

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How an Independent Hotel Chain in Europe Increased Direct Bookings by 150%

How an Independent Hotel Chain in Europe Increased Direct Bookings by 150% Central Hotel and Forum Hotel in Bulgaria drive more traffic to their websites with Tripadvisor Sponsored Placements. Background Travelers' Choice winner Central Hotel and Certificate of Excellence holder Forum Hotel are jointly-owned independent boutique hotels in Sofia, Bulgaria. Hear how Zhivko Zhelyazkov, Hotel Manager, has increased direct bookings at both properties with Tripadvisor Sponsored Placements. Challenge Because fewer travelers visit Sofia in the winter, demand for Central and Forum Hotels is much lighter. As Zhelyazkov notes, "January and February are difficult months, and we are very focused on driving more direct reservations during that period." Solution...

Case Study: Derby Hotels Collection Boosts Bookings by 25% with Sponsored Placements

Case Study: Derby Hotels Collection Boosts Bookings by 25% with Sponsored Placements How the Derby Hotels Collection maximizes visibility with Tripadvisor Sponsored Placements to compete effectively in a challenging market. The Derby Hotels Collection is a family-owned, 14-property hotel chain based primarily in Barcelona. We recently caught up with David Martinez i Urgell, who leads the group’s Digital marketing and eCommerce strategy, to learn how he leveraged Tripadvisor Sponsored Placements to compete more effectively in a challenging market: Challenge: Competition for Fewer Travelers Tourism in Barcelona, Derby’s primary market, is expected to decline in 2018, particularly during the low season. Anticipating this downturn in travel, Martinez knew he needed something different to compete with larger hotel chains for fewer travelers. "We knew it was going to be a hard season because of the difficult economic situation in the market," Martinez says. "We also know most travelers don't know about our hotels until they start searching a specific location and discover us through Tripadvisor or OTAs."...

How This Sorrento Hotel Increased Direct Bookings by 20% in 40 Days

How This Sorrento Hotel Increased Direct Bookings by 20% in 40 Days Grand Hotel Aminta Owner, General Manager and Marketing Strategist Gianfranco Acampora shares top tips for marketing his Sorrento boutique hotel

We recently spoke with leading hotelier and marketing expert Gianfranco Acampora, Owner and General Manager of the Grand Hotel Aminta in Sorrento, Italy — who shared these important insights into digital marketing best practices for hotels:

Can you tell us about the Grand Hotel Aminta and your role at the property?

The Grand Hotel Aminta is one of the largest hotels in Sorrento, set on a hill overlooking the Gulf of Naples with a commanding view of the city. Today, my brother and I divide management of the hotel’s operations. I’m focused on the Sales, Marketing and Guest Registration aspects of the business.

Can you provide more details on the seasonality and customer demand for the Aminta?

The Aminta is one of the only hotels in the area that’s open year-round, but it’s really a summer resort. Busy season is April to October, and low season is November to mid-March — with the exception of New Years’, thanks to the amazing fireworks display here in Sorrento.

Today, the vast majority of our customers come from the United Kingdom. We also work with a lot of Americans and Canadians.

You’ve been marketing your hotel online for many years. Can you tell us more about your strategy and how it’s evolved over time?

I’ve always been very interested in digital marketing — it’s not only my job, but also my hobby and passion. We were the first property in Sorrento to launch a website back in 1995, and the hotel has always done well in organic search. As others have started to move online, we’ve tried different things to maintain our competitive advantage like advertising with search engines and OTAs.

We quickly found that it’s quite hard to reach our target customers with search engine ads. There’s too many competitors bidding on top keywords and it’s really hard to be ranked first. However, Tripadvisor’s often among the top organic search results for those terms. Plus, guests often tell us that they actually found us on Tripadvisor. So, we evolved our strategy to be very focused on marketing on that site.

Can you say more about the searching behavior of your guests?

Sure, so we were bidding on search terms like “Sorrento Hotel with Pool.” Guests today tell us they usually do an initial query on a search engine for a term like “Sorrento Hotels,” but then there are just too many search results that are difficult to sort through. They quickly find Tripadvisor and use the site to do more specific research to find a property that meets their needs. Effectively, Tripadvisor becomes the search engine that’s used within a destination that guests use to find hotels, restaurants, etc.

What’s your strategy for working with Tripadvisor, specifically?

Tripadvisor is currently our most effective marketing tool. For example, with the new Sponsored Placements, the Aminta can appear above search results for Sorrento. That’s been so important for us. The ad drives traffic to us and people are able to contact us directly via our Business Advantage links. I’ve found it’s saving me commission costs because people are contacting us directly or booking on our website.

How has Sponsored Placements performed for you?

We’ve been very happy with the product. We continue to test it, but so far we’ve seen a 20% increase in direct bookings in 40 days. The tool is fantastic, is really easy to use, and the cost is minimal relative to the return on investment we’re seeing. Customers from this channel also seem to be quite valuable — they’re booking longer stays and above average room types.

What will your strategy be for using Sponsored Placements moving forward?

There are three budget options for Sponsored Placements. During the busy season - when our property is full - we’ll probably scale back to the lower budget option, but still run a campaign. It’s important to always maintain visibility for future bookings. Through the rest of the year — particularly in January and February as people start to plan for the summer — we’ll use one of the higher budget options to drive more traffic to our property.

What would you say to other hoteliers who are considering Sponsored Placements?

It’s definitely something you should try. The tool is easy to use … there are no keywords to choose or bids to set. Just choose what you want to spend on a daily basis, set it up and forget it.

Last Updated: March 29, 2022

Dubrovnik Hotel Uses Tripadvisor to Drive Visibility & Bookings

Dubrovnik Hotel Uses Tripadvisor to Drive Visibility & Bookings How Berkeley Hotel & Spa uses Sponsored Placements to stand out in a highly competitive market.

Berkeley Hotel & Spa is a 24-room, family-owned hotel in Dubrovnik, Croatia. General Manager Katarina Elez has been focused on building Berkeley’s online presence to encourage more travelers to book directly on the property’s website. Read on to learn how she’s crafted a successful online marketing strategy:

A Tripadvisor Focus

When Berkeley Hotel first opened, Elez quickly determined that she needed to focus her marketing efforts online, particularly on Tripadvisor. "We were one of the first hotels in Dubrovnik on Tripadvisor, since our opening in 2007," she explains. "We’ve always used Tripadvisor extensively, and it’s one of the best things that could have ever happened for our business."

This commitment to online marketing via Tripadvisor continues to benefit Berkeley Hotel, even today. Elez says, "We’ve been able to increase our visibility to travelers searching our destination because we’ve had a strong, consistent presence on Tripadvisor from the start. We have always been among the top 15 properties in Dubrovnik."

Maximizing Visibility to Travelers

As a small 3-star hotel in a city dominated by 5-star hotels with larger marketing budgets, Elez has to be smart with her marketing investments in order to maximize visibility.

"Our guests are coming to us from huge markets like the UK, US and Australia," says Elez. "With our budget, we’ve found it’s really difficult to use tools like AdWords to reach and influence these travelers."

Elez recently invested in an enhanced website that is closely integrated with her channel manager. This allows her to track all of her booking sources — and evaluate what’s driving them. After experimenting with various marketing tools, Elez has found success by leveraging Berkeley Hotel’s already strong presence on Tripadvisor.

Business Advantage

In January, Elez upgraded Berkeley Hotel to a Business Advantage Preferred Access subscription because she was looking for a way to increase booking referrals to her website.

"We’ve just finished a renovation and will use the Preferred Access features—like Storyboard and Favorite Photos—to show off these enhancements to travelers," Elez says.

She also uses the Special Offers feature to gauge Business Advantage’s impact on her bookings.

"We post a Tripadvisor exclusive offer and carefully track how it comes back to us. We found that people who booked through our website mention it, and it shows up on bookings from OTAs as well, so we know that travelers went to our Tripadvisor page at some stage."