Travel Offers: Your Golden Ticket to Successful Media Buying
The travel industry bounces back with a lucrative opportunity for affiliates and media buyers to take their campaigns to the next level. Surely, you know that feeling when you’ve booked that dream flight, and all of a sudden, life feels lighter and brighter!
Now, imagine bringing that same vibe to your audience while you rake in the clicks, conversions, and, most importantly, profit. Sweet deal, right? The truth is that everyone loves to spend on travel — who doesn’t?
According to Google and Deloitte’s Travel report, international trips could grow by 60%, reaching $2.4 billion travelers worldwide by 2040. These huge numbers point to one thing: this industry is promising. The earlier affiliates and ad agencies tap into its rewarding potential, the better it becomes.
To compose this guide, we relied on the analytical insights of Anastasiia Valiaieva, our Senior Account Strategist. She kindly shared some ideas on how to leverage travel offers and convert the traffic you get into an income stream.
What Are Travel Offers?
Travel offers are promotions from travel-related services. The most popular types include:
- Booking sites like Booking.com, Trip.com, or Traveloka.
- Tour and deal services such as Klook or Travelbag, which often feature discounted packages.
- Car rentals and airline promotions like Etihad Airways.
Travel offers spark interest in people across the globe who are constantly seeking new experiences all year round. Whether budget-friendly flight deals or five-star luxury escapes, tourists are eager to spend on experiences that fuel their adventures.
And here’s the exciting part: you get to be the bridge between their dream trips and your profit!
Why Are Travel Offers So Hot?
Real talk here: The travel industry is pretty resilient! Even when the world threw curveballs (like the COVID-19 pandemic), people were still itching for adventures. With the borders now open and travelers ready to pack their bags and roll any time, this market is a treasure trove waiting to be explored.
And here are a few reasons you shouldn’t miss out on leveraging travel offers right now.
1. Relevant All Year Round
Anastasia Valiaeva shares one of the main benefits of travel offers:
“Travel offers are fantastic because they aren’t tied to strict seasonality. Of course, holidays and school breaks are peak times, but the travel bug bites all year round.”
So, you have a consistent opportunity to deliver target promotions year-round.
2. Global Market Demand
Travel offers cater to a diverse and growing audience. And this global stage is buzzing with numerous possibilities.
Let’s see which GEOs our analysts find the most promising:
- Tier 1: The United States of America. Statista reported that the total travel spending in this country exceeds $1.3 trillion. Indeed, the USA is a land of dreamers and travelers galore.
- Asia: Hong Kong, China, Indonesia, Singapore, and South Korea are seeing massive growth in outbound and inbound travel demand.
- Europe: Italy, Spain, France, Germany, Belgium, and more. Très chic, right?
- Middle East: Saudi Arabia and the UAE. These regions scream luxury vibes 1000x.
- LATAM: Brazil, Peru, Colombia. Our affiliates here are enjoying the sun, salsa, and sales.
These regions are hotbeds for travel enthusiasts. Thus, pushing offers that resonate with their globetrotting spirits is something you want to take advantage of.
3. Usually High Conversion Rates
According to Anatasia, travel offers generate high conversion rates. This is so because people often complete actions (such as registration or booking) quickly after seeing the ads.
4. The Rising Love for Experiences Over Things
People spend more on experiences than ever before. According to a study made by Hilton, 64% of travelers now reduce other aspects of their personal spending to prioritize leisure trips.
That massive shift means more bookings for tours, activities, and accommodations. Which means that affiliates like you are perfectly positioned to ride this wave by promoting offers that tap into this growing trend.
How to Launch a Successful Travel Campaign
Now that we know the importance of hot and trendy travel offers, let’s get to the juicy stuff — how to launch one. The process is quite easy, and Anastasia shares some insights as well.
Step 1: The Right Ad Formats and Traffic Types Tested Smartly
PropellerAds has your back with fantastic ad formats that can deliver consistent and profitable results.
Popunder: Anastasia recommends starting with Popunder ads for such travel offers.
Why? They’re hard to overlook and known for their ability to capture user attention, popping underneath the main browser window. With plenty of space for your creatives and appealing texts, Popunders can help you reach numerous thriving eyes. Plus, this format is affordable, which is especially great for the start of your campaigns.
Telegram Ads: The next format Anastasia suggests is our fresh and crispy Telegram Ads format, which shows amazing results according to our tests. With traffic from Telegram Mini Apps relevant to your offer and ready to convert, you can scale your campaign in a smart way.
Anastasia shares her observations:
“The top GEOs for Telegram Ads and top GEOs specifically for Travel offers coincide, as we can see in our stats. This means that you should test your campaign with this traffic type, as well!”
And adds:
“Make sure to test all traffic types separately — Websites, Social, Direct Click. Launching separate campaigns for each will help you analyze performance better and optimize effectively.”
Step 2: The Best Pricing Models for Specific Formats
After choosing your preferred traffic type or ad format, move to your pricing model. Here’s a breakdown of what works and how to get the best bang for your buck:
- Telegram Ads
Use SmartCPC or CPA Goal. Don’t forget that these pricing models entail budget auto-optimization, so make sure to use tracking tools that pass conversions to PropellerAds’ to let them work properly.
- Popunder Ads
Go with SmartCPM or CPA Goal for smarter spending and better returns. In this case, conversion tracking for the best results is also necessary.
As a conversion, Anastasia suggests to pass:
- Lead generation events (registration, information request);
- Intermediate conversions (reservation without payment, click to call/contact)
Remember that simpler actions, like registration, usually generate higher CR with the possibility of more zones to be tested with further flow optimization. Also, you may pass sales to PropellerAds, calculating CPA as an average value for the paid order on the website.
Step 3: Craft Scroll-Stopping Creatives
When it comes to ads, the look matters a lot! You want your audience to stop and stare. Here are some tips to make them work well for your campaigns.
For Telegram Ads:
- Use high-quality images showing luxurious travel experiences (think private jets or scenic resorts). Keep it clean, catchy, and classy.
- Next, include a recognizable brand logo and a compelling CTA (Call-to-Action) such as Book Now and Save Big!
If you opt for Popunder:
- Direct traffic to the promo campaign page or a landing page featuring the trending offers. Skip pre-landers unless absolutely necessary. Another Senior Strategist of ours, Sofia Yakovleva, noted this:
“From my experience, Travel offers work really well when you send traffic directly to the promo campaign page, main page, or the landing page with a trending/best-selling hot product.”
- Incorporate retargeting to engage users who’ve previously seen your ads. She further suggested:
“Pay special attention to retargeting and engaging users who have already seen your ad. Often, people may buy more goods after seeing your ad again.”
- You can also upsell complementary products like car rentals to those who booked flights.
Step 4: Target Smart, Not Hard
It’s important to focus on mobile users (Android and iOS). They are the top volume and the real MVPs of travel offers. However, don’t sleep on desktop traffic in Europe. With 46% of European users relying on their PCs for daily activities, desktops are a hidden gem for high conversions.
Of course, your targeting will attract all kinds of traffic. It’s time for quality control. We recommend:
- Customizing your creative for each GEO you target. For instance, in Asia, prioritize culturally relevant imagery and local language translations. In Europe, focus on value-driven promotions.
- Using White- and Blacklists to filter out underperforming zones.
- Activating Campaign Audience Reach to target high-intent audiences for maximum engagement.
- Focusing on holidays, school breaks, and peak travel seasons to benefit from traffic spikes.
Step 5: Test and Optimize
Finally, test multiple approaches to identify what resonates most with your audience. Anastasia advises:
“Focus on simpler actions like lead generation to generate higher conversion rates initially. Once optimized, gradually test more complex flows, such as direct sales.”
The same is true for creatives and landing pages – perform A/B tests for various images and messages to see which brings the best results.
The Takeaway: Leverage Travel Offers Right Now
Travel offers are a wholesome mix of fun and profit; it’s a thriving vertical that delivers when approached strategically. You’re not just promoting flights and hotels; you’re selling dreams and adventures to those eager to take a break from their regular routine.
By leveraging our powerful ad formats, following our experts’ insights, and targeting top GEOs, you can connect with an audience of eager travelers. Not only that, you’re on your way to crafting a campaign that performs well all year round.
So, what are you waiting for? Your next big break is just a campaign away. Let’s make it happen for you!
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