While we continue to be surrounded by immediate uncertainty in relation to restrictions, it’s not all bad news, with demand for tourism in 2022 looking optimistic. A recent HomeToGo survey showed that the three top kind of trips in 2022 will be related to relaxation, exploring touristic regions and domestic travel. Good to keep in mind!
Shifting our focus back to the immediate future, it’s time to start planning for January. January is typically one of the strongest booking months of the year, which is why it’s important not to wait until after Christmas to plan for it – don’t limit yourself. Here are some top tips for planning for your January sale campaign.
Simplicity is key
The clearer the offer, the less room for confusion. The less room for confusion, the more room for bookings! Sale offers should not be a pre-pay offer and they shouldn’t need a deposit. These factors will heavily influence your customers one way or another as they consider making a booking. The more flexible you are with your cancellation policy, too – the more likely a customer is to return.
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Be generous
We continually notice that the best performing campaigns are usually the ones with larger discounts. If you’re not in a position to offer 25% or more off, we recommend you avoid supporting the sale with campaign budget. This is a really competitive space and time, so to have a shot at making sales and attracting more customers, the offer needs to pack a punch and deliver.
TOP TIP: add terms into your offers that will restrict high demand dates so you’re not losing revenue by selling out at heavily discounted rates.
Here are some Christmas campaign tips
Highlight your ‘Limited Time Only!’ message
The best thing to do is to run your sale for two weeks, instead of running it for a month or longer. The shorter time period helps create a sense of urgency, which should help the campaign perform better in the end.
Flash sales are another clever way of creating a sense of urgency. One easy and effective tool you can use to highlight your offer is an action bar. Our own action bars have a built in timer which counts down the hours left on your sale.
Countdown ads are also effective. You can create these on Google within your January brand campaign. When someone searches for your hotel, the ad copy that appears will include your countdown message and timer.
How can hotel vouchers benefit your customers in the current climate?
Be consistent
Consistency is so important – it helps avoid confusion, which is key when you’re trying to make a sale. When your potential guests see the same message across all digital platforms, they are more likely to follow through. Consider everything from your campaign taglines to visuals – every element is important!
The most foolproof way of achieving consistency is designing your visuals and accompanying messaging specifically for each channel. There might not be huge changes between channel-specific content – but there will be slight differences. The key is for your offer to look clear and polished everywhere your customers see it – whether it’s on your website, social channels, via email, paid search and display.
Have a specific landing page
Landing pages are a crucial element of your campaign success.
Your offer’s landing page should highlight everything your customers need to know about the offer. It should have all relevant information they need to decide to click and book. Unlike web pages, which are trying to encourage interest in many different areas, your landing page should be designed with one single focus in mind, and should drive to just one place with your call to action.
Here’s what booking sentiment was like in October
Thoughts on your 2022 budget
For 2022, it will be important for you to continue being flexible with your budgets. We need to keep a close eye on the news and trends which, as we know at this stage, will have a significant impact on demand, patterns and potential variation in campaign strategy.
We are optimistic for 2022. While things will not be going back to ‘normal’ just yet, there are signs of improvement and progress globally in the tourism industry. Staycations, sustainable travel, a focus on mobile and workations are some trends we foresee for 2022. The important things for us all are to keep up with what’s happening, continue to operate with a flexible mindset and work together.
Here are 2022 international travel trends
This blog was updated in November 2021.
