Businesses need a constant flow of reasonably-priced leads to stay ahead. Whether you’re building up a client base or maintaining steady work, lead generation strategies/lead generation marketing are a constant need. That’s why in this post, we’ll go over the best place to find business-to-business (B2B) leads—Linkedin through professional Linkedin ads management.
LinkedIn is the largest global professional network and the number one platform for lead generation. The social network is responsible for 97% of a business’s social media leads, making it 277% more effective for lead generation than Facebook and Twitter.
What sets LinkedIn apart from other social networks is its professional community of business-minded members for which it was designed. 4 out of every 5 LinkedIn members drive business decisions. This means a highly concentrated pool of potential B2B clients.
In this article, we’ll go over the benefits of using LinkedIn to generate leads or B2B leads and the best local B2B lead generation strategies.
Source: https://business.linkedin.com/marketing-solutions/success/lead-generation
LinkedIn is where professionals keep up to date on their company and industry. In addition to its 774+ million members, LinkedIn has over 57 million business and 120,000 school accounts. LinkedIn’s active user base of professionals makes it a goldmine for potential B2B clients.
Plus, LinkedIn offers a host of professional data and news feed product or service. Because it is geared toward business professionals, LinkedIn sits atop all other social media platforms for lead generation strategies.
Source: https://neilpatel.com/blog/linkedin-marketing-tips/
Generating B2B high quality leads on LinkedIn requires a good strategy. Here are some actionable steps to acing your approach to LinkedIn:
When done right, an attractive company page will draw in valuable business. To create a company page, log in to your LinkedIn account and click the “Work” icon in the top right corner. A drop-down menu will appear, at the bottom of which you’ll find a link to “Create a Company Page.” Press the link and you’ll be asked about your company type, name, details, and so forth. Creating your company page only takes a few minutes.
As you complete your profile, you’ll notice a “Build Your Page” progress bar at the top of the page. Make sure to complete your profile in full as completed pages get 30% more traffic.
Don’t only provide basic information and facts about your company. Structure your page in a way that leads to conversions. The tagline should immediately tell visitors what your business offers. The header image should be engaging. And the company description should include a clear and compelling pitch with calls to action (CTAs). Get straight to the pitch in the first two lines since LinkedIn hides the rest under a “see more” button.
Finally, keep your recent updates section filled with relevant, clickable content. An empty updates section shows that you are not engaged on the platform, and sales team-qualified leads will be less likely to trust you.
Showcase Pages allow you to segment your B2B leads for different products, brands, events, and more. Also known as affiliate pages, Showcase Pages are like LinkedIn’s version of a landing page.
Create a Showcase Page by clicking on the “Admin tools” drop-down menu in the top right corner. Then click “Create a Showcase Page” under “Reach.” From there, you’ll be able to set a showcase page name and URL extension.
Try to keep showcase page names short, so they are not cut off on the sidebar of your company page. Most of all, prime your showcase pages for conversion with succinct descriptions and CTAs.
LinkedIn has over 2 million groups where professionals with similar interests or industry background can share insights and make connections. Joining relevant and active groups is an easy way to grow your network.
You can find groups to join by searching at the top of the homepage. Look for groups that are medium-sized, big enough to be worth your while but small enough for you to be noticed. Keep in mind, LinkedIn only allows you to be a member of 50 groups at most.
After you’ve established yourself as a thought leader, you can even create your own group. This gives you extra admin rights to control who joins or leaves the group and to steer the conversation around a certain topic or industry.
No doubt, groups are an easy way to connect with others in a natural way without sending cold requests.
So far, we’ve talked about ways to attract high quality leads. But you can also actively seek out prospective clients on LinkedIn. Identify your ideal lead scoring by developing a buyer persona and then use advanced search to find them. A buyer persona is a detailed description of someone who represents your target customer/potential customers.
With LinkedIn’s advanced search, you can narrow searches by connection type, location, company, industry, school, language, and more. Plus, you can narrow search results incrementally as you go. That way, you don’t need to start a new search every time you want to tweak the search filters.
If you want to streamline your outreach efforts, save your search criteria on LinkedIn and come back for new search results later. LinkedIn will even send you email alerts when new people match your saved search queries. This can save you a lot of time and effort in the long run.
Of course, the purpose of LinkedIn is to make connections.
But don’t just try to connect with anyone. Strive for quality leads connections that are relevant to your business. Sometimes members try to connect with anyone just to get to the coveted 500 connections threshold, but it really doesn’t do you any good to have a bunch of mediocre connections and no actual leads.
So use the advanced search tactics outlined above to find your ideal clients. Always include a personal message with any connection request, so it has the best chance of being accepted. People won’t always accept requests from people they don’t know, so remind them who you are or tell them why they should connect with you.
LinkedIn is not only a networking platform but a publishing platform. You can publish content in regular news feed posts or full articles.
When you post, you can include a photo, video, event, or even a slideshare presentation. You want to keep these short and sweet because users don’t spend much time scrolling through the news feed.
To write an article, simply click on “Write Article” under the “Start a post” bar. You can then write a headline and the body of your article, which can include images, rich media, and hyperlinks. Articles should be around 300-1000 words with catchy headlines that draw the reader in. Once you’ve read the article over a few times and edited for mistakes, click “Publish” to share it.
With both types of content you can determine who will see it, whether anybody on LinkedIn and the web or just your connections.
As for what to publish, publish content that is engaging, takes on industry pain points, and shows your expertise. With enough effort and time, you can become a thought leader in your industry and clients will come to you.
Thought leadership is a major driver of LinkedIn funnel traffic. Consider the following statistics from LinkedIn:
Establishing credibility through daily content is a huge source of B2B leads. To make your voice heard, publish both under your company page profile and under your individual profile as someone representing your company. That way, you can maximize your content exposure on LinkedIn.
Use an editorial calendar to keep a steady flow of content. Try posting at least once a week but strive for once a day if you can. Eventually, your network will learn to look forward to your thoughts and insights.
Whatever you do, make sure your content always adds value to users. You should share innovative and original ideas backed by relevant data. Include visuals like infographics or high-quality leads and photos, anything to capture users’ attention. Discuss action plans that others can follow to show you have real value to offer. An excellent example of this is search engine optimization (SEO) guru Brian Dean. He’ll show off one of his accomplishments and then tell you how he did it:
Source: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianedean/detail/recent-activity/shares/
If you can’t think of what to post about, check out the “what people are talking about now” box on the right side of the homepage for some inspiration. Try striking up new conversations by forecasting future industry pain points or digging into their causes. You can also always share other people’s content that you find especially helpful or insightful. Stay selective with what you share and users will come to appreciate your tailored taste.
Mention influencers to build extra credibility. Cite any conversations you’ve had with other thought leaders whose followings you want to tap into. This can mutually benefit you and them by merging your networks. So look for ways to collaborate with other industry leaders.
End every post with relevant hashtags. LinkedIn adopted hashtags from Twitter to categorize trending topics and improve searches. By including hashtags that relate to your client’s needs, you can attract potential customers or clients searching LinkedIn for that specific topic. But don’t overdo the hashtags. Otherwise, it may come across as tacky. 3 or 4 hashtags are enough.
Finally, don’t forget to reward user engagement on your content by liking and responding to comments and following up on any questions. The more you engage, the more likely users will want to engage with your posts.
Like other social networks, LinkedIn offers advertising on their platform. Though LinkedIn advertising is more expensive than advertising on Google or Facebook, it can also be more effective. Most LinkedIn users are already ready to do business. So your ads are already very targeted.
To start advertising on LinkedIn, first create a Campaign Manager account by clicking the “Work” icon in the top right corner of the homepage and then selecting “Advertise.” You’ll be asked for an account name, a billing currency, and a LinkedIn Page with which to associate the Campaign Manager account. Then click “Create account.”
The inbound lead generation Campaign/inbound lead generation process Manager will first ask you to choose from the following main objectives: brand awareness, consideration in form of visits and engagement, and conversions via the lead generation process. For the Business to business lead generation process, we recommend selecting conversions as your goal.
From there, you will choose your target audiences filtered by 20 different categories, including location, company, job experience, education, demographics, interest, and traits. You can even create custom audiences with LinkedIn’s Matched Audiences and lead generation tools.
There are four different types of ads to choose from: Sponsored Content, Message Ads, Dynamic Ads, and Text Ads:
Once you’ve chosen an ad type, you can determine how you want to fund your campaign. LinkedIn offers three pricing options: cost per send (CPS), cost per click (CPC), and cost per impression (CPM):
At this point, you can let your ad campaign go live. Track how it performs in the Campaign Manager and make adjustments as needed. You can edit your ads, refine your target audience, and adjust your budget as you go.
Advertising on LinkedIn can bring in a lot of B2B leads because it’s the network that most professionals use. It’s no wonder that B2B display advertising is projected to keep increasing from 2018 to 2021:
Source: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1256362/linkedin-advertising-b2b-us/
Besides advertising, LinkedIn offers several internal and lead-generation tools to help you manage B2B leads. Check out it’s Conversion Tracking and Sales team Navigator tools, for example.
On top of that, there are a host of other digital inbound lead generation tools available when it comes to Business to business lead generation. Experiment and find ones that work for you.
Generating B2B leads on LinkedIn is an ongoing process. But with an attractive company page and showcase pages, relevant groups, advanced outreach techniques, stellar content, and targeted advertising campaigns, you’ll have plenty of leads in no time.
If you need help managing your LinkedIn ad campaign, ppc.co can help. Our experts have years of experience using LinkedIn to generate leads. We offer provable return on ad spend, concrete reports, ongoing consulting, flexible plans and pricing, all with a personal touch. Contact us today for a free, comprehensive pay-per-click (PPC) audit and advertising assessment.
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The keyword jockey era is officially over. For years, PPC agencies were basically just click machines. You gave them a budget, they bid on keywords, and you got traffic. But that model is fading out. Platforms like Google Ads now handle bidding automatically, and anyone can buy clicks. What separates winners from losers today isn’t the company that spends more – it’s the ones who turn clicks into paying customers.
PPC ads are still a legitimate way to generate cheap traffic but the end goal is ultimately conversions. Until recently, many PPC agencies have only focused on generating traffic without focusing on customizing strategies to produce profitable outcomes. This requires more than just selecting keywords. It requires testing ad creatives, fine-tuning landing pages, and ruthlessly optimizing funnels.
If you’re working with a PPC agency that only talks about CPC while ignoring conversion rates and lifetime customer value (LTV), it’s time to upgrade to an agency that focuses on results measurable in dollars.
Ad platforms like Google Ads and Meta have made manual bidding almost obsolete. Their algorithms now choose how to get you the best conversion value, not just the cheapest click. That means the old “bid manager” agency model is toast.
Smart Bidding and bundled campaign types (like Performance Max) push optimization toward conversion value rather than just clicks. And that’s not a bad thing. It’s an invitation to apply your marketing budget to the things humans do best: messaging, creative strategy, and conversion rate optimization).
The algorithms do the heavy lifting now. Google’s Performance Max and Smart Bidding automatically find high-converting audiences. The system handles keyword strategy better than humans ever could. And it makes sense that these companies would invest the time and money into perfecting their systems because the better results you get, the more likely you are to keep running ads.
With the backend tech handling bidding, your agency’s edge comes from improving elements outside of the algorithm, like your ads and landing pages. The best PPC agencies no longer promise a lower CPC – they promise results.
That’s the key shift here. Automation didn’t eliminate the need for human marketers, no matter what the fear headlines say. It just readjusted the roles between humans and machines.
The agencies that survive this shift will be the ones who stop fighting automation and start building it into their workflows. Rather than wasting time micromanaging bids, cutting-edge agencies are using those hours to test headlines, improve page experience, and analyze conversion data to find out what’s really working.
Automation can never tell you why people click, bounce, or buy. That’s where humans are and always will be needed. When you understand your customer’s motivation better than the competition, you can write better ad copy and design better landing pages.
At the end of the day, automation leveled the playing field for media buying. What was once a technical advantage is now table stakes. Anyone can run their own ads. The agencies leading this new PPC era are competing on conversions, not the simple ability to run ads.
In the old days, you could buy the right keyword and call it a day. That isn’t how it works anymore. Two ads that target the same keyword can perform completely differently based on how they look, sound, and feel. Your ad creatives drive results when they’re optimized and waste your ad spend when they’re not.
Although all elements are important, the majority of an ad’s performance comes from creative quality, not targeting or bids. The best bidding strategy and perfect keyword targeting won’t get people to click on an ad that isn’t enticing.
The best PPC agencies continually test images, headlines, and even video styles to find out what converts best. That’s where the most notable performance gains come from. At the end of the day, keywords get you visibility but good creatives get you customers.
This shift continues to be confirmed over and over. Reports have confirmed that creative quality accounts for 49%-70% of an ad’s success, which outweighs media placement or targeting. In other words, creative isn’t just part of the equation. It’s the final factor.
The top performing brands run hundreds of ad variants every month. They’re not guessing. They’re structuring creative experiments and the winning ads are often the ones that break traditional marketing rules. These are the ads that use raw, authentic imagery, short unpolished videos, or headlines that sound like something a real customer would say. Regardless of what you think should work, constant testing uncovers what actually triggers action.
When your landing page converts better, every click becomes more valuable. Improving your conversion rate by even a few percentage points can provide better results than just a few months of ad optimization. And where landing page optimization is concerned, it’s not always about optimizing the offer (although that’s crucial). Sometimes small things make a massive, measurable difference.
For example, page load time is critical. Walmart found that for every 1-second improvement in load time, conversions increased by around 2%. And that’s not an anomaly. Plenty of businesses achieve similar increases (and even higher) just by optimizing the time it takes their landing pages to load.
Other small adjustments can have a profound impact, like adding social proof near your CTA, reducing the number of form fields, and clarifying your headlines.
When optimizing a landing page, design and clarity matter just as much as speed. Visitors make up their minds within seconds. If your pages are currently cluttered, switching to clean visuals, a clear CTA, and a simple layout can generate more conversions from existing traffic without spending another dollar on ads.
That’s the secret to all of this. Conversion rate optimization multiplies every dollar you already spend. If your ad campaign is driving 1,000 clicks and your conversion rate doubles from 2% to 4%, you’ve just cut your cost per acquisition in half without spending more money. This improvement comes from the one thing an algorithm can’t fix for you: the user experience after the click.
Good conversion rate optimization requires understanding the psychology behind what makes your audience hesitate and then eliminating that hesitation one element at a time. Landing page testing is similar to ad creative testing where it’s an ongoing process, not a one-time project. When you can create a seamless path from ad to action, that’s when your ad spend will perform better and it gets easier to scale.
Clicks and your CPC stats won’t tell you if you’re actually making money unless you’re also measuring profits from conversions. The best PPC agencies focus on metrics that get results measurable in dollars, like profit per visitor and customer lifetime value. Today, you won’t win the PPC game by getting cheaper clicks. You need to turn customers into repeat buyers.
This is the truth many marketers don’t get. Traffic isn’t a KPI if it doesn’t pay off in measurable dollars somewhere down the line. A campaign can drive thousands of clicks with a great CTR and still lose money if those visitors don’t convert or come back. That’s why the best PPC agencies today don’t brag about being able to get cheap traffic. They’re advertising meaningful results.
But sometimes results can’t be measured by what clicks led to a purchase. For example, a $10 click that becomes a loyal customer who spends $1,000 over time is far better than a $1 click that buys a $25 product. That’s why it’s crucial to account for profit-based metrics like customer lifetime value (LTV), return on ad spend (ROAS), and profit per visitor.
PPC success is ultimately measured by how efficiently you can turn paid traffic into long-term profits. That means understanding the customer journey past the initial click. You need to know what they’ll buy next, how often they’ll come back, and what will keep them loyal. Building strategies that account for this increase the value of every customer acquired.
The most amazing ad in the world that generates a 100% click through rate (CTR) can’t save a weak landing page. This applies to sales pages, squeeze pages, blog posts, home pages, and product pages. Wherever visitors are taken after they click on your ad needs to be just as good as your ad to convert.
On platforms like Amazon and Shopify, your product page is everything. It’s not enough to list your product at a good price. You need high-quality, detailed photos to increase buyer confidence. And it helps to use photos of real products, not mockups. Customers can tell the difference and computer-generated mockups (including AI models) reduce confidence and are a red flag for drop shipping. If you are drop shipping, it’s worth getting professional photos taken of everything you sell.
It costs more today to acquire a new customer than ever before. Even if your CPC drops one month, your overall ad costs will continue to rise long-term. The only way to win here is to make every click more profitable, and that boils down to conversion rate optimization. You can’t outspend your competitors forever. You need to out-convert them.
Digital advertising costs have been rising for years. The average customer acquisition cost (CAC) for online retailers is now between $68-$78, which is double what it was in 2013. Every year, it gets more expensive to get your ads in front of your customers. Algorithms are saturated, CPMs fluctuate unpredictably, and privacy updates (thanks, Apple) make it harder to target audiences efficiently. You can no longer buy your way to visibility.
A strong conversion strategy converts more existing traffic without needing to increase ad spend. This is exactly why the most effective PPC agencies focus on the entire funnel, not just the top.
Agencies that optimize per channel (like one for search, social, display, etc.) miss how those channels work together. Most conversions come from multiple touchpoints, but many teams only credit the final click. That can cause misguided budgets and stifle growth. Brands that use cross-channel attribution or marketing mix models see much better optimization. You need a PPC agency that will optimize for whatever will grow your business, not just what looks good on any given platform.
The agencies that win today are replacing the model that sells traffic with one that sells results. They don’t focus on vanity metrics, but rather, contribution margin, customer lifetime value, etc. They’ll help you with more than just ads. They’ll fix your sales page content, pricing issues, and even your page layouts because they know ads perform best with great landing pages. The new PPC agencies are full funnel growth partners, not just media buyers.
The future of PPC marketing is no longer about who can spend the most or manually tweak their bids the fastest. It’s about whoever can understand the customer journey and turn traffic into profit. The next generation of PPC agencies don’t sell clicks. That’s the old model. Instead, they sell you outcomes. And that’s exactly what every brand needs to thrive.
The age of “set it and forget it” PPC is over. Automation has leveled the playing field and brands chasing cheap clicks will be left behind. Winners understand that profit comes from performance beyond the ad and requires a landing page that builds trust and converts.
If your agency or in-house team is still talking about CPCs rather than profit, it’s time to upgrade your strategy. At PPC.co, we build campaigns engineered for outcomes over clicks. We optimize for conversions, revenue, and long-term customer value, and turn your ad spend into measurable business growth. Reach out today to learn how our team can transform your PPC performance into real profit.
Pay-per-click (PPC) ads can generate a steady stream of guests for anyone in the hospitality industry, whether you run a hotel, motel, hostel, vacation rental, or an Airbnb. In terms of marketing strategies, PPC ads convert 50% better than SEO and it’s easier to measure than results from organic search.
But a successful ad campaign isn’t just a matter of getting ads in front of people who are looking to book right now. You can also use PPC ads to find people who are just starting to think about their getaway and those who are comparing options. An effective strategy will reach a variety of people to get bookings now, fill future pipelines, and get repeat guests.
If you’re in the hospitality industry, here’s how paid advertising can help you drive more revenue.
To run a successful PPC campaign you need to understand the guest journey. Different people are doing different things at different times. For example, some people are researching destinations and others are comparing lodging, all while another group of people are ready to book. If you serve all these people the same ads, you won’t get the best results.
1. Define your funnel stages
There are four main stages to a hospitality funnel: awareness, consideration, conversion, and loyalty. Reaching leads at each stage requires different messaging and targeting. That’s where audience segmentation comes in.
2. Segment your audience by intent
Since each lead needs to be given a different message, it’s crucial to segment them by intent first. For example, the dreamers are people who search for “things to do in X city,” “best beach getaway,” and “romantic weekend destinations.”
The comparers search for “hotel vs. motel in X city,” “4-star stays in X city,” and “Airbnb vs. boutique hotel.”
The bookers search for a specific brand + location + dates.
Each audience segment should be served different ad copy, different offers, and of course – different landing pages.
3. Measure results according to stage
Finally, you need to measure results in several ways, like impressions, click-throughs, content engagement, and email signups. This will give you the bigger picture regarding how your ads are working (or not). For example, to measure the conversion stage, look at bookings, CPA, and revenue per booking. For the loyalty stage, look for repeat stays or referral leads.
Once you know how you’ll segment your audience and track the results, you can allocate your budget smartly. Otherwise, you risk overspending on high-intent leads and ignoring the long-term value of leads in earlier stages of the journey.
If you only bid on keyword phrases like “hotel room booking tonight,” you’ll miss all the people researching and thinking about their vacation. These people can convert, too, even if it doesn’t happen in the moment. They’re worth pursuing. You can capture their email, get them to like your social media pages, and you can also use remarketing to serve them additional ads.
The following are the general types of keywords you want to focus on:
· Broad/discovery keywords. These keywords will reach people in the awareness stage. Phrases like, “Best beaches in [location],” “Top things to do in [location],” and “Travel inspiration [country].” When you use broad modifiers (like “top,” “best,” “where to stay”) you’ll attract people in the research stage.
· Middle-funnel comparative keywords. These are phrases like, “Boutique hotel vs. Airbnb in [location],” “Hotel deals vs. motel,” and “Hotel amenities comparison.” With phrases like these, people are narrowing down their choices. The right PPC campaign can help them pick your business.
· Branded and high-intent booking keywords. These keywords reach people further down the funnel. Phrases like, “[Your hotel name] rooms,” “Hotel in [location] near [landmark],” and “cheap hotel [location][dates].” These phrases typically provide the highest conversion rates but can be competitive, so they may cost more.
· Negative keywords. To prevent wasted ad spend on irrelevant clicks, you can add certain keywords to your negative keyword list. This ensures your ads won’t show up when people search for these terms. Common negative keywords used in the hospitality industry include, “Free stay” and “Jobs at [hotel].”
Since most hotels and motels stick with keywords that target people ready to book, you can expand your reach by running ads for people in other stages. Just make sure you have a system in place to nurture your leads so they don’t go cold.
What you say matters just as much as when you say it. Copy that works for someone researching won’t work for someone ready to book with you. Every part of your ad needs to match intent, including the imagery, tone, copy, and offers. Here’s how to reach each stage:
· Awareness stage ads. At this stage, people will respond to emotional and inspirational copy. Phrases like, “Discover tranquil stays in the mountains,” or “Unwind by the sea.” Use imagery to provoke desire. Beautiful views and relaxing room setups work like a charm.
· Consideration stage ads. These people need more information, so hit ‘em with your amenities (Wi-Fi, breakfast), comparisons, reviews, ratings, and testimonials. Show them visuals of your accommodations and the local area.
· Booking/conversion stage ads. Urgency works best here. Phrases that get people to click to book now, like “Limited rooms available,” and “Book now and save.”
· Loyalty stage ads. Guests who have stayed with you before, even just once, are more cost-effective to convert again compared to chasing down new customers. Create some ads for these people by highlighting perks, upgrades, and exclusive deals they can’t get through other places. For example, you can use lines like:
“Book direct for free late checkout,” “Exclusive returning guest discount,” or “VIP upgrade on your next stay.” It also helps to use personalized copy like, “Welcome back to [your hotel name].” along with imagery of your best amenities.
Loyalty ads drive repeat bookings and increase lifetime value by bringing people back.
· Remarketing and nurturing prospects who got away. In addition to targeting people in all funnel stages, you want to bring people back who clicked but never booked or signed up for your email list. Run retargeting ads to show them what they looked at and offer them incentives or discounts. This is a great time to leverage social proof.
By matching your ad content to meet potential leads where they are in their journey, your ads will be more relevant and you’ll get more conversions.
Having a great ad doesn’t necessarily mean it will drive conversions. If your landing page is confusing or the booking process is clunky, you’ll lose people. That’s why landing page optimization is often where people see the biggest gains.
As a foundation, create a specific landing page for each target audience. You need a dedicated landing page for ads that target each funnel stage. Landing pages should be simple and clear and should be free from all distractions (like links and menus) that invite a user to click away. You want one offer and one call to action.
Social proof is critical in the hospitality industry. Show guest reviews from Tripadvisor, Google, Trustpilot, etc. It also helps to show photos of real guests enjoying their stay (with their permission). Showcasing reviews will reduce anxiety and hesitation, especially for people comparing you with other options.
If your landing pages show pricing, make sure you’re up front about all fees. Be clear about what’s included, like tax, breakfast, and service fees. People hate hidden fees. If a guest’s experience doesn’t match the impression they get from the page where they booked, they’ll probably leave a bad review.
Talk to your website developer and have them trigger a follow-up email that goes out to people who start filling out a booking form but stop. The email should show them what they left behind and you can sweeten the deal by offering a small discount or other incentive.
Having a smooth flow after a person clicks on your ad can help you convert far more prospects. Everything you can do to reduce friction and increase trust compounds.
To get conversions, your bidding strategy and budget need to align with a variety of factors, including funnel stage and seasonality.
· Increase bids for high-intent keywords, use moderate bids for middle-funnel ads, and go lower for awareness and discovery.
· Watch for online travel agents (OTAs) and large hotel chains that bid on your property’s name or similar keywords. If they undercut you in rate or bid too aggressively, you could end up with arbitrarily inflated costs per click. Research data shows this can cost around 47% more per click.
· Adjust your bids and budget during travel seasons, events, and holidays. During off-peak seasons you may want to stick with pushing awareness.
· Allocate your budget proportionately across all funnel stages.
· Use Google’s automated bidding tool for the conversion stage, but use manual methods for the consideration and awareness stage.
The right bidding strategy will ensure you don’t overspend for low-intent clicks or underinvest in more profitable funnel stages.
PPC is more than search. When you use different channels and ad formats you’ll reach people in a variety of places.
· Search ads (Google, Bing). Search ads capture high-intent demand users. They’re great for the conversion and compare phases and can make use of extensions like call, location, and reviews.
· Display and discovery/native ads. Display ads are excellent for the awareness stage. They reach people browsing travel blogs and using apps. With these ads, visuals are everything.
· Social media ads. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok are great for the awareness and consideration stages. They’re especially powerful for remarketing.
· Video ads. Short-form videos can stir emotion, show off ambiance, and be used to create a mini virtual tour. These ads are great for top and middle funnel prospects.
· Email ads. If you’re using email marketing, offer loyalty deals and off-peak discounts.
Paid search on social media converts better in hospitality than it does in other industries.
Location matters in hospitality. Geotargeting can significantly improve your conversions and reduce wasted ad spend. You can use radius bids and location extensions to target people looking for accommodations within a certain radius.
It pays to bid higher for people in feeder markets and origin cities during the holidays. You can also target departure cities for Arbnbs if that’s relevant to you.
In your ad copy, include local cues like “Only 30 mins from downtown,” and “15 minutes from airport. If you know your audience well, include the origin city (“Fly in from Seattle & Stay with us just outside Olympia”).
When offered by the ad platform, use local extensions to note your address, phone number, and any other elements offered. This will generate more bookings from mobile users.
Most people who click your ads or visit your website won’t book right away. Retargeting will help convert these “warm but not ready” leads into guests eventually.
When you target people who visited your site without converting, show them ads with refreshed offers like a free breakfast or an upgraded view. Visual reminders will help bring them back.
Show the specific rooms and properties to the prospect so the ad feels personalized. Use tools like Google dynamic remarketing and Facebook Product Ads.
For guests who did convert, show them additional special offers and upgrades. Keeping them in your funnel will make future conversions easier.
It’s crucial to know when to pull back, push forward, test more, or scale.
· Define clear ROI goals. Know your target Cost-Per-Acquisition (CPA), Return on Ad Spend (ROAS), and guest Lifetime Value (LTV). If your ad spend yields bookings but loses money, it’s not working.
· Perform weekly and monthly audits. Refine keywords, ad creatives, and keep testing.
· Scale what works. Once you have a campaign producing consistent returns, increase the budget there while watching for diminishing returns.
· Adjust your offers and pricing. If conversion rates drop or your CPCs rise, start offering special packages like early-bird deals and loyalty perks.
The average travel and hospitality conversion rate for search is 3.55% so if you’re under that, there’s room for improvement. If you’re over that, scale carefully.
If you’re ready to transform your PPC campaign into a reliable machine that fills your rooms and builds a solid pipeline for the future, we can help. At PPC.co, we specialize in creating full funnel PPC strategies for hotels, motels, and Airbnbs that convert into bookings, repeat guests, and long-term loyalty. Contact us today and let’s craft a PPC strategy that drives bookings and turns first-time guests into lifelong customers.
