Do you know what days of the week and times are best to run your Google ad’s?
Why does it matter, you ask?
Well, knowing when to post can guarantee maximum conversion rates, impressions, CPA, or other beneficial metrics.
If you have been using your PPC account for several months, identify what days of the week and ad account’s time zone offer the most profit to your business.
This is called paid ads scheduling/schedule ads or dayparting in Google Ads.
And to help you with this, you should start using the Dimensions tab (one of the best options in Google Ads).
On the other hand, it might be challenging to run your Google Ad’s account for the first time/on viewer’s time zone. You are confronted with an enormous interface of charts, settings, and tables, and figuring out where to start may be challenging to say the least.
Your central focus will be on organizing your ad groups, keywords, and ppc ad campaigns and managing the possibilities of smart ad campaigns, dynamic ad groups, and any other thing that Google provides you when you create an account.
Creating bid adjustments in an area that most people ignore. Moreover, Google does not tell you more about bid adjustments while starting your ad campaigns; however, they are precious when you want to tweak your ad campaign with higher results.
You have a few bid alternatives while you are creating your Google Ad’s campaigns. For example, you may use an automatic bidding strategy to enhance conversions or clicks, or you can set your bids manually.
Google’s automated bidding algorithms enable it to put bids on your behalf depending on what it knows will bring you the desired outcomes.
This removes several of the uncertainty from determining how and when to bid on the keywords. But this also implies you might lose control over how much you are spending on each click.
On the other hand, the manually bidding approach lets you make bids for every keyword, giving you greater flexibility and making account maintenance much more time demanding.
In addition, whatever bidding technique you select, you get the choice of increasing or decreasing your offers when specific conditions are satisfied.
This implies you may invest less on hits you believe are much less critical to the organization and extra on clicks from people you think are more valuable to your business.
As you configure the Google Ad’s bidding, then will find that you can only make a few particular bid modifications. Some are more complex than others, but they are still all Google Ad’s bid modifications.
You will also observe that every bid adjustment category has its set of conditions in which it may be used and its own set of modification options.
Google will inform you of such limits when you configure your bid changes, but you should be conscious of them at all times.
When examining the possible ranges of modifications, keep in mind that a drop of 100% will prohibit your advertising from appearing.
Selecting this option allows you to altogether opt-out of seeing adverts in that set of conditions. With that said, here are the types of bid adjustments:
You may also implement alterations depending on demographic factors such as age, household income, and gender. This is one aspect of Google Ad’s demographic targeting small business owners.
This sort of change is available in the new Google Ad’s experience in ppc campaigns and ad groups.
Bids might be reduced by 90 percent or increased by 900 percent.
Ad scheduling changes allow you to vary the ad bid and regularity based on time of day/viewer’s time zone or days of the week. To use these Google Ad’s bid modifications, you must first create your ad scheduling.
That plan is easy to generate and allows you to change the days of the week quickly, and times your ad will show. Moreover, Ad schedule/Ad scheduling modifications can be used in ppc campaigns.
Device bid changes allow you to change the regularity of your adverts depending on the devices used by the searcher, such as:
This form of modification may be used in ad groups and ppc campaigns. However, always remember that if you adjust both the movement and the ad group, Google will utilize the ad group adjustment.
Moreover, you can reduce the bid minimum to 100%, which will result in advertisements no longer being displayed on that device. Furthermore, you can raise the bid by approximately 900%.
You can change the frequency with which your ad shows depending on the viewer’s location by using location adjustments.
Geographic areas such as countries and cities can be used to define the location. Join this with location extension to provide various bids to clients who are geographically close to your business.
This is an alternative method for adjusting the Google Ad’s bidding. Rather than increasing your general bid, you can modify your bid for call ppc ads campaigns alone.
The bid revisions will affect how frequently consumers see call extensions and call-only ads.
Methods of targeting Bid modifications are a more complex option. This allows you to generate bid changes for targeting strategies such as topics and placements for display network ads.
The remarketing list of your search advertisements is one of the most complex Google Ad’s bid modifications you can use.
To apply this bid adjustment, you must first create a remarketing list, which is simple to accomplish.
You may utilize this advanced bid adjustment if you are running advertisements on YouTube or the Display Network.
It relates to the material chosen by Google to be more in-demand, with more traffic and viewer engagement, as well as more impressions each day.
On the other hand, your ad should be eligible to appear on this content. In that instance, your bid adjustment may raise your bid.
The top content bid adjustments are applied to ad groups. It applies to the Google Display Network of websites and applications, as well as YouTube.
Adjustments cannot be used to lower the bid. However, you can boost it by up to 500%.
Below are the steps that will help you to set your bid modifications:
Choose the campaign/ad campaigns you want to make bid modifications for, then tap the ad scheduling option appearing on the left side. If no bid modifications are configured, it should appear like the image shown below.
After you have decided on your time ranges, hit the “edit ad schedule” option and fill in the blanks.
Remember that Google has recently altered the settings, and you only ever have six-time frames in a single day.
Before you save your new ad schedule, it should appear like the image as shown below. Save the file.
Create your test reporting plan after you have saved this. This test is best measured by looking at the findings week after week and reporting on the desired parameters.
Then, after 1 or 2 months, you can gather the findings and decide whether or not to continue with the time of day bid strategy.
Following are the reasons why any digital marketers uses Google Ad’s bid adjustments:
Bid modifications are also a quick and easy approach to test different campaigns.
You might, for example, see how much one of your existing campaigns might work as “mobile-only” by boosting the bid on smartphones and reducing the bid on other gadgets.
If anything goes well, you may want to explore making it a distinct campaign. On the other hand, delete your bid change to restore normalcy if things do not go as planned.
You may optimize your targeting by modifying who you ad spend most of your ad money on using bid modifications.
For instance, if you understand you are just more inclined to make deals at a specific time of day, you might boost the bid adjustment at that period.
You should be able to use your budget quite effectively if you improve your targeting. As a result, the ROI should be higher.
After you understand Google Ad’s bid modifications better, look at certain Google Ads bidding tactics and recommendations:
When creating your Google Ad’s bidding tactics, make use of real-world data. Taking the attempt to know how you operate across different sectors is part of this.
Keep an eye out for differences in locations, Target audiences/potential customers, online shoppers, location, time, and device. Try not to be hurried when reviewing the facts.
Make sure that you have waited long enough to allow for conversion delays. Alternatively, you may have to wait sometime for plenty of data to give meaningful insights.
As you plan your bid modifications and entire bidding strategy, consider your goals to achieve in mind. Your objectives will decide which ads and campaigns receive higher bids and which receive lower bids.
Allowing Smart Bidding to handle bid modifications for you is the most convenient option. These tactics will alter your bids automatically, depending on several parameters.
For example, target CPA and Target ROAS optimize for location, time, device, and target audience or online shoppers/potential customers for each ad auction.
A bid simulator is available in Google Ads. Take the initiative to use this to assist you in choosing an appropriate beginning place for the bids.
While human bidding has advantages and disadvantages, thus do automated Smart Bidding systems. They are beneficial for individuals who must manage many campaigns. It avoids wasting ad spend time.
The caution here is that you always wait until you have sufficient google ads data before using automated bidding. Therefore, to gather the data you require, experts usually recommend beginning by manual bidding.
You may try moving to automated bidding when you have a good quantity of data and have experienced some early success.
Some experts believe that 30 conversions each month in any ad campaigns is a good starting point. However, when you get to this level, you must seriously consider adopting an automated technique.
By using manual bidding in Google Adwords, you may avoid accidentally coming too near to or exceeding your budget.
Although Google Ads allows you to select your budget, the automatic bidding approach may make bids that are higher or lower than you wish. Manual bidding is the way to go if you want total control.
To understand better when to utilize automated bidding generally, you should also be conversant with specific tactics.
For instance, the Target CPA Smart Bidding technique is excellent for increasing conversions. Nevertheless, to collect adequate data, you need gradually transition to this method over time.
Another example is the improved CPC approach, which is excellent for increasing conversion value and conversions.
In addition, it is one of the most cost-effective solutions since it blends Smart Bidding alongside manual bidding.
Even if you use Smart Bidding to automate the whole process, you need to set up a system to handle your bids.
First, Google Ads recommends generating essential bids that will allow you to accomplish your overall objectives.
After that, use bid modifications to account for campaign performance variances between segments such as device type or location.
Any overlap with bid modifications should also be considered in your plan. Keep in mind how Google Ads handles overlapping bid modifications for the time of day, location, and target audience/online shoppers.
When configuring the Google Ads bidding, be sure to distribute your money among many tactics.
This is a great safety net since it assures that you do not wasting ad spend/waste your overall budget if a bidding strategy or ad campaigns fails to yield results.
There are a few things you can do to increase the efficiency of the bid changes. First, begin by attempting to adhere to campaign-level alterations.
Always make group-level changes if the performance of campaigns varies significantly among them. However, it is highly efficient and creates changes based on more significant amounts of data.
Campaigns, after all, will have more data than commercials since they are more significant groupings.
Another effective method is to test for merging your campaigns. However, remember that you may utilize segments to perfect your bid modifications even if you combine campaigns.
Even though you pick the best bid changes and bidding method, you still need the correct keywords to be successful.
So opt for keywords that have a cheap ad costs per click and a higher conversion data volume. That would be a nice balance for most businesses between garnering enough clicks and staying within their budget.
Search for long-tail keywords having precise matches as well. Again, there is plenty of purpose behind such keywords, and they tend to give a significant profit on ad investment.
However, they are much less competitive since they are more particular.
Remember to explore negative keywords in conjunction with your primary keywords. It allows you to avoid spending money and time attracting queries that are unable to convert.
Keep in mind that the primary objective of your Google Adwords bidding is to acquire clicks that turn into conversions.
Therefore, take the time to adjust your landing page and ad copy to maximize conversion rates. They should accurately express your service or product as well as what distinguishes you.
In the headers, they must also utilize identical terms, ideally the exact phrasing. Again, this will significantly lower your bounce rate.
While being at the top of Google Ads will earn you more hits, it is not always the greatest option for your Ad Costs per click and ad budget.
In several circumstances, the second place will receive nearly as many hits as first. This seems to be the case even though the offer for the top position maybe 2 to 3 times.
Although you may lose some clicks by going for the second slot rather than the first, you will also have a cheaper CPC and will still receive sufficient returns to justify your efforts.
Being ranked second might also improve your conversion rates and bounce rate. But, again, this is caused by human behavior and the idea that people tap on every first link they see without even checking if it is appropriate.
Whether they are peering at the second or third place, they will most likely require a few moments to determine its significance.
Consequently, you will have a higher response rate and ad spend less money on clicks that do not convert.
Google Ads bid adjustments make it simple to tailor your bids to particular visitors depending on characteristics such as demographics, location, device, retargeting, scheduling, and others.
This will allow you to make better use of your budget. Moreover, It also cuts down on time you should ad spend generating distinct ads and building up different budgets.
It becomes a natural component of Google Ads bidding after you get used to putting up bid modifications.
For the best results, incorporate the changes with additional bidding techniques and advice.
If you need help with your dayparting strategy, contact us about hiring our PPC management services for expert management of your Google Ads campaigns.
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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.
