After witnessing the impact that online marketing has had on their businesses, hoteliers are shifting more spend across to the likes of social media and paid search in an attempt to boost sales.
Facebook and Google AdWords are among the most popular platforms for hotel advertisers around the world, according to a new poll from hospitality market intelligence provider TravelClick.
Two thirds of hotels (66%) are now advertising on Mark Zuckerberg’s network, while 84% are ploughing money into Google AdWords for their promotion.
Spend on these channels is continuing to rise and experts are already predicting year-on-year growth for 2014.
Hoteliers check-out Facebook
Despite the fact that hotels are increasing their investment in some of the most popular online advertising channels, the group are at least seeing things with a degree of foresight.
While 23% were planning on upping their Facebook ad spend this year, and 32% accounted for doing the same with AdWords, another social channel in TripAdvisor was seen as the biggest driver of bookings for their websites.
A resounding 78% claimed the travel review site was having the biggest impact on their revenues, overshadowing the 11% earned by Facebook and Google+. This would hint at sites like Facebook proving their worth in terms of awareness but may also serve as evidence of companies seeing the potential in lower drivers of business.
Overall, the study painted a picture of much optimism for the online advertising industry, as 32% of hoteliers planned on increasing their internet ad spend during 2014.