Expedia TravelAds: Advertising guide for small hotels

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What is Expedia TravelAds?

Expedia TravelAds is a pay-per-click (PPC) advertising solution that boosts the visibility of your hotel on Expedia, exposing your property to potential guests when they’re looking to book a stay. The tool is exclusive to the Expedia Group, which includes Expedia and platforms like Hotels.com, Orbitz.com, lastminute.com and Vrbo.

Hotels that are boosted by TravelAds are found at the top of the Expedia search results page when a relevant query is made. These ‘sponsored listings’, as Expedia refers to them, also offer precise traveller targeting and real-time reporting for deep insights into the performance of your campaign.

Why should hotels consider Expedia advertising?

Hotels should consider advertising on Expedia because it presents a huge opportunity to win more bookings.

As one of the world’s largest OTAs, Expedia attracts tens of millions of visitors to its website every month. But while the potential of Expedia is enormous, a small hotel will find itself competing against over 750,000 listings, so it can be difficult to stand out on the platform. Sure, good Expedia reviews can help, but it can take a lot of time to build up enough to improve your position.

Expedia ads offer a way to skip to the top of the page, which helps to ensure you’re exposed to the guests that you’re looking to attract. According to Expedia’s own numbers, hotels that use TravelAds are 90% more visible in search results, and TravelAds listings enjoy an average of 120% more bookings than standard Expedia listings.

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Why pay Expedia sky high commission fees when you don’t have to? Once a guest discovers you on Expedia, Little Hotelier’s direct booking engine lets you take a fee-free reservation through your website.

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What does TravelAds for Expedia look like?

Expedia advertising takes two main forms.

Expedia sponsored listings

This type of Expedia advertisement is similar to the ads you see on the Google results page. When potential guests key in a search that is relevant to you, your sponsored listing will be boosted to the top of the page. The listing itself will look pretty much the same as normal but will feature a small ‘Ad’ label in the corner.

Expedia display ads

Expedia Group also offers the opportunity to place display advertising for your hotel across its suite of travel sites, including Expedia, Hotels.com, Vrbo and Trivago. Using visual advertising methods can enhance brand awareness. As potential guests grow more familiar with your hotel, they’ll begin to trust you more, which can ultimately translate to a booking. Wondering what TravelAds for Expedia look like? Think Expedia banner ads – the wide, visually striking ads that often feature at the top or bottom of a web page.

Step 1: List on Expedia

You’ll need to have an Expedia listing in order to capitalise on TravelAds, and your Expedia login can double as your Expedia TravelAds login. If you don’t currently list on any Expedia Group sites, signing up to Expedia Partner Central is simple – check out our complete guide here.

Now that you have an Expedia listing, the Expedia TravelAds sign in process is as simple as keying in your Expedia login details here. Alternatively, you can create separate TravelAds login details, then link your listing to your TravelAds account afterwards. This option can be a little more complicated, so you may need to contact the TravelAds support team for help.

Step 3: Choose your ad type

Armed with your Travel Ads Expedia login, jump into your TravelAds dashboard and start a new campaign. Choose whether you’re going to boost your position in the Expedia search results with a sponsored listing, or capitalise on the exposure offered by Expedia display advertising.

Step 4: Craft your campaign

If you choose a sponsored listing, select the rooms and deals you want to feature. If you choose a display ad campaign, select the imagery from your Expedia extranet and add compelling text. Both options will ask you to define your target audience and maximum budget, and will give you the option to automate your PPC bidding.

Expedia advertisement strategies for small hotels

With the help of some smart strategies, you can ensure your investment in Expedia TravelAds generates a serious return. The following tips can help to ratchet up the effectiveness of your next TravelAds campaign:

Choose striking imagery: While TravelAds will grant you a sought-after spot in the Expedia search results or on Expedia Group web pages, it’s up to you to turn that position into clicks. Capture the audience’s attention with eye-catching imagery and punchy copy.
Precisely target your audience: Expedia TravelAds grants you ultimate control over who sees your ads. Carefully consider the best group to target, then aim your ads directly at them. Creating buyer personas can help clarify who your target customer is.
Set, track and adjust your budget: While it’s important to set an initial budget to guide your efforts, this should only ever form a starting point. Track the performance of your campaign, then adjust your budget in a way that maximises performance.

Get more bookings and increase revenue without third-party commissions

As one of the world’s biggest OTAs, Expedia grants you access to a huge number of potential guests. Unfortunately, they charge for the pleasure with 15%-25% booking commission fees. But there is a way to get all the exposure of Expedia without losing a quarter of your revenue.

Little Hotelier’s direct booking engine lets your customers quickly and easily book through your website. You can take advantage of the billboard effect: get noticed on Expedia, then attract direct bookings.

Earn more: Keep those sky-high OTA commissions in your pocket, and increase the value of every reservation by including upgrades and add-ons as part of the booking process.
Easy to integrate: Already have a website? Our booking engine is super simple to add.
Build your own booking site: The Little Hotelier website builder lets you build a stunning hotel website in quick time, complete with direct booking functionality.

Little Hotelier is more than just a direct booking engine. From channel management to metasearch capabilities, our all-in-one hotel management tool is built specifically for small, independent hoteliers. More revenue. More control. More support.

By using Little Hotelier, businesses can enhance their guest experience and revenue, with potential increases of up to 46% in bookings and an ROI of 63x!

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By Dean Elphick

Dean is the Senior Content Marketing Specialist of Little Hotelier, the all-in-one software solution purpose-built to make the lives of small accommodation providers easier. Dean has made writing and creating content his passion for the entirety of his professional life, which includes more than six years at Little Hotelier. Through content, Dean aims to provide education, inspiration, assistance, and, ultimately, value for small accommodation businesses looking to improve the way they run their operations (and live their life).

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