Maximize Spring Vacation Marketing Using Audience Segmentation
We are well past the winter solstice and the days are getting longer. Thoughts are turning from holiday travel to options for spring vacations, presenting a unique opportunity for travel businesses to capitalize on the wanderlust of both students and families. As a marketer within the travel industry, maximizing your strategy for this time requires a strategic approach that targets the right audience(s), leverages the correct channel options, and communicates a compelling message. The foundation of this strategy is audience segmentation, then leveraging the information to maximize your efforts and improve your marketing bottom line.
Audience segmentation is the process of dividing your customer base into distinct groups based on various criteria, such as demographics, multicultural affinity, preferences, media habits, and more. This allows you to personalize your marketing efforts to the unique needs and preferences of each segment, driving higher customer engagement and ultimately, better business results. Let’s take a look at just three ways you can easily create a more robust spring vacation marketing strategy though the use of an effective audience segmentation solution.
1. Package Deals:
According to Travelport, a third of families consider the process of searching for the best flights and making hotel room reservations extremely time-consuming—23% of them don’t enjoy booking trips at all. Therefore, it is critical you simplify the process as much as possible. Create all-inclusive spring break packages that include accommodations, meals, and activities. Highlight the convenience for busy, working parents, as well as the cost savings of booking these packages. Include total household-friendly amenities and services, emphasizing a safe and enjoyable family environment.
And whether targeting the student spring-breaker or the family crowd, collaborative packages that include both airline and hotel, may help alleviate the issues of these typically stressed-out travel customers, while also creating additional sales opportunities. Then consider partnering with local restaurants, tour operators, or attractions to offer joint promotions, creating added value for your guests.
PRO-TIP: PRIZM® Premier audience segment, “Pools & Patios” are 2 ½ – 3 times more like to have children under 13 and are nearly twice as likely to be planning a family and/or all-inclusive vacation in the next 12 months. This makes them the ideal target for vacation packages.
Pools & Patios
• Age 25 – 44
• Metro Mix and Upper Midscale
• Above Average Technology
• Mostly Homeowners
• Professionals with College Degree
2. Embrace Multigenerational
Oh sure, spring break may typically conjure up visions of teenagers partying on the beach. However, it also includes families looking to get away during the spring months while taking advantage of school breaks. And many are expanding these trips to include extended family. This is a prime target for alternative vacation rentals such as Airbnb and VRBO that offer multiple rooms but could also be a key target for opportunistic hotel, airline and rental car packaging.
PRO-TIP: As grandparents look to connect with the younger generations, targeting older audience segments with messaging about vacations for the extended family could prove fruitful. As an example, we can look at PRIZM Premier segment “Pickup Patriarchs”. This is an upscale segment that typically includes those that live in small towns but with more suburban tastes, and whose children are out of the house. Despite that, they are 38% more likely to be planning a family vacation in the next 12 months, making them prime targets for this type of messaging.
Pick-up Patriarchs
• Age 45-64
• Town and Upscale
• Average Technology
• Most Homeowners
• Professionals with College Degree
3. Exclusive Offers for Returning Guests:
According to PhocusWire, 46% of those booking say they are influenced by previous experiences. Consider providing exclusive discounts for guests who have stayed at your property before (especially those that have provided a positive review!) or offering airline travel perks and upgrades for returning flyers during this key travel time.
PRO-TIP: Key in on frequent vacation travel groups that aren’t set on one vacation spot. PRIZM Premier’s “Cosmopolitans” are over 50% more likely than other segments to have used an airline for vacation travel in the last year, don’t show a preference for traveling to places they’ve never been before and are open to other vacation opportunities. This points to Cosmopolitans being a great return guest prospect, especially with the proper incentive and messaging.
Cosmopolitans
• Age 25 – 44
• Urban and Upscale
• Below Average Technology
• Family mix
• Professional with Graduate plus degree
While these are great examples of how audience segmentation can help drive a successful spring vacation season, that is only the first step.
Next steps: Multichannel Marketing
In the dynamic landscape of the travel industry, consumers are constantly inundated with diverse media, advertisements, and content. The reception of information varies significantly based on the unique characteristics of each audience segment. Identifying your target audience(s) not only empowers you to craft tailored messaging and offerings but also aids in pinpointing the most effective channels for reaching these customers. Let’s explore a couple of audience segments from our examples above.
The “Pools & Patios” segment are inclined to engage with Univision, enjoy Contemporary Inspirational music, and exhibit a higher likelihood of using Trivago in the last 30 days. The only social media for which they over-index is TikTok (118). On the other hand, “Cosmopolitans” prefer MSNBC, Adult Alternative music, are nearly twice as likely to have visited/used Google Flights recently and are 20% more likely to use X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram.
This limited example underscores the importance of understanding not just your buyers’ travel preferences but also how they prefer to consume information. Don’t assume that traditional channels like social media, web, and email are the sole or primary touchpoints for your audience. Leveraging a robust audience segmentation tool is crucial to identify the optimal channels for delivering impactful messaging in the most cost-effective way.
Take advantage of robust AI tools to ensure you’re reaching audiences with the right messaging. Claritas’ AI Personalization is an innovative approach that unifies ad creative and audience dynamics in real-time, utilizing advanced algorithms to dynamically tailor content based on individual user preferences and behaviors.
Next Steps: Measuring and Optimizing Campaigns In-flight
Having conducted thorough research on your customers, you’ve executed a multichannel marketing initiative tailored to drive sales during the spring vacation season. The third critical step involves measuring the effectiveness of your multichannel campaign and optimizing your strategy for enhanced return on investment (ROI).
Which channels are excelling not just in reaching your audience but in driving overall sales conversions? Are certain channels proving more cost-effective? Should you consider expanding into additional channels?
Claritas’ cross-device and cross-environment attribution solution seamlessly integrates impressions across a spectrum of channels, including digital display, email, OTT/CTV, streaming audio, podcast, direct mail, mobile, and out-of-home. Our solutions then capture conversions across most advertisers websites (site visits, form submissions, online purchases, etc.), in-store traffic, offline sales (credit card purchasing and CPG shopper card data), in-app purchases and OTT/CTV viewing data.
This allows you to accurately tie online and offline exposures, and to know how specific channels and devices are influencing your customers. This ensures a precise and transparent analysis of the most effective channels contributing to conversions, enabling you to track and adapt in near-real time.
For marketers within the travel industry, a strong opening quarter is vital. Crafting a successful strategy during this time necessitates targeting the right audience, delivering a compelling message, utilizing the appropriate channels to reach that audience, and accurately measuring and optimizing your multichannel campaigns in-flight to ensure sustained success. As the spring vacation season unfolds, the synergy of audience segmentation and multichannel marketing promises not only to capture the attention of your target audience but to translate that attention into meaningful and measurable business outcomes. Contact Claritas to learn more about how we can help.